Lesson for Week 14: Day 2
14.2
Having reviewed the original assignment and the scoring rubric, you should be able to tell your reviewer what you want her or him to focus on. Reviewers are usually pretty busy, especially in the real world, and although they are willing to give you some feedback, they usually feel as though a heavy burden has been placed on them unless you tell them what you are trying to do in the paper, who the audience is, and what you specifically want them to look at. They are not, afterall, responsible for the success of your work. You are. Therefore, the more effective you are in guiding their attention and specifying the results you are trying to achieve, the more likely you are to get useful information back.
The best way to guide the reviewer is to write a request memo. Tell the reviewer that you are asking for their assistance, and then explain what the paper or production is, who the audience is, what effects you hope to achieve. Then zero in on the question(s) you have of them. Don't overload them: keep your questions clearly focused and confined to a certain part of your paper. You should be able to draw some language form the scoring rubric to form these questions, but don't give them the whole thing. They aren't your evaluators; they're your helpers. Tell them which areas to read, and what you want them to focus on while they read those areas. If you can position the questions you have so that there is white space between them on the page, the memo layout will invite them to give specific answers. As is the case with all requests, be sure to tell them that any help they can give you will be greatly appreciated.
In the business world, some companies set up specific review cycles. At a certain point, the document is sent to the subject matter experts (SME's) who read the paper to make sure it is accurate and well informed. Later if may be sent to someone in management or the legal counsel to make sure that it fits with company policy and does not pose legal problems. Some companies go an extra step and test the document on people who are representative of the intended audience. Finally, the document is circulated within the documentation group or sent to the company's professional editor to finish it by cleaning up errors and smoothing out the style.
In the academic world, articles submitted for publication in scholarly journals go through a review process called "refereeing." This process usually goes through two stages. In the first stage, the editor of the journal asks the referee reader to determine if the article is publishable with revision. If so, then the referee is to make suggestions for improving the paper. Here's an example of a review request and a review that responded to the request.