Last saved by: Sanjay Joshi

HIS 498C				Peer Review of Papers

Please use this document to review the paper you are assigned.  I would recommend filling this out electronically, keeping a copy for your OWN records and handing a copy to your reviewee when conducting the review in class.  

NAME OF REVIEWER:   

NAME OF AUTHOR: ____________________________________________________________________________
1. TITLE OF PAPER:  Does the title describe the paper well, Can you suggest a better title?

2. Topic.  Is the subject/topic of the paper clear to the reader?
	
	2a. Does the paper stick to the topic, or does it veer off on tangents

3. Thesis.  Is there a clearly articulated THESIS in the paper?  If so, summarize the thesis IN YOUR OWN WORDS, in two or three sentences.

	3a.  Is the thesis original or has it already been made about the subject? 

	3b.  Is there enough EVIDENCE to support that thesis?

3c.  Does the author take into account (and refute) other ways of looking at the evidence, or other subjects that might challenge the author’s thesis?

3d.  Do you have any suggestions for the author regarding the thesis–  modifying or clarifying it in some way, perhaps?  
	
4.  Research. 

	4a.  Has the author undertaken sufficient amount of SECONDARY research, that is, do you get the sense that s/he has read what has already been published about the subject

	4b.  Has the author used a sufficient amount of PRIMARY sources?

	4c.  HOW creative or closely has the author read the primary and secondary sources?

4d.  Do you have any suggestions for the author regarding research, either using new sources, or in terms of reading existing sources in different ways? 

5.  WRITING ISSUES

	6a.  Organization: Can you provide suggestions in terms of paper organization that would help the author get her or his points across in a clearer manner?

6b.  Paragraph and Sentence structures.  Pay some attention to the following IN YOUR OWN WRITING as well as in evaluating the writing of others:
* Do the paragraphs in the paper work to support the thesis of the paper? 
* Is there a topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph?  
* Do the sentences in a paragraph support the contention of the topic sentence?  
* Are the sentences themselves clear?  Pay attention to punctuation as incorrect punctuation can often alter the meaning of a sentence.