Training undergraduate researchers as peer reviewers

Abstract

If scholarship can be likened to an ongoing conversation, we can diversify the voices that participate in that conversation by welcoming undergraduate researchers into the peer review process. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Library designed a curriculum to teach students the structure and expectations for what it means to participate in the full cycle of scholarship. This program is a collaboration of efforts by the student teams representing several undergraduate-level disciplinary journals published by the Library in collaboration with the Office of Undergraduate Research and Writers Workshop.

This poster will highlight our three-part training program designed to teach undergraduate researchers the complexities of peer review including: 1. Engaging the mindset of a peer reviewer; 2. Strategies for providing constructive feedback including the art of asking a question; 3. Positioning their understandings of theoretical framing; 4. What it means in practice to engage with the literature; 5. Identifying strengths and weaknesses in data and analysis; 6. Developing (in)appropriate techniques for commenting on clarity of writing; 7. Soft skills such what an effective relationship with an editor looks like and where to ask for help.

Over the course of several experiential learning activities, students practice completing a manuscript review form by reading an example manuscript and then working in teams to re-construct their ideas into a cohesive feedback document.

Our overarching goal is to move students further along the novice-to-expert continuum by helping students see themselves as an active contributor to peer review by better understanding their role and responsibilities. In turn, this also refines their critical thinking and information literacy skills. By democratizing access to the peer review process, we are centering the growing expertise of undergraduate researchers into the often misunderstood role of the peer reviewer.