Often students are asked to review their peers essays and term papers. Why? This is a learning process for both the writer and readers in many ways. First, it gives the writer a real audience and a chance to hear what others think about their essay. Readers can say what they like and dislike about the essay. It gives the student a chance to make corrections before the instructor sees the essay. The reader can point out different mistakes and make suggestions about the essay or research paper. It is important for the student to remember that not all suggestions have to be accepted. Good peer review takes time and effort. It is important to begin the essay early so the reviewer has time to review it properly. The purpose of peer reviews is to improve editing skills and have someone point out the strengths and weaknesses of an essay.

Students who review the works of others are benefited by learning how to read essays with a critical mind. Students who critique others learn to critique their own work. This is beneficial as they learn to read and search for mistakes they see in essays by other students.

Often instructors distribute suggestions and questions to search for while reviewing essays of students. Here are some suggested questions for peer reviewing:

- What is the main idea?

- What is the thesis? Is the thesis in the first paragraph? Is the thesis clear?

- Is a hook used in the first paragraph? What type of hook?

- Does the essay support the thesis? What types of evidence is used? Does the evidence have relevance? Does the evidence have credibility?

- Is the essay organized? Why? Why not?

- Look at each paragraph and see if the main idea supports the thesis.

- Is the essay too wordy?

- Is there supporting evidence for each of the main topic sentences?

- Are transitions used between paragraphs?

- What are the main strengths of the essay?

- What are the weaknesses?

- Are any of the words spelled incorrectly?

- Check the grammar and punctuation.

Use specific words to describe the problems in the essay. What needs to be changed? What can be added to make a better essay? When you finish reading the essay do you have questions? Write these down. If you had problems understanding a point jot this down in the margin of the essay. Let the writer know what you like about the essay.

While it is important to note changes that need to be made on the essay, it is also important to be positive. What did you like about the essay? What were the strengths of the essay? Did you like the hook? Think about positive comments to make about the essay even if you think it is the worse essay that you have ever read. It is also important to use negative comments even if it is your best friend who wrote the essay. Remember any comments you make may make a difference in the final essay and the grade the student makes on the essay. Failing to be honest about the essay can hurt the writer. In fact, professional writers usually have a critique group review their articles and they want the truth because editors often "reject" an article for mistakes. While teachers may not reject the article, they may give the student a bad grade. Think of honest comments and be objective.

Peer reviews are important because students doing the peer reviews learn how to be more objective about their essays. Peer reviews help students to get a better grade because they can rewrite their custom essays and term papers. Remember to be honest, objective, and kind.

Tamara Olsa is a professional academic writer and editor at CustomPapers.com.