---
id: sm-peer-review
name: "peer-review"
url: https://skills.yangsir.net/skill/sm-peer-review
author: davila7
domain: science
tags: ["code-review", "devops-practices", "quality-assurance", "software-development-best-practices", "collaborative-development"]
install_count: 524
rating: 4.20 (37 reviews)
github: https://github.com/davila7/claude-code-templates
---

# peer-review

> 对科学手稿进行系统性同行评审，评估方法论、统计数据和实验设计。

**Stats**: 524 installs · 4.2/5 (37 reviews)

## Before / After 对比

### 科学稿件同行评审效率与质量对比

| Metric | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - |
| - | - | - | - |

## Readme

# peer-review

# Scientific Critical Evaluation and Peer Review

## Overview

Peer review is a systematic process for evaluating scientific manuscripts. Assess methodology, statistics, design, reproducibility, ethics, and reporting standards. Apply this skill for manuscript and grant review across disciplines with constructive, rigorous evaluation.

## When to Use This Skill

This skill should be used when:

- Conducting peer review of scientific manuscripts for journals

- Evaluating grant proposals and research applications

- Assessing methodology and experimental design rigor

- Reviewing statistical analyses and reporting standards

- Evaluating reproducibility and data availability

- Checking compliance with reporting guidelines (CONSORT, STROBE, PRISMA)

- Providing constructive feedback on scientific writing

## Visual Enhancement with Scientific Schematics

**When creating documents with this skill, always consider adding scientific diagrams and schematics to enhance visual communication.**

If your document does not already contain schematics or diagrams:

- Use the **scientific-schematics** skill to generate AI-powered publication-quality diagrams

- Simply describe your desired diagram in natural language

- Nano Banana Pro will automatically generate, review, and refine the schematic

**For new documents:** Scientific schematics should be generated by default to visually represent key concepts, workflows, architectures, or relationships described in the text.

**How to generate schematics:**

```
python scripts/generate_schematic.py "your diagram description" -o figures/output.png

```

The AI will automatically:

- Create publication-quality images with proper formatting

- Review and refine through multiple iterations

- Ensure accessibility (colorblind-friendly, high contrast)

- Save outputs in the figures/ directory

**When to add schematics:**

- Peer review workflow diagrams

- Evaluation criteria decision trees

- Review process flowcharts

- Methodology assessment frameworks

- Quality assessment visualizations

- Reporting guidelines compliance diagrams

- Any complex concept that benefits from visualization

For detailed guidance on creating schematics, refer to the scientific-schematics skill documentation.

## Peer Review Workflow

Conduct peer review systematically through the following stages, adapting depth and focus based on the manuscript type and discipline.

### Stage 1: Initial Assessment

Begin with a high-level evaluation to determine the manuscript's scope, novelty, and overall quality.

**Key Questions:**

- What is the central research question or hypothesis?

- What are the main findings and conclusions?

- Is the work scientifically sound and significant?

- Is the work appropriate for the intended venue?

- Are there any immediate major flaws that would preclude publication?

**Output:** Brief summary (2-3 sentences) capturing the manuscript's essence and initial impression.

### Stage 2: Detailed Section-by-Section Review

Conduct a thorough evaluation of each manuscript section, documenting specific concerns and strengths.

#### Abstract and Title

- **Accuracy:** Does the abstract accurately reflect the study's content and conclusions?

- **Clarity:** Is the title specific, accurate, and informative?

- **Completeness:** Are key findings and methods summarized appropriately?

- **Accessibility:** Is the abstract comprehensible to a broad scientific audience?

#### Introduction

- **Context:** Is the background information adequate and current?

- **Rationale:** Is the research question clearly motivated and justified?

- **Novelty:** Is the work's originality and significance clearly articulated?

- **Literature:** Are relevant prior studies appropriately cited?

- **Objectives:** Are research aims/hypotheses clearly stated?

#### Methods

- **Reproducibility:** Can another researcher replicate the study from the description provided?

- **Rigor:** Are the methods appropriate for addressing the research questions?

- **Detail:** Are protocols, reagents, equipment, and parameters sufficiently described?

- **Ethics:** Are ethical approvals, consent, and data handling properly documented?

- **Statistics:** Are statistical methods appropriate, clearly described, and justified?

- **Validation:** Are controls, replicates, and validation approaches adequate?

**Critical elements to verify:**

- Sample sizes and power calculations

- Randomization and blinding procedures

- Inclusion/exclusion criteria

- Data collection protocols

- Computational methods and software versions

- Statistical tests and correction for multiple comparisons

#### Results

- **Presentation:** Are results presented logically and clearly?

- **Figures/Tables:** Are visualizations appropriate, clear, and properly labeled?

- **Statistics:** Are statistical results properly reported (effect sizes, confidence intervals, p-values)?

- **Objectivity:** Are results presented without over-interpretation?

- **Completeness:** Are all relevant results included, including negative results?

- **Reproducibility:** Are raw data or summary statistics provided?

**Common issues to identify:**

- Selective reporting of results

- Inappropriate statistical tests

- Missing error bars or measures of variability

- Over-fitting or circular analysis

- Batch effects or confounding variables

- Missing controls or validation experiments

#### Discussion

- **Interpretation:** Are conclusions supported by the data?

- **Limitations:** Are study limitations acknowledged and discussed?

- **Context:** Are findings placed appropriately within existing literature?

- **Speculation:** Is speculation clearly distinguished from data-supported conclusions?

- **Significance:** Are implications and importance clearly articulated?

- **Future directions:** Are next steps or unanswered questions discussed?

**Red flags:**

- Overstated conclusions

- Ignoring contradictory evidence

- Causal claims from correlational data

- Inadequate discussion of limitations

- Mechanistic claims without mechanistic evidence

#### References

- **Completeness:** Are key relevant papers cited?

- **Currency:** Are recent important studies included?

- **Balance:** Are contrary viewpoints appropriately cited?

- **Accuracy:** Are citations accurate and appropriate?

- **Self-citation:** Is there excessive or inappropriate self-citation?

### Stage 3: Methodological and Statistical Rigor

Evaluate the technical quality and rigor of the research with particular attention to common pitfalls.

**Statistical Assessment:**

- Are statistical assumptions met (normality, independence, homoscedasticity)?

- Are effect sizes reported alongside p-values?

- Is multiple testing correction applied appropriately?

- Are confidence intervals provided?

- Is sample size justified with power analysis?

- Are parametric vs. non-parametric tests chosen appropriately?

- Are missing data handled properly?

- Are exploratory vs. confirmatory analyses distinguished?

**Experimental Design:**

- Are controls appropriate and adequate?

- Is replication sufficient (biological and technical)?

- Are potential confounders identified and controlled?

- Is randomization properly implemented?

- Are blinding procedures adequate?

- Is the experimental design optimal for the research question?

**Computational/Bioinformatics:**

- Are computational methods clearly described and justified?

- Are software versions and parameters documented?

- Is code made available for reproducibility?

- Are algorithms and models validated appropriately?

- Are assumptions of computational methods met?

- Is batch correction applied appropriately?

### Stage 4: Reproducibility and Transparency

Assess whether the research meets modern standards for reproducibility and open science.

**Data Availability:**

- Are raw data deposited in appropriate repositories?

- Are accession numbers provided for public databases?

- Are data sharing restrictions justified (e.g., patient privacy)?

- Are data formats standard and accessible?

**Code and Materials:**

- Is analysis code made available (GitHub, Zenodo, etc.)?

- Are unique materials available or described sufficiently for recreation?

- Are protocols detailed in sufficient depth?

**Reporting Standards:**

- Does the manuscript follow discipline-specific reporting guidelines (CONSORT, PRISMA, ARRIVE, MIAME, MINSEQE, etc.)?

- See `references/reporting_standards.md` for common guidelines

- Are all elements of the appropriate checklist addressed?

### Stage 5: Figure and Data Presentation

Evaluate the quality, clarity, and integrity of data visualization.

**Quality Checks:**

- Are figures high resolution and clearly labeled?

- Are axes properly labeled with units?

- Are error bars defined (SD, SEM, CI)?

- Are statistical significance indicators explained?

- Are color schemes appropriate and accessible (colorblind-friendly)?

- Are scale bars included for images?

- Is data visualization appropriate for the data type?

**Integrity Checks:**

- Are there signs of image manipulation (duplications, splicing)?

- Are Western blots and gels appropriately presented?

- Are representative images truly representative?

- Are all conditions shown (no selective presentation)?

**Clarity:**

- Can figures stand alone with their legends?

- Is the message of each figure immediately clear?

- Are there redundant figures or panels?

- Would data be better presented as tables or figures?

### Stage 6: Ethical Considerations

Verify that the research meets ethical standards and guidelines.

**Human Subjects:**

- Is IRB/ethics approval documented?

- Is informed consent described?

- Are vulnerable populations appropriately protected?

- Is patient privacy adequately protected?

- Are potential conflicts of interest disclosed?

**Animal Research:**

- Is IACUC or equivalent approval documented?

- Are procedures humane and justified?

- Are the 3Rs (replacement, reduction, refinement) considered?

- Are euthanasia methods appropriate?

**Research Integrity:**

- Are there concerns about data fabrication or falsification?

- Is authorship appropriate and justified?

- Are competing interests disclosed?

- Is funding source disclosed?

- Are there concerns about plagiarism or duplicate publication?

### Stage 7: Writing Quality and Clarity

Assess the manuscript's clarity, organization, and accessibility.

**Structure and Organization:**

- Is the manuscript logically organized?

- Do sections flow coherently?

- Are transitions between ideas clear?

- Is the narrative compelling and clear?

**Writing Quality:**

- Is the language clear, precise, and concise?

- Are jargon and acronyms minimized and defined?

- Is grammar and spelling correct?

- Are sentences unnecessarily complex?

- Is the passive voice overused?

**Accessibility:**

- Can a non-specialist understand the main findings?

- Are technical terms explained?

- Is the significance clear to a broad audience?

## Structuring Peer Review Reports

Organize feedback in a hierarchical structure that prioritizes issues and provides actionable guidance.

### Summary Statement

Provide a concise overall assessment (1-2 paragraphs):

- Brief synopsis of the research

- Overall recommendation (accept, minor revisions, major revisions, reject)

- Key strengths (2-3 bullet points)

- Key weaknesses (2-3 bullet points)

- Bottom-line assessment of significance and soundness

### Major Comments

List critical issues that significantly impact the manuscript's validity, interpretability, or significance. Number these sequentially for easy reference.

**Major comments typically include:**

- Fundamental methodological flaws

- Inappropriate statistical analyses

- Unsupported or overstated conclusions

- Missing critical controls or experiments

- Serious reproducibility concerns

- Major gaps in literature coverage

- Ethical concerns

**For each major comment:**

- Clearly state the issue

- Explain why it's problematic

- Suggest specific solutions or additional experiments

- Indicate if addressing it is essential for publication

### Minor Comments

List less critical issues that would improve clarity, completeness, or presentation. Number these sequentially.

**Minor comments typically include:**

- Unclear figure labels or legends

- Missing methodological details

- Typographical or grammatical errors

- Suggestions for improved data presentation

- Minor statistical reporting issues

- Supplementary analyses that would strengthen conclusions

- Requests for clarification

**For each minor comment:**

- Identify the specific location (section, paragraph, figure)

- State the issue clearly

- Suggest how to address it

### Specific Line-by-Line Comments (Optional)

For manuscripts requiring detailed feedback, provide section-specific or line-by-line comments:

- Reference specific page/line numbers or sections

- Note factual errors, unclear statements, or missing citations

- Suggest specific edits for clarity

### Questions for Authors

List specific questions that need clarification:

- Methodological details that are unclear

- Seemingly contradictory results

- Missing information needed to evaluate the work

- Requests for additional data or analyses

## Tone and Approach

Maintain a constructive, professional, and collegial tone throughout the review.

**Best Practices:**

- **Be constructive:** Frame criticism as opportunities for improvement

- **Be specific:** Provide concrete examples and actionable suggestions

- **Be balanced:** Acknowledge strengths as well as weaknesses

- **Be respectful:** Remember that authors have invested significant effort

- **Be objective:** Focus on the science, not the scientists

- **Be thorough:** Don't overlook issues, but prioritize appropriately

- **Be clear:** Avoid ambiguous or vague criticism

**Avoid:**

- Personal attacks or dismissive language

- Sarcasm or condescension

- Vague criticism without specific examples

- Requesting unnecessary experiments beyond the scope

- Demanding adherence to personal preferences vs. best practices

- Revealing your identity if reviewing is double-blind

## Special Considerations by Manuscript Type

### Original Research Articles

- Emphasize rigor, reproducibility, and novelty

- Assess significance and impact

- Verify that conclusions are data-driven

- Check for complete methods and appropriate controls

### Reviews and Meta-Analyses

- Evaluate comprehensiveness of literature coverage

- Assess search strategy and inclusion/exclusion criteria

- Verify systematic approach and lack of bias

- Check for critical analysis vs. mere summarization

- For meta-analyses, evaluate statistical approach and heterogeneity

### Methods Papers

- Emphasize validation and comparison to existing methods

- Assess reproducibility and availability of protocols/code

- Evaluate improvements over existing approaches

- Check for sufficient detail for implementation

### Short Reports/Letters

- Adapt expectations for brevity

- Ensure core findings are still rigorous and significant

- Verify that format is appropriate for findings

### Preprints

- Recognize that these have not undergone formal peer review

- May be less polished than journal submissions

- Still apply rigorous standards for scientific validity

- Consider providing constructive feedback to help authors improve before journal submission

### Presentations and Slide Decks

**⚠️ CRITICAL: For presentations, NEVER read the PDF directly. ALWAYS convert to images first.**

When reviewing scientific presentations (PowerPoint, Beamer, slide decks):

#### Mandatory Image-Based Review Workflow

**NEVER attempt to read presentation PDFs directly** - this causes buffer overflow errors and doesn't show visual formatting issues.

**Required Process:**

- Convert PDF to images using Python:

```
python skills/scientific-slides/scripts/pdf_to_images.py presentation.pdf review/slide --dpi 150
# Creates: review/slide-001.jpg, review/slide-002.jpg, etc.

```

- Read and inspect EACH slide image file sequentially

- Document issues with specific slide numbers

- Provide feedback on visual formatting and content

**Print when starting review:**

```
[HH:MM:SS] PEER REVIEW: Presentation detected - converting to images for review
[HH:MM:SS] PDF REVIEW: NEVER reading PDF directly - using image-based inspection

```

#### Presentation-Specific Evaluation Criteria

**Visual Design and Readability:**

-  Text is large enough (minimum 18pt, ideally 24pt+ for body text)

-  High contrast between text and background (4.5:1 minimum, 7:1 preferred)

-  Color scheme is professional and colorblind-accessible

-  Consistent visual design across all slides

-  White space is adequate (not cramped)

-  Fonts are clear and professional

**Layout and Formatting (Check EVERY Slide Image):**

-  No text overflow or truncation at slide edges

-  No element overlaps (text over images, overlapping shapes)

-  Titles are consistently positioned

-  Content is properly aligned

-  Bullets and text are not cut off

-  Figures fit within slide boundaries

-  Captions and labels are visible and readable

**Content Quality:**

-  One main idea per slide (not overloaded)

-  Minimal text (3-6 bullets per slide maximum)

-  Bullet points are concise (5-7 words each)

-  Figures are simplified and clear (not copy-pasted from papers)

-  Data visualizations have large, readable labels

-  Citations are present and properly formatted

-  Results/data slides dominate the presentation (40-50% of content)

**Structure and Flow:**

-  Clear narrative arc (introduction → methods → results → discussion)

-  Logical progression between slides

-  Slide count appropriate for talk duration (~1 slide per minute)

-  Title slide includes authors, affiliation, date

-  Introduction cites relevant background literature (3-5 papers)

-  Discussion cites comparison papers (3-5 papers)

-  Conclusions slide summarizes key findings

-  Acknowledgments/funding slide at end

**Scientific Content:**

-  Research question clearly stated

-  Methods adequately summarized (not excessive detail)

-  Results presented logically with clear visualizations

-  Statistical significance indicated appropriately

-  Conclusions supported by data shown

-  Limitations acknowledged where appropriate

-  Future directions or broader impact discussed

**Common Presentation Issues to Flag:**

**Critical Issues (Must Fix):**

- Text overflow making content unreadable

- Font sizes too small (<18pt)

- Element overlaps obscuring data

- Insufficient contrast (text hard to read)

- Figures too complex or illegible

- No citations (completely unsupported claims)

- Slide count drastically mismatched to duration

**Major Issues (Should Fix):**

- Inconsistent design across slides

- Too much text (walls of text, not bullets)

- Poorly simplified figures (axis labels too small)

- Cramped layout with insufficient white space

- Missing key structural elements (no conclusion slide)

- Poor color choices (not colorblind-safe)

- Minimal results content (<30% of slides)

**Minor Issues (Suggestions for Improvement):**

- Could use more visuals/diagrams

- Some slides slightly text-heavy

- Minor alignment inconsistencies

- Could benefit from more white space

- Additional citations would strengthen claims

- Color scheme could be more modern

#### Review Report Format for Presentations

**Summary Statement:**

- Overall impression of presentation quality

- Appropriateness for target audience and duration

- Key strengths (visual design, content, clarity)

- Key weaknesses (formatting issues, content gaps)

- Recommendation (ready to present, minor revisions, major revisions)

**Layout and Formatting Issues (By Slide Number):**

```
Slide 3: Text overflow - bullet point 4 extends beyond right margin
Slide 7: Element overlap - figure overlaps with caption text
Slide 12: Font size - axis labels too small to read from distance
Slide 18: Alignment - title not centered

```

**Content and Structure Feedback:**

- Adequacy of background context and citations

- Clarity of research question and objectives

- Quality of methods summary

- Effectiveness of results presentation

- Strength of conclusions and implications

**Design and Accessibility:**

- Overall visual appeal and professionalism

- Color contrast and readability

- Colorblind accessibility

- Consistency across slides

**Timing and Scope:**

- Whether slide count matches intended duration

- Appropriate level of detail for talk type

- Balance between sections

#### Example Image-Based Review Process

```
[14:30:00] PEER REVIEW: Starting review of presentation
[14:30:05] PEER REVIEW: Presentation detected - converting to images
[14:30:10] PDF REVIEW: Running pdf_to_images.py on presentation.pdf
[14:30:15] PDF REVIEW: Converted 25 slides to images in review/ directory
[14:30:20] PDF REVIEW: Inspecting slide 1/25 - title slide
[14:30:25] PDF REVIEW: Inspecting slide 2/25 - introduction
...
[14:35:40] PDF REVIEW: Inspecting slide 25/25 - acknowledgments
[14:35:45] PDF REVIEW: Completed image-based review
[14:35:50] PEER REVIEW: Found 8 layout issues, 3 content issues
[14:35:55] PEER REVIEW: Generating structured feedback by slide number

```

**Remember:** For presentations, the visual inspection via images is MANDATORY. Never attempt to read presentation PDFs as text - it will fail and miss all visual formatting issues.

## Resources

This skill includes reference materials to support comprehensive peer review:

### references/reporting_standards.md

Guidelines for major reporting standards across disciplines (CONSORT, PRISMA, ARRIVE, MIAME, STROBE, etc.) to evaluate completeness of methods and results reporting.

### references/common_issues.md

Catalog of frequent methodological and statistical issues encountered in peer review, with guidance on identifying and addressing them.

## Final Checklist

Before finalizing the review, verify:

-  Summary statement clearly conveys overall assessment

-  Major concerns are clearly identified and justified

-  Suggested revisions are specific and actionable

-  Minor issues are noted but properly categorized

-  Statistical methods have been evaluated

-  Reproducibility and data availability assessed

-  Ethical considerations verified

-  Figures and tables evaluated for quality and integrity

-  Writing quality assessed

-  Tone is constructive and professional throughout

-  Review is thorough but proportionate to manuscript scope

-  Recommendation is consistent with identified issues

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---
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