PEER-EDITING OR SELF-EDITING CHECKLIST
Name of manuscript author: __________________________
Name of peer editor: __________________________
Please write “yes” or “no” in the spaces to the left of the questions. At the end of
the checklist, you can make recommendations and comments.
Basic Requirements for the Manuscript:
____ Does the manuscript contain the following components: Title, Abstract,
Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and References?
____ Are the references in the text of the manuscript (parenthetical citations) cited
correctly according to the style specified by the journal in which it is to be
published?
____ Is the manuscript free of unanswered questions that the author should have
answered? In other words, is the manuscript free of gaps in logic or
research and does it present as complete an argument as possible?
____ Do the Results and Discussion sections logically follow the hypothesis
section? Is there continuity in logic?
____ Throughout the manuscript, are the headings and subheadings consistent in
type and placement?
____ Has all superfluous (inessential) material been removed from the
manuscript?
____ Are all units of measure consistent with the conventions required for
scientific manuscripts?
____ Is the manuscript free of abbreviations, except those common to science,
such as RNA, DNA, ATP, units of measure, and chemical formulas?
____ Are acronyms used only after the author has stated the full name the first
time it is mentioned? The acronym should be introduced when the scientific
name is first mentioned: The American Medical Association (AMA) is the
largest medical association of physicians in the nation.
____ Are the first letters of chemical elements written as lowercase? Chemical
elements are not proper nouns, and therefore the first letters should not be
capitalized. When using the chemical symbol, only the first letter should be
capitalized: barium (Ba).
____ Is the manuscript free of contractions, such as don’t, can’t, shouldn’t,
couldn’t, and doesn’t?
____ Does the manuscript use in-text citations instead of footnotes?
____ Are scientific names of genus and species written in italics? Only the genus
should be capitalized: Chelydra serpentina or Crocodylus acutus.
____ Is the Materials and Methods section written in the past tense when that
tense is appropriate?
____ Is the Results section written in the past tense when the writing concerns
procedures or actions performed in the past?
____ Is the Discussion section written in the present tense when discussing
current situations, such as the author’s personal conclusions and accepted
facts?
____ Is there an Acknowledgements section after the Discussion section, if the
study has been funded or assisted by others?
Title
____ Is the title sufficiently informative?
____ Is it clear and concise?
____ Is it worded appropriately for a scientific document?
Abstract:
____ Does the Abstract briefly summarize the introduction, methods, results, and
discussion sections?
____ Is it a single paragraph?
____ Is it about 200 to 250 words in length?
____ Is it sufficiently informative?
____ Is it free of references, as it should be?
____ Does the Abstract contain five to seven keywords to enable a search engine
to easily locate it?
Introduction:
____ Does the introduction describe the scope of the research the author has
reviewed and why the research subject is important?
____ Is the research review limited to studies that are relevant to the manuscript’s
hypothesis?
____ Does the author explain why some previous research has insufficient or
incorrect data, or is not relevant to current circumstances, if needed?
____ Has the author described any pertinent controversies in the field?
____ Does the introduction gradually narrow in focus to the specific questions and
hypothesis?
____ Does the introduction clearly state the hypothesis?
____ Does the introduction contain the necessary citations of the previous
research?
____ Are the references in the proper format?
Materials and Methods:
____ Are subheadings used to help organize this section, if needed?
____ Are the experiments described so that the study could be repeated?
____ Is the discussion of procedures restricted to those directly affecting the study
results?
____ Have outside sources of information been correctly cited?
____ Is it free of information that should be reported in the Results section?
Results:
____ Are tables or figures used to display important results?
____ Are the important results summarized in the text of the Results section?
____ Are they properly labeled with descriptive titles?
____ Are tables and figures referenced in the manuscript text? Example:
Pressure on the upper part of the spinal cord may produce similar symptoms
(Figure 1). Writing advice: The first time a figure is mentioned, it is referred
to as Figure 1 and subsequently it is referred to as Fig. 1.
____ Did the author refrain from interpreting or explaining the results in the
Results section? Those belong in the Discussion section.
____ Are tables and figures references in the manuscript text?
____ Does the data makes sense? Is it believable? Are all of the experiments
that didn’t work removed from the manuscript?
Discussion:
____ Does the discussion begin with a brief summary of the key results?
____ Are the key results interpreted and discussed as having supported or not
supported the hypothesis?
____
Is the author’s interpretation of the results logical?
____ Are appropriate references cited to support the author’s statements?
____ Are those citations in proper format?
____ Does the discussion broaden in focus and conclude with the study’s
significance in the advancement of science?
____ Have all references to experiments that didn’t work or to trivial things that
might have gone wrong (ex: pipetting error, protocol errors) been removed
from the manuscript?
References:
____ Are the citations in this section in the proper format, according to the
specified style for the journal?
____ Are all the sources appropriate for this research? For example, are the
articles from peer-reviewed journals rather than popular science magazines
or from websites that haven’t pass the standards of credibility?
____
Does every citation in the References section show up in the text of the
manuscript? Does every citation in the text of the manuscript show up
here?
Comments and recommendations:
References:
Braun, Derek & Raymond Merritt. Checklist for a Biology Lab Report at
Gallaudet University. Gallaudet University Department of Biology, 30
Nov. 2008. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.
<http://aaweb.gallaudet.edu/CLAST/Tutorial_and_Instructional_Progra
ms/English_Works/Writing/Lab_Reports/Sample_Biology_Lab_Report_at
_Gallaudet_University/Checklist_for_a_Biology_Lab_Report_at_Gallaude
t_University.html>.
Campbell, A. Malcolm. Checklist for Lab Report. Davidson College, 2000. Web.
25 Mar. 2010.
<http://www.bio.davidson.edu/Courses/bio112/Bio112LabMan/Section%
203.html>.
Journal Of Young Investigators. Writing Scientific Manuscripts. 2005. 13 Apr.
2010.
<http://www.jyi.org/resources/320/Guide%20to%20Science%20Writing
.pdf>.
Lab Report Standards of Review. Louisiana State University, nd. Web. 13 Apr.
2010.
<http://www.biology.lsu.edu/introbio/lab/1209/Fall%202007/Lab%20Re
port%20Review%20Checklist.htm>.
Penchenik, Jan. A. Checklist for the Final Draft of Your Research Report Biology. University of Minnesota, 27 Jan. 2010. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.
<http://writing.umn.edu/tww/disciplines/biological_sciences/grading/che
cklist.html>.