title: Testing the rebound peer review concept.
abstract: This invited Editorial addresses the rescue of the article by Xue et al. "Hydrogen sulfide treatment promotes glucose uptake by increasing insulin receptor sensitivity and ameliorates kidney lesions in type 2 diabetes." The work was rejected by the standard peer review system and subsequently rescued via the Rebound Peer Review mechanism offered by Antioxidants and Redox Signaling (Antoxid Redox Signal 16: 293-296, 2012). The open reviewers rescuing the work were Jin-Song Bian, Samuel Dudley, Hideo Kimura, and Xian Wang. The initial article was reviewed by six reviewers who had valid concerns; they recommended extensive revision and additional experiments. In the subsequent two iterations, the authors nearly doubled the number of experiments and made substantial revisions. However, several reviewers were still not satisfied, and the authors requested the rebound pathway. The open reviewers, selected by the authors and experts in hydrogen sulfide biology, diabetes, and cardiovascular physiology, added a broad perspective to the review process. They acknowledged the anonymous reviewer's concerns, but felt that the merits of the study were sufficient to recommend acceptance. The open reviewers also identified several situations where the recommendations of the anonymous reviewers and the author's attempts to rectify them were moot, given the available methodology and present state of the field. From this perspective, the rebound track was a success; it rescued an article that otherwise would have been rejected and will stimulate further discussion and research in this area. Whether or not there are more efficient ways to accomplish, this remains to be determined.
authors: Kenneth R
authors: KR
authors: Olson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006862:Hydrogen Sulfide / Q000378:metabolism*; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D011972:Receptor, Insulin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011972:Receptor, Insulin; D005947:Glucose; D006862:Hydrogen Sulfide