Background of the SCCM Reviewer Academy Welcome to the Reviewer Academy program. This module will serve as an introduction to the history, development, and objectives of the entire initiative. Please note the relevant disclosures. By the end of this module, participants will be able to understand the development of the Reviewer Academy initiative, identify the framework for ongoing education of reviewers towards consistent, high-quality peer reviews, and be prepared for the completion of the rest of the Reviewer Academy program. The overall development of the Reviewer Academy is rooted in the understanding that the success of any medical or scientific journal rests on the quality of the findings published within. In turn, the quality of the findings relies on the proper review of the submitted work by peers with an expertise in the topic. While this is the goal of every journal, there is a gap in the training of individuals regarding the process of quality peer review. Historically, there has not been a formal pathway or structure to review education. The Society of Critical Care Medicine, SCCM, Reviewer Academy seeks to address a gap in skills training for peer reviewers. This initiative seeks to train and establish a community of trusted, reliable, and skilled peer reviewers with diverse backgrounds and interests to promote high-quality reviews for each of the SCCM journals, Critical Care Medicine, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, and Critical Care Explorations. Goals of the Academy include building accessible resources to highlight the qualities of excellent manuscript reviews, educating, mentoring, and supporting a diverse group of healthcare professionals who can serve as reviewers, and establishing and upholding standards for insightful and informative reviews. To create the Reviewer Academy, we brought together an international, multidisciplinary, and interprofessional group of contributors representing the breadth and scope of the Society. These include physicians from multiple disciplines, allied health professionals, nurses, and the editors-in-chief of SCCM journals. The full list of contributors to this initiative can be found here. A broad, multidisciplinary, interprofessional, and diverse set of volunteers formed a working group to envision and implement an educational initiative that would come to be called the Reviewer Academy. Through their efforts, the group developed a framework for an enduring product, accessible by all individuals interested in participating in the review process. The framework includes a summary manuscript, an in-person workshop, a structured mentoring pathway, and a series of online educational modules. These resources are collated for online delivery as a toolkit for both new reviewers as well as those joining the editorial boards of the SCCM journals. Participation in the Reviewer Academy is voluntary and open to any member of the critical care community. An accompanying manuscript summarizes the core concepts delivered at the 2023 SCCM Critical Care Congress Reviewer Academy Hands-On Workshop and builds the framework upon which the Reviewer Academy online modules will expand. These online modules serve as an accessible and ongoing opportunity to reinforce the educational goals of the Academy, and content includes topics such as conflict of interest, academic integrity, issues related to bias, and geopolitical influences and resource limitations.

SCCM Reviewer Academy

peer review skills

high-quality reviews

online resources

conflict of interest and bias