16 Peer & Professional Review

Sometimes your professors may ask you to do some Peer Review. This is simply the task of going through and making revision suggestions on someone else’s document. You do not have to be an expert in their topic to be an effective peer reviewer.

When going through your partner’s document, ask the questions listed in the chapter’s revision portion. HOWEVER, you do not want to MAKE those changes for your partner. You are not the author of that document. You don’t get to make those decisions.

So then, what CAN you do?

Active vs. Passive Reading in Peer Review

Reading is just reading, right? What do you mean by active and passive reading?  Refer to chapter 1.6 for a reminder about this topic.

Remember the following:

Passive reading is reading for fun.

You pick up a book and spend the better part of an hour thumbing through the story and enjoying the plot. You don’t make notes or ask questions. At the end of an hour, you put the book down and get up and make yourself a snack without thinking about the book again until you go back to reading it.

Active reading is reading for a purpose.

You have a big biology test next week, so you skim the text to read the headings and find out what is going to be learned. You highlight any definitions. You stop periodically and write down questions about things you don’t understand in the text so you can ask your professor the next time you see them. You make notes about what might be on the test. At the end of the afternoon, you have read through the chapter, and you have compiled notes and questions and (hopefully) have a better understanding of the topic you are learning. You may return to the chapter and re-read a couple sections the next time you sit down to study because you realize you need a refresher.

Active Reading in Peer Review

Remember when you read about Active vs. Passive reading? Much like studying, peer review requires active reading. Remember the scenario earlier? If you had simply been reading passively you may have noticed the odd paragraph, but you wouldn’t have done anything about it. But you have been asked to review someone’s draft with the intention of making it stronger, so you need to read actively. Ask questions, make notes. Write on the document. Microsoft word has many editing options that you can use to make comments.

Peer Review Etiquette

It is important that when you are tasked with peer review, you remember some of the following rules of etiquette:

1. Make sure you give the document the time it deserves. Someone has asked you specifically to help them make their writing better.

1. Your job is not to catch every single mistake, nor is your job to ‘make the draft bleed’

1. If you make a comment about something not working, you should always follow it up with a suggestion on how to make it better

4. This does not have to be a perfect suggestion, but it does need to offer the author some ideas on what they can do to fix it.
5. Peer Review is scary because people feel that writing is incredibly personal. Kindness is always an option.

You need to remain as neutral as possible and only comment on whether the argument is solid, and whether it reads well. If you find yourself with a piece of writing that covers a topic you can’t separate yourself from and review objectively, kindly let your reviewee know that they would be better suited to finding another reviewer.

Professional Review

It is possible that peer review isn’t your jam, but it serves to expose students to important skills; however, there is another type of review that is important for you to consider, and that is professional review.

As a student, professional review would be professors, tutors, teaching assistants (TAs), and primarily your instructor. Obviously, your instructor is probably the most knowledgeable about the assignments for their given class. If they create opportunities for professional review of drafts, make sure to take those opportunities and ask questions/make revisions based on their feedback.

Some keys to successful professional reviews of your work:

• Plan Ahead: Schedule a review time with your instructor or attend office hours. You cannot expect your instructor to make time last minute to read an entire class worth of drafts, and you cannot always count on last minute appointments with other professional reviewers.
• Don’t Skip Classes or Workshops: Sometimes instructors will open class time to deal with concerns over writing assignments or even offer to look over drafts in class. I find that students with good attendance and who come to workshops score one to two letter grades higher on their work.

• Come Prepared:
  • Make sure you have read over the assignment again and make note of any questions you still have.
  • Highlight any areas of concern or that you feel could be stronger.

• Make sure you know where your work is stored and how to access it.

• Take their advice: If it isn’t your instructor, and you are unsure about their advice, make sure to ask your instructor for clarification. However, if it is your instructor, it is best to take their advice, as they will be the ones grading your work

Even professional writers have professional reviewers. I have friends that I read my work to, or ask them to look it over, but when it comes down to final revisions, I seek out a professional or two in my field to make sure that I am on the right track.

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Academic Writing Skills Copyright © 2021 by Patricia Williamson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.