Consider Your Role as a Reviewer

• Be certain you understand the assignment. Ask the writer to describe the draft’s purpose and audience, and read the assignment sheet, if there is one.
• Be certain you understand the writer’s needs. Ask the writer what type of response you should provide. If you are reviewing an early draft that will be revised before it’s submitted for a grade, focus on larger writing concerns such as the overall argument, evidence, and organization. If the writer wants help with proofreading and editing, focus on accuracy, economy, consistency, biased language, style, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
• Be certain you understand any peer-review guidelines. If you are using a feedback form or a set of questions provided by your instructor, make sure you understand these guidelines. If you don’t, ask the instructor or the writer for clarification.
• Set aside sufficient time to review the draft. Take your job seriously, and give the draft the time it deserves. You’ll want the same courtesy when your draft is reviewed.

• Be prepared. Read the draft all the way through at least once before making any comments. This will help you understand its overall structure and argument.
• Be organized. Take a few minutes to identify the areas most in need of work. On a first draft, for instance, you might identify three main areas that need the writer’s attention, such as thesis statement, organization, and effective use of sources.

• Be positive. Identify the strengths of the draft. Be specific in your praise: “This quotation really drives home your point about veterans’ struggles after deployment” is more helpful, for instance, than “Nice quotation” because the first comment allows the writer to see why a certain strategy is effective.
• Be judicious. Focus on the areas of the draft most in need of improvement. Avoid commenting on everything that might be improved. In most cases, a limited set of suggested changes — particularly those that focus on bigger-picture concerns such as purpose, audience, argument, and organization — will ripple through a document in ways that make many of the other changes you might have suggested irrelevant.
• Be clear. If you are addressing an overall issue such as structure or integration of evidence from sources, discuss it thoroughly enough that the writer will understand your concerns. If you are addressing a specific passage, indicate where it can be found.
• Be specific. Avoid general comments, such as “This draft suffers from a lack of clarity.” This kind of statement doesn’t give the writer direction for improving the draft. Instead, offer specific comments, such as “I found it difficult to understand your explanation of the issue in the second paragraph.” Similarly, focus your questions. Instead of asking, “What are you trying to do here?”, ask a question such as “It seems as though you are trying to build on what you stated in the previous paragraph. Can you show the connection more clearly?”
• Be constructive. Offer concrete suggestions about how the draft might be improved, rather than just criticizing what you didn’t like. Being constructive can also mean encouraging the writer to continue doing what you see as effective.
• Be reasonable. Keep the writing assignment in mind as you make suggestions for improvement. Don’t hold the draft to a higher standard than the instructor’s.
• Be kind. Be polite. Don’t put down the writer simply because you find a draft inadequate, confusing, or annoying.
• Be responsible. Review your comments before you give them to the writer.