Celebrating Our Reviewers: Peer Review Week 2026

Peer Review Capacity: Volume, Speed, and Quality September 14–18, 2026 

Why Peer Review Matters

Peer review is the cornerstone of scientific publishing, serving as the critical process that upholds the quality, rigor, and integrity of research relied upon by scientists, policymakers, and the public. Each year, Peer Review Week gathers the global scholarly community together to recognize this essential work and to reflect on how peer review continues to evolve. This year’s theme from the Peer Review Week Steering Committee, “Peer Review Capacity: Volume, Speed, and Quality,” speaks to a challenge familiar to every editor, author, and reviewer: as submissions grow and expectations for faster decisions increase, how we protect the rigor that makes peer review meaningful is a large challenges we face. 

At the Journal of Imaging Informatics in Medicine (JIIM), that challenge is one our reviewers help us address every day. 

The Critical Role of Reviewers in Medical Imaging Informatics

Imaging informatics is one of the fastest-moving corners of medicine, as AI-driven diagnostics, clinical workflow innovation, and imaging analytics are advancing at a pace that makes rigorous, expert evaluation more important than ever. JIIM reviewers are the ones doing that work: 

• Ensuring scientific rigor and methodological soundness, so that what we publish holds up to scrutiny. 
• Evaluating innovation across AI, clinical workflow, imaging analytics, and healthcare technology, fields where science is often outpacing consensus. 
• Strengthening manuscripts through thoughtful, constructive feedback that helps authors sharpen their arguments and their evidence. 
• Supporting better patient care, indirectly but meaningfully, by ensuring the evidence base clinicians and researchers build on is sound. 

Impact of Reviewer Contributions

Behind every published paper in JIIM is a reviewer, sometimes several, who took the time to read closely, question carefully, and push authors toward clearer, more defensible work. As part of JIIM’s process, every manuscript accepted for publication receives feedback from at least two independent peer reviewers, maintaining high standards. 

Reviewers help catch methodological gaps before they become published errors, guide authors toward stronger analyses, and hold the line on the standards that give JIIM its reputation in the field. This is quiet, often unrecognized work, and it directly shapes the quality of everything we publish. 

Recognizing Our Top Reviewers

In honor of Peer Review Week, JIIM Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth A. Krupinski, PhD, FSIIM, FSPIE, FATA, FAIMBE (Emory University) and Deputy Editor Victoria Barnosky, PhD, RT(R)(CT)(QM), CRA, CIIP, FAHRA are proud to recognize some of the journal’s top reviewers of the past year. 

“Peer review is the quiet engine behind everything JIIM publishes. The reviewers we’re recognizing this year gave their time and expertise again and again, often on short turnaround, and their care shows in the quality of every issue we put out. We are deeply grateful for their commitment to this field.” — Elizabeth A. Krupinski, PhD, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Imaging Informatics in Medicine 

 

Some of this year’s honorees include: 

Alexandre Bialowas, Federal University of Sao Paulo: Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo 

Jyun-Ping Kao, University of Southern California 

Koichiro Yasaka, The University of Tokyo: Tokyo Daigaku 

Ramin Ranjbarzadeh, University of Galway 

Shahriar Faghani, Mayo Clinic Rochester  

Manisha Bahl, Massachusetts General Hospital 

Mojtaba Barzegar, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences 

Yuan Chai, Northeastern University 

Anna Frost, Aalborg University: Aalborg Universitet 

*  Jan Hurtado, PUC-Rio: Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro 

Shengfa Li, Southwest Jiaotong University The Third Peoples Hospital of Chengdu: Chengdu Third People’s Hospital 

Prasanth Prasanna, University of Utah Health Sciences Center 

Alexander Towbin, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center 

* Through a peer review process, the Best JIIM Reviewer Award was presented to Jan Hurtado, PhD, Tecgraf Institute of Technical, in June 11, 2026, at the Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine’s Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, PA. 

The high quality of JIIM is due in no small part to the time, expertise, and care these reviewers volunteer to the journal. On behalf of the entire editorial team, thank you for your service, JIIM, and the field it serves, is stronger because of it. 

Challenges and the Future of Peer Review

Like much of scholarly publishing, JIIM is navigating the pressures this year’s Peer Review Week theme highlights directly: rising submission volumes, growing reviewer workload, and the ongoing challenge of balancing review speed with review quality. Add to that the emerging question of how AI tools should and shouldn’t be used responsibly in the review process, and it’s clear that the role of the reviewer is only becoming more complex.

“Reviewing in this field means staying current, not just credentialed. As review demands grow, this year’s honorees kept pace, bringing real subject-matter expertise to manuscript after manuscript. We’re grateful for it. “ — Victoria Barnosky, PhD, RT(R)(CT)(QM), CRA, CIIP, FAHRA, Deputy Editor, Journal of Imaging Informatics in Medicine 

That’s exactly why the contributions of volunteer reviewers matter so much. As the field of imaging informatics continues to evolve rapidly, JIIM’s ability to publish trustworthy, rigorous science depends on the continued generosity of experts willing to lend their time and judgment to the process. 

Interested in becoming a JIIM reviewer? SIIM seeks qualified individuals to help us maintain the highest quality standards. Submit an application today. 

You can also learn more about reading and reviewing scientific papers, submitting your manuscript, and the collections series featuring a wide variety of topics and specialties.

For more information about Peer Review Week, read the press release. 

Join the global conversation during Peer Review Week 2026 using #PeerReviewWeek and #PRW2026.