Peer Review Procedures

Typically, peer review sessions in this class will follow these steps:

1. You will be put in a group with 3 or 4 of your classmates. 

2. One of the group members reads his/her draft out loud.

3. Participants take several minutes to read through the draft making notes in response to the review guidelines I provide.

4. Group members take turns describing their responses to the draft—what they liked, where they wanted more information, where they were confused, where they noticed problems, etc.

5. The writer takes notes during each response, asking for clarification and suggestions from the reviewers.

6. The writer should write down the names of his/her group members and hand in the notes with final draft. You must hand in a sheet of feedback notes from the peer review with your final draft or your grade will suffer.

7. The process continues with each writer in the group following these steps.

Tips for Peer Review

 Tips for Reviewer:

1. As you are reading or following along, write notes or make marks on the draft for discussion after reading.

2. Begin your response by telling the writer which features and techniques demonstrated in the paper work well and explain why they are effective.

3. Make specific comments and suggestions; avoid vague statements.

4. Address the more substantive features of the paper, such as its structure and development, rather than concentrating on mechanical issues such as punctuation and spelling.

5. Refer to the condition of the text, not the writer (e.g. “your draft confused me when…” rather than “you confused me when…”).

Tips for the Reviewer:

1.  Make notes on the draft when reading out loud, reminding yourself to clarify, elaborate, define, etc.

2. Don’t defend your writing; just listen attentively to suggestions.  You can decide later whether or not to make the suggested changes.

3.  Insist on obtaining thorough, specific suggestions from the reviewer; don’t accept a generalized assessment.

4. Clarify and confirm the reviewer’s suggestions.

5. Write down all the feedback that you receive so you can remember it later.

(Note: This page was adapted from the English Department's Writing Center handout on peer reviews).

Created Feb. 14, 2003  Last Updated Feb. 14, 2003