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Dear peer reviewers: please take the time to be kind. Remember that, more often than not, the author of the paper you are reviewing is a student. There is no need for meanness or snark, especially when you suspect the authors are ESL. #AcademicChatter
An approach I’ve started to take since the HUGE positive impact such comments have made on me as a student author:
I start by stating a major strength of the paper, and (if true) that I enjoyed reading it. There is always something positive to point out.
I start by stating a major strength of the paper, and (if true) that I enjoyed reading it. There is always something positive to point out.
Make an author’s day by commending them on the intensive field work they’ve done to collect a valuable dataset, or the careful natural history observations they’ve made that provide important context to their paper, or the careful lab work they’ve clearly done.
We are all short on time, but it takes very little extra time to be kind, and make it clear that as a review you’re trying to help make a paper better, not just taking an opportunity to tear the authors down.
This tweet thread brought to you by the unnecessarily jerky comments of reviewer two on a really cool paper I’m reviewing.
