Dave I was just being an ass... I apologize my humour was not constructive in the least. Nor funny!
Sometimes being and ass is the most constructive thing one can do.....
no offense taken. I'm not arguing to far in favor of peer review. Over-reliance on peer review as a benchmark gives us such brilliant offerings as quackwatch.com. The founder of which is if not a quack, at least a twit.
The peer reviewed process is good in that it keeps any old idiot from getting his opinion out, but it's bad in that it can stifle creavity, and questioning of the status quo.
I looked around for an article in JAMA a few years ago talking about the limitations of the peer review system. It is not as rock solid as ti appears. The low carb debacle is just one example.
I worked in a lab that really could only publish in a couple of journals. One of the review committee was...drum roll...in a competing lab. We could never prove that it was this guy who nit-picked that crap out of our papers but it slowed our submissions and publishing significantly. It's not to say it's worthless but the peer review process can be much more about politics than science. Remember when folate became "super important" to prevent everything from neural tube deficits to heart disease? The guy who did the pioneering research on that did it in the late 60's!!! He was run out of I think it was harvard and he had to beg, borrow and steal lab time for nearly 35 years before he was vindicated. all because his findings did not square with what peer review thought should happen. Extreme example but that stuff does happen.
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