Dr Dean Taciuch — Fall 2005 — George Mason University

Peer Review

  1. Who is the audience? Be as specific as possible (not "general audience").
    Why would this audience be interested in this material?

  2. What is the purpose of this report?
    Is this purpose appropriate for this audience? That is, will the audience be able to act upon the information?

  3. What is the main point or thesis of the report?

  4. Locate and list the topic sentences of each paragraph. Some paragraphs, such as transitionals, extended examples, and summaries, may not have clear topic sentences. For short transitional paragraphs, topic sentences are unnecessary; for extended examples and summaries, try to express the main idea of the paragraph (or sections of paragraphs) in a sentence or two.

  5. After constructing an outline from Question 4, re-read the Introduction (and Abstract, if available)
    Does the Introduction accurately reflect the overall organization of the report?

  6. Is the Conclusion supported by the material presented in the Body of the report?

  7. Within the paragraphs, are sources used to support the main idea as expressed in the topic sentence?
    Do most of the key points have more than one source of support?
    Are the citations clear?
    Identify any points which rely on only one source, or an ambiguously cited source, for support.

  8. Check the following for accuracy:
    1. Table of Contents
    2. List of Figures
    3. Citations