Regarding the article "Critics Sharpen Assault On Peer Review" by Paul McCarthy (The Scientist, May 30, 1994, page 1): While peer review is certainly not perfect, those of us who depend on it are well aware of its limitations and can work around them. The quality checks afforded by peer review far outweigh its shortcomings. Revealing a reviewer's identity is a good way to dilute or eliminate valuable and often valid criticism leading to a plethora of poor-quality scientific publication. One can only hope that The Scientist will lay this topic to rest before we all fall asleep.
DANA W. ASWAD
Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, Calif. 92717-3900
E-mail: daswad@gandalf.bio.uci.edu
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