Given the unpleasantness of having one's work rejected (10), as well as a desire for more-rapid communication of scientific findings, some scientists have expressed nostalgia for the good old days when nearly any submitted manuscript was accepted for publication, and some have even compared peer review to censorship (23, 27). After all, neither Newton nor Darwin had to submit to the indignity of peer review prior to publication! In this commentary we explore the latitude provided to authors in scientific manuscripts and attempt to distinguish the processes of peer review and censorship. In dissecting these issues, we hope to provide authors of Infection and Immunity with tools for approaching the comments and criticisms that inevitably follow peer review. Furthermore, we hope that delineating the differences between peer review and censorship will encourage flexibility in authors, reviewers, and editors when dealing with controversial and speculative viewpoints.
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