In 2010, I successfully applied for the post of Marketing Officer for the CILIP CSG Information Literacy Group (ILG). When I attended my first meeting in September, I was asked to become a reviewer for the Journal of Information Literacy (JIL). This sounded like an interesting opportunity but what did I know about reviewing journal articles? Very little! Thankfully, the ILG came to my rescue by running a workshop for journal reviewers at the University of Birmingham. Susie Andretta, the JIL's editor, was present to facilitate the day.
After introductions and setting some objectives, we had a look at some titles and abstracts, both of which are essential for grabbing the potential reader's attention. They are also a good first indication of whether or not an article is going to be appropriate for the journal in question. This is a good thing to bear in mind when writing for a journal.
The afternoon session was spent reviewing two sample articles. It's amazing what lively discussion can be generated by such an activity (although in a room full of librarians, perhaps it's not so surprising). The main temptation I need to avoid is correcting the language. However, this is the copy editor's role. As a reviewer, I am there to check that the content is appropriate for the JIL. One of the key questions is: would JIL readers find this interesting? Even if an article doesn't engage me, it may still be of interest to other readers.
One of my main concerns is that I might upset the author(s), especially knowing how much time people spend on writing an article for publication. However, no matter how long somebody's been writing for, or how many articles they've had published, they should still appreciate constructive feedback. The title of the workshop, "how to be a critical but constructive friend", sums this up nicely. You are not helping the author by being nice and saying it's all great, when there is always room for improvement.
This was the first ILG workshop I'd attended (I went to LILAC, also run by the ILG, last year). It was free, I learnt lots of useful things and an excellent lunch was provided - what more could you ask for? I'm now waiting with anticipation, rather than fear, for the next article I'm asked to review!
After the workshop, Susie Andretta emailed us with some useful vidoes:
Video on plagiarism
http://www.youtube.com/user/SusieAndretta#p/f/17/Mwbw9KF-ACY
Video on digital native:
http://www.youtube.com/user/SusieAndretta#p/f/22/7_zzPBbXjWs
Video on how to get your paper published:
http://creatingknowledge.blip.tv/file/4133552/
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