Peer Reviews Tips for the author

Peer Review Tips for the Author You receive your assignment. Pre-Writing Drafting Revising Asking for a Peer Review Waiting for Feedback Receiving Feedback Revising based on Feedback Final Draft PLAN YOUR TIME WISELY Peer Review Tips for the Author Plan your time wisely. Offer a clean copy of your complete draft. Offer the assignment directions and rubric (if available). Offer a list of questions and concerns. Remember that this is your paper and all decisions to make changes are yours. How much time is involved in peer review? That depends on your reviewer and your own time constraints. Within your revision process, you need to request a peer review, wait for the reviewer to complete it, and then plan for time to use that review to make substantive changes to your next draft. Give the reviewer time (a few days at least) to add reviewing your essay into his/her own busy schedule. You want thoughtful feedback, don’t you? Then, give yourself time (at least 24-48 hours) to reflect upon those ideas and integrate them into your next draft.

Peer Review Tips for the Author OFFER A CLEAN COPY OF YOUR COMPLETE DRAFT Peer Review Tips for the Author The draft you give in a peer review should not be your only copy. What would happen if it got lost? What if the reviewer scribbled notes through your words making them illegible? The draft should also be complete—including in-text citations and a works cited list, if applicable. The peer reviewer should offer advice on how to improve your argument and content, so they both must be present already. Offering an introduction and single body paragraph followed by a few outline sentences does not help your reviewer help you. And, if there’s a glaring error with your documentation that might trigger a plagiarism grade, wouldn’t you like to know that before you submit your work? Plan your time wisely. Offer a clean copy of your complete draft. Offer the assignment directions and rubric (if available). Offer a list of questions and concerns. Remember that this is your paper and all decisions to make changes are yours.

Peer Review Tips for the Author OFFER A CLEAN COPY OF YOUR COMPLETE DRAFT Peer Review Tips for the Author Save yourself and your reviewer time: type the complete draft for peer review. The reviewer won’t need to figure out handwriting or which page is first or third; you will save time on the next draft by making changes on screen instead of rewriting whole pages. If you must provide a handwritten copy, make sure it is useable for the reviewer. It should be legible with lines skipped and plenty of white space in the margins so the reviewer can take notes. Plan your time wisely. Offer a clean copy of your complete draft. Offer the assignment directions and rubric (if available). Offer a list of questions and concerns. Remember that this is your paper and all decisions to make changes are yours.

Peer Review Tips for the Author OFFER THE ASSIGNMENT DIRECTIONS AND RUBRIC Peer Review Tips for the Author A classmate with the same assignment should know the specific directions and the grading criteria, but tutors, friends, and family members will not necessarily know this information. It is in your best interest, then, to provide them with it so they can better prepare their comments for you. Plan your time wisely. Offer a clean copy of your complete draft. Offer the assignment directions and rubric (if available). Offer a list of questions and concerns. Remember that this is your paper and all decisions to make changes are yours. It is unfortunate how often students get the wrong critique because they did not share enough information with their reviewers. Student: My mom is a high school English teacher, and she liked my narrative. Then I met with tutors who told me I had to work on my grammar, but that my 5-paragraph essay was good. Instructor: Did you tell your mother or your tutor that this was a formal research paper that required more than 5-paragraphs? Student: No. Instructor: That might have been useful information for them to let you know your draft was off topic.

Peer Review Tips for the Author OFFER THE ASSIGNMENT DIRECTIONS AND RUBRIC Peer Review Tips for the Author A classmate with the same assignment should know the specific directions and the grading criteria, but tutors, friends, and family members will not necessarily know this information. It is in your best interest, then, to provide them with it so they can better prepare their comments for you. Plan your time wisely. Offer a clean copy of your complete draft. Offer the assignment directions and rubric (if available). Offer a list of questions and concerns. Remember that this is your paper and all decisions to make changes are yours. With the correct information up front, a reviewer can offer useful constructive criticism. Student: A tutor said he liked my narrative, but when we looked at the directions and rubric and discovered I needed to restructure it into a hypothetical scenario within the body of my essay. I also needed to add research. Instructor: I’m glad you had such a positive experience at the Tutoring Center. Student: Me, too. I got good news about my writing style, and I got some useful ideas for making my draft meet the requirements. Instructor: I look forward to grading the result.

Peer Review Tips for the Author OFFER A LIST OF QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS Peer Review Tips for the Author Do you need a generic review of your essay, or do you need specific help? How will your reviewer know your specific needs? Just like providing the assignment directions and grading criteria, give the reviewer your list of questions and concerns about your own essay. They can better prepare their comments for you, and while you’re waiting for the feedback, you can think about those questions on your own for your next draft. Plan your time wisely. Offer a clean copy of your complete draft. Offer the assignment directions and rubric (if available). Offer a list of questions and concerns. Remember that this is your paper and all decisions to make changes are yours. Helpful Not as Helpful I’m struggling with my lead-in. Here are some options. Which one of these is better than the others? I’m thinking about revising the supporting evidence in my third paragraph. What do you think of my transitions between paragraphs? How can I improve my explanation in paragraph two? Is my conclusion strong enough? I find it too repetitive. I just need to fix everything. Can you help? Is my lead-in okay? Is my essay good? I’m struggling with my thesis. How would you fix it? What would you do for a conclusion? I just need grammar and spelling help. Can you do that for me?

Peer Review Tips for the Author WHO WROTE THIS PAPER? Peer Review Tips for the Author Remember that this is your paper and all decisions to make changes are yours. If you receive peer feedback in class and you disagree with it, decide not use it to modify your next draft. If you receive peer feedback in class and it is incorrect, please be kind and remember that you requested a review from a classmate who is still learning, too. And, decide not to use the feedback to modify your next draft. HOWEVER If you receive feedback from multiple peers or from your instructor or a tutor and they all offer similar constructive criticism, you may want to consider it strongly when you modify your next draft. Even if you disagree with the critique, there is something about your draft that makes multiple reviewers have this comment, so be aware of your audience as you choose to accept or reject their suggestions. The paper and all decisions about it are yours, just like the grade earned for it. Plan your time wisely. Offer a clean copy of your complete draft. Offer the assignment directions and rubric (if available). Offer a list of questions and concerns. Remember that this is your paper and all decisions to make changes are yours.

Peer Review Tips for the Author Finally, no matter what decision you make about the feedback you get, someone else took time to consider your draft to help you improve it. Don’t forget to say Plan your time wisely. Offer a clean copy of your complete draft. Offer the assignment directions and rubric (if available). Offer a list of questions and concerns. Remember that this is your paper and all decisions to make changes are yours.