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In response to my post "The Sad State of Physics Education Research
Refereeing. . . ."[Hake (2012)], Brian McInnes (2012) wrote [slightly
edited so as to insert academic references]:
"Hake's (2012) reference to 'How To Be a Bad Referee?!' [Mosiehian
(2010a)] leads in turn to a "Writing a helpful referee's report"
[Martin (2008)], an excellent well-written paper worth reading by
anyone involved in refereeing papers (or writing them)."
I agree with McInnes, that Martin's (2008) paper is well worth
reading, in addition to my recommended "Twelve Tips for Reviewers"
[Roediger (2007)]. Martin wrote, consistent with Roediger's advice to
"sign your review":
"In the course of my studies of suppression of dissent, I have come
across stories about anonymous review being used for unsavoury
motives, such as blocking a competitor from prior publication or
obstructing work for ideological reasons - or, sometimes, out of envy
and vindictiveness. I wanted to make sure that no one could accuse me
of stabbing them in the back, so for a long time I have waived
anonymity."
BTW, in sharp contrast to McInnes constructive response to my post,
Paul Camp (2012) responded: "One could wish upon a whole entire
meteor shower and still not come across a more perfectly rounded
example of Dunning-Kruger syndrome.
According to Wikipedia <http://bit.ly/UhCEzq> "The Dunning-Kruger
effect is a cognitive bias in which unskilled individuals suffer from
illusory superiority, mistakenly rating their ability much higher
than average. This bias is attributed to a metacognitive inability of
the unskilled to recognize their mistakes." See also "Why the
unskilled are unaware: Further explorations of (absent) self-insight
among the incompetent" [Ehrlinger et al. (2008).
I disagree with Camp's ad hominem attack on Editor Andrew Morrison.
Far from being an example of the Dunning-Kruger syndrome, Morrison is
simply following the time-honored tradition of editors of physics
education research journals. For a perfect example of the
Dunning-Kruger effect one needs to look no further than Paul Camp
himself.
"One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel
certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and
understanding are filled with doubt and indecision"
- Bertrand Russell (1951)
REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on
11 Oct 2012. The present formatting is not commonly employed, but
should be. It employs a blend of the *best* formatting features from
the style manuals of the AIP (American Institute of Physics
<http://bit.ly/d8hJgp>, APA (American Psychological Association)
<http://bit.ly/bfp1vU>, and CSE (Council of Science Editors)
<http://bit.ly/TUHnXT>].
Camp, P. 2012. "Re: The Sad State of Physics Education Research
Refereeing (was Necessary and Sufficient Conditions. . . .)," online
on the CLOSED! PhysLrnR archives at <http://bit.ly/UBOnJQ>. Post of 9
Nov 2012 23:45:52-0500 to PhysLrnR.
Ehrlinger, J., K. Johnson, M. Kerri; M. Banner, Matthew; D. Dunning,
& J, Kruger. 2008. "Why the unskilled are unaware: Further
explorations of (absent) self-insight among the incompetent."
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 105(105):
98-121; online as a 373 kB pdf at <http://bit.ly/TA2Q7U>.
Hake, R.R. 2012. "The Sad State of Physics Education Research
Refereeing (was Necessary and Sufficient Conditions. . . .)," online
on the OPEN Phys-L archives at <http://bit.ly/SYiVJc>.
Martin, B. 2008. "Writing a helpful referee's report," Journal of
Scholarly Publishing 39(3):301-306; online at <http://bit.ly/SNKqCe>.
McInnes, B. 2012. Re: The Sad State of Physics Education Research
Refereeing (was Necessary and Sufficient Conditions. . . .)," online
on the CLOSED! PhysLrnR archives at <http://bit.ly/RuZKnX>. Post of
10 Nov 2012 16:39:26+1100 to PhysLrnR.
Morrison, A. 2002. Re: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions For
Genuine Scientific Research - Response To Greeno," online on the
CLOSED! PhysLrnR archives at <http://bit.ly/Zdhw2w>. Post of 8 Nov
2012 15:37:07-0600 to PhysLrnR.
Moslehian, M.S. 2010a. "How To Be a Bad Referee?!"online at
<http://bit.ly/ranWvb>. Evidently derived from Moslehian (2010b).
Moslehian, M.S. 2010b. "Attributes of an Ideal Referee," Notices of
the American Mathematical Society, November, p. 1245; online as a 49
kB pdf at <http://bit.ly/oDBWIt>.
Roediger III, H.L. 2007. Association for Psychological Science, "The
Academic Observer: Twelve Tips for Reviewers," online as a 135 kB pdf
at <http://bit.ly/TfSbBC>.
Russell, B. 1951. "New Hopes for a Changing World" George Allen &
Unwin, Amazon.com information on a 1968 edition by Minerva Press is
online at <http://amzn.to/PNFBv9>.