We are happy to announce the 2021 Reviewer award winners!
Soichi Kojima
Dr Soichi Kojima did his PhD at Tohoku University, Japan, under Prof. Tomoyuki Yamaya, studying the gene expression of glutamate synthase in rice. As a post-doc, he worked with Prof. Nicolaus von Wiren at the University of Hohenheim, Germany, on the transport of urea and ammonium in Arabidopsis thaliana. He is now back as an Assistant professor at Tohoku University, and his main interest is in nitrogen transport and metabolism in plants.
With the spread of the coronavirus and imposed quarantines, Dr Kojima started registering old peer reviews in Publons. In doing so, he could see the citations of these articles and, thus, see the impact they had on other research, realising the importance of the peer-review process.
‘I now believe that submitting my own original papers and reviewing other researchers’ papers are both equally important. By undertaking peer review and properly criticising other researchers’ papers, I can accept that my paper will be properly criticised when I submit my own paper, and the scientific value of my paper will be refined.’
He also takes time to compare the Editors’ final decisions and the other reviewer’s comments with his own review and reflect on the judgment he made.
‘This is because I always consider that the papers submitted by other researchers are the fruit of their daily efforts. I know that many researchers have worked hard to complete each figure in the submitted papers. Reviewing these papers is an exciting chance to learn new scientific facts, and I try to review them with a sense of responsibility to make sure that a review is reasonable and fair.’
Twitter @KojimaSoichi
Facebook: soichi.kojima
Instagram: soichikojima
Researchgate: Soichi_Kojima
Publons: soichi-kojima
Vassilis Fotopoulos
Dr Vassilis Fotopoulos is an Associate Professor in Structural and Functional Plant Biology and head of the CUT Plant Stress Physiology Group at Cyprus University of Technology (www.plant-stress.weebly.com). His scientific research is mainly focused on nitro-oxidative signalling cascades involved in the plant’s response to stress factors, emphasising the development of chemical, biological and nanomaterial priming technologies towards the amelioration of abiotic stress factors and promotion of plant growth. In addition, his group is involved in studying plant secondary metabolism and antioxidant responses in fruit crops during ripening.
‘I always put myself in the position of the submitting author and try my best to provide in-depth feedback that will improve the manuscript in a respectful manner. I also actively try to assist with ad-hoc reviews as much as possible, as I am well aware through editorial work that it is becoming increasingly difficult (as well as frustrating) to secure review reports.’
Facebook: @plantstressphysiologyCUT
Twitter: @CUT_PlantStress
LinkedIn: vassilis-fotopoulos
Webpage: http://plant-stress.weebly.com/
We believe that Drs Kojima and Fotopoulos are well worth being acknowledged for their great efforts, and we hope to continue to work with them in the future.