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External Peer Review

"we consult widely to obtain the views of distinguished academic colleagues of acknowledged authority on all candidates for review and promotion"

As part of the LSE's Review and Promotions process, we contact highly distinguished academics from a range of social science disciplines and ask them to give us independent evaluations of all candidates up for review and/or promotion. 

The Review and Promotions process plays a crucial part in the LSE's efforts to maintain and enhance its reputation as one of the leading universities in the world. 

Introduction

Each year the London School of Economics and Political Science considers a number of academic staff for review and promotion.

The School wishes to consult widely to obtain the views of academic colleagues of acknowledged authority on the candidates for review and/or promotion, viewing this as an essential part of our quality assurance procedures.

Opinions are sought from a variety of reviewers (namely, Referees, Departmental Experts and Departmental Assessors) who play different roles, but together ensure that all aspects of the candidate's academic profile are considered. Departmental Professoriates nominate leading experts in the candidate's field who are then contacted by the Vice-Chair of the Appointments Committee on behalf of the LSE Promotions Committee. Any reference/report provided will be used solely for the purposes of the promotions process, subject to the provisions of the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (see below).

The tabs below contain specific information, including the evaluation Criteria, regarding the role you have been invited to play. The Promotions Committee is most grateful to those colleagues who are able to participate in this important process and looks forward to receiving any references / reports by email to LSE.PromotionsCommitte@LSE.ac.uk by the deadline listed in the relevant tab below.

All external reviewers will be informed about successful cases for whom they served.

For those unable to participate in this process, or who find the deadline listed below problematic, Human Resources is happy to provide advice, and would appreciate being contacted as soon as possible in order to be able to resolve any such matters in good time.

GDPR and Data Protection Notice: 

The Promotions Committee complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when processing personal data in relation to consideration of individual promotion and review cases. All persons asked to provide statements, references and reports about candidates for promotion and review are advised that their documentation is confidential to the Promotions Committee and will be used solely for the purposes of the School's Promotion processes. However, in circumstances such as a grievance or legal proceedings, reports may have to be disclosed to a third party. In the interests of fairness, the Promotions Committee will not accept comments, either written or verbal, from third parties (those from whom comments had not been formally solicited).

 

 

Referees

The Role of Referees

Referees are requested to comment specifically and in detail on each of the candidate’s submitted publications as well as their planned research as set out in the research trajectory statement. They can also comment on the general research profile of candidates.

The following documentation will be sent to Referees:

  • The candidate's curriculum vitae, including statements of planned research, research achivements to date, contributions to education and contributions to citizenship.
  • Up to four of the candidate's publications, selected to exhibit their work.
  • The School's criteria for review and promotion.

Referees should feel at liberty to comment as fully as possible, but the Promotions Committee would find it helpful if reference to the following could be included:

  • Specific and detailed commentary on each of the candidate’s submitted publications as well as their planned research as set out in the research trajectory statement.
  • Comments on the general research profile of the candidate.

External Experts

The Role of External Experts

The Promotions Committee allocates two External Experts to each promotion proposal. The role of the External Expert is distinct from that of a Referee. Whereas a Referee may be expected to concentrate on the candidate's major achievements, External Experts are asked to provide an independent and objective evaluation of the candidate's work as a whole, comment specifically on the candidate's planned research as set out in the research trajectory statement, indicate his/her national and international standing in the specialist field of the discipline and comment on whether or not it would be regarded by other distinguished specialists in the field as anomalous if the candidate was promoted to the level proposed.

The following documentation will be sent to External Experts:

  • The candidate's curriculum vitae, including statements of planned research, research achivements to date, contributions to education and contributions to citizenship.
  • Up to four of the candidate's publications, selected to exhibit their work.
  • A report from the Head of Department indicating the candidate's research and teaching activities and administrative contribution.
  • Where available, the candidate's teaching scores for the past four academic sessions.
  • The School's criteria for review and promotion.
  • Review reports from Referees and additional information that has been sent to Human Resources - as these are received by Human Resources they will be sent on. 

Honorarium

The School is pleased to offer an honorarium of £200 for each promotion proposal an External Expert is asked to review, which will be made to you gross of income tax and National Insurance as per HM Revenue and Customs regulations. 

UK-based Experts are responsible for declaring their payments to HM Revenue and Customs. Experts based overseas should ensure that payments are declared to the relevant overseas authorities in accordance with local law.

We would appreciate receiving the details requested below as soon as possible. Once we have received your payment details and your report we will process your payment. Please note, in order to ensure that your details remain confidential, once an academic session is complete we do not keep a record of your payment details. Therefore, even if you have provided a report in a previous academic session, we would ask that you provide your current payment information again.

As per the Regulations, we require your full home address in order to process this payment, which we would be grateful to receive via email to LSE.PromotionsCommitte@LSE.ac.uk. If you are a UK taxpayer, we would also be grateful to be informed of your National Insurance Number and, if you have one, your Unique Tax Reference. If you wish to be paid via a BACS transfer, please provide your bank details (i.e. account number and sort code, or IBAN and SWIFT codes) to LSE.PromotionsCommitte@LSE.ac.uk.  

Departmental Assessors

The Role of Departmental Assessors

Departmental Assessors are persons of high seniority and eminence within the particular discipline with an overview of the subject sufficient to enable him/her to assess all candidates for promotion from the department irrespective of specialism.

Assessors are asked to comment specifically on the candidate’s planned research as set out in the research trajectory statement and are at liberty to comment on any other matters raised in the documentation, including the review reports from Referees and External Experts, such as teaching (experience, range, student evaluations), service to the School (responsibilities, offices held, whether at Departmental or at the wider School level, and any other matters such as research grants, special leave etc.

Human Resources contacts each Assessor in early December to inform them of the case(s) put forward by the department.

The following documentation will be sent to Departmental Assessors:

  • The candidate's curriculum vitae, including statements of planned research, research achivements to date, contributions to education and contributions to citizenship.
  • A report from the Head of Department indicating the candidate's research and teaching activities and administrative contribution.
  • Where available, the candidate's teaching scores for the past four academic sessions.
  • The School's criteria for review and promotion.
  • Review reports from Referees and External Experts and additional information that has been sent to Human Resources - as these are received by Human Resources they will be sent on. 

The School does not, as a rule, send candidates’ publications to Assessors but publications will of course be made available on request.

Honorarium

The School is pleased to offer Departmental Assessors an honorarium of £250, plus £100 for each promotion proposal you are asked to review, which will be made to you gross of income tax and National Insurance as per HM Revenue and Customs regulations.

UK based Assessors are responsible for declaring their payments to HM Revenue and Customs. Assessors based overseas should ensure that payments are declared to the relevant overseas authorities in accordance with local law.

We would appreciate receiving the details requested below as soon as possible. Once we have received your payment details and your report we will process your payment. Please note, in order to ensure that your details remain confidential, once an academic session is complete we do not keep a record of your payment details. Therefore, even if you have provided a report in a previous academic session, we would ask that you provide your current payment information again.

As per the Regulations, we require your full home address in order to process this payment, which we would be grateful to receive via email to LSE.PromotionsCommitte@LSE.ac.uk. If you are a UK taxpayer, we would also be grateful to be informed of your National Insurance Number and, if you have one, your Unique Tax Reference. If you wish to be paid via a BACS transfer, please provide your bank details (i.e. account number and sort code, or IBAN and SWIFT codes) to LSE.PromotionsCommitte@LSE.ac.uk.   

Contact

For further information, please contact LSE.PromotionsCommitte@LSE.ac.uk

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