Now allow me to add a little bold to some peer-review hype, which could probably stand to be peer-reviewed itself. (As a safety precaution, you are advised not to consume liquids or solids while reading.)
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What is Peer Review?

You can think of peer review as a "stamp of approval" from academic experts. When an article is published in a peer-reviewed journal, readers can be certain that experts in the relevant field have read it and, independent of their own particular opinions, verified it to meet a high standard of scholarship. Scholars rely on peer review to ensure that the conversation they have with each other is always based in good research and the established standards of their discipline.


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If an article has been published in a peer-reviewed journal, you can assume that:

* it doesn't duplicate work that has already been done by other scholars
* it presents a worthwhile approach to the topic
* it exists as part of a standing conversation on the topic, as represented by its citations to other scholarship
* it meets the above and other standards of the discipline, as generally agreed upon by its scholars
You better assume, 'cause if you know what's what, you sure ain't gonna conclude.

Many a defender of peer-review will contend "it's better than nothing." In many ways it is. "Two heads are better than one". This we know. That's a far cry from the hype. It's nowhere near accomplishing what anyone expects from it, including its advocates.

It is has also proven "better than nothing" at preventing the publication of anything that departs from orthodoxy. Hence the desperate need to overrate it.

Dark Matter + Dark Energy = Dark Truth

"We find that such evidence demonstrates that the ID argument is dependent upon setting a scientifically unreasonable burden of proof for the theory of evolution." - Judge Jones Kitzmiller case
http://www.talkreason.org/articles/Falsify.cfm

"To Compel A Man To Furnish Funds For The Propagation Of Ideas He Disbelieves And Abhors Is Sinful And Tyrannical." - Thomas Jefferson

"And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath?" - Thomas Jefferson