Physical activity trend analysis enables the monitoring and surveillance of physical activity indicators and the identification of areas that should be targeted for intervention and promotion, which is particularly important at present because so few school-aged children and youth in Canada adhere to the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines for Children and Youth. In this commentary, we demonstrate through a descriptive temporal trend analysis of grade changes in the ParticipACTION Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth that there have been positive changes in several indicators of physical activity support (family, school, community and environment, government, non-government) in Canada over the last 12 years. However, these changes have seldom resulted in the desired behavioural-level modifications or been associated with any meaningful increase in the prevalence of children and youth meeting the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines for Children and Youth. This suggests that physical activity intervention and promotion efforts may need to focus more on directly targeting the physical activity behaviours of Canadian children and youth, or that alternate approaches are required.
Abstract Background There are a variety of costs associated with publication of scientific findings. The purpose of this work was to estimate the cost of peer review in scientific publishing per reviewer, per year and for the entire scientific community.
Methods Internet-based self-report, cross-sectional survey, live between June 28, 2021 and August 2, 2021 was used. Participants were recruited via snowball sampling. No restrictions were placed on geographic location or field of study. Respondents who were asked to act as a peer-reviewer for at least one manuscript submitted to a scientific journal in 2020 were eligible. The primary outcome measure was the cost of peer review per person, per year (calculated as wage-cost x number of initial reviews and number of re-reviews per year). The secondary outcome was the cost of peer review globally (calculated as the number of peer-reviewed papers in Scopus x median wage-cost of initial review and re-review).
Results A total of 354 participants completed at least one question of the survey, and information necessary to calculate the cost of peer-review was available for 308 participants from 33 countries (44% from Canada). The cost of peer review was estimated at $US1,272 per person, per year ($US1,015 for initial review and $US256 for re-review), or US$1.1–1.7 billion for the scientific community per year. The global cost of peer-review was estimated at US$6 billion in 2020 when relying on the Dimensions database and taking into account reviewed-but-rejected manuscripts.
Conclusions Peer review represents an important financial piece of scientific publishing. Our results may not represent all countries or fields of study, but are consistent with previous estimates and provide additional context from peer reviewers themselves. Researchers and scientists have long provided peer review as a contribution to the scientific community. Recognizing the importance of peer-review, institutions should acknowledge these costs in job descriptions, performance measurement, promotion packages, and funding applications. Journals should develop methods to compensate reviewers for their time and improve transparency while maintaining the integrity of the peer-review process.
In: Tremblay , M S , Barnes , J D , González , S A , Katzmarzyk , P T , Onywera , V O , Reilly , J J , Tomkinson , G R , Aguilar-Farias , N , Akinroye , K K , Al-Kuwari , M G , Amornsriwatanakul , A , Aubert , S , Belton , S , Gołdys , A , Herrera-Cuenca , M , Jeon , J Y , Jürimäe , J , Katapally , T R , Lambert , E V , Larsen , L R , Liu , Y , Löf , M , Loney , T , López y Taylor , J R , Maddison , R , Manyanga , T , Morrison , S A , Mota , J , Murphy , M H , Nardo , N , Ocansey , R T A , Prista , A , Roman-Viñas , B , Schranz , N K , Seghers , J , Sharif , R , Standage , M , Stratton , G , Takken , T , Tammelin , T H , Tanaka , C , Tang , Y & Wong , S H 2016 , ' Global matrix 2.0 : Report card grades on the physical activity of children and youth comparing 38 countries ' , Journal of Physical Activity & Health , vol. 13 , no. 11 Suppl 2 , pp. S343-S366 . https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2016-0594
The Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance organized the concurrent preparation of Report Cards on the physical activity of children and youth in 38 countries from 6 continents (representing 60% of the world's population). Nine common indicators were used (Overall Physical Activity, Organized Sport Participation, Active Play, Active Transportation, Sedentary Behavior, Family and Peers, School, Community and the Built Environment, and Government Strategies and Investments), and all Report Cards were generated through a harmonized development process and a standardized grading framework (from A = excellent, to F = failing). The 38 Report Cards were presented at the International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health in Bangkok, Thailand on November 16, 2016. The consolidated findings are summarized in the form of a Global Matrix demonstrating substantial variation in grades both within and across countries. Countries that lead in certain indicators often lag in others. Average grades for both Overall Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior around the world are D (low/poor). In contrast, the average grade for indicators related to supports for physical activity was C. Lower-income countries generally had better grades on Overall Physical Activity, Active Transportation, and Sedentary Behaviors compared with higher-income countries, yet worse grades for supports from Family and Peers, Community and the Built Environment, and Government Strategies and Investments. Average grades for all indicators combined were highest (best) in Denmark, Slovenia, and the Netherlands. Many surveillance and research gaps were apparent, especially for the Active Play and Family and Peers indicators. International cooperation and cross-fertilization is encouraged to address existing challenges, understand underlying determinants, conceive innovative solutions, and mitigate the global childhood inactivity crisis. The paradox of higher physical activity and lower sedentary behavior in countries reporting poorer infrastructure, and lower physical activity and higher sedentary behavior in countries reporting better infrastructure, suggests that autonomy to play, travel, or chore requirements and/or fewer attractive sedentary pursuits, rather than infrastructure and structured activities, may facilitate higher levels of physical activity.