Objective: To describe the outcomes of the first year of an educational program in peer reviewing instituted by the Young Members Group of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorders Society (MDS).

Background: Participation in the peer-review process is important for academic development. Young clinicians and scientists who are developing peer-reviewing skills often rely on personal mentoring, and no formal educational program for peer reviewing existed in the field of Movement Disorders. To address this need, the MDS Young Members Group created the Peer Reviewing Education and Mentoring Program in 2020. The goals of the program were to: 1. Establish a strong mentoring relationship with a prior editor of a Movement Disorders journal, 2. Improve knowledge of the peer review process, 3. Provide experience in the peer review process, and 4. Build confidence in peer review skills.

Method: An electronic survey comprising a subjective questionnaire and an objective skills assessment was sent to all participants before program initiation, midway and after the program was complete. Participants and mentors were also interviewed regarding the program.

Results: Ten MDS members from the Young Members Group were selected, representing all regions of the international Society. After completion of the program there was a significant improvement in subjective rating of knowledge, experience and confidence in peer review compared to at enrollment (Friedman’s ANOVA with Dunn’s post-hoc test). Furthermore, participants’ performance in an objective skills test improved after the initial didactic phase of the program. All agreed that they had a strong mentor.

Conclusion: With the appropriate support and mentorship, a peer review program was incorporated in 2020 as an educational activity by the MDS Young Members Group.  This program has been successful in improving knowledge, experience and confidence in high-quality peer review as well as establishing mentoring relationships. We are working on improving the program by adding collaborative reviewing exercises, which will build experience in peer review. In coming years, we plan to judge the effectiveness of this program in engaging a cohort of reviewers for the MDS journals that reflects the diversity of the MDS, by monitoring the number of reviews performed by the first class of mentees.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/outcomes-of-a-peer-reviewing-education-and-mentoring-program/