essay peer review checklist

Peer Review Checklist

Each essay is made up of multiple parts. In order to have a strong essay each part must be logical and effective. In many cases essays will be written with a strong thesis, but the rest of the paper will be lacking; making the paper ineffective. An essay is only as strong as its weakest point.

Clip art of a checklist. No writing is visible, just lines where item text would appear.

Using a checklist to complete your review will allow you to rate each of the parts in the paper according to their strength. There are many different peer review checklists, but the one below should be helpful for your assignment.

Is the thesis clear?
Does the author use his or her own ideas in the thesis and argument?
Is the significance of the problem in the paper explained? Is the significance compelling?
Are the ideas developed logically and thoroughly?
Does the author use ethos effectively?
Does the author use pathos effectively?
Are different viewpoints acknowledged?
Are objections effectively handled?
Does the author give adequate explanations about sources used?
Are the sources well-integrated into the paper, or do they seem to be added in just for the sake of adding sources?
Is the word choice specific, concrete and interesting?
Are the sentences clear?
Is the overall organization of the argument effective?
Are the transitions between paragraphs smooth?
Are there any grammatical errors?

Based on the rubric found at: Grading Rubric Template (Word)

Authored by : J. Indigo Eriksen. Provided by : Blue Ridge Community College. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Image of checklist. Authored by : Jurgen Appelo. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/hykfe7 . License : CC BY: Attribution
Peer Review Checklist. Authored by : Robin Parent. Provided by : Utah State University English Department. Project : USU Open CourseWare Initiative. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Table of Contents

Instructor Resources (Access Requires Login)

Overview of Instructor Resources

An Overview of the Writing Process

Introduction to the Writing Process
Introduction to Writing
Your Role as a Learner
What is an Essay?
Reading to Write
Defining the Writing Process
Videos: Prewriting Techniques
Thesis Statements
Organizing an Essay
Creating Paragraphs
Conclusions
Editing and Proofreading
Matters of Grammar, Mechanics, and Style
Comparative Chart of Writing Strategies

Using Sources

Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Avoiding Plagiarism
Formatting the Works Cited Page (MLA)
Citing Paraphrases and Summaries (APA)
APA Citation Style, 6th edition: General Style Guidelines

Definition Essay

Definitional Argument Essay
How to Write a Definition Essay
Critical Thinking
Video: Thesis Explained
Effective Thesis Statements
Student Sample: Definition Essay

Narrative Essay

Introduction to Narrative Essay
Student Sample: Narrative Essay
"Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell
"Sixty-nine Cents" by Gary Shteyngart
Video: The Danger of a Single Story
How to Write an Annotation
How to Write a Summary
Writing for Success: Narration

Illustration/Example Essay

Introduction to Illustration/Example Essay
"She's Your Basic L.O.L. in N.A.D" by Perri Klass
"April & Paris" by David Sedaris
Writing for Success: Illustration/Example
Student Sample: Illustration/Example Essay

Compare/Contrast Essay

Introduction to Compare/Contrast Essay
"Disability" by Nancy Mairs
"Friending, Ancient or Otherwise" by Alex Wright
"A South African Storm" by Allison Howard
Writing for Success: Compare/Contrast
Student Sample: Compare/Contrast Essay

Cause-and-Effect Essay

Introduction to Cause-and-Effect Essay
"Cultural Baggage" by Barbara Ehrenreich
"Women in Science" by K.C. Cole
Writing for Success: Cause and Effect
Student Sample: Cause-and-Effect Essay

Argument Essay

Introduction to Argument Essay
Rogerian Argument
"The Case Against Torture," by Alisa Soloman
"The Case for Torture" by Michael Levin
How to Write a Summary by Paraphrasing Source Material
Writing for Success: Argument
Student Sample: Argument Essay
Grammar/Mechanics Mini-lessons
Mini-lesson: Subjects and Verbs, Irregular Verbs, Subject Verb Agreement
Mini-lesson: Sentence Types
Mini-lesson: Fragments I
Mini-lesson: Run-ons and Comma Splices I
Mini-lesson: Comma Usage
Mini-lesson: Parallelism
Mini-lesson: The Apostrophe
Mini-lesson: Capital Letters
Grammar Practice - Interactive Quizzes
De Copia - Demonstration of the Variety of Language
Style Exercise: Voice

Peer Review Checklist

Janelle schwartz, english 201.

This is to give you an idea of the type of things you should be looking for and accomplishing in both your own paper and that of your peer(s). Use what follows as a kind of checklist for determining what is working effectively in a paper and what is not.

Introduction

Has the writer (either yourself or your classmate) clearly expressed the question (major claim, thesis) that he/she has selected to analyze? What is that question?

Is there any unnecessary information included in the introduction?

Having read the entire essay, suggest an alternate way to begin the essay.

Having read the entire essay, does the introduction fit the paper?

What are the main points that are being made in each paragraph? Briefly outline the point of each paragraph and sketch the evidence given in support for each.

How is the evidence linked to the main point of the paragraph? And to the main point of the essay?

Is there any unnecessary information throughout the body of the paper, such as plot summary, excessive quotation,

or unsupported claims?

Has the writer restated (not simply repeated) the major claim of the paper in light of its discussion throughout the paper? In other words, what should the reader have learned by the end of the argument?

What is your understanding of the initial question after reading the paper? Has this understanding been adequately expressed? And does it open up the major claim to the question of its implications? (Has this major claim ultimately been placed into a broader perspective or context?)

Suggest an alternate ending to the argument. General/Misc

Suggest an alternate title. Does it express “in a nutshell” the essay’s theme? Has it followed the proper “title: subtitle” format? [Note: This assumes the paper already has a title—thus, every paper must have a title!]

What confuses you about the draft? (For example, a certain word choice, the topic and/or its presentation, the explanation of something in particular.)

Does the flow of the essay break down at any point? In other words, does the essay become hard to read or lose its coherence? Where? And how might you fix it?

Does the essay remain within the chosen text(s)? If there are any generalizations, speculations, clichés, idiomatic expressions, or colloquialisms, underline them so that you can point them out to your peer(s).

What has the writer done well in his/her essay? Provide positive comments about the strength(s) of the essay.

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How to Write a Peer Review

When you write a peer review for a manuscript, what should you include in your comments? What should you leave out? And how should the review be formatted?

This guide provides quick tips for writing and organizing your reviewer report.

Review Outline

Use an outline for your reviewer report so it’s easy for the editors and author to follow. This will also help you keep your comments organized.

Think about structuring your review like an inverted pyramid. Put the most important information at the top, followed by details and examples in the center, and any additional points at the very bottom.

Here’s how your outline might look:

1. Summary of the research and your overall impression

In your own words, summarize what the manuscript claims to report. This shows the editor how you interpreted the manuscript and will highlight any major differences in perspective between you and the other reviewers. Give an overview of the manuscript’s strengths and weaknesses. Think about this as your “take-home” message for the editors. End this section with your recommended course of action.

2. Discussion of specific areas for improvement

It’s helpful to divide this section into two parts: one for major issues and one for minor issues. Within each section, you can talk about the biggest issues first or go systematically figure-by-figure or claim-by-claim. Number each item so that your points are easy to follow (this will also make it easier for the authors to respond to each point). Refer to specific lines, pages, sections, or figure and table numbers so the authors (and editors) know exactly what you’re talking about.

Major vs. minor issues

What’s the difference between a major and minor issue? Major issues should consist of the essential points the authors need to address before the manuscript can proceed. Make sure you focus on what is fundamental for the current study . In other words, it’s not helpful to recommend additional work that would be considered the “next step” in the study. Minor issues are still important but typically will not affect the overall conclusions of the manuscript. Here are some examples of what would might go in the “minor” category:

Missing references (but depending on what is missing, this could also be a major issue)
Technical clarifications (e.g., the authors should clarify how a reagent works)
Data presentation (e.g., the authors should present p-values differently)
Typos, spelling, grammar, and phrasing issues

3. Any other points

Confidential comments for the editors.

Some journals have a space for reviewers to enter confidential comments about the manuscript. Use this space to mention concerns about the submission that you’d want the editors to consider before sharing your feedback with the authors, such as concerns about ethical guidelines or language quality. Any serious issues should be raised directly and immediately with the journal as well.

This section is also where you will disclose any potentially competing interests, and mention whether you’re willing to look at a revised version of the manuscript.

Do not use this space to critique the manuscript, since comments entered here will not be passed along to the authors. If you’re not sure what should go in the confidential comments, read the reviewer instructions or check with the journal first before submitting your review. If you are reviewing for a journal that does not offer a space for confidential comments, consider writing to the editorial office directly with your concerns.

Get this outline in a template

Giving Feedback

Giving feedback is hard. Giving effective feedback can be even more challenging. Remember that your ultimate goal is to discuss what the authors would need to do in order to qualify for publication. The point is not to nitpick every piece of the manuscript. Your focus should be on providing constructive and critical feedback that the authors can use to improve their study.

If you’ve ever had your own work reviewed, you already know that it’s not always easy to receive feedback. Follow the golden rule: Write the type of review you’d want to receive if you were the author. Even if you decide not to identify yourself in the review, you should write comments that you would be comfortable signing your name to.

In your comments, use phrases like “ the authors’ discussion of X” instead of “ your discussion of X .” This will depersonalize the feedback and keep the focus on the manuscript instead of the authors.

General guidelines for effective feedback

Justify your recommendation with concrete evidence and specific examples.
Be specific so the authors know what they need to do to improve.
Be thorough. This might be the only time you read the manuscript.
Be professional and respectful. The authors will be reading these comments too.
Remember to say what you liked about the manuscript!

Don’t

Recommend additional experiments or unnecessary elements that are out of scope for the study or for the journal criteria.
Tell the authors exactly how to revise their manuscript—you don’t need to do their work for them.
Use the review to promote your own research or hypotheses.
Focus on typos and grammar. If the manuscript needs significant editing for language and writing quality, just mention this in your comments.
Submit your review without proofreading it and checking everything one more time.

Before and After: Sample Reviewer Comments

Keeping in mind the guidelines above, how do you put your thoughts into words? Here are some sample “before” and “after” reviewer comments

✗ Before

“The authors appear to have no idea what they are talking about. I don’t think they have read any of the literature on this topic.”

✓ After

“The study fails to address how the findings relate to previous research in this area. The authors should rewrite their Introduction and Discussion to reference the related literature, especially recently published work such as Darwin et al.”

“The writing is so bad, it is practically unreadable. I could barely bring myself to finish it.”

“While the study appears to be sound, the language is unclear, making it difficult to follow. I advise the authors work with a writing coach or copyeditor to improve the flow and readability of the text.”

“It’s obvious that this type of experiment should have been included. I have no idea why the authors didn’t use it. This is a big mistake.”

“The authors are off to a good start, however, this study requires additional experiments, particularly [type of experiment]. Alternatively, the authors should include more information that clarifies and justifies their choice of methods.”

Suggested Language for Tricky Situations

You might find yourself in a situation where you’re not sure how to explain the problem or provide feedback in a constructive and respectful way. Here is some suggested language for common issues you might experience.

What you think : The manuscript is fatally flawed. What you could say: “The study does not appear to be sound” or “the authors have missed something crucial”.

What you think : You don’t completely understand the manuscript. What you could say : “The authors should clarify the following sections to avoid confusion…”

What you think : The technical details don’t make sense. What you could say : “The technical details should be expanded and clarified to ensure that readers understand exactly what the researchers studied.”

What you think: The writing is terrible. What you could say : “The authors should revise the language to improve readability.”

What you think : The authors have over-interpreted the findings. What you could say : “The authors aim to demonstrate [XYZ], however, the data does not fully support this conclusion. Specifically…”

What does a good review look like?

Check out the peer review examples at F1000 Research to see how other reviewers write up their reports and give constructive feedback to authors.

Time to Submit the Review!

Be sure you turn in your report on time. Need an extension? Tell the journal so that they know what to expect. If you need a lot of extra time, the journal might need to contact other reviewers or notify the author about the delay.

Tip: Building a relationship with an editor

You’ll be more likely to be asked to review again if you provide high-quality feedback and if you turn in the review on time. Especially if it’s your first review for a journal, it’s important to show that you are reliable. Prove yourself once and you’ll get asked to review again!

Getting started as a reviewer
Responding to an invitation
Reading a manuscript
Writing a peer review

The contents of the Peer Review Center are also available as a live, interactive training session, complete with slides, talking points, and activities. …

The contents of the Writing Center are also available as a live, interactive training session, complete with slides, talking points, and activities. …

There’s a lot to consider when deciding where to submit your work. Learn how to choose a journal that will help your study reach its audience, while reflecting your values as a researcher…

An Overview of the Writing Process

Peer review checklist.

Is the thesis clear?
Does the author use his or her own ideas in the thesis and argument?
Is the significance of the problem in the paper explained? Is the significance compelling?
Are the ideas developed logically and thoroughly?
Does the author use ethos effectively?
Does the author use pathos effectively?
Are different viewpoints acknowledged?
Are objections effectively handled?
Does the author give adequate explanations about sources used?
Are the sources well-integrated into the paper, or do they seem to be added in just for the sake of adding sources?
Is the word choice specific, concrete and interesting?
Are the sentences clear?
Is the overall organization of the argument effective?
Are the transitions between paragraphs smooth?
Are there any grammatical errors?

Based on the rubric found at: Grading Rubric Template (Word)

Authored by : J. Indigo Eriksen. Provided by : Blue Ridge Community College. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Image of checklist. Authored by : Jurgen Appelo. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/hykfe7 . License : CC BY: Attribution
Peer Review Checklist. Authored by : Robin Parent. Provided by : Utah State University English Department. Project : USU Open CourseWare Initiative. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

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Argumentative Essay Peer-Editing Checklist

I use the below checklist with my students so they can improve the drafts of their argumentative essays . Feel free to use it (or edit it as long as you don't redistribute it) if you find it useful for your class. Note that there are APA-related questions.

There are two pages. The first page is for the prepared students who brought an essay draft to class to show their partners. The second page is for unprepared students who only have their essay in their heads (it's a verbal exercise). If your students are all prepared, then you can disregard the second page.

Peer-review Checklist Preview

Argumentative Essay Draft Peer-Editing Checklist

Pair-work : Answer the below questions based on your partner’s essay.

The essay has a clear thesis statement presenting its stance at the end of the introduction paragraph. (YES/NO) If YES, write the essay’s thesis statement below:
The essay presents a counter-argument to the author’s stance. (YES/NO) If YES, write the counter-argument points below:
Can you easily find a refutation or response to each of the above points?

Point A: (YES/NO)

Point B: (YES/NO)

(Point C: (YES/NO))

If YES, is the refutation persuasive? (YES/Somewhat/No)
Does the essay ignore any obvious counter-arguments? (YES/NO) (Answer should be NO)
Do the regular body paragraphs begin with a clear topic sentence that states the overall topic of the paragraph? (Example topic sentence: “ Furthermore, outsourcing can reduce company costs .” < If this were the topic sentence, then the whole paragraph would be about reducing costs.) (YES/NO)
Does each paragraph have at least three sentences? (YES/NO)

If time allows…

Does each in-text citation contain the author’s last name and the year of publication? (YES/NO)
Count the number of authors cited. Do all of these authors appear in the References? (YES/NO)
Are there any non-cited authors in the References? (YES/NO) (Answer should be NO)
Are the References entries listed in alphabetical order?
Do all sources accessed online have a DOI or URL?
Are the sentences clear? Highlight the sentences you don’t understand.

Research Essay Worksheet – Verbal Explanation (Essay draft not Ready)

Part 1 (Pair Work) : Stance, Counter-argument, and Refutation

Present the below points to your partner about your essay. You do not need to write anything–explain it as clearly as possible verbally.

Stance/Thesis

My essay argues that ….

Counter-argument

Critics of this view argue that (1) ….
Some people also might argue that (2) ….

Refutation/Response

Point #1 is not (completely) true because ….
Point #2 is not (completely) true because ….

Part 2 : Once finished, give feedback to each other. Consider the following points:

Are the most obvious counter-arguments mentioned?
Does the refutation address the specific points of the counter-argument?
Is the refutation convincing

Part 3 : (Time Permitting) Verification of peer-reviewed sources

Paste a minimum of three peer-reviewed sources that you plan to use below.

Confirm with your partner that these sources are peer-reviewed, i.e. journal articles or published books.

Best of luck with your classes.

-- Peer-editing worksheet created by Matthew Barton (copyright) for Englishcurrent.com

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College Essay Checklist: Are You Ready to Submit?

←Whom Should I Ask for Help with My College Essay?

How Long Should Your College Essay Be?→

The college admissions process is a human process. An admissions committee filled with real people will evaluate your application, and these people will choose whether to advocate for you to gain admission to the university. So in order to be accepted, you need to stand out from the other applicants and persuade the admissions committee to choose you over students with a similar academic profile. Luckily, college essays are specifically designed to be your tool to stand out in the admissions process.

Given that college essays are so important, it’s important to make sure that they are absolutely perfect before you submit them. How do you make sure your college essays are ready to send to colleges? Make sure you’ve gone through this checklist before you hit that “submit” button!

Why Are College Essays So Important?

A college application has many components – test scores, grades and coursework, your extracurricular profile, recommendation letters, interviews, and, of course, your essays. So why are the essays such an important part if there are so many other components of your application to consider?

Well, most colleges receive thousands of applicants, many of whom have similar academic and extracurricular profiles. In fact, for every spot in a selective university’s admitted class, there are at least four outstanding applicants with similar grades and test scores. So how do admissions committees choose among so many students who have such strong potential? They use their essays to decide who would best fit in with the campus community.

For this reason, your college essays aren’t just about showing off your abilities and accomplishments. It’s about showing who you are as a person, what your values are, and what you’re passionate about. That’s no small task for a short essay. Every word is going to count, so follow the checklist below to make sure that your essay is as strong as it can be.

College Essay Checklist: Before You Submit

1. does your essay share who you are and what you care about.

Your essay needs to be personal. It should share your personality, goals, and voice. Even if a prompt doesn’t explicitly ask you who you are and what you care about, you should use it as an opportunity to showcase your personal qualities. For example, take the following supplemental essay prompt from the University of Chicago’s 2020 Application:

What can actually be divided by zero?

At first glance, this prompt may seem confusing. After all, didn’t we all learn in elementary school math classes that nothing can be divided by zero? More abstract, philosophical prompts like this one are actually ripe opportunities for students to showcase who they are and how they think.

So if you answered a prompt like this very practically, e.g. explaining that the laws of mathematics prove that no real number can be divided by zero, you’re missing out on a key opportunity to show the admissions committee your capability for creativity and abstract thought. Instead of answering a prompt like this literally, you ought to think critically about your own life and see if you can metaphorically or rhetorically link the question to something you have gone through or accomplished.

Alternatively, if you’re more of a logical person and want to answer the question analytically, make sure that you are showcasing your knowledge of various theorems and strategies, and be sure to cite where you learned them. Either way, you are showing the admissions committee how your brain works and how you go about solving problems.

Remember: the goal of an essay is, first and foremost, to showcase yourself. There are no right or wrong answers in college essays, so as long your essay tells the committee something important about you.

2. Do your essays form a portfolio that accurately represents you?

While having to write so many essays is a lot of work, there is an upside. Having multiple essays means you can use each essay to display a different aspect of yourself and your accomplishments. That way, holistically, your application will give a very representative picture of who you are, and you won’t have to leave anything out.

So when you’re evaluating your essays, ask yourself: do your essays depict as many facets of yourself as possible? Specifically, have you repeated a story, experience or quality about yourself in any of the essays you’re going to send to the same college? If you have, then consider editing one of the essays to highlight something that you haven’t yet shared with the admissions committee. The more you can share with them in a limited amount of space, the easier it will be for the admissions committee to imagine how you would fit in at their university.

3. Did you answer the prompt?

Okay, so we’ve talked a lot about making sure that your values, passions, and accomplishments are showcased in your essays, even if the prompt is more abstract. This is certainly important, but it’s also important to make sure you’re showcasing yourself in the context of the essay prompt that was given to you. In other words, you should be sure that at some point in your essay, you answer the essay prompt clearly. If you don’t, you risk coming across as a student who doesn’t know how to follow basic directions.

Moreover, you need to make sure that you answer every part of the essay prompt given. Some essay prompts will just have one part. Some will have many. If you have to answer an essay prompt with multiple parts, be sure you address all of them. Take the following essay prompts from the 2019-2020 College Application Cycle:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 2019-2020:

Tell us about the most significant challenge you’ve faced or something important that didn’t go according to plan. How did you manage the situation? (200-250 words)

University of California :

What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time? (350 words)

In both of these prompts, you are asked to respond to two related questions. If you were to answer the MIT prompt, you would need to not only describe a significant challenge but explain how you overcame it. For the University of California prompt, you’d not only need to explain your greatest skill but outline how you’ve cultivated it over time. If you miss any of those parts in your response, you will not have fully answered the prompt.

4. Did You Stay Within the Word Count?

Most main college essays (like the Common App essays) have a word limit of anywhere from 250-650 words. Supplemental essay prompts generally have word limit of 100-400 words. Either way, you need to make sure that you stay very close to the upper word limit in your response.

As a general rule, you should try to stay within 10% of the upper word limit. So if the word limit for one of your essays is 650 words, your essay shouldn’t be fewer than 585 words. Keep in mind that most online applications will cut off your essay at the word limit, so try not to go over the word count. However, on the other extreme, you don’t want to make your essay too short, as it may make it seem like you don’t care about the application. After all, every extra bit of space in your essays is an opportunity to further impress the admissions committee, so you should take advantage of it.

For some more details on how long your college essays should be, check out our previous post entitled How Long Should Your College Essay Be? What is the Ideal Length?

5. Did You Proofread?

Here are some things to look out for as you look over your essay:

Incorrect grammar and spelling mistakes. These can make a well-thought-out essay seem subpar in the eyes of an admissions committee.

Awkward or formal wording. Read your essay aloud and listen to how it sounds. If it doesn’t sound natural, then you’re likely not displaying your authentic self to the admissions committee. Consider shifting some of the wording to sound more like something you would actually say, even if it means you have to take out a bit of the advanced vocabulary and complex sentence structure.

Instances of telling, instead of showing. One of the biggest mistakes students make is to tell, instead of show. Here’s an example of telling: “It was a rainy and gloomy day.” Here’s an example of showing: “The gray clouds hovered ominously above the lake. I felt a drop. Then another. And another. It began pouring, and I frantically tried to row the canoe back to shore.” It’s much more engaging to read the second example, as you feel as if you’re there with the writer.

Repeated sentence structure and vocab. Do you use the same word over and over again? Do you begin lots of sentences in a row with “I”? As you’re reading your essay, make sure that you’re using varied language to keep things interesting.

Inconsistent style. While your language should be varied, your style shouldn’t. If you use contractions or acronyms, use them throughout the essay. If you begin the essay in past tense, keep it that way, or make sure there’s clear demarcation when you shift tenses.

Also, if you’re reused an essay from another school’s application, give it an extra read-through to make sure that you’ve replaced all of the mentions of and references to the other college. You don’t want the admissions committee from UC Berkeley reading about how thrilled you are to take advantage of the opportunities that Tufts has to offer. It would not bode well for your likelihood of acceptance to Berkeley.

Of course, it is okay to reuse essays if the prompts are similar, but just be sure to double and triple-check that it doesn’t seem like you’re reusing an essay meant for another college. Also, if you’re answering the famous “ Why This College ” essay, we at CollegeVine recommend that you not reuse another essay. This essay should include specific resources and opportunities that you plan to take advantage of at each university, so you shouldn’t be able to use the same essay for two different schools. In fact, if you’re able to reuse a “Why This College” essay, that’s a sign that you need to rework the essay and make it more specific to the college.

6. Did You Get a Second and Third Set of Eyes on Your Essay?

It’s important to get another person or two to read your essay before you submit. The best people to look at your essays are those who are well-versed in creative essay writing, but also people who know you well. Older peers who have gone through the admissions process successfully can offer some of the best advice. English or Communications teachers who know you well also make great proofreaders, as do writing-proficient friends and family.

If you’re not sure who to ask, you can also use our free peer essay review tool . You can get feedback on your essays, and improve your own writing skills by reviewing others’ essays.

7. Did You Revise and Proofread Again?

Once you’ve read through your essays and had others give suggestions, make the necessary edits and corrections. Then, be sure you proofread your essays one more time before you hit submit. You should try not to submit an essay that hasn’t been read at least a few times all the way through, without any changes. Consider even reading your essay out loud and printed out (have a pen at the ready!), as you may catch things you missed when reading silently.

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

Peer-Review Checklist for Draft of Argument Essay

Read the essay through, quickly. Then read it again, with the following questions in mind. Please write extensive comments either on your workshop partner's draft where applicable or on this handout. If you need more room, continue writing on the back of this page.

Does this draft respond to the assignment? (Argument of a debatable issue with Rogerian slant?)
Looking at the essay as whole, what thesis (main point including writer's opinion) is advanced? Please underline the thesis on your workshop partner's draft. If it is implied only, jot down what you perceive to be the thesis here.
Are the needs of the audience kept in mind? For instance, do some concepts or words need to be defined? Is the evidence (examples, testimony of authorities, personal observations) clear and effective? Get into the margins of the draft and comment.
Is any obvious evidence (or counter-evidence) overlooked?
Can you accept the writer's assumptions? If not, why not? Please be honest and specific.
Looking at each paragraph separately:
What is the basic point?
How does each paragraph relate to the essay's main idea or the previous paragraph?
Should some paragraphs be deleted? Be divided into two or more paragraphs? Be combined? Be put elsewhere? (If you outline the essay by jolting down the gist of each paragraph, you will get help in answering these questions.)
Is each sentence clearly related to the sentence that precedes it and to the sentence that follows?
Is each paragraph adequately developed? Are there sufficient details, perhaps brief quotations or paraphrases from credible sources?
Are the introductory and concluding paragraphs effective?
What are the paper's main strengths?
Make at least one specific suggestion that you think will assist the author to improve the paper.
Last but not least--mechanics. If time permits, point out errors in spelling or grammar that distract from the argument of this draft.

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Peer editing

Peer editing can be done during class time or electronically outside of class, as the documents below--from Northwestern instructors--illustrate. The questions that students respond to can vary according to the nature of the assignment and the purpose of the peer review.

peer editing sheets for drafts Peer editing sheets for two essay assignments in a freshman seminar. Providing very specific questions helps the editors give useful feedback and suggestions.

peer feedback form literature seminar Students exchange drafts in class, complete the peer feedback form, and then discuss their written comments with one another. Students submit the forms with their drafts so that I can read them. I frequently refer to their peers' comments when I am writing my own comments on their drafts.

peer review Asian diaspora freshman seminar Students do a close reading of one another's drafts to provide insight into what has and has not been conveyed by the draft.

research draft peer review Prompts peer reviewers to comment on key pieces of information, logical organization, and conclusion

research paper introduction peer response Prompts peer editor to comment on introduction, and prompts author to respond to those comments

research paper peer evaluation of claims Prompts peer editor to evaluate the paper's effectiveness in supporting claims and addressing counter-arguments

peer editing science papers Prompts peer editor to complete a checklist on the paper's content, structure, and grammar

getting the most out of peer reviews A link to NU's Writing Place that explains how to make sure you benefit from sharing your writing with peers

peer review guidelines for a personal essay These guidelines from a freshman seminar are aimed at pairs of students who are exchanging drafts before meeting individually with the instructor.

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8.4 Revising and Editing

Learning objectives.

Identify major areas of concern in the draft essay during revising and editing.
Use peer reviews and editing checklists to assist revising and editing.
Revise and edit the first draft of your essay and produce a final draft.

Revising and editing are the two tasks you undertake to significantly improve your essay. Both are very important elements of the writing process. You may think that a completed first draft means little improvement is needed. However, even experienced writers need to improve their drafts and rely on peers during revising and editing. You may know that athletes miss catches, fumble balls, or overshoot goals. Dancers forget steps, turn too slowly, or miss beats. For both athletes and dancers, the more they practice, the stronger their performance will become. Web designers seek better images, a more clever design, or a more appealing background for their web pages. Writing has the same capacity to profit from improvement and revision.

Understanding the Purpose of Revising and Editing

Revising and editing allow you to examine two important aspects of your writing separately, so that you can give each task your undivided attention.

When you revise , you take a second look at your ideas. You might add, cut, move, or change information in order to make your ideas clearer, more accurate, more interesting, or more convincing.
When you edit , you take a second look at how you expressed your ideas. You add or change words. You fix any problems in grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. You improve your writing style. You make your essay into a polished, mature piece of writing, the end product of your best efforts.

How do you get the best out of your revisions and editing? Here are some strategies that writers have developed to look at their first drafts from a fresh perspective. Try them over the course of this semester; then keep using the ones that bring results.

Take a break. You are proud of what you wrote, but you might be too close to it to make changes. Set aside your writing for a few hours or even a day until you can look at it objectively.
Ask someone you trust for feedback and constructive criticism.
Pretend you are one of your readers. Are you satisfied or dissatisfied? Why?
Use the resources that your college provides. Find out where your school’s writing lab is located and ask about the assistance they provide online and in person.

Many people hear the words critic , critical , and criticism and pick up only negative vibes that provoke feelings that make them blush, grumble, or shout. However, as a writer and a thinker, you need to learn to be critical of yourself in a positive way and have high expectations for your work. You also need to train your eye and trust your ability to fix what needs fixing. For this, you need to teach yourself where to look.

Creating Unity and Coherence

Following your outline closely offers you a reasonable guarantee that your writing will stay on purpose and not drift away from the controlling idea. However, when writers are rushed, are tired, or cannot find the right words, their writing may become less than they want it to be. Their writing may no longer be clear and concise, and they may be adding information that is not needed to develop the main idea.

When a piece of writing has unity , all the ideas in each paragraph and in the entire essay clearly belong and are arranged in an order that makes logical sense. When the writing has coherence , the ideas flow smoothly. The wording clearly indicates how one idea leads to another within a paragraph and from paragraph to paragraph.

Reading your writing aloud will often help you find problems with unity and coherence. Listen for the clarity and flow of your ideas. Identify places where you find yourself confused, and write a note to yourself about possible fixes.

Creating Unity

Sometimes writers get caught up in the moment and cannot resist a good digression. Even though you might enjoy such detours when you chat with friends, unplanned digressions usually harm a piece of writing.

Mariah stayed close to her outline when she drafted the three body paragraphs of her essay she tentatively titled “Digital Technology: The Newest and the Best at What Price?” But a recent shopping trip for an HDTV upset her enough that she digressed from the main topic of her third paragraph and included comments about the sales staff at the electronics store she visited. When she revised her essay, she deleted the off-topic sentences that affected the unity of the paragraph.

Read the following paragraph twice, the first time without Mariah’s changes, and the second time with them.

Nothing is more confusing to me than choosing among televisions. It confuses lots of people who want a new high-definition digital television (HDTV) with a large screen to watch sports and DVDs on. You could listen to the guys in the electronics store, but word has it they know little more than you do. They want to sell what they have in stock, not what best fits your needs. You face decisions you never had to make with the old, bulky picture-tube televisions. Screen resolution means the number of horizontal scan lines the screen can show. This resolution is often 1080p, or full HD, or 768p. The trouble is that if you have a smaller screen, 32 inches or 37 inches diagonal, you won’t be able to tell the difference with the naked eye. The 1080p televisions cost more, though, so those are what the salespeople want you to buy. They get bigger commissions. The other important decision you face as you walk around the sales floor is whether to get a plasma screen or an LCD screen. Now here the salespeople may finally give you decent info. Plasma flat-panel television screens can be much larger in diameter than their LCD rivals. Plasma screens show truer blacks and can be viewed at a wider angle than current LCD screens. But be careful and tell the salesperson you have budget constraints. Large flat-panel plasma screens are much more expensive than flat-screen LCD models. Don’t let someone make you by more television than you need!

Answer the following two questions about Mariah’s paragraph:

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your answers.

Now start to revise the first draft of the essay you wrote in Section 8 “Writing Your Own First Draft” . Reread it to find any statements that affect the unity of your writing. Decide how best to revise.

When you reread your writing to find revisions to make, look for each type of problem in a separate sweep. Read it straight through once to locate any problems with unity. Read it straight through a second time to find problems with coherence. You may follow this same practice during many stages of the writing process.

Writing at Work

Many companies hire copyeditors and proofreaders to help them produce the cleanest possible final drafts of large writing projects. Copyeditors are responsible for suggesting revisions and style changes; proofreaders check documents for any errors in capitalization, spelling, and punctuation that have crept in. Many times, these tasks are done on a freelance basis, with one freelancer working for a variety of clients.

Creating Coherence

Careful writers use transitions to clarify how the ideas in their sentences and paragraphs are related. These words and phrases help the writing flow smoothly. Adding transitions is not the only way to improve coherence, but they are often useful and give a mature feel to your essays. Table 8.3 “Common Transitional Words and Phrases” groups many common transitions according to their purpose.

Table 8.3 Common Transitional Words and Phrases

After Maria revised for unity, she next examined her paragraph about televisions to check for coherence. She looked for places where she needed to add a transition or perhaps reword the text to make the flow of ideas clear. In the version that follows, she has already deleted the sentences that were off topic.

Many writers make their revisions on a printed copy and then transfer them to the version on-screen. They conventionally use a small arrow called a caret (^) to show where to insert an addition or correction.

1. Answer the following questions about Mariah’s revised paragraph.

2. Now return to the first draft of the essay you wrote in Section 8 “Writing Your Own First Draft” and revise it for coherence. Add transition words and phrases where they are needed, and make any other changes that are needed to improve the flow and connection between ideas.

Being Clear and Concise

Some writers are very methodical and painstaking when they write a first draft. Other writers unleash a lot of words in order to get out all that they feel they need to say. Do either of these composing styles match your style? Or is your composing style somewhere in between? No matter which description best fits you, the first draft of almost every piece of writing, no matter its author, can be made clearer and more concise.

If you have a tendency to write too much, you will need to look for unnecessary words. If you have a tendency to be vague or imprecise in your wording, you will need to find specific words to replace any overly general language.

Identifying Wordiness

Sometimes writers use too many words when fewer words will appeal more to their audience and better fit their purpose. Here are some common examples of wordiness to look for in your draft. Eliminating wordiness helps all readers, because it makes your ideas clear, direct, and straightforward.

Sentences that begin with There is or There are .

Wordy: There are two major experiments that the Biology Department sponsors.

Revised: The Biology Department sponsors two major experiments.

Sentences with unnecessary modifiers.

Wordy: Two extremely famous and well-known consumer advocates spoke eloquently in favor of the proposed important legislation.

Revised: Two well-known consumer advocates spoke in favor of the proposed legislation.

Sentences with deadwood phrases that add little to the meaning. Be judicious when you use phrases such as in terms of , with a mind to , on the subject of , as to whether or not , more or less , as far as…is concerned , and similar expressions. You can usually find a more straightforward way to state your point.

Wordy: As a world leader in the field of green technology, the company plans to focus its efforts in the area of geothermal energy.

A report as to whether or not to use geysers as an energy source is in the process of preparation.

Revised: As a world leader in green technology, the company plans to focus on geothermal energy.

A report about using geysers as an energy source is in preparation.

Sentences in the passive voice or with forms of the verb to be . Sentences with passive-voice verbs often create confusion, because the subject of the sentence does not perform an action. Sentences are clearer when the subject of the sentence performs the action and is followed by a strong verb. Use strong active-voice verbs in place of forms of to be , which can lead to wordiness. Avoid passive voice when you can.

Wordy: It might perhaps be said that using a GPS device is something that is a benefit to drivers who have a poor sense of direction.

Revised: Using a GPS device benefits drivers who have a poor sense of direction.

Sentences with constructions that can be shortened.

Wordy: The e-book reader, which is a recent invention, may become as commonplace as the cell phone.

My over-sixty uncle bought an e-book reader, and his wife bought an e-book reader, too.

Revised: The e-book reader, a recent invention, may become as commonplace as the cell phone.

My over-sixty uncle and his wife both bought e-book readers.

Now return once more to the first draft of the essay you have been revising. Check it for unnecessary words. Try making your sentences as concise as they can be.

Choosing Specific, Appropriate Words

Most college essays should be written in formal English suitable for an academic situation. Follow these principles to be sure that your word choice is appropriate. For more information about word choice, see Chapter 4 “Working with Words: Which Word Is Right?” .

Avoid slang. Find alternatives to bummer , kewl , and rad .
Avoid language that is overly casual. Write about “men and women” rather than “girls and guys” unless you are trying to create a specific effect. A formal tone calls for formal language.
Avoid contractions. Use do not in place of don’t , I am in place of I’m , have not in place of haven’t , and so on. Contractions are considered casual speech.
Avoid clichés. Overused expressions such as green with envy , face the music , better late than never , and similar expressions are empty of meaning and may not appeal to your audience.
Be careful when you use words that sound alike but have different meanings. Some examples are allusion/illusion , complement/compliment , council/counsel , concurrent/consecutive , founder/flounder , and historic/historical . When in doubt, check a dictionary.
Choose words with the connotations you want. Choosing a word for its connotations is as important in formal essay writing as it is in all kinds of writing. Compare the positive connotations of the word proud and the negative connotations of arrogant and conceited .
Use specific words rather than overly general words. Find synonyms for thing , people , nice , good , bad , interesting , and other vague words. Or use specific details to make your exact meaning clear.

Now read the revisions Mariah made to make her third paragraph clearer and more concise. She has already incorporated the changes she made to improve unity and coherence.

1. Answer the following questions about Mariah’s revised paragraph:

2. Now return once more to your essay in progress. Read carefully for problems with word choice. Be sure that your draft is written in formal language and that your word choice is specific and appropriate.

Completing a Peer Review

After working so closely with a piece of writing, writers often need to step back and ask for a more objective reader. What writers most need is feedback from readers who can respond only to the words on the page. When they are ready, writers show their drafts to someone they respect and who can give an honest response about its strengths and weaknesses.

You, too, can ask a peer to read your draft when it is ready. After evaluating the feedback and assessing what is most helpful, the reader’s feedback will help you when you revise your draft. This process is called peer review .

You can work with a partner in your class and identify specific ways to strengthen each other’s essays. Although you may be uncomfortable sharing your writing at first, remember that each writer is working toward the same goal: a final draft that fits the audience and the purpose. Maintaining a positive attitude when providing feedback will put you and your partner at ease. The box that follows provides a useful framework for the peer review session.

Questions for Peer Review

Title of essay: ____________________________________________

Date: ____________________________________________

Writer’s name: ____________________________________________

Peer reviewer’s name: _________________________________________

This essay is about____________________________________________.
Your main points in this essay are____________________________________________.
What I most liked about this essay is____________________________________________.

These three points struck me as your strongest:

These places in your essay are not clear to me:

a. Where: ____________________________________________

Needs improvement because__________________________________________

b. Where: ____________________________________________

Needs improvement because ____________________________________________

c. Where: ____________________________________________

The one additional change you could make that would improve this essay significantly is ____________________________________________.

One of the reasons why word-processing programs build in a reviewing feature is that workgroups have become a common feature in many businesses. Writing is often collaborative, and the members of a workgroup and their supervisors often critique group members’ work and offer feedback that will lead to a better final product.

Exchange essays with a classmate and complete a peer review of each other’s draft in progress. Remember to give positive feedback and to be courteous and polite in your responses. Focus on providing one positive comment and one question for more information to the author.

Using Feedback Objectively

The purpose of peer feedback is to receive constructive criticism of your essay. Your peer reviewer is your first real audience, and you have the opportunity to learn what confuses and delights a reader so that you can improve your work before sharing the final draft with a wider audience (or your intended audience).

It may not be necessary to incorporate every recommendation your peer reviewer makes. However, if you start to observe a pattern in the responses you receive from peer reviewers, you might want to take that feedback into consideration in future assignments. For example, if you read consistent comments about a need for more research, then you may want to consider including more research in future assignments.

Using Feedback from Multiple Sources

You might get feedback from more than one reader as you share different stages of your revised draft. In this situation, you may receive feedback from readers who do not understand the assignment or who lack your involvement with and enthusiasm for it.

You need to evaluate the responses you receive according to two important criteria:

Determine if the feedback supports the purpose of the assignment.
Determine if the suggested revisions are appropriate to the audience.

Then, using these standards, accept or reject revision feedback.

Work with two partners. Go back to Note 8.81 “Exercise 4” in this lesson and compare your responses to Activity A, about Mariah’s paragraph, with your partners’. Recall Mariah’s purpose for writing and her audience. Then, working individually, list where you agree and where you disagree about revision needs.

Editing Your Draft

If you have been incorporating each set of revisions as Mariah has, you have produced multiple drafts of your writing. So far, all your changes have been content changes. Perhaps with the help of peer feedback, you have made sure that you sufficiently supported your ideas. You have checked for problems with unity and coherence. You have examined your essay for word choice, revising to cut unnecessary words and to replace weak wording with specific and appropriate wording.

The next step after revising the content is editing. When you edit, you examine the surface features of your text. You examine your spelling, grammar, usage, and punctuation. You also make sure you use the proper format when creating your finished assignment.

Editing often takes time. Budgeting time into the writing process allows you to complete additional edits after revising. Editing and proofreading your writing helps you create a finished work that represents your best efforts. Here are a few more tips to remember about your readers:

Readers do not notice correct spelling, but they do notice misspellings.
Readers look past your sentences to get to your ideas—unless the sentences are awkward, poorly constructed, and frustrating to read.
Readers notice when every sentence has the same rhythm as every other sentence, with no variety.
Readers do not cheer when you use there , their , and they’re correctly, but they notice when you do not.
Readers will notice the care with which you handled your assignment and your attention to detail in the delivery of an error-free document..

The first section of this book offers a useful review of grammar, mechanics, and usage. Use it to help you eliminate major errors in your writing and refine your understanding of the conventions of language. Do not hesitate to ask for help, too, from peer tutors in your academic department or in the college’s writing lab. In the meantime, use the checklist to help you edit your writing.

Editing Your Writing

Are some sentences actually sentence fragments?
Are some sentences run-on sentences? How can I correct them?
Do some sentences need conjunctions between independent clauses?
Does every verb agree with its subject?
Is every verb in the correct tense?
Are tense forms, especially for irregular verbs, written correctly?
Have I used subject, object, and possessive personal pronouns correctly?
Have I used who and whom correctly?
Is the antecedent of every pronoun clear?
Do all personal pronouns agree with their antecedents?
Have I used the correct comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs?
Is it clear which word a participial phrase modifies, or is it a dangling modifier?

Sentence Structure

Are all my sentences simple sentences, or do I vary my sentence structure?
Have I chosen the best coordinating or subordinating conjunctions to join clauses?
Have I created long, overpacked sentences that should be shortened for clarity?
Do I see any mistakes in parallel structure?

Punctuation

Does every sentence end with the correct end punctuation?
Can I justify the use of every exclamation point?
Have I used apostrophes correctly to write all singular and plural possessive forms?
Have I used quotation marks correctly?

Mechanics and Usage

Can I find any spelling errors? How can I correct them?
Have I used capital letters where they are needed?
Have I written abbreviations, where allowed, correctly?
Can I find any errors in the use of commonly confused words, such as to / too / two ?

Be careful about relying too much on spelling checkers and grammar checkers. A spelling checker cannot recognize that you meant to write principle but wrote principal instead. A grammar checker often queries constructions that are perfectly correct. The program does not understand your meaning; it makes its check against a general set of formulas that might not apply in each instance. If you use a grammar checker, accept the suggestions that make sense, but consider why the suggestions came up.

Proofreading requires patience; it is very easy to read past a mistake. Set your paper aside for at least a few hours, if not a day or more, so your mind will rest. Some professional proofreaders read a text backward so they can concentrate on spelling and punctuation. Another helpful technique is to slowly read a paper aloud, paying attention to every word, letter, and punctuation mark.

If you need additional proofreading help, ask a reliable friend, a classmate, or a peer tutor to make a final pass on your paper to look for anything you missed.

Remember to use proper format when creating your finished assignment. Sometimes an instructor, a department, or a college will require students to follow specific instructions on titles, margins, page numbers, or the location of the writer’s name. These requirements may be more detailed and rigid for research projects and term papers, which often observe the American Psychological Association (APA) or Modern Language Association (MLA) style guides, especially when citations of sources are included.

To ensure the format is correct and follows any specific instructions, make a final check before you submit an assignment.

With the help of the checklist, edit and proofread your essay.

Key Takeaways

Revising and editing are the stages of the writing process in which you improve your work before producing a final draft.
During revising, you add, cut, move, or change information in order to improve content.
During editing, you take a second look at the words and sentences you used to express your ideas and fix any problems in grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure.
Unity in writing means that all the ideas in each paragraph and in the entire essay clearly belong together and are arranged in an order that makes logical sense.
Coherence in writing means that the writer’s wording clearly indicates how one idea leads to another within a paragraph and between paragraphs.
Transitional words and phrases effectively make writing more coherent.
Writing should be clear and concise, with no unnecessary words.
Effective formal writing uses specific, appropriate words and avoids slang, contractions, clichés, and overly general words.
Peer reviews, done properly, can give writers objective feedback about their writing. It is the writer’s responsibility to evaluate the results of peer reviews and incorporate only useful feedback.
Remember to budget time for careful editing and proofreading. Use all available resources, including editing checklists, peer editing, and your institution’s writing lab, to improve your editing skills.

Peer review checklist

⬜ Step 1 – Responding to an invitation to review

Read the abstract to determine whether you can provide an informed review. The work should be in, or closely related to, your field of expertise, and you should be familiar with, and able to comment on, the techniques and analyses used. Following a superficial glance through the paper, you may find it useful to conduct a literature search to help place the work within the context of recent research. If your expertise relates to only part of the paper, please inform the handling Editor before conducting a thorough review. You should consider whether you have the time to complete the review. Reviewers are given a two-week timeframe to submit their review. It is possible for reviewers to request an extension, which will be considered on a case-by-case basis. If you are unable to review the manuscript, please suggest suitable alternative reviewers. You should also declare any potential conflicts of interest ( e.g., colleagues based at the same institution, close associates, collaborators, or family members ). Once you have accepted the invitation to review, please familiarise yourself with the reviewer submission form to understand how your comments will be submitted.

⬜ Step 2 – Detailed read

When completing your full review, consider the following: How well does the work fit within the journal’s scope? • Biochemical Journal • Clinical Science • Bioscience Reports • Neuronal Signaling

Title and Abstract

• Does it accurately reflect the contents of the paper? Introduction

• How relevant is the background provided? • How relevant is the literature cited? • Does it include a clear hypothesis and aims? • Is it well-structured and logical in progression? Materials and Methods

• Has the study been appropriately designed? • Have adequate controls been used? • Have the authors justified their choices? ( e.g., cell lines and models, techniques) • Is there sufficient ethical consideration and approval for animal studies ( e.g., ARRIVE 2.0 guidelines ) and/or human studies (if relevant)? • Are the methods adequately described? • Is there sufficient information for the study to be replicated? • Have standard guidelines been followed? • Is there appropriate and comprehensible statistical analysis? Results, Data and Figures

• Are the data presentation appropriate and comprehensible? • Are the data interpreted accurately? • Have important data been omitted? • Are titles and legends of figures/tables fully and accurately descriptive? • Have you viewed the data presented in the Data Availability Statement (if relevant)? • If you have any potential concerns about data or figures presented in a paper, please provide a confidential note to the handling Editor. Discussion and Conclusion

• Is it well-structured and logical in progression? • Have assumptions and limitations of the study been addressed adequately? • Are the conclusions supported by the data presented? Other considerations

• How relevant is the work? Comment on the novelty/originality of the research in the context of the journal’s scope. • Assess how relevant the references are and note if pertinent sources (which you have read) have been omitted. • Is any use of self-citation appropriate? • Comment on the overall flow, use of language, and presentation of the paper.

⬜ Step 3 – Write your review (comments to the author)

Collate your notes and begin to draft your complete evaluation of the paper. It is important to be courteous and constructive, commending good points from the paper and justifying your specific concerns. Please consider how useful your comments would be if you were the author or handling Editor. You should also clearly state your limitations and which parts of the paper you addressed, if relevant.

It’s helpful to start by summarising your understanding of the authors’ work and their conclusions, before going into detail. Consider categorising your points into major and minor concerns, or strengths and weaknesses. Specific points should then be numbered for ease of reference. Support your arguments with pertinent references (which you have read) where possible.

Unless detrimental to the understanding of the paper, do not focus on grammatical corrections, but do mention if the language requires improvement. Portland Press journals can refer authors to a language editing service during revision and prior to publication. Imperfect grammar should not hold back an otherwise comprehensible and scientifically sound paper.

Concerns regarding the paper’s integrity should be communicated carefully and with justification. You should state what further data will be needed to verify the paper’s claims.

Conclude by making a final recommendation based on the level of revision required and whether these changes would make the paper suitable for publication. Ask for additional experimentation only if they are essential to justifying the paper’s conclusions.

Please note that the Biochemical Journal adheres to a Painless Publishing strategy, whereby the Editorial Board is committed to ensuring that, if revisions are recommended, extra experiments not necessary to support the conclusions of the paper will not be asked for.

⬜ Step 4 – Comments to the Editor

You will have the opportunity to send confidential comments to the handling Editor. Here you can provide additional guidance to assist the Editor in making their decision. If you have concerns regarding the paper’s integrity, this is an opportunity to provide further detail. If you think the paper is suitable for a related commentary article to be commissioned, please provide any additional detail and potential authors, if relevant. Please also comment on if you would be willing to write a commentary.

⬜ Step 5 – Submit your report

Read through all your comments and please be sure to complete all sections of the review submission form. On behalf of Portland Press and The Biochemical Society, thank you for contributing your expertise as a valued member of our community of reviewers. If you have any queries, please contact the Editorial Office .

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Modernizing CDC’s Practices and Culture for Better Data Sharing, Impact, and Transparency

ESSAY — Volume 21 — March 21, 2024

Jennifer L. Wiltz, MD, MPH 1 ,2 ; Brian Lee, MPH 3 ; Rachel Kaufmann, PhD, MPH 1 ; Timothy J. Carney, PhD, MPH, MBA 1 ; Kailah Davis, PhD 1 ; Peter A. Briss, MD, MPH 1 ( View author affiliations )

Suggested citation for this article: Wiltz JL, Lee B, Kaufmann R, Carney TJ, Davis K, Briss PA. Modernizing CDC’s Practices and Culture for Better Data Sharing, Impact, and Transparency. Prev Chronic Dis 2024;21:230200. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd21.230200 .

PEER REVIEWED

Practices, Responsibilities, and Opportunities

Cultural shift and future vision, acknowledgments, author information.

Making full use of data assets can allow institutions to support decisions, protect health, serve customers, and steward resources (1). Rendering data open to examination while protecting privacy and confidentiality may also enhance trust (1). Public health, research, and publication communities play key roles in data modernization through their work, partnerships, and leadership.

At the federal level, a comprehensive Federal Data Strategy (1) has been developed that provides a unified approach to data management, use, and sharing. Additionally, the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act and the Presidential Memorandum on scientific integrity and evidence-based policymaking emphasize using data and evidence to inform decision making (2,3).

Government, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has embraced these changes. Work on this topic aligns with the larger CDC Moving Forward initiative and supports efforts to share science and data faster, translate findings into evidence-based policy, prioritize communications, promote results-based partnerships, and develop a prepared workforce — all to enhance trust and improve our impact on the lives of Americans and people around the world (4).

This article presents work that our organization, the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) at the CDC, and CDC more generally have been doing to make data assets more broadly available. This article suggests data practices based on literature and CDC NCCDPHP experiences that can be valuable to the field, presents use cases and provides selected tools and supports, and promotes a culture that encourages good data practices ( Figure ). While our work will not apply seamlessly to all organizations and contexts, we are hopeful that lessons can be learned that might deserve broader application by the public health and scientific communities .

Data sharing can be considered throughout project activities and requires support and collaboration among scientists, organizational leadership, data stewards, and others responsible for data management policy and practice. Consistently using effective data practices throughout the data lifecycle (5) can reduce the burden of managing data; increase use of data for multiple purposes; increase reuse and interoperability of data; improve reproducibility and replicability; and contribute to innovation and adoption of new methods, tools, and technology. Incorporating principles, such as FAIR (6) (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) and those offered in the Federal Data Strategy (1) (on ethical governance, conscious design, and learning culture), should serve as motivational guidelines for decisions, strategy, and informing practices.

Data sharing with the public and relevant partners is foundational to data modernization and an obligation of public health agencies at all levels. CDC policy requires us to manage and facilitate public access to publicly funded public health data, but any institution can operationalize and scale good practices for data.

With appropriate training and support, every practitioner can adopt good practices related to data management and sharing (7). Practitioners and institutions should determine what levels of access are appropriate for their data (ie, available publicly, available with restricted access, or unavailable to the public) and clearly communicate this access level.

The practices described ( Figure ) are intended as examples for data stewards and manuscript authors that might deserve wider use. Our intent is not to define all practices but to identify and recommend key fundamentals to enhance how data can be understood and reused, establish basic data hygiene standards that can be expected by users from shared data, and to meet privacy, ethics, and legal responsibilities. These practices should be tailored to local needs and capacities. Data practices for institutions and practitioners include the elements described in this article.

Plan for timely mission-centric data sharing

Sharing data and science important to mission and partners starts with the evidence-building plan that identifies data needs for answering priority questions (1). Organizations should anticipate the data that are essential for decision making and public consumption and be prepared with the data analyses and products.

NCCDPHP is also working to share crucial data meaningful to partners and the public. As an example, Population Level Analysis and Community EStimates (PLACES) provides model-based estimates across 36 health measures, including 7 disability measures added in 2023, for every county, city, and census tract in the US (8). By collaborating with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the CDC Foundation, we provide data that were previously rarely available for most geographic areas below the state level. PLACES leverages data collected through the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from more than 400,000 interviews across the US each year. The measures include major risk behaviors that lead to illness, suffering, and early death as well as the conditions and diseases that are the most common, costly, and preventable of all health problems. Growing from this partnership established in 2015, based on partnership feedback and planned improvements, these data now allow health departments and jurisdictions of all population sizes and rurality to better understand the health of their local populations and advance their public health mission. PLACES has typically released data annually within 12 months of availability. By intentionally prioritizing production, adding resources, starting processing earlier, and formalizing the quality control process, this year PLACES has released data 5 months early. Public interactive maps allow viewers to explore these key health-related measures, community by community, to plan programs and action that support their efforts to improve healthy life expectancy, quality of life, productivity, and health care costs.

Promote open data access from project inception

Vetting information technology and data investments before activities begin can help ensure that a project is appropriately aligned with priorities and resources, relevant experts are involved, and data use practices are appropriate. At CDC, we conduct concept and investment reviews at the agency level and in CDC’s constituent Centers. These investment reviews help ensure that we follow good data practice (1) by establishing appropriate terms and conditions for contracts, grants, and other agreements to meet open objectives and data management requirements.

Early project development should also include consideration of partnerships and whether tools such as Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) or Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) involving data sharing can facilitate data use by defining the responsibilities for and acceptable use of data to be exchanged. When data cannot be shared in total (eg, because of privacy concerns) (9), practitioners should define what subsets or derived data are appropriate for release.

During the project planning phase, a data management plan (DMP) can be created and regularly updated as plans evolve. Any public health data set collected or generated using federal funds must have a DMP. The NCCDPHP template for this content contains provisions for accessing, standards for collecting, releasing, and preserving data long-term (10). NCCDPHP contract and grant awardees are expected to maintain a DMP and to make their federally funded data publicly available and discoverable, unless there is a compelling reason not to do so.

Manage data use agreements

Data use agreements (DUAs) document the agreed plan for content and granularity of data sets that will be released. CDC launched an internal DUA repository, including more than 1,000 active signed DUAs from NCCDPHP, that serves as a reference for how these agency assets can be used and shared with partners.

A standardized DUA templating process can increase data use by avoiding unneeded data strictures and can mitigate organizational risks by ensuring content is included that is required by policy and law. CDC developed a template with input from partners that includes necessary federal language to engage in data sharing. The new process that allows staff to generate a DUA with standardized language in an electronic system also decreases burden and improves service delivery.

Coordinate data management, processing, and stewardship

We identified practices from many organizations and authors (7,11–13) and adapted them in a checklist spanning 3 areas of data hygiene practices: 1) data management and organization; 2) code, software, and statistical processing practices for manipulation and analysis; and 3) collaboration (see Appendix for the full checklist integrated within the 7 overarching data sharing practices of this manuscript). In NCCDPHP, efforts span these areas of good data hygiene practices. As an example of good management, several systems (eg, Data Trends and Maps) are saving data as raw (Bronze), intermediate (Silver) and analytic ready (Gold) as they are migrated into an enterprise-wide data analytics and visualization platform. We hope that readers and their institutions might find this checklist or an adapted version useful in their organizations.

To establish practices in all 3 areas, the CDC COVID-19 Response convened data science experts and leaders to support open data using modern methods of data automation, computational privacy protection (14), stakeholder collaboration, and enhancements in accessibility to allow automated processing. Data formatted to be machine-readable (ie, structured to allow automated computer processing without losing meaning) are more interoperable than data that require human processing (eg, PDF) before use and reduce the burden on people needing to find and use data (2). Using these data hygiene practices allowed the CDC COVID-19 Response to design, verify, and release multiple data set iterations efficiently during the pandemic.

As good processing practice, NCCDPHP developed the Publication Operations process (PubOps) to automate publishing of cleared data to the appropriate data repository. This automated data publishing pipeline reduces the timeline for data publishing from 6 months to a few weeks, reduces the complexity of data publishing process, and supports traceable data clearance processes, which all result in a more transparent process. Moreover, all NCCDPHP public-facing data visualization products have code saved in a source control repository such as github.com/CDCgov. The Study Tracking and Reporting System (STARS) is used at CDC to support the submission, review, clearance, tracking, and reporting of activities.

Make priority data open and discoverable

To help users find and use open data, a comprehensive inventory of enterprise data assets is needed. Agencies must develop, publish, and update this inventory with the priority data sets for which disclosure is in the public interest (1,2). Agencies are to evaluate and improve the timeliness, completeness, consistency, accuracy, usefulness, and availability of open data assets. Agency data assets can then be shared in the US government’s data.gov open data catalog. Additionally, providing metadata describing the data asset makes data sets discoverable and easier to use. Data stewards should provide documentation and a data dictionary for all fields, in a machine-readable format where possible.

As of February 2024, NCCDPHP has made publicly available 224 data sets that are aligned with mission priorities, impactful, and useful to partners. We are providing standard technical and business metadata schema required for inclusion on data.gov and developing additional elements so that consumers have sufficient information (eg, to understand strengths, weaknesses, analytical limitations, security requirements, processing) relevant to use. Inclusion on data.cdc.gov will provide a one-CDC approach to the public for access to all CDC data.

Protect confidentiality and privacy

Ensuring that authorities, roles, policies, and resources are in place is important to control access to confidential data and to safeguard privacy (1). Institutions can assess and apply data protection methods to strengthen privacy and confidentiality including: appropriately protecting or excluding private information when releasing data publicly, taking steps to mitigate the threat of re-identification of individuals and businesses if different publicly available data are combined, and training staff and modernizing data governance processes to support confidentiality and privacy design. NCCDPHP maintains a Data Release Review Committee to review planned data releases and protect those who provided the data. To do this, the Committee ensures that released data comply with informed consent and that personally identifiable information is removed. Also, potential to reidentify respondents with remaining information is assessed.

Ensure strong manuscript review processes

Institutional and peer review processes need to be strong enough to cope with increasingly complex data, novel data sources, and more advanced data analysis. Additionally, data access, code, and analytics sharing can be promoted in the review and submission processes. Manuscripts that include use of data can be reviewed for following good data practices and ensure that data and related code are available along with manuscripts whenever possible. The target (7) would be to include access to the data, the build code that shapes and produces the analytical set, and the data analytic code on which publications are based so that results can be examined and replicated.

Organizational leaders, scientists and data stewards can begin today to accelerate culture change that promotes long-term data good practices. Some examples might include launching a data modernization culture change campaign, incentivizing data sharing by incorporating open data in performance plans and yearly reviews, and showcasing successful examples of data usage.

Modernize with a comprehensive plan

Enabling open data and accelerating data cultural change as described here are critical pieces of a robust, integrated approach to using data ( Figure ). In addition, coordinated efforts are needed that ensure data quality, utility, integrity, and objectivity, and advance data maturity, data standards use, and innovation. Most importantly, data must be used, as examples, for better service and communication delivery; to guide policy, planning, and operations decision making; and in interpreting and conveying the evidence-based messages, which will require leadership at many levels, ranging from chief data officers at federal agencies to frontline staff who serve as data ambassadors. They will also require general skill building of the public health workforce with the goals of increased data science knowledge throughout organizations and engaging a range of partners in collaborative approaches for improving data and its use.

The CDC Data Modernization Initiative outlines broad aspects of data modernization needed across the overall public health landscape and addresses the CDC Moving Forward imperative to advance core public health missions, consistently deliver public health information, and guide decision makers with timely data. Our NCCDPHP portfolio (15) advances these goals and includes data modernization projects, a Chronic Data Modernization Playbook, Communities of Practice, an innovation laboratory, and learning sessions. Improving trust, building on innovations, and learning lessons across the data lifecycle from curation to sharing have also been noted as crucial for priorities such as pandemic preparedness and global health (16,17).

Moving forward

Activities are under way to modernize data practices for access, protection, and use in many organizations including CDC. In addition to the examples and material presented here, an online repository of resources is available which can promote progress in data practices throughout the federal government and beyond (18). Advancements in data sharing and use are models of long-term good practices. In addition, every success is a building block for further advancements promoting transparency, furthering trust, and amplifying positive health impact.

Accomplishing data sharing to fully leverage data as an asset will be transformational for how we conduct our work and use data to support decision making and effective public health action. Practices as provided in this manuscript and principles that government are required to adhere to are intended to be good for public health and therefore can be useful for all practitioners and institutions to consider. Making progress will require that a culture of data should be integrated as part of the organizational lifestyle. The ultimate goal of leveraging data assets and improving data use is to better individual and population health outcomes.

Mr Lee is now with the Influenza Division, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, CDC. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the CDC or the US Public Health Service. Although Dr Wiltz participated in writing of the Federal Data Strategy, this article does not reflect the position of the federal government. No copyrighted materials or tools were used in this research.

Corresponding Author: Jennifer Wiltz, MD, MPH, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Hwy, Mail Stop S107-8, Atlanta, GA 30341 ( [email protected] ).

Author Affiliations: 1 National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia. 2 US Public Health Service, Bethesda, Maryland. 3 Office of the Chief Information Officer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.

Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, Federal Data Strategy Team. President’s management agenda, Federal Data Strategy, action plan 2020; 2020. Accessed February 7, 2024. https://strategy.data.gov/assets/docs/2020-federal-data-strategy-action-plan.pdf
115th Congress of the United States of America. Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018. January 14, 2019. Pub. L. No. 115–435, 132 Stat. 5529. Accessed February 7, 2024. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4174/text
The White House. Memorandum on restoring trust in government through scientific integrity and evidence-based policymaking; Jan 27, 2021. Accessed February 7, 2024. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/memorandum-on-restoring-trust-in-government-through-scientific-integrity-and-evidence-based-policymaking/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC Moving Forward summary report. Reviewed September 1, 2022. Accessed February 7, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/about/organization/cdc-moving-forward-summary-report.html
Lee B, Martin T, Khan A, Fullerton K, Duck W, Kinley T, et al. . Modernizing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention informatics using surveillance data platform shared services. Public Health Rep . 2018;133(2):130–135. PubMed doi:10.1177/0033354917751130
Wilkinson MD, Dumontier M, Aalbersberg IJ, Appleton G, Axton M, Baak A, et al. . The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Sci Data . 2016;3(1):160018. PubMed doi:10.1038/sdata.2016.18
Wilson G, Bryan J, Cranston K, Kitzes J, Nederbragt L, Teal TK. Good enough practices in scientific computing. PLOS Comput Biol . 2017;13(6):e1005510. PubMed doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005510
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Population Health. PLACES data. Reviewed July 13, 2023. Accessed February 7, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/PLACES
van Panhuis WG, Paul P, Emerson C, Grefenstette J, Wilder R, Herbst AJ, et al. . A systematic review of barriers to data sharing in public health. BMC Public Health . 2014;14(1):1144. PubMed doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-1144
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Notice of funding opportunities. Accessed February 21, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/programs-impact/nofo/index.htm
Bakken S. The journey to transparency, reproducibility, and replicability. J Am Med Inform Assoc . 2019;26(3):185–187. PubMed doi:10.1093/jamia/ocz007
Wickham H, Averick M, Bryan J, Chang W, McGowan L, François R, et al. . Welcome to the Tidyverse. J Open Source Softw . 2019;4(43):1686.
Sandve GK, Nekrutenko A, Taylor J, Hovig E. Ten simple rules for reproducible computational research. PLOS Comput Biol . 2013;9(10):e1003285. PubMed doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003285
Lee B, Dupervil B, Deputy NP, Duck W, Soroka S, Bottichio L, et al. . Protecting privacy and transforming COVID-19 case surveillance datasets for public use. Public Health Rep . 2021;136(5):554–561. PubMed doi:10.1177/00333549211026817
Carney TJ, Wiltz JL, Davis K, Briss PA, Hacker K. Advancing chronic disease practice through the CDC Data Modernization Initiative. Prev Chronic Dis . 2023;20:230120. PubMed doi:10.5888/pcd20.230120
Kraemer MUG, Scarpino SV, Marivate V, Gutierrez B, Xu B, Lee G, et al. . Data curation during a pandemic and lessons learned from COVID-19. Nat Comput Sci . 2021;1(1):9–10. PubMed doi:10.1038/s43588-020-00015-6
Technical contributors to the Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence Innovation Forum February meeting and report. Innovations in public health surveillance: updates from a forum convened by the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, 2 and 3 February 2022. Euro Surveill . 2022;27(15).
Office of Management and Budget, Office of Government and Information Services. Resources.data.gov: a repository of federal enterprise data resources. Accessed February 21, 2024. https://resources.data.gov/

Checklist for data practices that enable open data and facilitate use, both overall and with a focus on management, statistical processing, and collaboration. This checklist can serve as a tool to assist practitioners and institutions in meeting good data practices (7,11–13) and can be considered in context of activities that promote a cultural shift and modernize with a comprehensive data strategy.

Create evidence-building plan that identifies data needs for answering priority questions.
Record lineage of data used; include location, version, and any transformation or manipulation performed.
Establish quality metrics and perform data quality tests throughout the data management process.
Establish investment review process to vet IT and data investments before activities begin.
Describe data fields, including description, type, and specific vocabularies, where appropriate.
Create metadata for data to improve discovery and use by others, including preferred means of accessing data, data quality characteristics (eg, representativeness, temporal, geospatial), and preferred citation.
Leverage a data use agreement repository to reuse existing and relevant data use agreements.
Standardize the DUA templating process to facilitate inclusion of content necessary for policy, protection, appropriate use and sharing.

Data hygiene practices for data management and organization

Create analysis-friendly data with a record of how each result, including intermediate, was produced.
Record how data are produced, describing all stages of data, including intermediate results, pre- and postprocessing steps, including workflow and data pipeline.
Save raw, intermediate, and analytical-ready data used for analysis, tables, plots, and figures.
Consistently code variables within analytical datasets, differentiate between null, unknown, and suppressed values.

Code, software, and statistical processing practices for manipulation and analysis

Automate data retrieval, processing, transformation, privacy protection, and generation of data used for analysis. Avoid manual data processing as much as possible.
Record all external programs and packages used, including exact versions for all data, analysis, reporting, and visualization.
Record code used to create tables, plots, and figures.
Develop and release custom developed code using an open-source license, whenever possible.
Apply and record version control to all custom developed scripts used in publication (eg, git) within a CDC approved, durable location including changelogs and history.
Include brief, explanatory comments within every program.
Include brief, explanatory overview file within every project (eg, README.md) with description of purpose, installation, and operation.
Deposit code in an appropriate repository that provides a persistent digital identifier; open source in a public repository; non-open in a secure repository.

Collaboration practices for publication and ongoing data lifecycle changes

Collaborate with data stewards for review and correspondence prior to publication.
Use a dataset’s preferred point of contact for correspondence, do not contact underlying sources directly.
Publish a manuscript on the dataset if the dataset is unique and available for others.
Publish a data management plan where appropriate.
Use preferred citations for each dataset that is used within the manuscript.
Appropriately include data managers and data designers who contributed substantially to the data processing as authors or acknowledge within the manuscript.
A draft version of the manuscript can be made available on a preprint server (eg, arxiv.org, www.bioarxiv.org, medrxiv.org).
Data stewards can: a) Provide a method for users to report questions, potential errors, bugs, or defects in data and be responsive to user requests. At a minimum, email. Preferred, automated system allowing user to view status and link to dataset revision. b) Publish guiding material to assist users in understanding data, planning analyses, and using data. At minimum, a frequently asked questions document revised based on user need.
Develop, publish, and update an inventory of data assets.
Prioritize data assets for sharing that are aligned with priorities of, impactful for, and useful to partners and the public.
Evaluate and improve the characteristics (eg, timeliness, completeness, consistency, accuracy) of open data assets.
Supply metadata describing the data asset.
Deposit data in an appropriate repository (eg, data.cdc.gov for all of CDC data) that provides a persistent digital identifier (preferably Direct Object Identifiers, or DOI), release data using an open format, and provide machine readable access to data and metadata. Put open data in a public repository; place non-open data in a secure repository.
Ensure authorities, roles, policies, and resources are in place to control access and safeguard privacy, eg, ensure adequate deidentification of the data, mitigate threat of reidentification, and support confidentiality and privacy design.
Ensure capacity to review complex, novel data, and advanced analytics.
Check for good data practices, eg, access to data, build code, and analytic code.

The opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors’ affiliated institutions.

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Narrative Essay

Illustration/Example Essay

Compare/Contrast Essay

Cause-and-Effect Essay

Argument Essay

Peer Review Checklist

How to Write a Peer Review

Review Outline

1. Summary of the research and your overall impression

2. Discussion of specific areas for improvement

Major vs. minor issues

3. Any other points

Giving Feedback

General guidelines for effective feedback

Don’t

Before and After: Sample Reviewer Comments

Suggested Language for Tricky Situations

What does a good review look like?

Time to Submit the Review!

Tip: Building a relationship with an editor

An Overview of the Writing Process

ESL Lesson Plans, Tests, & Ideas

Argumentative Essay Peer-Editing Checklist

Peer-review Checklist Preview

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Your chancing factors

College Essay Checklist: Are You Ready to Submit?

Why Are College Essays So Important?

College Essay Checklist: Before You Submit

2. Do your essays form a portfolio that accurately represents you?

3. Did you answer the prompt?

4. Did You Stay Within the Word Count?

5. Did You Proofread?

6. Did You Get a Second and Third Set of Eyes on Your Essay?

7. Did You Revise and Proofread Again?

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Peer-Review Checklist for Draft of Argument Essay

Peer editing

8.4 Revising and Editing

Understanding the Purpose of Revising and Editing

Creating Unity and Coherence

Creating Unity

Writing at Work

Creating Coherence

Being Clear and Concise

Identifying Wordiness

Choosing Specific, Appropriate Words

Completing a Peer Review

Questions for Peer Review

Using Feedback Objectively

Using Feedback from Multiple Sources

Editing Your Draft

Key Takeaways

Peer review checklist

⬜ Step 1 – Responding to an invitation to review

⬜ Step 2 – Detailed read

⬜ Step 3 – Write your review (comments to the author)

⬜ Step 4 – Comments to the Editor

⬜ Step 5 – Submit your report

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Modernizing CDC’s Practices and Culture for Better Data Sharing, Impact, and Transparency

Jennifer L. Wiltz, MD, MPH 1 ,2 ; Brian Lee, MPH 3 ; Rachel Kaufmann, PhD, MPH 1 ; Timothy J. Carney, PhD, MPH, MBA 1 ; Kailah Davis, PhD 1 ; Peter A. Briss, MD, MPH 1 ( View author affiliations )

Practices, Responsibilities, and Opportunities

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