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Editorial IGR 11-1
From the Chief Editor
Commenting on Comments
R.N. Weinreb, MD, La Jolla, CA
The Comments within the Editor's Selection and within the Dialogue provide unique analytical and didactic content, and have been vital to the remarkable success of the International Glaucoma Review. For these Comments, experts are invited to scrutinize and critique scientific results of published manuscripts. Authors of the Comments can endorse or question the science, and have the opportunity to place it in perspective for the reader. It can be considered a form of post-publication peer review that enhances scientific progress. In contrast to the usual pre-publication peer review, authors are not anonymous, as both their name and portrait image are published. Needless to say, they are not compensated.
Like any other form of peer review, the Comments are not always beyond reproach and can be criticized. An author of a Comment can exhibit bias, support only an expected result, or even be uninformed. The latter should not be unexpected as research has become more complex. Increasingly, research is cross-disciplinary and a single reviewer does not have the broad expertise to appreciate all aspects of an investigation that has been co-authored by scientists from several different disciplines. In large part, this latter point spurred just over a year ago the initiation of the Dialogue section as a vehicle to aggregate the Comments of numerous experts, each of whom has particular knowledge of the subject.
Much more often than criticizing a Comment, our readers are complimentary of them. Comments are useful for pointing out a meritorious methodology or notable conclusion. And, more significantly, they also can clarify results and stimulate new insights that can drive the progress of glaucoma research.
The upcoming 25th anniversary of the International Glaucoma Review is an appropriate time to thank the many scientists and clinicians from throughout the world who have generously contributed and continue to contribute their Comments to the global glaucoma community.
