Form letter H: To reviewer's institution

Form letters are examples of appropriate letters for various situations. Please find below the text of Form letter H: To reviewer's institution. You can copy this text and adjust it to your needs. The template is also available in Word or PDF format.

This form letter is used in the following decision tree:

8. Reviewer bias or competitive harmful acts by reviewers

Form letter H: To reviewer’s institution

[letterhead of the journal editorial office or the editor’s general contact information]

[date]

[title of article, date of publication]

[institutional address name or title of executive]

Dear [executive],

Concern has been raised about the publication of the article listed above, in connection with which a reviewer employed at your institution, [reviewer name], provided peer referee services. As I am sure you are aware, the [scientific/medical] community depends on the objective review and principled behaviour of reviewers.

[The substance of the complaint is that {description}, which if true, would violate our publishing policies.]

OR

[Attached you will find a copy of the communication which raises the concern noted.]

I have separately written to [reviewer name] and have asked for a timely and substantive response to the allegations.

[To date no such response has been forthcoming.]

OR

[I have received a response from the author [the substance of which is ______ / OR a copy of which is enclosed]. As the allegations are matters of which your institution will have significant concerns, I am asking your institution to initiate the appropriate investigation and to keep me informed about your progress.

Sincerely yours,

[editor name]

[editor-in-chief]

Copy: [reviewer]