To the Editor:
Re “Scholars Test Web Alternative to the Venerable Peer Review” (front page, Aug. 24):
There is certainly room in academia for alternative means to judge the
competency of scholarship. But many objections to the peer review system
as too narrow are unfounded.
Most academic journals allow rejected authors to resubmit their
scholarship, provided they take into account the reviewer’s objections.
This system is invaluable for younger scholars especially, and the final
results are often an improvement on the original effort.
In addition, outlets for alternative views frequently occur by means of
the founding of new journals. Take, for example, women’s studies. This
is now an unquestioned discipline, which it was not 25 years ago. An
important reason that it was able to establish itself was the appearance
of new journals with the same peer review system that had previously
served to exclude alternative viewpoints.
I have found that there is a rough justice in academic publishing. If at
first you don’t succeed, try again. Good scholarship will find an
outlet.
Christopher Soufas
Philadelphia, Aug. 24, 2010
The writer is a professor of Spanish and Portuguese at Temple University.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 