Why a Peer Review?
This assignment is for your peer review. There are a couple of reasons that we do peer reviews. The first is that this makes sure that you do not wait too long to get started on your paper. We will continue to build the paper and you will have a check list to go over each section as you edit, but this will give you a head start on your foundation.
The second reason is that it is incredibly easy to miss things while you edit. Having someone else look it over will help you catch issues, bring up questions you may not have thought of, and give you another perspective on your writing. This will help you build a better final draft!
Instructions
For this assignment, please remember to follow the paper specifications for formatting (margins, font, spacing, and citations). Upload as much of your rough draft as you possibly can. You will be assigned a peer’s paper to review. Your draft is due Wednesday before midnight PDT and your comments to your peer are due Saturday before midnight PDT. This should ensure that you have enough time to incorporate changes before the rough draft is due Friday of week 8.
For the peer review, it’s likely useful to have some notes for your reviewer – things you are concerned about or would like some specific feedback on.
What to Provide Feedback On
When you review, please give specific feedback on the following things, leaving notes for the person you are reviewing (You should be able to highlight directly on the paper and leave comments, in addition to having a comment box available):
- Clarity
- Is it clear what they are trying to say?
- Do their ideas come across in a way that is not confusing?
- What could they do to help you understand?
- Flow
- Are the ideas easy to follow?
- Could they work on their transitions?
- Editing/spelling
- Are there missing words or ideas?
- Any spelling errors or misused words?
- Do you notice any APA issues? This would be related mostly to citations.
Rough Draft Assignment Reminder
Your full rough draft will be due in Week 8 and will follow these guidelines:
Your rough draft should be a close-to-complete version of your final paper. The more you have done for your rough draft, the better your feedback will be for the final product. Keep this in mind when you work on and submit this assignment.
This assignment should be at least six- to eight-pages in length. For the rough draft, you should include an early version of your introduction, literature review, conclusion, and bibliography. As with the final paper, the introduction should set up a history/background of the topic, which can include a discussion of the impact of the topic (who/what does it affect) and a broad discussion of social science methods. You should alsointroduce the three major themes that you will be discussing in the literature review. For your conclusion, recap your overall discussion and the major points of the literature review. What does this tell us about your topic overall? How does the information fit together to portray the state of American culture? Reestablish the impact of the topic. Also cover any future directions that research should move in. Are there unanswered questions? Unstudied populations?
Avoid using first person. Do not say, “I want to discuss,” or similar things. Focus on the topic and the themes, not you or your experiences.
You should have at least eight to ten academic sources in your rough draft, though you can have more than ten.
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