misconduct in peer review

Misconduct in peer review occurs when the process meant to evaluate and validate academic work is compromised. This can happen in several ways, such as reviewers not providing honest feedback, reviewers sharing confidential information about a submitted paper, or editors favoring certain authors due to personal relationships. It can also involve conflicts of interest, where reviewers are biased because of their own interests. Such misconduct undermines the integrity of academic publishing, potentially leading to the dissemination of flawed research and harming the trust in scientific findings.