News

Using Peer Review to Improve Research and Promote Collaboration 
Kupfer DJ,  Murphree AN, Pilkonis PA, Cameron JL, Giang R, Dodds NE, Godard KA, Lewis DA.

The declining success rate of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant applications highlights the need for interdisciplinary work within a large, diverse department to improve chances of federal funding success. To address this need, we have the Research Review Committee (RRC) in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, coordinated by Rosary Giang and Anneliese Murphree.

The aim of this paper, written by members of the RRC, was to demonstrate how systematic peer review promotes two goals: Enhancing the quality of research proposals and cultivating a collaborative departmental culture. Changes to the RRC were instituted to accommodate the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of grant applications, integrate revisions to NIH grant application processes, and incorporate advances in computer technology.

The internal peer review process of the RRC is associated with substantial levels of collaborative scientific work, reflected in both grant applications and peer-reviewed publications. A rich collaborative environment can be promoted through a rigorous internal peer review system, creating many benefits for both the quality of scholarly work and the collegiality of the research environment.

This paper was published online in the January 2014 issue of Academic Psychiatry. Click here to view the paper.

Contributors:
David J. Kupfer, MD; Anneliese N. Murphree, BS; Paul A. Pilkonis, PhD; Judy L. Cameron, PhD; Rosary Giang, BS; Nathan E. Dodds, BS; Kasey A. Godard, BS; David A. Lewis, MD (Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh)