Successful Peer Review
Strategies
Getting Ready for Peer Review
• What you get out of peer review depends on
what you put into it.
• Your job as a writer is to listen and ask
questions.
• Your job as a peer reviewer is to give good
feedback and give each essay your full
attention.
• You are job as a reviewer is NOT to fix
grammar and spelling only.
Tips for Giving Criticism
• 1.Make it constructive.
– “Construct” means “to build.” Even when you are pointing
out an area for improvement, your criticism should help
to build the writer’s ability to write a successful essay.
– Positive comments are also appropriate. Tell a writer what
he or she did well and encourage him or her to do more of
that.
• 2. Be kind, yet honest. Never tear down another
writer, but don’t hesitate to point out passages that
don’t make sense and other mistakes. Telling an
author “It’s fine” when it is not fine does not help
him or her.
Tips for Giving Criticism
• 3. Give every essay in your peer group your
focus and attention. Come to class prepared to
read and think analytically about your group
mates’ essays. Remember, your classmates are
going to give their attention to your essay, so it’s
only fair that you return the favor.
• 4. Everyone has something to offer. Don’t be
intimidated if you feel that you’re being asked to
comment on a ‘better’ writer. We comment on
professional writers all the time!
Tips for Taking Criticism
1. Remember that your group is offering you
criticism in order to help you. Try not
to
be defensive, and be open to suggestions.
2. Ask questions about your group members’
comments. If you don’t understand why a
group member is saying something, ask him or
her to explain.
3. If a group member is being too vague, ask him
or her to point to specific places in your essay
where they see problems.
4. Try to propose solutions to the problems your
group members see in your essay. Ask if these
solutions would solve the problems.
Using Turnitin to Check on Balance
of Sources and Original Material
• View your own submission on turnitin and view the
originality report. If you did not upload, spend this time
drafting.
• What did turnitin mark as “unoriginal” (these are the
highlighted portions)? Do these unoriginal passages have
quote marks around them and give credit using in-text
citations?
• Is your similarity score more than 30%? This will need to be
fixed before you turn in a final draft, and all direct quotes
and paraphrases will need to be properly cited with both
in-text citations and works cited entries. Any essay that has
more than a 30% similarity score will not be graded. A
new version that scores less than 30% must be uploaded
to the late folder and will lose 10% of points possible.
Preparing for Peer Review
• Choose the “peer mark” report and read the
comments from both of your peers.
• Formulate at least one question/clarification
you would like to ask each person.
Peer Review Time
• Focusing on one essay at a time, review the
answers to the questions and discuss ways to
improve. All group members should be
involved in the discussion. I should not see
anyone working alone.
• You should spend about twenty to thirty
minutes on each essay. If your group finishes
with all three essays in less than an hour, you
did not spend enough time on peer review.
– Work on the revisions your group suggested.
– Work on homework for this or another class.
Revision Time
• “Revision” means “to see again,” hopefully with a new perspective
provided by your peers. There is no one-size-fits-all advice about
your papers, but here are some suggestions:
• Work on the issues identified by your peers. Incorporate new ideas
that came up during peer review.
• Many drafts I looked at had uncited sources or overuse of cited
sources. Work on the balance of your own words and your sources.
• Other drafts I saw did not have enough sources. Remember, you
must have THREE sources in the body of your paper, either direct
quotes or paraphrases.
• Do more research. Work on deepening your understanding of your
topic. What is the history behind things being the way they are
now? What do various people/groups who have a stake in this issue
think about it? What are their REASONS for thinking the way they
do?