Before articles are published in academic journals, they are sent to other experts in the field of study that the article is concerned with. If the article is about research in quantum physics, then it will be sent to experts in the field of quantum physics; if the article is about genetic engineering, the article will be sent to genetic engineering experts and so on. The experts will critically review the article and either:
- recommend the article for publication
- recommend changes are made before the article is published
- reject the article.
Peer-review ensures that the article is of good quality and advances knowledge in that particular field of study. Usually, peer-review is anonymous; the reviewers don't know who wrote the article and the article authors don't know who reviewed the article.
