Marshall Named Outstanding Referee

Professor Emeritus, Thomas C. Marshall, was named one of 144 Outstanding Referees of the Physical Review and Physical Review Letters journals, as chosen by the journal editors for 2011.

In 2008, the American Physical Society initiated a highly selective award program to recognize scientists who have been exceptionally helpful in assessing manuscripts for publication in the APS journals. The program annually recognizes approximately 150 of the 45,000 currently active referees, although larger groups were recognized in the first two years of the program. Like Fellowship in the APS and other organizations, this is a lifetime award. In initiating the program, APS expresses appreciation to all referees, whose efforts in peer review not only keep the standards of the journals at a high level, but in many cases also help authors to improve the quality and readability of their articles—even those that are not published by APS.

The selection of Outstanding Referees was made based on over two decades of database records on over 50,000 referees (some no longer in active service) who have been called upon to review manuscripts, of which over 35,000 were submitted in 2010. The basis for selection was the quality, number and timeliness of their reports, without regard for membership in the APS, country of origin, or field of research. Individuals with current or very recent direct connections to the journals, such as editors and editorial board members, were excluded. The decisions were difficult and there are many excellent referees who remain to be recognized. This year 143 Outstanding Referees were selected.

The 2011 honorees come from 22 different countries, with large contingents from the US, Germany, UK, Canada, and France. The names of all honorees so far are listed at http://publish.aps.org/OutstandingReferees. All have been notified, and will be sent a lapel pin and a certificate. The Outstanding Referees are to be congratulated and thanked for their outstanding service to the physics community.

Reprinted from the press release: American Physical Society announces "Outstanding Referees"