How to review a document?
R3ciprocity.com is a unique online platform that enables you to upload your work and get quality editing and proofreading by real people AND support others by editing and proofreading their work. It was built to help out graduate students and PhDs to excel at their writing.
The credit system allows you to use the platform for free. Proofreading the work of others earns you credits that you can spend to get feedback on your own work. Credits can also be affordably purchased through the platform if you want feedback on your writing without spending time proofreading for others.
Watch the video that this post is based on:
Editing / Proofreading Through R3ciprocity.com
Once you have completed the introductory process of proofreading/editing two test review documents and have been approved by r3ciprocity.com Admin you will be able to use the site to proofread the work of other users and earn credits.
The editing process is very similar to the test review process. Indeed, it is identical, other than the documents you are receiving are going to be from real people.
Log in to your account at r3ciprocity.com, go to the My Reviews page and click on Request a job.
A pop-up message will appear giving you some more information about the process and payment on r3ciprocity.com. Click Ok. You now have access to a new document written by a user of the r3ciprocity.com site.
Things To Consider Before You Accept A New Editing Job
Before you accept the document look at the statistics for it: the number of words, the readability score (based on the Flesch reading ease score) and number of credits you will receive for proofreading/editing it. You can also click on the title of the document and see a preview of it.
It is important to be sure that you want to actually perform the task before you accept a job. Once it is accepted you should aim to download and work on a document as soon as possible. Remember – you are trying to make other people as happy as possible. Many users of r3ciprocity.com are working to a deadline and are more likely to give you a high star rating if you complete a job in good time. The platform will allow you 48 hours from the time of accepting a document to edit, upload and send it. If you fail to submit a review within the 48 hours the job will be offered to someone else and you will be unable to Request a job for one week. Sorry. 🙁
If you are confident you can complete the job in good time click on Accept Job and then Download document.
If, for any reason, you do not want to accept the job then click on Skip this one. For example, if the paper is about astrobiology, and you don’t know anything about astrobiology, then feel free to skip the document. If you do edit the document, it might create more problems for the writer. Your goal should always be to make the writer happy.
It is possible to Request a job and get a second job while still in the process of editing a document. Do not do this unless you are confident you can edit both documents well and upload and send them within the 48-hour time frame. For example, you want to spend an entire Saturday sitting at a coffee shop, editing documents, this option might make sense for you.
Once you have downloaded the document it is time to begin proofreading and editing it. You can download and edit the document using any compatible word processing software such as Microsoft Word, Open Office and Google Docs. Remember that the system will force you to upload the document as a MS Word document or a text file.
The Golden Rule of Proofreading / Editing
Your goal is to support the writer by showing them the changes that could improve the quality of their writing. You want to make them happy. Do not be afraid to edit, remove or write additional sentences if you believe that these changes will improve the writing. However, always keep the writer in mind. Do NOT write the document for them – there are many situations that this could be considered an breach of ethics. You want to simply aid in their writing.
Think of yourself as a constructive teacher. You want to be supportive and helpful by making suggestions, but you do not want to do the work for them. Consider what they want to communicate through this writing and the purpose they want to achieve. Any changes you make should help them achieve this purpose. Besides, if you do the work for them, the writer will not improve and learn how to become a better writer.
Some Other Things To Consider When Proofreading
How easy it is to miss something.
Read the document slowly and carefully before, during and after the editing process. This is not a task that can be rushed. You need to take your time and think about the arguments. What is missing in the argument? What should be added in the argument? Should the arguments be rearranged to make the flow better?
The tone of the writing.
Formal, academic writing is very different than a chatty blog post and the tone, style and structure of the writing should all be appropriate for the purpose. Use your judgment, but make sure that you are being helpful and friendly. Do on to others as you would like to have done onto you.
Making the writing easy to read and understand.
Small changes in sentence structure can make a big difference. Go through each sentence and each word. Read them out loud to yourself. As yourself various questions. What is missing? What does not make sense?
Correcting inaccurate spelling and grammar.
If you are unsure then a simple search online will tell you all you need to know. We all make mistakes when we write. Don’t be afraid to make these suggestions to the writer.
The document as a whole.
Look at font styles and sizes, the formatting of titles and footnotes and page layout. Edit these aspects if you think they need to be edited. Try to focus on the style and what the author is trying to convey. Make it simple and basic for the writer. It will go a long way.
Uploading Your Review
Once you have finished proofreading and editing the document you need to upload it to r3ciprocity.com. Save the document to your computer or device and then click on Upload Document on the My Reviews page. Once the document is uploaded you can click on it and see your edited document alongside the original.
The color of the Review stats circles – the top two circles – will depend on the number of changes you have made and readability of the document with your changes. If the circles are red – most likely due to you making very few changes – you will not be able to send the document. You can upload another attempt on the My Review page or clicking on the Upload another view icon located under the comment boxes. Yellow indicates okay but you should always aim for these circles to be green when you upload a document.
Scroll down this page to write a comment to accompany your review. This is your opportunity to explain any major changes you made to the document and offer general feedback. Please make sure that all comments are kind and supportive and that you click Submit Comment when you have finished writing your comment.
Once you have written a comment you can send your review. This can be done by clicking on the icon under the comment box or on the My Reviews page. It is very important to send your review because until you do the writer of the document cannot access your changes and feedback.
If you want to learn more about r3ciprocity.com check the How to Get Started on r3ciprocity.com YouTube playlist or some other posts on this site.