Peer review is designed to assess the validity, quality and often the originality of articles for publication. Its ultimate purpose is to maintain the integrity of science by filtering out invalid or poor quality articles. How does a rap song or hip hop fit into peer review? The Conversation brought this very interesting and different topic to our attention in their article, “Hip-hop professor looks to open doors with world’s first peer-reviewed rap album.”
From a publisher’s perspective, peer review functions as a filter for content, directing better quality articles to better quality journals and so creating journal brands. Running articles through the process of peer review adds value to them.
In order to establish oneself as a serious scholar, an academic must get their work published in a peer-reviewed journal, which is a journal in which works are evaluated by others in a given field to ensure their relevance and quality.
How does this work for a rap artist and their work, i.e. album? Can albums be published through an academic press?
The short answer is yes and could contribute to new forms of knowledge. That is always a good thing.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Data Harmony, a unit of Access Innovations, the world leader in indexing and making content findable.
