In our English-only research world, there is a need for reviewers who are tolerant of imperfect texts from non-anglophone authors

Abstract

Given the importance of reviewers as the gatekeepers of science, we applaud Köhler et al. (2020) for helping the field of industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology by suggesting a competency framework for peer review. Indeed, there is a need for "openness toward different research techniques , methodologies, epistemologies, or theoretical foundations" (Köhler et al., 2020, p. 17), but there is, we argue, also a need for openness among reviewers toward less-than-perfect English writing, particularly by non-native speakers. Although challenges for reviewers in dealing with non-native speakers were mentioned in a subdimension of Köhler et al.'s competency framework (i.e., constructiveness), we see the necessity to add this aspect to more than just one subdimension of a competency within the framework for peer-review to help I-O psychology become a more global, and thus culturally more inclusive, science.