Page:EPIC Oxford report.pdf/18

 3.2 Sampling

3.2.1 Sampling of Expert Reviewers

Step 1: Selection of student reviewers

Student reviewers were recruited from the University of Oxford. All were postgraduate students, either currently studying or recently having completed either a masters or doctoral degree. 116 students were initially identified as potential reviewers, in order to cover the full range of academic disciplines and native languages selected for the study, 12 of whom were finally invited to participate (a further 12 were identified as a back-up). Each selected student was asked to provide biographical information in terms of educational qualifications, area of expertise and current academic focus (see Appendix I (2)).

Step 2: Identification and recruitment of established academics

Student reviewers identified academic experts known to them in their own areas of academic expertise. Criteria for nomination were as follows:

Essential Criteria

Desirable Criteria:

Each student was asked to nominate three academic experts and to provide contact details and a brief biography for each of three nominees. The list of nominees was reviewed by the research team to ensure they were eligible for participation. In the rare cases where the academic did not have a PhD, students were asked to nominate another academic in their stead. The final list of nominated academic experts totalled 33, out of which number 22 accepted the invitation from the project team to participate.

Step 3: Completion of review using online feedback tool

Reviewers were asked to review articles in their native language and relating to their area of academic expertise using an online review tool specially designed for the purpose of the 18