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I have been advised that I should include the peer reviews in my CV, particularly when I am applying for academic/research positions. I am not too sure how to go about this, thus my questions:

  • Is it ethical to include the full details? I would imagine that as reviews are anonymous, this would be a no-no.

  • Should I just say something along the lines "Reviewer: Journal name"?

Also, what section of the CV should this information be included under?

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I believe you may get some tips from the answers to a question of mine on this very site: “Do you list journals you have reviewed for on your CV?”

As for myself, I list the peer-reviews I have done in a “Administrative and collective duties” or “Community involvement”. Or, in a short CV which doesn't have such divisions, I put it with the broader “Other skills and activities” section (i.e. not teaching, not research projects).

What I include is:

  • list of journals for which I act as reviewer (“Regular reviewer for many chemistry journals, including …”)
  • funding bodies (NSF, private trusts, etc.) for which I act as expert (including, e.g., NSF division, but not the exact programs)
  • evaluation committees on which I sit

It feels obvious, but it's always worth repeating: do not include any confidential information, such as titles or author lists for reviewer papers or projects. I think it's safe to list the number of reviews performed for each outlet if you want (but I don't do it).

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  • excellent advice, and that is definitely an important piece of advice to repeat. Thank you also for sharing how you set out the relevant section of the CV. Thank you for the link, also!
    – user7130
    Jul 25, 2013 at 10:28
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As I see it the reviews are, unless explicitly stated otherwise, a communication between you and the editor and authors. If you make the reviews public you probably need to ask the other parties for permission, if nothing else so for politeness. I therefore suggest anonymous listing.

I personally have an entry in my CV which tells how many reviews I have made since (in my case) 1995 and then lists the journals for which I have made such reviews. As a side-point, I do the same for reviews of proposals I make for large granting organisations such as NERC (UK) and NSF (US). I do not see any point in, say, providing details on suggestions for reject/revisoions/accept. In the end the number of reviews (also per year) is what shows your experience and provides credit.

You should also look at the question Can I publish the reviews I write? and Ethics of publishing received peer reviews [duplicate] for different views on making public reviews in different ways.

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  • Thank you for this, particularly for your account of what you do - which makes good sense.
    – user7130
    Jul 25, 2013 at 10:09
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If you are compiling a CV for a job at a University you should make sure to include whether or not your journal entry was refereed. This adds weight to the entry.

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    Are you sure you got the question right? It's about including the peer reviews performed for a journal, so it's obviously refereed - by the OP. Or are you talking about a review of a review (how would that even make sense...)? Please clarify you answer.
    – user68958
    Jul 17, 2018 at 21:23
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    In what context would a journal article not be peer-reviewed?
    – Azor Ahai -him-
    Jul 17, 2018 at 21:26

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