The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly of Peer Review

Erin E. Kelly

Volume 5

Chapter Description

Academic writing classes regularly require students to engage in peer review: that is, to read and comment on classmates’ work in progress in an attempt to make that work better. This chapter shows how such class activities connect to the practices of academic peer review associated with academic publishing. Understanding student peer review as an apprentice version of an academic journal’s peer review process (and using the problematic feedback offered by “Reviewer Two” as a negative example) can help students learn to generate constructive criticism; plan and undertake beneficial revisions guided by readers’ comments; and, most importantly, see peer review and revision as key elements of writing processes at all levels. 

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