The Quill - April 2005 (Volume 16 Number 7)

About the IEEE PCS

The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc) PCS (Professional Communication Society) organization fosters a community dedicated to understanding and promoting effective communication in engineering, scientific, and other technical environments.

To this end, the IEEE Professional Communication Society endeavours to:

Advance technical and scientific communication as an essential element of engineering;
Help engineers, scientists, and other technically-oriented professionals to communicate better in the workplace—both verbally and nonverbally;
Promote and disseminate best practices and research results on the development, maintenance, delivery, and management of technical content; and,
Promote and facilitate leading-edge education and training of engineers, scientists, and other technically-oriented professionals in communication theory and practice.

The Peer Review Deliverable

In a review, I submit answers to the following questions to the Editor:

What is the significance of the topic to IEEE PCS Transactions' readers?
What is the connection to previously published research in this area?
Who else has written about this topic? When? Where? What were their conclusions?
What is the quality of the research approach or methodology?
What is the quality of the research conclusions?
What is the quality of the presentation?
What are the implications for the practice of professional communicators?
What is the recommendation?

On Becoming a Peer Reviewer

Many years ago, I experienced an epiphany. I discovered that the work I had been doing, writing technical manuals and procedures (and sometimes even business-to-business documentation), was a recognized field of study called "technical communication"—and that I was not alone. Not only were there many other writers like me, but organizations such as the IEEE PCS (the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. Professional Communication Society and the STC (Society for Technical Communication) published journals with interesting articles on the latest developments in technical communication by both practitioners and academics.

Since then, I have tried to learn as much about the field of technical communication as I can. I attend conferences and seminars, enter technical communication writing competitions (as a humbling reality check to see if I really am as good a writer as I think I am), and read any publications on technical communication (particularly the STC's Technical Communication Journal and the IEEE PCS's Transactions Journal). Three years ago, I volunteered to join the peer review team at the IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication. Since that time, I have had the opportunity to review not just Transactions papers, but also conference papers and competition entries.

Purpose of the Peer Review Process

The peer review process is designed to assess the technical merit of the article, specifically addressing the strength and logical structure of the arguments, and the significance of the topic to the reader. It ensures the quality of the journal, and that topics of the greatest interest to readers are discussed.

How the Peer Review Process Works

The Peer Review Process

The Peer Review process typically takes from three to four hours, and most reviewers follow a common methodology similar to these steps:

My First Review

My first review was the most difficult—not just because I was new to the process, but also because I thought I stumbled across plagiarized material. Researching the topic, I found an almost identical paper to the one I was reviewing that was not cited in the references. My assumption was that the information had been plagiarized, and I made my recommendation to reject for publication on this basis. Later, I learned that the author was the also the author of the article that was not cited—and that it had been an oversight on their part not to list their own paper in the references. Subsequent reviews have been smoother, and I learn a great deal from each one I do—and I am not as quick to make assumptions.

Benefits of Being a Peer Reviewer

Although peer review is not paid, it offers many benefits that are invaluable. As a peer reviewer, I have a great opportunity to read the newest applied research papers in many technical communication disciplines before they are published. And, because I need to check the citations and technical content of the submissions, my knowledge of best practices and standards has increased—knowledge that I apply to my day-to-day work.

How to Become a Peer Reviewer

Some technical communication journals (e.g., IEEE's Transactions and STC's Technical Communication) have Peer Review teams that consist of both academics and practitioners, a key balance that ensures relevance to the practitioner and the academic. I became a Peer Reviewer by responding to the IEEE PCS Journal's call for volunteers—I submitted my CV to the Editor, and was subsequently asked to review an article.

As technical communicators, we can make a positive contribution to our field through volunteering to assist the editorial staff in our professional journals. George Hayhoe writes in his editorial in the February 2005 issue of Technical Communication (Vol. 52, Number 1) that 'every peer review team evaluating manuscripts for potential publication in these pages includes at least one practitioner as well as one academic…' George goes on to list 'five outstanding peer-reviewed journals' that 'together publish about 120 articles each year'.

De-mystifying the Peer Review Process: My Experiences as a Peer Reviewer