Reviewer of the Year: Dr Elke Vorndran, University of Würzburg, Germany
For Dr Elke Vorndran, Biomedical Materials perfectly fits her field of expertise and day-to-day research. Internationally recognized, the journal features articles on biomaterial research with a high impact factor. One paper she recently enjoyed considered the in vivo performance of additive manufactured bone implants, an area of great interest to her: Evaluation of 3D printed PCL/PLGA/-TCP versus collagen membranes for guided bone regeneration in a beagle implant model.
Dr Vorndran finds reviewing rewarding for two main reasons: it enables her to be at the forefront of new developments in her field and she gains much satisfaction from helping authors to improve their papers.
Besides novelty and significance, Dr Vorndran looks for a number of elements in a manuscript: clear introductions, suitable applied methods, convincing results and new knowledge. It is also important that the experiments can be replicated, and that the authors discuss their results in the context of the current literature.
In terms of the peer review process overall, Dr Vorndran feels that a double-anonymous approach would help alleviate bias. She also advocates sharing reports to encourage a fair and polite service, and to help inexperienced reviewers.
Dr Vorndran congratulates all novices who have been invited to review, saying this demonstrates that they are valued as an expert in their field. She strongly recommends that first-time reviewers keep within their sphere of knowledge and ensure editors are aware of this.
Outstanding Reviewers:
- Dr Henrique Almeida, University of Dublin Trinity College, Ireland
- Professor Qing Cai, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China
- Dr Víctor Carriel, University of Granada, Spain
- Dr Virginie Dumas, Université de Lyon, France
- Dr Adam Ekenseair, Northeastern University, United States
- Dr Aaron Goldstein, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, United States
- Professor Nesrin Hasırcı, Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi, Turkey
- Dr Kyobum Kim, Incheon National University, Republic of Korea
- Dr Dale Marecak, Queen’s University, Canada
- Dr Samuel Murray, VA Research Foundation, United States
- Dr Teresa Russo, CNR Naples, Italy
- Professor Shanfeng Wang, University of Tennessee, United States
- Professor Xiaoping Yang, Bejing University of Chemical Technology, China
- Dr Azizeh-Mitra Yousefi, Miami University, United States
Reviewer of the Year: Dr Hiroto Tanaka, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
An Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, Dr Hiroto Tanaka finds the journal Bioinspiration & Biomimetics applicable to his field of research.
Calling his work and the published papers ‘a perfect match’, Dr Tanaka takes great pleasure in being able to contribute to maintaining the high standards of this interdisciplinary journal. One article that recently caught his attention investigated similarities between the wing motion of hummingbirds and flapping wing micro air vehicles: Experimental optimization of wing shape for a hummingbird-like flapping wing micro air vehicle.
When undertaking a review, Dr Tanaka finds it rewarding to have the opportunity to read thought-provoking studies and to contribute to their improvement. It is important to him that the papers he referees are original, clear and concise. His advice to those who are new to the review process is to first pick out the fundamental problems within the manuscript before tackling minor issues such as spelling and grammar.
Dr Tanaka encourages researchers to act as referees in order to meet the overwhelming need for high quality reviews. Although, he fears that the increasing numbers of journals and published papers are far outweighing the numbers of available volunteer reviewers.
Outstanding Reviewers:
- Dr Otar Akanyeti, University of Florida, United States
- Mr Francesco Branz, Universita degli Studi di Padova, Italy
- Dr Thomas Buschmann, Google Inc., United States
- Dr A Conn, University of Bristol, UK
- Dr G de Croon, Technische Universiteit Delft, Netherlands
- Dr Jacob Engelmann, Universitat Bielefeld, Germany
- Mr Elliot Hawkes, Stanford University, United States
- Dr Ajay Giri Prakash Kottapalli, Center for Environmental Sensing and Modeling (CENSAM), Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), United States
- Dr Albert Medina, University of Maryland, United States
- Mr Falk Muench, Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, Germany
- Professor Jochen Steil, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany
Reviewer of the Year: Dr Daniela Duarte Campos, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Germany
Having formerly published work in Biofabrication as part of her PhD, Dr Daniela Duarte Campos felt motivated to act as a reviewer for the journal. She not only deems it important to provide expertise in the field of the proposed manuscripts, but also to reciprocate a service that benefits all researchers.
Dr Duarte Campos strongly believes that only robust research should be published. The study need not be vastly interesting or contain successful results, but the methodology should be sound and should also add significant value to the field.
When refereeing, Dr Duarte Campos finds it particularly rewarding to see good articles successfully published after rigorous peer review. Always endeavouring to include recommendations for improvement, she is gratified when authors take her suggestions on board and implement changes.
One article that captured her imagination considered recent advances in bioprinting, using smart materials that can be transformed under various stimuli: 4D bioprinting: the next-generation technology for biofabrication enabled by stimuli-responsive materials.
Dr Duarte Campos modestly claims that she was not a particularly proficient reviewer in the beginning; she would approach the task as if it were Where’s Wally?, searching for every single spelling and scientific mistake possible. She therefore urges first-time reviewers to seek advice from colleagues or mentors, who are able to offer a different perspective.
Now a practised reviewer, Dr Duarte Campos looks for scientific relevance and novelty, scrutinizing the authors’ methodologies, among other things, to corroborate whether a paper should be rejected or accepted.
Outstanding Reviewers:
- Dr Mark Ahearne, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
- Dr Daniel Chen, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
- Dr Silvia Fare, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
- Dr Alan Faulkner-Jones, University of Strathclyde, UK
- Dr Antonio Gloria, University of Naples “Federico II”, National Research Council of Italy, Italy
- Professor Yong He, Zhejiang University, China
- Dr Anja Lode, Technische Universitaet Dresden, Germany
- Dr Maciej Skotak, NJIT New Jersey Institute of Technology, United States
- Dr Guowei Yin, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, United States
Some IOP Publishing journals operate slightly different reviewer reward schemes. If you are unsure, please check on the journal’s open access information page for which you have reviewed an article, or email the relevant journal.
- 2D Materials
- Biofabrication
- Bioinspiration and Biomimetics
- Biomedical Materials
- Biomedical Physics and Engineering Express
- Classical and Quantum Gravity
- Electronic Structure
- Environmental Research Communications*
- Environmental Research Letters*
- Environmental Research Communications*
- Environmental Research: Climate*
- Environmental Research: Ecology*
- Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability*
- EPL (Europhysics Letters)
- European Journal of Physics
- Fluid Dynamics Research
- Inverse Problems
- Journal of Breath Research
- Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering
- Journal of Neural Engineering
- Journal of Optics
- Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical
- Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
- Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter
- Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics
- Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics
- Journal of Physics Communications*
- Journal of Physics: Complexity*
- Journal of Physics: Energy*
- Journal of Physics: Materials*
- Journal of Physics: Photonics*
- Journal of Radiological Protection
- Machine Learning: Science and Technology
- Materials Research Express*
- Measurement Science and Technology
- Methods and Applications in Fluorescence
- Metrologia
- Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering
- Nanotechnology
- Nano Futures
- Neuromorphic Computing and Engineering*
- Nonlinearity
- New Journal of Physics*
- Nuclear Fusion
- Physica Scripta
- Physical Biology
- Physics Education
- Physics in Medicine and Biology
- Physiological Measurement
- Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
- Plasma Sources Science and Technology
- Quantum Science & Technology
- Semiconductor Science and Technology
- Smart Materials and Structures
- Superconductor Science and Technology
- Surface Topography: Metrology and Properties
*fully open access journals
You can claim a reward every time you review an article for the journals participating in the scheme. To use the reward, the procedure below should be followed:
1
Select the open access option when submitting an article through ScholarOne
2
A box will appear that asks if you have recently reviewed an article for IOP Publishing; you will be asked for details of the article(s) you have reviewed
3
We will apply any reward to the invoice for your article publication charge.
Reviewer of the Year: Dr Haining Wang, Cornell University, United States
Outstanding Reviewers:
- Professor Alberto Bianco, CNRS, France
- Dr Cyrill Bussy, University of Manchester, UK
- Dr Luciano Colombo, Universita degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy
- Dr Aron Cummings, Institut Catalá de NanociénciaI Nanotecnologia (ICN2), Spain
- Professor Humberto Gutierrez, University of Louisville, United States
- Professor Jun He, Chinese Academy of Sciences – National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, China
- Dr Chris Hinkle, University of Texas at Dallas, United States
- Dr Jiahao Kang, University of California Santa Barbara, United States
- Dr Jani Kotakoski, Universitaet Wien, Austria
- Dr Jose Lado, International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Portugal
- Mr Aurélien Lherbier, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
- Mr Zhen Li, University of Southern California, United States
- Mr Zhong Lin, The Pennsylvania State University, United States
- Professor Francesco Mauri, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, France
- Miss Amber McCreary, The Pennsylvania State University, United States
- Professor Dr Kosuke Nagashio, University of Tokyo, Japan
- Professor Marek Potemski, CNRS, France
- Dr Jenaina Ribeiro-Soares, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Brazil
- Dr Pablo San-Jose, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Spain
- Dr John Schaibley, University of Washington, Seattle, United States
- Dr Udo Schwingenschlogl, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia
- Dr Eric Suarez Morell, Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, Chile
- Professor Dong Sun, Peking University, China
- Professor Ning Wang, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong
- Ms Tatiana Webb, Harvard University, United States
- Dr Zhong-Shuai Wu, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
- Professor Dr Harold Zandvliet, University of Twente, Netherlands
- Professor Hui Zhao, University of Kansas, United States
When you submit your report to an IOP journal, you will be invited to complete a short survey about your experience. We are always looking to improve our services and would love to hear from your about how we can continue to support our reviewers. You can also contact the editorial office with any feedback you have about reviewing for us.
To help recognize the vital contribution our reviewers make to the publishing process, IOP has a reward programme based on open access discounts. When you review an article for an IOP journal, you may claim a 10% discount on the cost of publishing an article in any IOP journal on a gold open access basis. Discounts are valid for two years from the date the review was submitted, and can be applied to an article processing charge (APC) by any co-author.
