ACR Journals Peer Review Mentoring Program

Rheum With a (re)View is the ACR Journals peer review mentoring program in which early-career investigators are mentored by experienced investigator/authors on how to conduct manuscript review. The purpose of the program is to engage and educate the next generation of potential reviewers for the ACR journals at a time when it is increasingly difficult for journals to find enough willing and well-qualified manuscript reviewers.

About the Mentoring Program

Each mentor will have a group of three mentees who will complete a brief online self-study program and then will begin their “live” (but virtual) training in which, over the course of a year, the mentor will share with mentees at least three articles the mentor has been invited to review. The mentees will do their own review of the same articles, and the mentees, either individually or as a group, will receive feedback from the mentor. After approximately a year, if the mentor deems a mentee to be ready, the mentee will receive a certificate of having successfully completed the program and may be added to the journal’s reviewer list.

We have assembled a group of highly respected mentors for Rheum With a (re)View, and we are now ready to inform potential mentees about the program. This is an exciting opportunity to work with leading rheumatology investigators and being trained in best practices for peer review will also help mentees in having their own articles reviewed positively. Once certified as having successfully completed the program, mentees will be able to show this on their CVs.

Each mentee is expected to complete three reviews over the course of the 1-year program, with oversight, critique, and coaching on the part of the mentor. A Certificate of Completion is awarded upon completion of the program, and the mentee graduates are added to our reviewer rosters of our three ACR peer-reviewed journals; Arthritis & Rheumatology; Arthritis Care & Research; and ACR Open Rheumatology.