Peer Review | Edited Guide Writing Workshop | Alternative Writing Workshop
Flea Market | Update Forum

Welcome to Peer Review, one of several Review Forums on h2g2. Peer Review is the part of h2g2 where you, the Community, help us to decide which entries go into the Edited Guide. The Peer Review process has four main steps:

1. Write your Entry - a Researcher writes an entry that is suitable for the Edited Guide.

2. Submit your Entry - the Researcher submits their entry to Peer Review.

3. Read Others' Comments - other Researchers comment on the entry and help the author to improve it.

4. Get Accepted - the entry is recommended by a Scout, accepted by the h2g2 Editors and heads off for inclusion in the Edited Guide.

Peer Review is not the place for entries that are unfinished, works in progress, rants, fiction, one-liners, jokes or personal theories.

Writing an Entry

If you're writing an entry for Peer Review, it needs to be suitable for inclusion in the Edited Guide. You can be sure of this by following the Edited Guide's Writing Guidelines. Essentially, this means it should be truly well written, factual and informative. If your entry doesn't fit the guidelines but you'd still like to submit it, the Alternative Writing Workshop is the best place for the job.

You should check that your chosen subject isn't already covered in the Edited Guide¹. You can do this by Searching the Guide. If you would like to update an existing Edited Entry, you'll need to follow the Update Forum procedure.

You should make sure that the entry is, as far as you are concerned, finished. If you're looking for a few final comments on an entry that you haven't quite finished, or you would like others to contribute to your unfinished entry, you might want to submit it to the Writing Workshop. Alternatively, just keep working on it until you're done, then submit it to Peer Review.

Submitting an Entry to Peer Review

Before submitting an entry, make sure it fulfils the above requirements. To put an entry into Peer Review, click on the 'Submit for Review' link to the right of the entry and follow the instructions, choosing 'Peer Review' from the drop-down menu. If you cannot find the 'Submit for Review' link, check that the 'Not for Review' box (visible when working on the entry) isn't ticked.

Edited Entries, Help Pages, Personal Spaces, entries already in a Review Forum and entries labelled Not for Review cannot be submitted. Also, we'd ask that you don't submit other Researcher's entries unless you've got a good reason.

Once you've submitted your entry to Peer Review, it will stay there for at least seven days before a Scout can pick it. This allows time for Researchers to make comments and for you to make any changes recommended. If it looks like you'll need to make major changes to your entry, the best thing to do is to take it out of Peer Review and resubmit it when it's ready.

Commenting in Peer Review

Before commenting on an entry in Peer Review, you'll need to read the entry. To do this, click on the title or the A-number in the list at the bottom of this page.

Once you've read the entry, don't click on 'Discuss this entry' at the bottom of the entry. Instead, click the Currently In: Peer Review link on the right-hand side of the entry. This will take you to the Peer Review comment thread, where you can add your comments by clicking 'Reply' to the last posting.

Before you comment on an entry in Peer Review, consider the following points:

• Is it the author's first entry? (You can check their Personal Space to find out). If so, be gentle in your criticism - if they're really going wrong you may wish to direct them to the Writing Guidelines. Remember, everyone wrote their first entry once!

• Have you checked the comments other Researchers have made? If you have spotted a mistake or omission, it might already have been pointed out by someone else.

• If you like the entry - say so! Everyone likes compliments.

• Simply posting 'I hated this, it's rubbish', doesn't give the author much of a clue what they may be doing wrong. If you don't like it, try to make your criticism specific.

• Wherever possible, try to help the researcher get the grammar and spelling as accurate as possible. While we have volunteer Sub-editors who polish entries before publication, it never hurts to get the entry as 'right' as possible early on. This will also help your chances of having the entry accepted.

• Ask yourself if you actually understand the entry. Guide Entries are aimed, in the main, at the educated layman, so if you didn't understand it, it may be a failing of the author. On the other hand, it might well be you, so don't be afraid to tactfully ask for an explanation.

• Try not to head off on tangents or drift away from discussion of the entry. If there's a burning need to debate anything other than the entry, please start another conversation elsewhere.

• Stay subscribed to the thread; once you've commented, keep an eye on what others are saying. It may be the start of an interesting conversation.

• If the entry gets picked – particularly if it is the author's first – pop back and congratulate the author.

Having Your Entry Accepted

Once your entry has been in Peer Review for seven days, it can be picked by a Scout for inclusion in the Edited Guide. Scouts will only pick entries that have had a good response in Peer Review and have no outstanding corrections, so it's useful to point out when you've made any suggested changes and are happy with your entry as it stands. The time taken for an entry to be picked varies hugely, ranging from a week to months, so do be patient.

If you'd like to know about the next stage in the Editorial Process after a Scout has picked your entry, then check out What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?

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¹ It's also worth checking if there's already an entry on the topic in Peer Review or if another Researcher is in the process of writing on the same subject, thus giving you the opportunity to put together a collaborative entry.