On the best practices of peer reviewing

The NECSUS workshop ‘On the practice of peer reviewing’ at NECS 2013 Prague was well-attended. After presentations and discussions, in collaboration with the audience we were able to take away a list of best practices for peer reviewing in media studies. The key points are as follows:

Do

• When writing peer reviews, maintain a fair and elegant tone (e.g. identify strengths and also what can be improved)
• Respect the author at all times
• Tend towards using restraint in your judgments
• Always give solid instructions for improvement
• Try to assess relevance to the field based on the aims of the particular contribution (judge an article by its own standards)

Do not

• As a peer reviewer, do not simply propose what you would have written in place of the author
• Do not write antagonistic reviews, either in attacking a certain paradigm or individual that you do not favor
• Do not submit the succinct ‘two-sentence review’
• Always maintain email etiquette and respect deadlines when you accept the responsibility of being a peer reviewer

We look forward to your thoughts about these best practices. Please feel free to contact us with any feedback you may have. Remember to preserve an ethics of the peer review process and always ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’.

Yours truly,

The NECSUS Editorial Board