The Responsible Referee

SUMMARY Editors of biological journals often, but perhaps not often enough, ask a biometrician to act as referee for a paper that makes explicit or implicit use of biometric statistical techniques, whether long-established or novel. Although many a biometrician has experience in providing this kind of aid to publications in biology and is convinced of its importance, one who for the first time agrees to undertake such a task will not easily find any clear statement of the responsibilities, practical and ethical and scholarly, that are his. This paper attempts to provide a systematic account of a referee's duties. It also outlines the attitude and actions that the referee can reasonably expect from the editor who has asked for help. It presents a very personal view and is concerned primarily with biometric practice and underlying theory. It emphasizes the predicaments of a biometrician who agrees to handle a paper from a totally unfamiliar scientific discipline. Despite emphasis on the problems that face members of our own profession, essentially the same principles apply to referees for scientific journals in general.