How do I achieve IOP Trusted Reviewer status?

IOP Trusted Reviewer status is designed to recognise the very best peer reviewers in the physical sciences. We anticipate that only the top 15% of our reviewers will achieve this recognition.

There are two routes to IOP Trusted Reviewer status:

Route 1

You can build your peer review competency online through our elearning hub. It delivers an ‘always-on’ and fully interactive learning experience with courses streamed seamlessly online so that you can boost your peer review knowledge and expertise at your own pace, with the possibility of standing out as an ‘IOP Trusted Reviewer’ once the full course has been completed and verified.

Route 2

Attend one of our free interactive peer review workshops to learn about the fundamentals of peer review, to find out how to write an excellent report, and to gain hands-on experience of reviewing a short manuscript during a practical exercise.

Each workshop is co-chaired by Laura Feetham, reviewer engagement manager at IOP Publishing, and a top-level physicist with extensive peer review experience.

Currently, our workshops are being offered to select institutions, but we will be offering more training opportunities in the near future.

Once you have completed training and have a good grounding in how to write an excellent review, you will be invited to review a manuscript within your field of expertise. Your review will be graded by an experienced peer review editor using the IOP Publishing Reviewer Score. If your peer review report receives a grade of 80% or more – corresponding to a score of 4 or 5 out of 5 – you will receive IOP Trusted Reviewer certification.

Route 3

You can also receive IOP Trusted Reviewer status by submitting a review of outstanding quality, without first undertaking peer review training.

Any reviewer who submits a review graded as 5 out of 5 by our peer review editors will achieve IOP Trusted Reviewer status.

If you would like to be invited to review a manuscript for us, please sign up as a volunteer reviewer here.

When you set up your ScholarOne account, please ensure that you list detailed research interests, avoiding abbreviations, with each term separated by a comma; this will allow us to match you to a manuscript that falls within your field of expertise.

What does an excellent review look like?

A five-star review meets the following criteria:

Very thorough, covering all sections of the manuscript
Relevant to the subject of the manuscript and the broader field
Includes a comparison with existing literature
Report is returned in a timely manner
Recommendation is clearly justified and in line with the journal’s editorial standards

Overall, a five-star review is exceptionally detailed and adds valuable insight when informing the Editor’s decision.

For further guidance on how to write an excellent report that meets these criteria, please refer to our reviewer guide.