The review is harder than i expected

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I recently agreed to review a journal paper. After I started to read it in depth, I found out it is much harder than I expected - over 60 pages with over 20 theorems with detailed proofs. Also, the topic is not exactly my expertise - I do not know a lot of the related works that the authors base their results on.
So far, I managed to verify about 10 of the shorter theorems. They seem correct, though I have some minor comments. The other theorems seem so long and complex that it will take me weeks to review, especially if I would need to read and understand the theorems in the cited papers that these theorems are based on. What should I do?



I thought of writing to the editor and explaining the situation in detail. Maybe the editor will be able to find another reviewer that will verify the other theorems. But I do not know how such letter will be perceived. In particular:



  • Is it common for a reviewer to review only a part of the paper, and leave the rest of the paper to other reviewers?

  • On the other hand: is it my duty, as a reviewer, to complete my review, regardless of how much time it takes?





peer-review







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    Typical reviewing times vary a lot between pure math, different parts of applied math, CS, etc. What (sub)field does the journal live in?
    – user37208
    1 hour ago















up vote
5
down vote

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I recently agreed to review a journal paper. After I started to read it in depth, I found out it is much harder than I expected - over 60 pages with over 20 theorems with detailed proofs. Also, the topic is not exactly my expertise - I do not know a lot of the related works that the authors base their results on.
So far, I managed to verify about 10 of the shorter theorems. They seem correct, though I have some minor comments. The other theorems seem so long and complex that it will take me weeks to review, especially if I would need to read and understand the theorems in the cited papers that these theorems are based on. What should I do?



I thought of writing to the editor and explaining the situation in detail. Maybe the editor will be able to find another reviewer that will verify the other theorems. But I do not know how such letter will be perceived. In particular:



  • Is it common for a reviewer to review only a part of the paper, and leave the rest of the paper to other reviewers?

  • On the other hand: is it my duty, as a reviewer, to complete my review, regardless of how much time it takes?





peer-review







share|improve this question

















  • 1




    Typical reviewing times vary a lot between pure math, different parts of applied math, CS, etc. What (sub)field does the journal live in?
    – user37208
    1 hour ago













up vote
5
down vote

favorite









up vote
5
down vote

favorite











I recently agreed to review a journal paper. After I started to read it in depth, I found out it is much harder than I expected - over 60 pages with over 20 theorems with detailed proofs. Also, the topic is not exactly my expertise - I do not know a lot of the related works that the authors base their results on.
So far, I managed to verify about 10 of the shorter theorems. They seem correct, though I have some minor comments. The other theorems seem so long and complex that it will take me weeks to review, especially if I would need to read and understand the theorems in the cited papers that these theorems are based on. What should I do?



I thought of writing to the editor and explaining the situation in detail. Maybe the editor will be able to find another reviewer that will verify the other theorems. But I do not know how such letter will be perceived. In particular:



  • Is it common for a reviewer to review only a part of the paper, and leave the rest of the paper to other reviewers?

  • On the other hand: is it my duty, as a reviewer, to complete my review, regardless of how much time it takes?





peer-review







share|improve this question













I recently agreed to review a journal paper. After I started to read it in depth, I found out it is much harder than I expected - over 60 pages with over 20 theorems with detailed proofs. Also, the topic is not exactly my expertise - I do not know a lot of the related works that the authors base their results on.
So far, I managed to verify about 10 of the shorter theorems. They seem correct, though I have some minor comments. The other theorems seem so long and complex that it will take me weeks to review, especially if I would need to read and understand the theorems in the cited papers that these theorems are based on. What should I do?



I thought of writing to the editor and explaining the situation in detail. Maybe the editor will be able to find another reviewer that will verify the other theorems. But I do not know how such letter will be perceived. In particular:



  • Is it common for a reviewer to review only a part of the paper, and leave the rest of the paper to other reviewers?

  • On the other hand: is it my duty, as a reviewer, to complete my review, regardless of how much time it takes?





peer-review




peer-review






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asked 1 hour ago









Erel Segal-Halevi

6,16793866




6,16793866







  • 1




    Typical reviewing times vary a lot between pure math, different parts of applied math, CS, etc. What (sub)field does the journal live in?
    – user37208
    1 hour ago













  • 1




    Typical reviewing times vary a lot between pure math, different parts of applied math, CS, etc. What (sub)field does the journal live in?
    – user37208
    1 hour ago








1




1




Typical reviewing times vary a lot between pure math, different parts of applied math, CS, etc. What (sub)field does the journal live in?
– user37208
1 hour ago





Typical reviewing times vary a lot between pure math, different parts of applied math, CS, etc. What (sub)field does the journal live in?
– user37208
1 hour ago











1 Answer
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Is it common for a reviewer to review only a part of the paper, and leave the rest of the paper to other reviewers?




I have done that on at least two occasions. Sometimes it is the only honest option.




On the other hand: is it my duty, as a reviewer, to complete my review, regardless of how much time it takes?




Not really. It is commonly considered a duty of a career mathematician to contribute to peer review of mathematical works (at least) proportionally to their own publishing. Whether you achieve this by refereeing some really tough papers or a lot of simple ones is up to you.






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    up vote
    5
    down vote














    Is it common for a reviewer to review only a part of the paper, and leave the rest of the paper to other reviewers?




    I have done that on at least two occasions. Sometimes it is the only honest option.




    On the other hand: is it my duty, as a reviewer, to complete my review, regardless of how much time it takes?




    Not really. It is commonly considered a duty of a career mathematician to contribute to peer review of mathematical works (at least) proportionally to their own publishing. Whether you achieve this by refereeing some really tough papers or a lot of simple ones is up to you.






    share|improve this answer
























      up vote
      5
      down vote














      Is it common for a reviewer to review only a part of the paper, and leave the rest of the paper to other reviewers?




      I have done that on at least two occasions. Sometimes it is the only honest option.




      On the other hand: is it my duty, as a reviewer, to complete my review, regardless of how much time it takes?




      Not really. It is commonly considered a duty of a career mathematician to contribute to peer review of mathematical works (at least) proportionally to their own publishing. Whether you achieve this by refereeing some really tough papers or a lot of simple ones is up to you.






      share|improve this answer






















        up vote
        5
        down vote










        up vote
        5
        down vote










        Is it common for a reviewer to review only a part of the paper, and leave the rest of the paper to other reviewers?




        I have done that on at least two occasions. Sometimes it is the only honest option.




        On the other hand: is it my duty, as a reviewer, to complete my review, regardless of how much time it takes?




        Not really. It is commonly considered a duty of a career mathematician to contribute to peer review of mathematical works (at least) proportionally to their own publishing. Whether you achieve this by refereeing some really tough papers or a lot of simple ones is up to you.






        share|improve this answer













        Is it common for a reviewer to review only a part of the paper, and leave the rest of the paper to other reviewers?




        I have done that on at least two occasions. Sometimes it is the only honest option.




        On the other hand: is it my duty, as a reviewer, to complete my review, regardless of how much time it takes?




        Not really. It is commonly considered a duty of a career mathematician to contribute to peer review of mathematical works (at least) proportionally to their own publishing. Whether you achieve this by refereeing some really tough papers or a lot of simple ones is up to you.







        share|improve this answer












        share|improve this answer



        share|improve this answer










        answered 1 hour ago









        darij grinberg

        1,6431816




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