In a message dated 1/7/2009 2:46:30 PM Pacific Standard Time, dgoodmanny@gmail.com writes:
Hard cover bios from academic publishers are invariably peer reviewed, usually by three consultants, as well as the usually expert editorial staff.>>
--------------------- Hard cover bios from commericial publishers are not "peer reviewed" and I seriously doubt even academic publishers submit them to "peer" review in the proper sense.
They are sometimes sent as gratis copies to editors of small magazines and so on, to solicit back-cover comments. But there is no requirement, not intent, to modify the contents of the project *based* on any of those comments.
The in-house editors are not validating or verifying the contents of the work, they are checking the English usage and so on, just as editors at commercial houses do. Looking for obvious blunders, is not the same as a critique on the thesis itself.
That's not the same as "peer" review at all, in the sense that we are using it for the hard sciences.
Will Johnson
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