Hi all,

I received an interesting email today. I've been asked to review a paper for a very good journal, and i am not sure if i should accept or not. I work in ecology/zoology/evolutionary biology/genetics.

Is it normal to send papers for review to 3rd year PhD students? I thought the whole idea of 'peer review' is that the paper gets sent to an EXPERT in the field, not a student. It actually worries me slightly that the fate of someone's publication ends up in the hands of a student who may not know what they are actually doing.

Has anyone had any experience with reviewing papers as a student?
Thank you muchly.

Yes and I felt exactly the same. When I queried it they assured me it was normal to review as a grad student - also for a very good journal. Does make you wonder doesn't it :p

Do you have any published paper? I think that once you are in the literature as an author they start sending you review requests.

Hi Luigi, No, I've never published anything before in my life.  i guess someone saw me talk at a conference or something and decided to recommend me as a referee.

Thanks Smilodon, i spoke to another PhD student today, apparently getting students to referee is more common than i realised.