Critical Thinking & Information Literacy
Across the Curriculum
Research Paper: Peer Review of Rough Draft
The Instructor may have students use a sheet like the following, in order to help
students focus their comments.
Name of Author____________________________
Name of Commentor_________________________
Research Paper: Draft Comments
TOPIC:
Does the author clearly formulate the issue or question that the paper will try to
address? Does the author clarify or define terms that would otherwise make the
issue too vague? (Worth 10 points on the final draft).
CLARITY & ORGANIZATION:
Is the paper clear and easy too read? Is the argument easy to follow? Are there
sentences that are so unclear that you cannot tell what the author is trying to
say? Are there spelling and grammar errors? (Worth 20 points on the final draft).
SOURCES:
Are the author’s arguments supported by sources? Does the author appropriately cite
a source when offering evidence? Are the sources good sources according to the
criteria that we have discussed? (Worth 20 points on final draft).
ARGUMENT:
Does the author make a fairly good argument? Does the author support her/his view
with plausible premises? Does the author avoid committing any fallacies or serious
reasoning errors? (Worth 20 points on the final draft).
OBJECTION/COUNTER-ARGUMENT:
Does the author consider a serious objection to his/her view? Does the author
effectively use one of the strategies we’ve discussed for raising an objection
to an argument? Does the author abide by the Principle of Rational Discussion
in presenting an objection to her/his own view? (Worth 20 points on final draft).
RESPONSE:
Does the author attempt to respond to the objections against her/his view in a
way that takes the objections seriously? Does the author respond to the counter-argument
by showing how the reasoning in the counter-argument is flawed? Does the author
avoid committing fallacies in responding to the argument? (Worth 10 points on final draft).
Library Media Center
3000 Landerholm Circle S.E.
Bellevue, Washington 98007-6484
