The responsibility of review : guidelines to promote professional courtsey and commitment through the peer review process

The nursing literature increasingly provides some encouragement for nurses to consider writing for publication in refereed journals. Despite the fact that the publication process depends upon the availability of nurses with the interest, skills and knowledge to undertake the review process, there is a paucity of literature addressing this topic. The aim of this paper is to articulate the role of the reviewer and the importance of the reviewing role, and to describe the skills and attributes required to fulfill the expectations effectively.