Your goal as a peer reviewer is to help the writer compose the best possible final draft. Direct all your comments toward that end. Read the draft to understand what it's about and to identify strengths and weaknesses. Concentrate on how the draft strikes you as a reader. With a pencil, indicate ideas that confuse you or appear undeveloped, but don't try to rewrite anything. Jot quick responses in the margins ("interesting," "confusing," "clever," "surprising" "?"). You will be most helpful by identifying problems with the structure of the argument and the clarity of expression ("How does this relate to what you say above?"). Don't spend time on surface features of the writing, such as word choice and punctuation, unless you see serious, recurring errors.

As you read, make an informal outline of the structure of the argument. Start by identifying the thesis; then outline the main ideas in the discussion. Outlining helps you see the overall logic of the argument as well as identify the paragraphs that have either no central idea or more than one. After reading the draft, answer questions on a peer review sheet (if one is being used). It can be useful to review drafts in pairs, so that each pair of reviewers discusses and comments on two peers' essays. Discuss the paper with the writer. The reviewer's task is to help the writer figure out how to construct a clear and substantial final draft. An effective way to accomplish this is to point out the areas that are confusing to you and to ask the writer questions, such as

• "What are you trying to say here?"
• "Can you explain how this point relates to your argument?"
• "How does this evidence support your conclusion?"

Where the phrasing confuses you, ask the writer to read out loud (and to hear the language that might be confusing). By asking questions, you help the to articulate and clarify what he or she is trying to say. Encourage the writer to note possible revisions onto the paper.. You can also look over your outline together, asking questions such as

• "Is this the best structure for your argument?" ("What alternatives in organization would strengthen the logic or impact?")
• "Should this paragraph be divided into separate paragraphs?"

If you see ideas that should be placed elsewhere, ask

• "Why did you put this idea here?"
• "Is this topic more closely related to the ideas you discussed earlier?"

• Identify the paper's key strengths, as well as aspects to improve
• In describing weaknesses, try to prioritize: Focus first on one or two changes that would "leverage" the most improvement before noting other possible improvements
• Don't rewrite the paper; instead, suggest/ask what the writer should revise.
• Be courteous, but be honest as well.