The article discusses some issues relating to peer review in the evaluation of papers submitted to a scientific journal. Such evaluation is accepted as necessary to assure the scientific quality of published articles, since the integrity of specialized literature is considered essential for science development. However, there are criticisms toward peer review, including long elapsed time between papers' submission and their publication, the time and energy spent by authors and reviewers, the subjectivity in evaluation and other problems that can introduce bias in the area. The Brazilian Journal of Special Education adopts blind review and has been quick to perform evaluation procedure. The mean time elapsed between receipt of manuscripts, passing by peer revision, consequent adjustment by authors and final acceptance, is about five and half months. In the specialized literature, there are suggestions like the elimination of evaluation and the publication of all submitted texts in electronic means, which is less expensive and more versatile than print, allowing readers to make their own evaluation. The analysis performed concludes that peer review is necessary. It points out the need to promote discussions about its own evaluation process, in order to develop more efficient procedures of quality control of articles published. It suggests that the effective evaluation is made by the scientific community, after the publication, by means of collective recognition of scientific value of the publication, through the impact it may cause on new investigations and knowledge construction in the area.
Special Education; information dissemination; peer review
