How to Peer Review A Journal Article

Responding to a Question from Office Hours

Photo by Randalyn Hill on Unsplash

One of my dear readers recently asked this question in Office Hours:

I just got my first invitation to review a manuscript for a journal! Any tips or advice on how to do this helpfully and kindly?

First and foremost, dear reader, you are already ahead of the game because you asked how you could be helpful and kind during the process. Oftentimes, academics forget the primary goal of peer review: to make the project better. Peer review is sometimes viewed as a flaw-finding mission or a way to keep others from putting alternative ideas to ours out in the open. Academics can sometimes allow their narcissism to manifest itself in review violence against their peers. As I write in Resisting the Culture of Narcissism in the Academy,

Narcissism can also lead some academics to lash out against others. Fragile self-esteems causes some of us to denigrate the work of others whom we perceive as also not doing transformative work. Consider how often snarky reviewer 2s discount solid research projects as failing short of their own exaggerated expectations. The narcissist temporarily feels like less of a failure after criticizing a colleague’s work.

So, yes, you are on the right track by first realizing your role as a helper and your desire to be kind. Indeed, it’s not about you! To facilitate this ethos in my own mind, I often imagine that the person I’m reviewing is a student writing their first publication. How do I respond to them in a way that helps them improve their work without stealing their souls?