As part of our celebration of Peer Review Week 2024, Journal of Applied Ecology is reflecting on the launch of the Early Career Researcher Reviewer Prize.
How did the idea come about?
The act of peer review (academic work being evaluated by others in the same field) is crucial to the research process. It is integral in helping to ensure diligence, determine originality, and improve the overall standard of a final publication.
This prize was borne out of the dual need to both help to give more experience to ECR reviewers, as well as providing an incentive to encourage more ECRs to get involved in the peer review process as a whole.
The winner selection process
To be eligible to enter the prize draw, applicants had to:
- Have completed two reviews for Journal of Applied Ecology in the last calendar year. Each reviewer earned one entry into the review beyond the first one. For example, if they completed two review they received one entry, if they completed three reviews they received two entries and so on.
- Be less than 5 years post- Ph.D. or -D.Phil. experience (excluding career breaks)
- Be the named reviewer listed in the system
Prize winners were then selected according to the following process:
- Two winners were randomly and anonymously selected from the applicants.
- The Senior Editor team assessed the winner’s completed reviews to ensure that they met expected standards of rigour.
- The two winners were contacted!
What did the winners win?
The two winners were awarded £500 each to either fund further research, attend international conferences, or further training within ecology. Hear more about what this meant to them, below!
Maureen Page
“I am grateful to have won this prize, which will fund summer fieldwork and conference travel. I will be attending the Entomological Society of America annual meeting this November and hope to attend the British Ecological Society meeting in 2025!”
Brielle Thompson
“I am very thankful to be awarded the Journal of Applied Ecology ECR Reviewer Prize. Peer review is an extremely vital process that verifies validity and encourages confidence in the scientific process. As a quantitative ecologist, I am excited to use the funds from this award to buy several textbooks on hierarchical modeling in ecology to further my knowledge in this field.”
We’ll be catching up with this year’s winners in further detail next year, so keep an eye on the blog and our social media to learn more.
Interested in getting involved and reviewing with Journal of Applied Ecology? Contact Lydia via admin@journalofappliedecology.org with your name, email address and expertise.