The review award is established to celebrate and recognize the reviewers that made extra effort in writing their reviews. The international journal Environmental Science & Technology emphasizes the importance of the peer review process in a fast-paced world: ‘we value peer review because it is how we ensure that the papers published in our journal meet our high standard for quality.’

Value of reviewing

Steven Droge works within the research department Freshwater and Marine Ecology (FAME) on the environmental impacts of chemical substances. He recognizes that over the last few years more editors publicly value peer review work by highlighting researchers that are making extra effort in writing their reviews.

Steven Droge explains: ‘Critically reviewing the research of my colleagues in environmental chemistry gives me a fuller picture of the research possibilities in our field of research. No one likes to receive a negative review, and it can potentially cause research with a high time investment to be rejected. But with good reading and clear suggestions many things are still possible, which is something I also appreciate when other people review my work.’