peer review

Author’s name __________________________

Reviewer’s name ___________________________

Introduction, Thesis, Title, and Conclusion: What is the Paper’s Main Idea?

Where does the author’s introduction end (what is the last sentence)? Does it provide background or explanation of the writer’s subject?

What is the paper’s thesis (main idea)? Circle it on the writer’s paper and mark it as “thesis,” or if you can’t identify it, put it in your own words here.

Is the paper’s title an accurate reflection of what the paper contains?  Or could it be more precise? Can you think of a title that might match the paper better?

Where does the writer’s conclusion begin? Does it remind the reader of the paper’s main idea and how it was proven?

Paragraphing: Organization, Development, Transitions, and Focus

Is the paper divided into multiple body paragraphs ?

Does the author use his/her page limit well? Or does he or she need more paragraphs, fewer paragraphs, longer more developed paragraphs, shorter  more focused paragraphs, etc?

Does each paragraph state its main idea at the beginning, in a topic sentence ? If not, can you help identify for the writer what the main idea of each of his/her paragraphs might be?

Does the writer use transition s to introduce new ideas, paragraphs, or pieces of evidence, such as “Another reason why…” or “On the other hand” or “For example”?

Documentation: Signal Phrases and In-Text Citations, Paraphrasing vs. Quoting

Can you tell where the writer’s evidence and facts come from in every single case? Are there lead-in phrases ( signal phrases ) to let the reader know the writer is introducing a piece of research, like “In the book The Hunger Games….” and “Movie critic Roger Ebert writes….”?

Are there in-text citations following every instance of borrowed material, such as: (Collins 56) or (Ebert 1)? Circle on the writer’s any passages where you are uncertain where an idea or sentence came from.

Borrowed material must be quoted directly from the original source and framed by quotation marks, or put into your own words ( paraphrased ). Either way, there must be an in-text citation at the end of any information, language or ideas taken from another source. Can you tell when the writer is quoting directly from the source vs. when s/he is paraphrasing ? Point out any place in the paper where you are not sure.

Sentence Level Concerns: Editing and Proofreading

Editing: Do the writer’s sentences flow logically into each other? Or do some need to be revised, deleted, or moved?

Proofreading : Is the paper error-free? Or are there unclear sentences, misspellings, missing words/word endings, etc? Find them, circle them, and explain to the writer why they need to be fixed.

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