Preview Bates College Department Of Biology Peer Review Form

p.1‐PeerReviewFormv.2‐10‐16(GA/LB)

BatesCollegeDepartmentofBiologyPEERREVIEWFORM

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Reviewer’sBatesID#:______________Authors’BatesID#’s:_________________________

Guidelines:Thispeerreviewistobedoneanonymously.Yourtaskistohelptheauthortowriteabetter,more

readable,andscientificallysoundpaper.Forthisyoujustneedtobeagood,attentive,reader.Weprovideyou

withspecificaspectsofwritingtoassess,andquestionstoanswerthatwillhelpyoutogivetheauthorfeedback

concerningparticularconventionsofscientificwriting.

Reviewers:Youwillbeevaluated

onhowwellyouidentifythestrengths/weaknessesinthepaperandonthe

qualityandaccuracyofyoursuggestionsforimprovingthepaper.Weassumethatyouhaveaworking

familiaritywiththe“HowtoWrite…”guideandHofmann(2016)andthatoneorbothareopenonthedesk

besideyou.Thereviewcounts30points.

Authors:Youwillbeevaluatedonhowwellyourespondtosuggestionsmadebyyourreviewer(s).Tofacilitate

yourevaluation,werequire(1)thatyoucheckoffanysuggestedchangesonthisdocumentasyoumakethem,

and(2)thatyoualsocheckoffyourchangesonthedraftmanuscript.Youwillalsocompletethelastpageofthis

formwhereyou’lloutlinehowyouwillundertaketherevision

ofyourpaperbasedonthisreview.Thishelpsus

knowquicklywhereyouhavefocusedyourrevisioneffort.Ifyouoptnottomakeasuggestedchange,please

provideabriefcommentexplainingwhy.Yourresponsetoreviewers’suggestionscounts20pointsonyour

paperscore.

Providingsubstantivefeedbacktotheauthors:YourwrittencommentswillbereportedtotheauthorsBOTH

onthisform,andasdirectcommentsonthemanuscript.Theformshouldbeusedtoprovidemoreglobal,

summaryfeedback.Commentsonthemanuscriptshouldidentifyspecificaspectsofthepaperthatarestrongor

needimprovement,and,shouldprovidespecific,constructivesuggestionsforimprovingthepaper.

Tipsforreviewingamanuscripteffectively:

 Bekindandconstructive.BethekindofREADERyou wouldliketohavereadyourdraft.

 Giveconcrete,specific,honestpraise.Example:“IlikethewaythedataarepresentedinFigure1.The

importantfeaturesarewelllabeledonthe

imageandexplainedinthelegend.”

 Giveconcrete,specific,honestconstructivefeedback.Example:“Ifinditdifficulttofollowthelogicalflowof

informationinthisparagraph.Acleartopicsentenceisneededandthenperhapsreorderingthesentences…”

 Asklotsofquestions.Example:Yourintroductionpresentsconflicting

arguments,butIamunsureofyour

thesis.Canyouexplainwhatsideofthecontroversyyoudefend?

 Imagineyou’rehavingadialogwiththeauthorsaboutthedraft,especiallyasyouidentifyconcernsand

considerpossiblesolutions.

 Mirrorforclarity–Say:“Itsoundslikeyouare

saying….Isthatright?”

 Movefromglobaltolocalissues.Forexample,startwithoverallorganizationofthepaper,ratherthanwording

ofindividualsentences.

 Don’ttryto“FIX”everything.DONOTline‐editthepaper;lettheauthorsdealwiththenittygrittyinthe

contextof

theirrevisions.

 Avoidcommentsthatstart“Youshould…”

 Writecommentsuponwhichtheauthorscanact;provideenoughinformationthattheauthorswillknowthe

basisforyourconcerns.

Sources

Hofmann,A.2013.WritingintheBiologicalSciencesOxfordUniversityPress,NewYork.290pp.

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