Peer-review: Why it's important for Theological and Biblical Studies (Prov 27:2)

As I reel from yet another journal rejection, I take solace in the fact that: (a.) my batting average is still above .300 (is that good, bad, normal? I don't know!), and (b.) my "lucky journal," BBR, is about to publish an article of mine on John 21. Yet even so, for every acceptance e-mail by a journal editor, I still see two rejections, and rejections are not pleasant! (For me, the temptation after a rejection is to drive to Pick'N'Save, purchase a "family-size" bag of potato chips, and not share it with my family, if you get my drift). 

Never fear, dear reader, this post is not meant to be a "pity-party," but rather to answer the question, why go through peer-review (for both journals and books) when it's much easier to self-publish?

The peer-review process is not perfect, of course (click here for a helpful Scholastica post on the topic), nor do I wish to suggest that "peer review" is a monolithic entity, equally applicable or beneficial in all circumstances. Furthermore, there are occasionally legitimate reasons for self-publishing, or publishing "in-house" by a small organization (I'm thinking especially of missions or niche works that would only be of interest to a small group of people).

Nonetheless, I can stress three good reasons why peer-review is important for theology and biblical studies. First, Proverbs 27:2--"Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips." In other words, affirmation of the worth/value of something I have accomplished should come from others. When I self-publish, generally speaking, I am affirming my own work. I expect others to purchase my book only because I wrote it (and probably convinced a few good friends to say nice things about it on social media, people who would say nice things about anything I wrote!). In contrast, when I publish through an organization  that has to make choices about what they publish, the fact that it gets published at all is a testament to its potential value. This is even more so when my article or book is vetted through a blind-peer review process, where an established scholar(s), without knowing who I am, determines whether my paper is worth publishing or not. 

Secondly, accountability. If I self-publish, I can make any claims I want to, utilize twisted logic, and still expect a whole bunch of people to believe what I say. Case in point: when I was in college, an popular e-mail was being circulated, sent out to distribution lists, about how "NASA scientists, using a supercomputer, have discovered Joshua's missing day!" It was, of course, pure malarkey, and could not be traced to a reputable source. [For the record, I believe that whatever happened in Joshua 10 was a miracle; but I highly doubt that it's the sort of miracle that could be "proved" with a supercomputer 3,000+ years after the fact!] Despite this, the story continued to circulate as a "legitimate" piece of Christian apologetics.  The point is, the peer-review process is meant to weed out untested postulations or, worse, tall tails (i.e., "lies"). If somebody is careless, they don't get published, at least in theory.

Thirdly, respectability. Precisely because an article in Tyndale Bulletin has gone through a rigorous peer-review process, it is more likely be worthy of my attention. Precisely because a book published by Eerdmans had to have convinced an experienced and intelligent editor of its value (an editor who quite possibly has a PhD herself), that book is more likely to be worthy of my attention. Exceptions exist, of course. If somebody I personally know and respect writes a book and self-publishes it, I'll probably respect that person's book as well (and perhaps even endorse it for them). But I would not expect it to make any ground-breaking contributions to my understanding of Scripture. 

Now, all this does not mean that garbage never gets published via peer-review, or that reviewer bias never impacts acceptance or rejection of an article or book (after all, wouldn't a reviewer naturally gravitate towards those articles that prove something he or she already believes?) Nonetheless, the peer-review process is helpful for those reasons listed above. Those who truly wish to contribute to theology at a higher level than "99-cent Kindle specials" or "personal blog" (like this one!) should keep that in mind.

Pedagogical book alert (Those Who Can, Teach, ed. by Porter) and some other academic resources

Since it looks more and more like I’ll have the privilege of finally teaching full-time, I have started giving more attention to the art of pedagogy. As a result, I am pleased to direct the reader to the fantastic book Those Who Can, Teach: Teaching as Christian Vocation, edited by Stanley Porter with contributions by various members of the faculty at McMaster Divinity College (Eugene, Oreg.: Pickwick, 2013). Click here for the Amazon link.

This book is a treasure trove of essays which cover everything from syllabus creation to lesson-planning, all within the context of Christian higher education. Here’s some of the highlights so far (I’m halfway through the book):

The first chapter by Stanley Porter covers “Developing a Philosophy of Education.” Now, as far as pure writing style, Porter is not my favorite author (though he’s essential for any student of NT Greek and linguistics), and this essay is not exactly the easiest to read in the world. Having said that, content-wise it is fantastic, and I learned a lot from it. Porter covers the various views of education (both historically and philosophically), the weaknesses and strengths of each, and how a Christian educator should go about interacting with his or her students. Especially significant is Porter’s statement near the end, drawing on the work of Gilbert Ryle, that “The ability to teach oneself and think for oneself is what distinguishes education from merely training” (p. 36).

My favorite chapter so far, however, is Mark J. Boda on “Designing and Evaluating Learning Experiences for Courses.” This essay alone is, in my humble but correct opinion, worth the price of the book. This essay is very much student-centric, in that it is designed to help teachers meet the needs of the student. Boda discusses such topics as consistency in grading (p. 68—“I have found that the more time I spend reflecting on why and how I evaluate students’ assignments and communicating clearly the evaluation I give to my students, the less problems I encounter with students over grading”), how to grade, etc. The section at the end on “Best Practices” is fantastic, especially his discussion on professor feedback on papers. One of my pet peeve is papers I received with a grade but no feedback, or unhelpful feedback. In one of my doctoral integrative seminars, I got an assignment back with the remark, “Not bad, but not great either,” at which point I wanted to scream, “Then show me how to do ‘great’!” In my opinion, feedback on assignments is part of teaching, and I hope to emulate Boda’s excellent advice.

Here’s a list of all the essays in the book, for those interested, as well as a link to the Amazon site for the book (click here):

1.    Stanley Porter, “Developing a Philosophy of Education”

2.    Michael P. Knowles, “Pedagogy and Course Objectives”

3.    Mark J. Boda, “Designing and Evaluating Learning Experiences for Courses”

4.    Cynthia Long Westfall, “Developing a Syllabus”

5.    Lee Beach, “Sculpting a Lesson: The Art of Preparing a Classroom Learning Experience”

6.    Lois K. Fuller Dow, “Teaching Introductory New Testament Greek”

7.    Paul Evans: “Teaching Biblical Hebrew; Practical Strategies for Introductory Courses”

8.    Wendy J. Porter, “Leading Intentional Theological Reflection in the Classroom: The Merging of Mind and Heart”

9.    Steven M. Studebaker, “From Doctoral Program to Classroom”

10.                  Gordon L. Heath, “The Upside-Down Professor: The Professor in a Christian Institution”

11.                  Phil C. Zylla, “Spirituality of Teaching and Theological Integration”

And while we’re discussing Christian pedagogy, let me also mention my friend Thomas Hudgins’ new book (a revision of his dissertation) Luke 6:40 and the Theme of Likeness Education in the New Testament (click here for the Amazon.com link).

Finally, for budding young scholars, click here for an excellent discussion of how to get your papers published. Almost all of what Dr. Kirsten Bell discusses here is both common-sensical yet nonetheless excellent advice for Bible and theology doctoral students, except for the part of nominating reviewers for your article (which I don’t think is an option in any of the Biblical/theological journals I’ve ever submitted a paper to). Her discussion about the need to actually be familiar with a journal before submitting a paper is especially key. Also, for good measure, here's a great article by Dr. Joli Jensen on "The Road to Scholarly Writing Utopia," full of more sound wisdom about motivation and time management (click here for the article).