Reviewers' Guide

How to Review for American Family Physician

1. Register: Go to AFP's ScholarOne submission and peer review system and click "Create an Account." Please ensure your profile is complete, including Areas of Interest and Expertise. This allows your name to appear in our reviewer searches and helps us pair you with manuscripts you are best suited to review.

2. Conflict of Interest: When assigned a topic, look for possible conflicts of interest prior to accepting. If you have either of the following, please check with our editorial office at afpjournal@aafp.org before doing your review.

Financial: A financial relationship with a drug or device maker relevant to the topic of the manuscript (eg, participated on the speakers’ bureau for a company that makes products for the condition)
Personal: As AFP’s peer review process is double-blinded, please disclose any circumstances that prevent the review from being blinded

3. Standards: We depend on your help in making this manuscript an up-to-date, high-quality presentation on the topic. Please look for any of the following:

Errors of commission: Are any of the facts incorrect?
Errors of omission: Is there important information missing?
New developments, references, or tables/figures that should be added?
Imbalance to the presentation—evidence of bias?
Problem with clarity—do not worry about grammar or wording unless unclear

How to Do an Effective Peer Review

The accompanying PowerPoint slide presentation is also available.

4. Comments: The comments you provide are the key to the quality of AFP. Comments should be according to the following:

As specific as possible
Focused on improving presentation
Balanced—Comment on weaknesses, but mention strengths
Comments to Editor—Separate comments to the editor can be helpful to discuss sensitive issues such as inappropriate bias or plagiarism concerns. Editors review all author comments, so don’t repeat them.

5. Example: To give you an idea of what reviews for AFP look like, please download the sample reviews. These three peer reviews include strong and weak reviews and a short explanation of each.

DOWNLOAD SAMPLE REVIEWS

Resources: If you are interested in more information about reviewing, see the resources for articles and online courses that are available.

VIEW RESOURCES FOR REVIEWERS

6. Obtain CME for peer review: Reviewing manuscripts for journals listed in Medline, including AFP, qualifies for CME credit. The AAFP allows AAFP members to self-report CME credits for each manuscript review they provide, with a maximum of 100 credits earned per three-year reelection cycle. Credit should be claimed commensurate with the length of time it takes to review. To report the credit, go to the AAFP's CME Reporter. From there, select Scholarly Activity under Report Self-Directed Learning Activities. Alternatively, you may download a Reporting Form to report CME by mail.

Previous Reviewers: Click here to find lists of previous AFP reviewers by year.