Deciding which reference is critical or not is compleletly impracticable. Would could work would be the possibility to comment online. Unfortunately, even when available, so far this possibility is rarely used.
Jeremy Scott - 8 years ago
Missing key citations is an issue that should be dealt with well before publication of the manuscript. The peer-reviewer's role is to catch such "errors of omission". During the review process, the authors should be informed of such a deficiency, and if it is not dealt with appropriately, the manuscript should be assigned an impact/priority reflective of a less than comprehensive review of the literature.
Deciding which reference is critical or not is compleletly impracticable. Would could work would be the possibility to comment online. Unfortunately, even when available, so far this possibility is rarely used.
Missing key citations is an issue that should be dealt with well before publication of the manuscript. The peer-reviewer's role is to catch such "errors of omission". During the review process, the authors should be informed of such a deficiency, and if it is not dealt with appropriately, the manuscript should be assigned an impact/priority reflective of a less than comprehensive review of the literature.