3 Steps to Peer Editing

There are three important steps to remember when you are peer editing another student’s writing.

Step 1 – Overview of the paper’s strengths
Step 2 – Suggestions

Step 3 – Corrections 　

 STEP 1: Overview of the paper’s strengths

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The first rule of peer editing is to BE CONSTRUCTIVE.

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Remember, you are helping to change someone else’s work. Consider the tone of your commentary and make specific but practical suggestions. Understand that this is a working draft and offer your advice accordingly.

• Always start your peer editing by mentioning the paper’s particular strengths.

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Tell the writer what you think he or she did well:

STEP 2: Suggestions

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Making suggestions means giving the author some specific ideas about how to improve their writing.

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Remember – stay positive and be specific in your comments. Make them from the point of view of a reader, so that you communicate where the problem is for their audience. It’s also a very good idea to phrase your comments as questions you are asking them to answer – to show them where they need to go further in their explanation, in their use of evidence, or where the logic of their argument is unclear. Also, by phrasing your comments from a reader’s point of view, you don’t make absolute claims and don’t run the risk of hurt feelings. Hurt feelings rarely have a positive effect on a person’s desire to change the way they do things – they are more likely to react negatively and aggressively to suggestions.

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Instead of, "It doesn’t make sense," say something like: "Develop your ideas here. Right now I’m having trouble understanding what you mean but if you explain it more fully it might become clear."

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Instead of, "Your word choice was boring or inaccurate," say something like: "I find the repetition of terms distracting; consider revising here," or "I’m not following this; can you be more specific in your use of terms?"

Here are some areas that you may want to make suggestions about:

1. Organization – Can you understand what the author is trying to say? Is it in the correct sequence?
2. Using details or evidence
3. Topic – Does the author stick to the topic or talk about other things that don’t really fit?
4. Word choice – Did the author choose appropriate and academic words?
5. Sentences/Fluency – Are the sentences too long or too short?

　

STEP 3: Corrections

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The third step in the peer editing process is making corrections.

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Corrections means checking your peer’s paper for:

1. Spelling mistakes
2. Grammar mistakes
3. Missing punctuation
4. Incomplete or run-on sentence

Things to Remember:

Be constructive – Try to make suggestions and corrections in a positive way. Be specific – Give the author specific ideas on how to improve his or her writing.
Complete all 3 steps – compliments, suggestions, and corrections.