Improving Our Reviewing Processes

Our reviewing practices today are failing.With the number of ACL submissions steadily growing over the last several years (for example, ACL 2009 had a 24% increase in submissions over ACL 2008), the need for more reviewers has become more pronounced. However, qualified reviewers are becoming hard to find, and when they are found, they are often hard-pressed for time. As a result, slipshod reviews are becoming commonplace. Allowing this situation to continue as before will result in the deterioration of our ability to recognize excellence in our research. An ‘intervention’ is therefore needed. As I see it, there are two distinct problems to tackle: first, a lack of qualified reviewers, and second, a lack of quality control in reviews. After discussing these, I will suggest some solutions that I believe are worth implementing.