Peer Review Guide
Use this guide to make notes as you read your classmates’ papers. These notes are to help you have a focused conversation about the writer’s paper.
Strengths
What is interesting about this paper? What is one new thing that you learned from reading this paper?
What are the best sections of this paper? Note strengths in conceptualization, analysis and/or writing.
Content
Topic/Thesis: In your own words, what is the paper topic? What is the thesis statement? What is one specific way these two things could be made clearer (if at all)?
Claims: Do each of the body paragraphs support the paper’s thesis? Are the claims clear, appropriate to the topic, and compelling? Do you have any suggestions for strengthening them?
Structure: Was the paper skimmable -- could you read the first sentence of each paragraph and get the “big idea” of the paper? Do the headings/subheadings help guide the reader? If not, how could they be better? (Would adding headings help?)
Redundancy: Did any parts seem redundant? Could the author eliminate any sentences and/or sections to be more concise?
Sources: Do you think there are any missing sources that could help provide evidence to support the paper?
Significance: What do you understand the significance of this paper to be? In your own words, why is it important?
Prompt
Does the paper fully respond to the assignment prompt? If not, what seems to be missing and/or needing to be more developed?
Suggestions
What suggestions do you have to make the paper stronger? Which areas of the report need the most attention? (Focus on writing and idea development.)
Collaborate with your partner to create a list of next steps for finishing this paper: