Reviewer Satisfaction

Survey feedback on the peer review process at Springer Nature

86% of Springer Nature peer reviewers rated their overall experience with the review process as excellent or good. Read on to learn what factors contributed to successful reviews.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all reviewers for providing us with their honest feedback. We could not publish the research we do without the commitment and dedication of peer reviewers. Responses to our peer review survey allow us to continue to improve the review experience. 

Presenting

  • Over 150,000 reviewer responses

    across 1,000 journals

What is the peer review experience at Springer Nature?

We want to learn more about the various aspects of the review experience so that we can focus on the areas that need the most attention. In order for reviewers to provide a meaningful review of research, they need clear instructions on what is expected. Here’s what reviewers felt.

Survey Question

Percentage who rated their experience as excellent or good
Clarity of review instructions 

89%

Communication with editorial office

83%

Ease of use of reviewing platform 

89%

Completeness of files submitted by author

88%

"The instructions for authors are clear but offer flexibility, making the review process approachable and not onerous.  I very much appreciated not being kicked off of the editorial manager system when I was interrupted by other work and had to pause activity on the website for half an hour at a time.  There was no issue with lost work or disconnection.  As a result, I would happily review for AIDS & Behavior again soon."

REVIEWER (AIDS & Behavior)

"The reviewing system was very easy and understandable."

REVIEWER (Polymer Bulletin)

Would you review for Springer Nature again?

The majority of reviewers who peer review for a Springer Nature journal would participate in the experience again. 

89% of reviewers rated their likelihood of reviewing for Springer Nature as 7 or above on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being “not at all likely” and 10 being “extremely likely.” 

"I hope to be asked to review again in the future. The process seemed simpler than other journals."

REVIEWER (Scientific Reports)

"I found the experience very positive and will be happy to to review again in the future."

REVIEWER (Astrophysics and Space Science)

What are we doing to help reviewers?

We want the time reviewers spend with our journals to be meaningful and useful to their career. Reviewing papers provides an opportunity to learn about the latest research, and being asked to review means that editors view you as an expert in your field. We've created training and guidance to enhance the skills needed for a successful peer review, and provide services that make it easy to showcase the hard work completed.

Finding Reviewers

We are helping to more fairly distribute the work of review in the research community. 

*The results shown above reflect the responses received to the Peer Reviewer Satisfaction Survey from 2018 through August 2021. The survey gathers feedback from peer reviewers who review articles in 1,838 Springer Nature journals.