DERM Author Taken to the Cleaners by a Reviewer: So, Do You Think the Reviewer of Your Submission Was Unkind? Read This.

Highly critical reviews of medical books are rarely encountered in our age, but this was not always the case. I provide an example of a very negative review of an early medical book that may have blocked the author from further publication.Papers published in reputable journals are subjected to review by experts, whose task is to find weakness in research and/or flaws in its arguments. Published reviews of textbooks that appear these days are generally laudatory, calling attention to the strengths of the book with little mention of any shortcomings. Non-meritorious works are usually winnowed out by the editing process and never make it to publication.