Data from: Recruitment of reviewers is becoming harder at some journals: a test of the influence of reviewer fatigue at six journals in ecology and evolution

Background: It is commonly reported by editors that it has become harder to recruit reviewers for peer review and that this is because individuals are being asked to review too often and are experiencing reviewer fatigue. However, evidence supporting these arguments is largely anecdotal.

Main body: We examine responses of individuals to review invitations for six journals in ecology and evolution. The proportion of invitations that lead to a submitted review has been decreasing steadily over 13 years (2003–2015) for four of the six journals examined, with a cumulative effect that has been quite substantial (average decline from 56% of review invitations generating a review in 2003 to just 37% in 2015). The likelihood that an invitee agrees to review declines significantly with the number of invitations they receive in a year. However, the average number of invitations being sent to prospective reviewers and the proportion of individuals being invited more than once per year has not changed much over these 13 years, despite substantial increases in the total number of review invitations being sent by these journals—the reviewer base has expanded concomitant with this growth in review requests.

Conclusions: The proportion of review invitations that lead to a review being submitted has been declining steadily for four of the six journals examined here, but reviewer fatigue is not likely the primary explanation for this decline.

Background: 编辑们普遍反馈，同行评议的审稿人招募难度日益攀升，其根源在于审稿人受邀频次过高，正遭受审稿疲劳。然而，支撑该论断的证据大多为轶事传闻，缺乏系统性实证支撑。
Main body: 本研究针对生态与进化领域6种期刊的审稿邀请响应情况展开分析。在所考察的6种期刊中，有4种期刊的有效审稿邀请占比（即最终提交审稿报告的邀请占比）在2003至2015年的13年间持续下滑，累积降幅显著：2003年有56%的审稿邀请最终生成并提交了审稿报告，而到2015年这一比例仅为37%。受邀者同意承担审稿工作的概率，随其年度收到的审稿邀请数量增多而显著降低。不过，尽管上述期刊的总审稿邀请量大幅增长，但向潜在审稿人发送的平均邀请数，以及年度受邀超过1次的审稿人占比，在这13年间并未出现明显变化——审稿人群体规模随审稿请求量的增长同步扩张。
Conclusions: 本研究分析的6种期刊中，有4种期刊的有效审稿邀请占比持续下滑，但审稿疲劳并非该下滑趋势的主要解释因素。