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Global Peer Review Awards
2019 recipientsMethodologyFAQs

All researchers with a Publons profile were automatically eligible for any of the three Peer Review Awards listed below.

Top 1% in each field

The top 1% of reviewers across the 22 Essential Science Indicators (ESI) research areas.

Eligibility criteria:

Rankings were calculated by number of verified pre-publication reviews that were:

  • performed for journals indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection (including the Emerging Sources Citation Index) at the time of calculation;
  • performed between 1 September, 2018 and 31 August, 2019; and
  • added to Publons before 31 August, 2019.

Reviews were attributed to an ESI research area based on the journal the review was performed for. The ESI categorisation was used because it organizes journals into broad research areas that align with Web of Science, the leading citation index for scientific and scholarly research.

The "Cross-field" category captures the top 1% of reviewers in the Multidisciplinary ESI research area and reviewers who performed multiple reviews across different ESI fields (reviews verifying the eligibility criteria).

Excellent reviewers

The top 10 reviewers on Publons ranked by the number of reviews rated as 'excellent' by the handling editor or author, for pre-publication reviews that were:

  • performed for journals indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection (including the Emerging Sources Citation Index) at the time of calculation;
  • performed between 1 September, 2018 and 31 August, 2019; and
  • added to Publons before 31 August, 2019

Our excellent review rating scheme takes into consideration: clarity, thoroughness, helpfulness and timeliness. You can read more about it on our blog here and in our FAQs.

Top handling editors

The top 10 handing editors were calculated by the number of verified editorial records:

  • for journals indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection (including the Emerging Sources Citation Index) at the time of calculation;
  • with a decision date between 1 September, 2018 and 31 August, 2019; and
  • added to Publons before 31 August, 2019.

Each editorial record represents a manuscript for which the editor managed the peer review process before an editorial decision was made.


We have updated the methodology for the Global Peer Review Awards to only count reviews and editorial records performed for journals indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection.

This change is intended to strike the best balance in promoting good research and publishing practices, as it ensures that every review and editorial record we count is from a curated collection of high-quality scholarly journals expertly selected for their editorial rigor, and published worldwide in over 250 science, social sciences, and humanities disciplines. (Click here to learn more about the Web of Science Core Collection selection criteria and process).



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