I’ve had a rejection for a journal article that, on reflection, I should never have submitted. The reviewers rightly eviscerated it. Once I got over myself, it was clear that they had avoided any sort of personal jibes or the ‘if I had written this...’ approach 1/

They focused instead on the problems, noting what was wrong and why. They even managed to find something positive. No one likes getting rejection (and I’ve had a few days of feeling mortified) 2/

BUT if you are going to reject someone’s work in a peer review process, this is the way to do it. I’ve seen some horrible examples of peer reviewers taking delight in tearing down people’s work. Be kind, considerate & constructive. There’s a person on the receiving end 3/3