Getting involved in peer review as a PhD student helps improve research quality and boosts your own skills as an emerging scientist. It gets your name out there in the field and is an impressive addition to your CV.
Mariela Mihaylova
I’d set becoming a peer reviewer as a personal goal because it allowed me to put what I learned into practice. I received my first peer review assignment after submitting a manuscript to a community-based review platform where submitters can be invited to review incoming submissions.
I was finishing my PhD then, so it felt like perfect timing. I already had a solid foundation in my field and understood what could help authors improve their work. I also had personal and professional editing and writing experience, which made me confident in providing useful, actionable feedback.
I recommend becoming a peer reviewer at least 1-2 years into your PhD. This will give you enough time to get a strong understanding of the field and research methods. But it’s never too early!
In this post, I’ll give five practical tips to help you navigate your first peer review – from one PhD student to another. First, I’ll share why I recommend peer review experience for PhD students.
Why should PhD students be peer reviewers?
As PhD students, we’re so used to having our own work critiqued that we often don’t consider–or won’t even dare–to evaluate others’ work. Surely, the experts know what they’re doing, right?
Well, not necessarily. You’d be surprised how many top scientists make mistakes, overlook details, or introduce biases into their work. This is where PhD students like us can play a valuable role.
New skills and perspectives
With our recent training and up-to-date knowledge of methodologies, technologies, and theories, we bring a sharp eye for detail and a new approach to reviewing papers. Our familiarity with emerging trends and standards in the field enables us to identify issues that might be overlooked by others. Being well-versed in the latest literature further enhances our ability to critically assess and improve studies.
This unique combination of skills and our eagerness to learn allows us to make valuable contributions to the scientific community early on in our careers.
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We help ourselves by helping others
Reviewing others’ work also helps us improve our own. By carefully examining their work, we learn to recognize the strengths and weaknesses in research design, methodology, and lines of argumentation. This, in turn, sharpens our ability to apply these insights to our own work.
The process helps us develop a more critical eye for evaluating research and deepens our understanding of what makes research high-quality.
See different styles and approaches
Doing peer review also exposes us to various writing styles and approaches, broadening our perspective and inspiring new ideas for our own research. Over time, this experience contributes to our growth as more confident and capable scholars, better equipped to produce rigorous and impactful research.
1. Don’t try to change everything about the paper
My first tip when reviewing a paper is to not change everything about the paper. It might be tempting to re-write sections for the authors or tell them what to do. Or, you might be tempted to “prove” that you know more than them about a topic. But that’s not your job as a peer reviewer.
Focus on providing constructive feedback rather than taking over the content. Only point out issues if they are grammatically wrong, poorly structured, or illogical. Your role is to help refine and improve the research, not to impose your own style and preferences or “show” them how much you know.
Be selective. Think about whether your suggestions are really needed. Ask yourself questions like
- Does my suggestion help enhance the clarity and quality of the work, or is it making it more complicated?
- Am I overshadowing the author’s voice?
- Does my suggestion align with the study goals?
Also, think about feasibility. Focus on making practical and achievable suggestions within the study’s scope. Additional analyses or experiments should only be suggested if they offer clear value and align with the overall goals of the research.
You don’t want to burden the authors with years of extra work if it’s unnecessary.
2. What would your supervisor say?
While we may not always see eye-to-eye with our supervisors, you can be sure they want you to succeed more than anyone in the cut-throat scientific world.
So, consider what feedback from your supervisor or other mentors has been most valuable in your own development. Think about how they guided you to improve your writing and how they approached peer reviews—how they balanced critique with encouragement, provided clear and actionable suggestions, and respected your voice while helping you grow.
Applying similar principles in your peer reviews can make your feedback more effective. By doing this, you help them improve their work and foster a collaborative and positive atmosphere that benefits the entire academic community.
3. Approach it from an “expert” mentality
Every day is a learning opportunity, even for seasoned researchers. As a PhD student, you have specialized knowledge and skills to share with others. You’ve spent years studying specific methods, analyses, and research areas, which means your insights can help authors explore new approaches or update their views on existing topics.
Don’t underestimate the impact of your perspective—what might seem obvious to you could be a breakthrough for someone else. Approach the review with confidence, knowing your expertise can help authors take away something valuable.
You know more than you think. Embrace your expertise.
4. Use it as a chance to review what you’ve learned during your PhD
Treat the peer review process as an opportunity to apply and teach others what you learned during your PhD. This is something that helped me the most during my first peer review.
Ask yourself things you would in your own work, such as:
- Are the authors using clear and concise language?
- Do their hypotheses match the methods?
- Are they using the right statistical tests?
This reflective practice will not only help you offer more precise feedback but also solidify your own understanding and skills in research evaluation.
5. Focus on the positives
Balance your critique with encouragement. Highlight the strengths of the paper as well as areas for improvement. Even if the paper needs significant revisions or restructuring, it’s important to recognize the positives. This will only help the authors value your suggestions more and apply them.
Being respectful is also crucial. Researchers are human too, and no one benefits from harsh or dismissive feedback. Make sure your comments are objective, not personal, and don’t try to put others down.
Use respectful sentences, such as:
- This section would benefit from….
- To further clarify this point, consider….
- This paper makes a significant contribution by…
- To enhance the impact of your paper, you might consider expanding on…
- It would be beneficial to provide additional details on…
- To strengthen the methodology, you could explore…
- Consider revising [specific aspect] to better align with…
While we’re on the topic of being respectful, respect also the authors’ and editors’ time and hand back your review in a timely manner. Don’t spend more than 3-4 weeks reviewing a paper.
I spent 3 weeks on my first one, which was more than enough time, even while juggling other obligations. I realized that the review won’t get any better if you wait a long time. Being timely with your peer review also helps to save time and avoids delays in the research process.
Now it’s time to start on your peer review career
As PhD students, doing peer review is vital for our growth as researchers. It sharpens our critical thinking, deepens our understanding of the research process, and lets us share our unique insights with others to improve their work. This involvement supports scientific advancement and empowers us to make our voices heard in the broader academic community.
You can also get started right here and right now on Reviewer Credits. You’ll mark yourself as available, and you’ll be able to access resources that help you improve your reviewing skills. I signed up, and I hope you’ll join me.
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About the author
Mariela Mihaylova is a communications consultant and is pursuing a PhD in cognitive sciences at the University of Geneva (Switzerland). Her research interests are memory and learning.