Part 1: Reviewer recruitment and selection 

All of our reviewers come from the AMEE community and go through an application and screening process before reviewing for the first time. Reviewer selection criteria are slightly different for different submission types – reviewers of research articles and doctoral reports for example are recruited and selected by the AMEE Research Committee based on their research credentials.  

The vast majority of our submissions are received in the categories of ‘short communications’ and ‘e-posters’, and here our policy is to ensure our reviewer pool is broadly representative of our conference delegates. We therefore recognize a very broad range of educational experience and expertise, and welcome applications from early-career scholars, alongside more experienced researchers, educators and clinical practitioners. Having a large pool of reviewers means each abstract can be evaluated from multiple perspectives. If you’re interested in joining the panel, please email [email protected] for more information. 

Voices of AMEE 

While we try to make our selection processes fair and transparent, one criticism that has been made is that some subject matter does not lend itself to ‘selection by jury’ because of systematic biases against certain groups or topics. One way we attempt to offset this is by recruiting from as wide a pool of reviewers as possible. 

In 2023, we’re also trying to engage with these groups in different ways. We’re currently running a survey entitled ‘Voices of AMEE’ which provides the opportunity for community members to tell us which voices and topics are currently under-represented, and to suggest ways in which we could help amplify these voices. At the heart of the conference will be a panel discussion where members of historically under-represented groups within Health Professions Education will be able to tell the AMEE conference their own stories, in their own words, and to join a safe and open discussion exploring what representation means to them and to others in similar circumstances. We hope you’ll consider completing our survey, and would also be pleased to receive your comments and feedback on our conference by email at [email protected]. 

We intend to use the data collected in this survey to actively recruit from some of these under-represented groups to expand our review panel. In the meantime, we have processes in place to ensure that the review and selection of abstracts is as fair as possible, and you can read more about these in parts 2 and 3 of this blog - links below.

Link to Part 2

Link to Part 3