Peer Review of Research Draft on Corporate Reputation

You should read each other's paper as quickly as you can and provide feedback. The idea is to give big picture feedback as opposed to pointing out minor grammatical errors and so forth (the author should be doing their own proofreading or seeking assistance on that front elsewhere).

Feedback should include:
A. Thesis - identify what you perceive the argument of the paper to be
B. Delivering the goods - assess whether you think the paper delivers the claims/warrants to prove the thesis and explain
C. Strengths - identify the strong points you find in the paper/topic
D. Weaknesses - identify places in the paper where you see a need for improvement - this can be conceptual, argumentative, or grammatical/semantic
E. Direction for the future - this will probably be integrated into the above but if not...you need to indicate where you think the author needs to go next to take the paper to the next level.

Peer reviews should be completed ASAP to give folks an opportunity to incorporate feedback in their revisions. Remember, the goal is to help the person author the best possible paper that they can and you should provide comments that assist with that goal. Also remember that different papers are in different stages of completion so some people may need more structural feedback and others more conceptual.

Although there are a number of resources you look to for guidance on “how-to” peer review, the American Journal Experts website has some useful information to consider: https://www(dot)aje(dot)com/en/arc/peer-review-resource-things-to-consider/.

Make sure to email both the author and myself the feedback.

This is the Research Brief's introduction and rubric:

You will write a research brief that addresses some type of communication issue. This brief will include an introduction that makes a case for why the topic is important and a review of the relevant literature on the topic. You will conclude the brief by summarizing what is known about the topic based on your review.

The introduction should take the form of a clear argument that identifies who will be able to use the findings from your research brief and how. This section should include citations to evidence to support your argument. The introduction should also include a clear statement of purpose that identifies the specific area of research literature that will be reviewed in your brief. Evidence cited in the introduction can come from a variety of sources; you do not need to restrict yourself to just primary research studies.

The literature review should contain the most relevant literature based on the stated purpose of the brief. You must review at least 12 primary research studies. Eight of the studies must come from peer-reviewed journals; the remaining studies may come from other sources as long as they are primary research studies (report original data and include information about research method and procedures). The studies selected for the review should be clearly related to the stated purpose of the brief. You should create conceptual subtopics within your review by clustering together studies that report findings that address similar concepts. Please use headings to organize your paper into subtopics.

When writing about a study, make sure to focus on the actual findings that are most relevant to your purpose. Include just basic information about the study’s method to help the reader understand the nature of the evidence being reported. Avoid summarizing other portions of the article, such as the authors’ introduction, literature review, or discussion section. Your task is to extract relevant data from the study’s findings, organize it, and make meaning of it in your own, unique way based on the specific purpose you have for reviewing the literature.

The brief should end with a conclusion that summarizes the major findings of the brief. An effective summary will concisely recap for the reader what is known about the topic.

Your brief should be 5 to 7 pages, excluding the cover sheet and references page. Please do not exceed the 7-page limit. Use one-inch margins, 12-point font, and double space your text (50 points).

I’ve attached a sample research brief above. Please understand that this example is only intended to serve as an example of the overall format, etc., that the paper should take. It is by no means intended to represent a perfect, final product, or to constrain your creativity.

Upload your assignment through Blackboard as a Word attachment (in the appropriate lesson week). This assignment also needs to be submitted to turnitin.com. Please make sure to review the rubric below to see how I will assess your paper:

Criteria Points Possible

Introduction makes a focused and clear argument about who can use the findings from the research brief and how with citations to evidence to support the argument. The writing is compelling and makes the reader care about the topic. 5

Introduction includes a statement of purpose that identifies the specific area of research literature that will be reviewed. 3

Literature review contains at least 12 primary research studies; 8 of those studies come from peer-reviewed research journals. Studies selected for the review are clearly related to the stated purpose of the brief. 12

Literature review is conceptually organized into subtopics based on study findings that address similar concepts. Subtopics are clearly identified with the use of headings. 6

Individual study summaries are focused on the actual findings that are most relevant to the purpose of the brief. Basic information about study’s method is included to help the reader understand the nature of the evidence being reported 10

The brief ends with a conclusion that summarizes the major findings of the brief. Summary concisely recaps what is known about the topic. 4

The entire brief is well organized and written (clear, concise, minimal use of passive voice, free of typos, spelling, punctuation, and other grammatical errors). 8

APA citation method is used for all sources. Formatting of citations and references page are correct. 2

TOTAL 50