Biology Department Bates College

Peer Review Form v. 2-9-12

BatesCollegeDepartmentofBiologyPEERREVIEWFORM

ReviewersPRID#:___________AuthorsPRID#s:__________________
Guidelines:Thispeerreviewistobedoneanonymously.Yourtaskistohelptheauthortowriteabetter, morereadable,paper.Forthisyoujustneedtobeagood,attentive,reader.Weprovideyouwithspecific aspectsofwritingtoassess,andquestionstoanswerthatwillhelpyoutogivetheauthorfeedback concerningparticularconventionsofscientificwriting.

Reviewers:Youwillbeevaluatedonhowwellyouidentifythestrengths/weaknessesinthepaperandon thequalityandaccuracyofyoursuggestionsforimprovingthepaper.Weassumethatyouhaveaworking familiaritywiththeHowtoWriteguideandthatitisopenonthedeskbesideyou.Thereviewcounts30 points. Authors: You will be evaluated on how well you respond to suggestions made by your reviewer(s). To facilitateyourevaluation,wesuggestthatyoucheck( )anysuggestedchangesonthisdocumentasyou make them, and also check your changes on the draft manuscript. If you opt not to make a suggested change,pleaseprovideabriefcommentexplainingwhy.Yourresponsetoreviewerssuggestionscounts20 pointsonyourpaperscore.

Instructions:
1.Readthepaperthroughonce,andjusttrytogetasenseofwhatthepaperisaboutandtheoverall organizationandflowofinformation. 2.Readthepaperagain.Ignoresentencelevelissuesandpaycloseattentiontowhattheauthoristryingto say.Onthepaper,writespecificcommentson: o regionsandsentencesthatarewellwrittenandclear, o regionsorsentencesthatareconfusingandwhatyouareconfusedabout, o specificsuggestionsforreorganizing/rewritinginformation/sentencesifyouthinkitwouldmake thematerialmoreeasilyunderstoodbythereader,and, o anyquestionsyouhavefortheauthorsthatwillhelpguidethemtomoreclearlypresentthe informationinthepaper. DoNOTlineeditthewholepaperiftherearemajorgrammarandspellingissues,pickaparagraph ortwotomarkextensivelyasexamplesandnotethemassuch. 3.Onthisreviewform,assesswhethercertainwritingconventionsandinformationispresentedweakly, satisfactorily,orstronglyintherubricboxes.ForanycriteriathatyouflagasbeingWeak,pleaseprovide specificcommentsaboutwhyyoufeltthataspectwasweakandsuggestwaystostrengthenit. Wealsoaskyoutoidentify1or2strongpointsand1or2aspectsneedingworkforeachsectionofthe paper.Forallquestionslisted,pleaseprovidebrief,butconstructive,answers/suggestionsuponwhichthe authorscanact. 1

Biology Department Bates College

Peer Review Form v. 2-9-12

Introduction:Thissectiongivesacontextforthereadertounderstandthebackgroundandrelevanceof yourexperiment.Italsoiswherethepurposeandhypothesisisstatedforthereader. Weak Satisf Strong CRITERIA

Purpose/goalofstudyclearlystated Motivationand/orimportanceofthestudyisclearlystated Backgroundinformationappropriatetothestudy questions Previousresearchmentionedisrelevanttothestudy Previousresearchappropriatelycited Informationflowslogicallyfrommoregeneraltomorespecific Theapproachtocarryingoutthestudyisbrieflystated

Accordingtotheauthor,whatisthespecificpurposeofthisstudy,andhowwelldoesthebackground informationeducateyou,theinterestedreader,astothebasisofthestudyandthelargercontextit addresses? Whatspecificquestionsareaddressedbythestudy/experiments?Havetheybeenmadeclear? Identify1or2good/importantaspectsoftheIntroductionthatshouldberetainedduringrevision. 1. 2. Identify1or2weakaspectsoftheIntroductionthatshouldbecorrected/improvedduringrevision. 1. 2. 2

Biology Department Bates College Peer Review Form v. 2-9-12 MaterialsandMethods:Anoutstandingmaterialsandmethodssectionwouldallowascientistfamiliar withthebasicmaterialsandtechniquestoreplicatetheexperimentdone,withallthesamevariablesand conditions,usingtheinformationintheMaterialsandMethodssection.However,itisNOTadetailedstep bystepprocedure. Materials:criteriagrid(useallthatapply)
Weak Satisf Strong CRITERIA Experimentalorganismdescribedproperly (whenapplicable) Growthconditions/studysite described Hardtofind/uniquematerialssourcegiven Genusandspecies/strain/cultivargiven

Methods:criteriagrid(useallthatapply)
Weak Satisf Strong CRITERIA Describedinlogicalorderwith meaningful subheadings Experimentalorsamplingdesigninformationclearlystated Testedvariable(s)described Controlcondition(s)/sample(s)described Whatwasmeasuredisclearlydescribed Finalconcentrationsofchemicals/solutionsused Procedure(s)accuratelyandsuccinctlydescribed Dataanalysisdescribed(i.e., statisticaltests,transformations,etc.) Chemicalsymbolsandscientificnamesaccurateandconsistentlyused

Overallcomprehension: Noteasily Sortof Easily

CRITERIA Howeasilycouldthisexperiment/study bereplicatedfrominformation providedintheM&Mifoneisalreadyfamiliarwiththetechniques?

Identify1or2good/importantaspectsoftheIntroductionthatshouldberetainedduringrevision. Identify1or2weakaspectsoftheIntroductionthatshouldbecorrected/improvedduringrevision. 3

Biology Department Bates College

Peer Review Form v. 2-9-12

Resultstext:AgoodResultstextsectionshouldallowthereadertounderstandwhyaparticular experimentwasdone,andthereadershouldbeableforformulateanimageofwhatthedatalooklike withoutlookingatthefigures.TheResultstextistellingthestoryofthedatainwords.

Weak Satisf Strong CRITERIA Clearwhyaparticularexperimentwasdone Datatrendsandpatternsnotedanddescribedaccurately Resultsforcontrolsdescribed/mentioned Appropriatefiguresreferencedintext Resultspresentinsequencethatallowsreadertounderstandhow experimentsrelatetoeachother Ifstatisticsareemployed,informationaboutstatisticalsignificancepresent inparentheses

Whatarethemajorfindingsdescribedbytheauthorinthetext? Trytoimagine/sketchforyourselfwhatthedatafiguresforthissectionwouldlooklikewithonlythistext asaninformationsource.Asyoudothisandthenexaminethefigure(s),whatresultsinformationis describedwellandwhatresultsinformationislackinginthetext? Identify1or2good/importantaspectsoftheResultsthatshouldberetainedduringrevision. Identify1or2weakaspectsoftheResultsthatshouldbecorrected/improvedduringrevision. 4

Biology Department Bates College Peer Review Form v. 2-9-12 ResultsFigures/Tables:Agoodfigure(ortable)withalegendwillcontainalltheinformationnecessaryto interpretthedata.Ideally,youcouldwriteresultstextusingtheFigure/Tableinformation. Weak Satisf Strong CRITERIA NoteFig#sneedingwork
Appropriateformat fordatachosen FiguresandTablesfollowaconsistentformat Legendpresentandinproperlocation Legendinformationcompleteandaccurate Allaxes/columnsetclabeledproperly Figureunderstoodwithoutreferringtotextsection Propernumberingofdatafigures

Eachfigureortableshouldreportdataorsummarystatisticsthatsupportamajorfindingfromthestudy. Havetheauthorsaccomplishedthis? Foranytableorfigureforwhichitisapplicable,ifyoufeelinformationismissing,inerror,redundant,oris otherwiselesseffectivelythanitcouldbe,whatchangeswouldalloweasier/morespecificinterpretationof thedata? Identify1or2good/importantaspectsoftheTables/Figuresthatshouldberetainedduringrevision. Identify1or2weakaspectsoftheTables/Figuresthatshouldbecorrected/improvedduringrevision. 5

Biology Department Bates College Peer Review Form v. 2-9-12 Discussion:TheDiscussionsectiontellsuswhatthedatamean,whytheyareimportant,andrelatesthese newfindingstothebodyofknowledgealreadyoutthere.WhereastheResultssectiontolduswhatthe dataare;heretelluswhatthedatamean. Weak Satisf Strong CRITERIA
Overallcontextofthisexperimentisclearlystated Explainwhyoriginalhypothesisissupported/notsupported Conclusionsdrawnfromyourresults Resultsdataarediscussed,notmethodsorstatistics Conclusionsarerelatedtoexistingliterature Personalopinion/speculationclearlydifferentiatedfromresultsbased conclusions InformationherebuildsonandsupplementsthatintheIntroduction Suggestfurtherexperimentsbasedonyourfindings

Accordingtotheauthors,whatdotheresultsoftheirstudymean?Whatdotheyconcludeaboutthestudy fromtheresultstheydescribedinrelationtothespecificquestionsthestudyaddressed? Ifyoufeeltheauthorshavenotconsideredotherpossibleexplanationsfortheirfindings,suggestany alternativesyoufeeltheyshouldaddressandwhy.Recommendanyimportantreferencesthattheymay haveoverlookedthatwouldhelpinthisprocess. Howwelldotheauthorsdeliveronanswering/discussingthestudyquestions/purposeascontextualizedin theIntroduction? Identify1or2good/importantaspectsoftheDiscussionthatshouldberetainedduringrevision. Identify1or2weakaspectsoftheDiscussionthatshouldbecorrected/improvedduringrevision. 6

Biology Department Bates College Peer Review Form v. 2-9-12 Title:NowgobacktothebeginningandconsiderthepapersTitle.Thisshouldcapturetheaudiences attention,andshouldaccuratelyrepresentthepapercontentsinaconcisemannerbutstillbeinformative enoughtohelpthereaderdecideifthepaperisworthreading. Weak Satisf Strong CRITERIA

Titledescribesthestudyincontext Majorfindingsorconclusionsareincludedwhenpossible Titleaccuratelyreflectsthefindingsofthestudy Speciesname(s)included commonandLatin Forfieldstudies,thestudylocationisincluded

Whatarethekeywordsinthistitle?Identifyanyotherkeywordsorinformationthatthetitleoughtto include. Afterreadingthepaper,commentonhowaccuratelythetitlereflectsthestudydescribedinthispaper. Makespecificsuggestionsforimprovingthetitleifyoufeelitidswarranted.

Biology Department Bates College

Peer Review Form v. 2-9-12

Abstract:Thesectionisasummaryofthepaperandisusuallythefirstsectionread.Itisaoneparagraph miniversionofthepaper,andithelpsthereaderdecideifthispaperisrelevantenoughtotheirinterestto readtheentiretext.Abstractsaregenerally300wordsorfewerinlength.

Weak Satisf Strong CRITERIA Statementofpurposesummarizestheobjectiveorscopeofthestudy StatementofpurposematchesthatintheIntroduction Summarizestheexperimental/samplingdesignandmajormethodsused AgreeswithmethodsasreportedintheMethodssectionofthepaper Statesthemajorresultsofthestudy pertinenttothestudyquestions StatedresultsagreewiththosestatedintheResultssection Statesthemajorconclusion(s) drawnfromtheresults Conclusionsagreewith thosestatedintheDiscussion

Accordingtotheauthors,whatspecificscientificquestion(s)is/arebeingaddressedinthispaper? Afterreadingthepaper,whatinformationwouldyousuggesttheauthorsaddto,orremovefrom,the Abstract? Add: Remove: 8

Biology Department Bates College

Peer Review Form v. 2-9-12

References:Youshouldusereferencestosupportstatementsandbackgroundmaterialinyourpaper.They shouldbereputableprimarysources.Generallyknowninformationdoesnothavetobespecifically referenced;anyspecificfindingordatamentionedmustbereferenced.

Weak Satisf Strong CRITERIA Numberofreferencesappropriateandsufficient Referencesarepapersthatrelatetothetopicofthisstudy Referencesarewellintegratedandutilizedinthepaper Properandconsistentformattingandsequencingofreferences inLitCited Allreferencesusedinthebodyofthepaper AllreferencescitedinbodyofpaperareintheLitCited Formatofintextreferencesiscorrectlydone Spelling

Papermechanics:Thisisanoverallassessmentofthesemechanics,butifthereareparticularsectionsthat needmorelineeditingworkthanothers,pleasemakenoteofthatbelow. Weak Satisf Strong CRITERIA

Spelling Grammar Useofactivevoice(limiteduseokinIntroandDiscussion) Informationflowslogicallyandsmoothlythroughparagraphs Eachparagraphhasacleartopicsentence Paragraphsadheretotopic Sentencestructureisconciseandclearwithtransitionsbetweenparagraphs Terminology/jargonisusedconsistentlythroughoutthepaper Personalopinionavoidedingeneral,andifpersonalopinion is present,itisclearly identifiedasopinion,notcitedfact. Excessivedetail/brevityisavoided Doesnotcontaininappropriateabbreviationsorcitations

Notes:

Biology Department Bates College Peer Review Form v. 2-9-12 Commentonyouroverallimpressionofthepaper: Revisionfocus:Circlethesectionsofthepaperthatyoufellneedthemostattentionbytheauthorsin revision.GOBACKtothosesectiononthedraft,andinthisform,andmakesurethatyourcomments providespecificconstructivesuggestionsformakingtheimprovementstothosesectionsthatyoubelieve areneeded. Title Abstract Introduction MaterialsandMethods Results Discussion LiteratureCited

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Biology Department Bates College

Peer Review Form v. 2-9-12

FortheAuthorsofthepaper:
Commentonhowwellthisreviewaidedyourrevisionofthepaper? Whatcouldthereviewerhavedonedifferentlytomakethisreviewmorehelpful? Weincorporated(circleone)mostsomeonlyafewnone ofthesuggestedchangesmadeinthisreview.

Forthosesuggestionsyouchosenottouse,pleasemakeanotationonthe paperastowhyyouchosenottomakethesuggestedchange.

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