Does Antarctic research have a bad name? The short answer in some quarters is, ‘Yes’. But why should this be so? Antarctica is an exciting and stimulating place to work and, whatever one's field of science, because of the continent's present-day isolated position, its massive ice cover and its previous key location within the ancient Gondwana supercontinent, it holds many important clues and answers to questions about our planet and its environment. Yet, those of us who are required to submit our science to peer review are sometimes perplexed by incomprehensible and unreasonably negative comments that come from outside. Are these non-Antarctic scientists just jealous, or do they have a point?