Peer review is a skill, and like most skills, it gets easier with practice. The first time you review someone else's work, it can feel awkward. You might worry about being too harsh, or not helpful enough, or simply not knowing what to say. That's normal. The tips below give you a framework to work from so you can focus on the writing in front of you, not on figuring out how to respond to it. If you are looking for guidance on how to navigate your Peer Review assignment in Packback, read our Completing a Peer Review Assignment article.
1. Read the whole piece before you start
Before leaving a single comment, read start to finish. You need the full picture before you can tell the writer what it was like to read their work. Feedback written before you've seen the whole piece often misses the point.
2. Say exactly where
"This section is unclear" gives the writer nothing to act on. "The third sentence of the second paragraph" does. If you can't point to a specific moment in the text, you haven't located the problem yet. Where you can, try highlighting the text in the submission and leaving an inline comment directly on your peer’s writing.
3. Explain the problem, then suggest a fix
Flagging a problem without explaining it leaves the writer stuck. Once you've named what you noticed and why it matters, follow it with one concrete suggestion. A single specific recommendation is more useful than three vague observations.
4. Report what you experienced as a reader
Your job is to tell the author what it was like to read their work. Where were you pulled in? Where did you lose the thread? Where did you want more? Honest reader responses are more useful to the writer than verdicts, and easier to give.
5. Ask what would help, not what went wrong
"What would make this clearer?" tends to produce better suggestions than "What's wrong with this?" Harsh feedback is harder to act on, so a less pointed tone will help your point land. Looking forward at what could be stronger is more productive than looking back at what fell short.
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