Asked to review a paper

[GrumpySusan]

But looking at the abstract, neither the subject nor methodology are my area of expertise. Do I just decline or could there be another reason I've been requested?

[milkjetmum]

Just decline if you don't feel able to comment, it's fine. Sometimes abbreviations across topics get you flagged up incorrectly eg I am an expert on fjs but get asked to do reviews on fjrs (abbreviation changed for anonymity!)

[murmuration]

Yes, I agree. They're not always that careful - I once got asked to review my own paper! I was a middle author, but still... (the editor then came back to me asking for reviewer recommendations because apparently they'd had lots of trouble finding anyone)

[NotN0wBernard]

Some good advice I was given was to only review papers that I would want to read once published - I.e. the topic was one related to my research interests or methods I would like to learn about. I sometimes review papers that have one of these, and clearly state to the editor that my area of expertise does not cover the other dimension. There may be exceptions but i wouldn't advise anyone to review a paper that they couldn't comment on the research area or methods, there's nothing in it for you and there's nothing in it for the author.

[GrumpySusan]

Thanks all, I decided to decline on this one. I wouldn't want someone to review a paper of mine if they didn't know a bit about the subject and/or method.

[Inthedeepdarkwinter]

NotnowBernard that's what I do, I get quite a lot of requests now as I'm in a popular field with probably more articles than reviewers, and I only say yes to papers I genuinely would like to read anyway and are right up my street. Anything a bit off to the side, or with a method I can't fully evaluate, I pass that along. I probably say yes to only 1 in 3/4 requests (but some are irrelevant- the journals where the request is well targetted or it's a great journal that values my expertise a lot, I would do).