NIH nearing the end of peer review review

NIH will hold a final working group meeting tomorrow (October 25) to discuss how to linkurl:amend peer review.;http://enhancing-peer-review.nih.gov/index.html The agency linkurl:kicked off;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/53276/ its review of peer review this summer with the aim of "optimizing its efficiency and effectiveness" - a process many researchers have agreed is needed. The plan is to present results of the series of meetings at the end of this year, and to propose recommendations for change in January. linkurl:David Kaplan,;http://path-www.path.cwru.edu/information6.php?info_id=30 a researcher at Case Western who has been very outspoken about peer review issues (he linkurl:wrote;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/15501/ two linkurl:opinions;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/15701/ for The Scientist on what's wrong with the current system) told me yesterday that he doesn't have much hope that any real change will come out of this review process. "Periodically, they review the process and find, 'Gee, we're not doing so well in identifying innovative stuff,'" he said. But the committee reviewing the process consists of prominent...