September 14–18 is Peer Review Week, a good moment to look at a process many pet owners may never see, but one that quietly shapes the information they and their veterinarian trust. This blogpost explains the peer review process and how veterinarians at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center participate in it.
What is peer review?
Peer review is the process used to evaluate, or “vet,” a scientific paper before a journal accepts it for publication. It starts when a veterinary scientist writes a research paper and submits it to a journal whose focus matches the topic.
For example, a recently published AMC study on liver tumors by Drs. Coffey, Weisse, Ferrari, DeJesus and King appeared in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine. The collaborative study, involving surgery, interventional radiology, and diagnostic imaging, was titled Prognosis and associated risk factors after conservative management of dogs with liver tumors. Liver tumors are often discovered when blood tests show elevations in liver-specific values, resulting in referral to an internal medicine specialist. Because internal medicine specialists and oncologists who treat cancer read this journal, it was a good home for Dr. Coffey’s work.
Once a manuscript is submitted, a member of the journal’s editorial team reviews the topic and identifies potential peer reviewers whose expertise matches the paper. Those reviewers are then contacted to ask whether they are available to evaluate the manuscript. Typically, each manuscript has two or three reviewers.
Who is a peer reviewer?
A peer reviewer is someone with expertise in the topic of the submitted manuscript. Although I am a veterinary cancer specialist, I would decline to review a paper focused solely on radiation therapy to treat cancer; that topic falls outside my expertise. If a manuscript described patients treated with both chemotherapy and radiation therapy, then I could be one of the reviewers, and someone with radiation therapy credentials would be the other.
What does a peer reviewer do?
Providing a review is a big task. A peer reviewer reads the manuscript confidentially and makes written recommendations to the journal’s editorial board about whether the manuscript is suitable for publication. While reading, the reviewer keeps a comprehensive series of questions in mind, such as:
Is the purpose of the study clear, and is the objective of the study relevant?
Are the findings sufficiently new and important to warrant publication?
Are the experimental methods appropriate for the study?
Do the data support the conclusions?
Is the writing clear, concise and readable?
Do the tables, charts and diagrams help convey the results clearly?
How do AMC Veterinarians participate in the peer review process?
AMC veterinarians participate at several points in the scientific publishing process. In addition to conducting research and writing scientific articles, like the collaborative one I described above, AMC Senior Veterinarians participate in the peer review process by serving as manuscript reviewers.
In 2025, AMC veterinarians served as peer reviewers for a wide range of widely read journals, including:
The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
American Journal of Veterinary Research
Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine
Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care
AMC peer reviewers play a critical role in the publication process, helping authors improve their paper and driving excellence in veterinary science. Finally, AMC veterinarians also serve as members of editorial boards of veterinary journals.
Why does peer review matter to pet owners?
Advances in veterinary medicine depend on reliable scientific information. Peer review subjects research to informed scrutiny before it enters the scientific record. At a moment when pet-health misinformation can travel faster than a correction, the rigor of peer review matters. AMC’s participation reflects both the expertise of our veterinarians and their responsibility to the profession: to ask better questions, improve the quality of published research, and help build a stronger body of knowledge for the animals entrusted to our care.