Peer Review - Why Peer Review Will Help Your Application

Peer Review - Why Peer Review Will Help Your ApplicationA reputable academic journal may charge for peer-review, but most article reviewers are grateful for the free work that scholarly article reviewers do. This effort extends beyond reviewing to substantive editing, which is difficult to quantify, but will likely cost much less than traditional journal publishing fees.One reason why doctoral candidates, alumni, and prospective students often have difficulty in making the decision about which program to pursue is due to the enormous amount of time, energy, and research they expend searching for an excellent program. They might spend hours browsing college catalogs, studying letter grades, and performing research on programs that interest them. Each of these activities consumes time and makes it difficult to get a new PhD program approved by your department.Certain things can help alleviate this time commitment. For example, if you receive a copy of a prospective student's applicatio n, make a note of any very low letter grades or grade range letters receive. It might be easy to shrug this off as an extremely unqualified student, but a majority of such students are actually quite bright and hardworking. These students would be hard pressed to write as well as high performing candidates who don't have the time and attention devoted to their research.Another way to ensure that a more deserving student receives your attention is to ensure that the student's academic background is strong. This might seem like common sense, but there are many students with extremely high GPA's and SAT scores, yet struggle in an introductory level course. In fact, one of the best ways to catch future problems is by ensuring that the prospective student's professors take their education seriously.It's also important to evaluate the student's basic reading comprehension and writing skills. If a student cannot read a college essay, they cannot hope to understand your composition. Likewis e, if a student can't write a fair essay response to your review, they will be unable to gain entry into your program.In order to develop skills that will enable them to write well, students should familiarize themselves with writing conventions. It is a mistake to write only in English. Asking the student to read and critique your article in another language will not only give the student a different perspective, but will demonstrate to you that the student can do research in more than one language. Additionally, asking them to read and provide feedback in their own native language (English or another language) will give them the chance to demonstrate their ability to appreciate nuances in various languages.When applying for a PhD program, your priority should be to build a positive relationship with the student. Students are less willing to submit their personal applications if they feel they are on the outside looking in.By offering a review, students will feel more comfortable w ith accepting your invitation to discuss your program. Your article review will reassure the student that you are aware of their potential and that you are interested in developing a rapport.