Commentary on Scientific Peer Review to Inform Regulatory Decision Making: Roles and Perspectives of Scientists

摘要

This article from Patton and Olin at the Risk Science Institute of the International Life Sciences Institute provides timely and useful guidance for regulatory agency executives and research managers in response to the Office of Management and Budget/Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OMB/OIRA) bulletins on peer review for information quality. The segmentation into nine steps for effective peer review and the presentation of cautions and actions will be helpful to many, beginning with the overarching caution in the introduction: "Peer review is not a panacea. It can add credibility and enhance confidence in a scientific document, but it does not guarantee the accuracy or correctness of research findings or data analysis. Replication, additional testing, and confirmatory studies are the time-tested paths to factual accuracy."