Peer Review Week is here! This year’s theme, “Peer Review Capacity: Volume, Speed and Quality,” reflects the growing pressures facing the research landscape as submission volumes continue to increase, and highlights the vital role reviewers play in maintaining high standards.
To mark the occasion, we’re shining a spotlight on one of our 2025 Exceptional Referees for The Journal of Physiology, Elliott Jenkins, who is undertaking a PhD at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Elliott distinguished himself through the quality, volume, and timeliness of his reviews.
What area of physiology are you currently working in?
My research sits within exercise and environmental physiology, with a particular focus on how environmental stressors can be used to drive physiological adaptation. Much of my PhD has centred on passive heat stress, particularly hot-water immersion, and how repeated exposure influences haematological and cardiovascular function in endurance-trained individuals. Ultimately, I am interested in how this understanding can be translated into practical strategies to improve performance, and better prepare people for the demands of a changing climate.
What have you enjoyed most in your role as a peer reviewer?
What I enjoy about peer review is the opportunity to be among the first to read and engage with new research in the field. I find it rewarding to contribute to improving a manuscript by helping strengthen the interpretation of findings and how they are communicated. Reviewing has also been hugely valuable for my own development as a researcher. Reading manuscripts critically has made me more aware of how I design studies, interpret findings, and communicate my own work.
What do you value most about The Physiological Society’s community and its journals?
What advice would you give to anyone considering becoming a peer reviewer?
Peer reviewing is an important part of our scholarly responsibility to the research community, so I would encourage people to take the opportunity when they feel they can contribute meaningfully. Focus on the points that genuinely matter, be constructive in how you raise them, and remember that the aim is to help improve the work rather than simply identify faults.
Interested in Peer Review?
If you would like to follow in Elliott’s footsteps and contribute to the discipline of physiology while gaining a front-row seat to the latest discoveries in your field, we encourage you to join our cohort of peer reviewers.
More about Elliott Jenkins
Elliott Jenkins is undertaking a PhD in exercise and environmental physiology at Cardiff Metropolitan University under the supervision of Professor Mike Stembridge. His research explores how environmental stressors, including heat and altitude, influence haematological and cardiovascular adaptation in humans. More broadly, he aims to translate this understanding into practical strategies that optimise human performance in sport and extreme environments, while also informing interventions to improve physiological resilience to the challenges posed by a changing climate.