Peer Review Questions for  Papers

1. Restate the thesis of the essay in your own words. What suggestions do you have for clarifying or improving the thesis.

2. What do you see as two strengths and two weaknesses of the paper overall?

3. What was the most interesting aspect of the paper for you? Why?

4. Are there any key terms and concepts that need more definition? If so, please list and try to explain why.

5. List the most convincing and relevant evidence, points, or examples in support of the thesis in your view. Which are the least convincing? Why? Are there any other points, examples, or pieces of evidence that could help support the thesis?

6. Has the writer made any assumptions (explicit or implicit) that are not and need to be argued for?

7. Has the writer recognized alternative points of view and/or possible objections to his/her thesis or supporting points/evidence? If so, state what these are and why they are good or need to be improved. If not, suggest at least one possible objection or alternative point of view that you think the writer should address.

8. Organization. Are there any paragraphs that have no clear topic sentence? Are there any paragraphs that should be broken in two because they make more than one point? Are there any paragraphs that can be eliminated? Would you suggest any changes in the order? Is the order in which the points are made logical? Would you suggest a different order? If so, why?

Transitions - Indicate on the draft any places that there need to be additional transitions between paragraphs. (Transitions indicate what the next paragraph will do. These can be at the end of the previous paragraph or the beginning of the new paragraph. Typical transitions are: An additional example that supports X is; On the other hand, ....; As I have shown . . .; etc.)

9. Mark up the draft with any grammatical, spelling, or other improvements.