Review Procedure, The Official

A Guide To The Article Reviews Procedure

by Aaron Rice (a.rice@ukonline.co.uk)
written 26 Jan 1997

This article is classified "Real"


The following is a guide to the Project Galactic Guide review procedure,
and the tasks to be performed by the Review Coordinator [1].


The Review Process
================== 
Reviews are coordinated by the Review Coordinator.  His/Her job is to
receive articles from the editors, which he/she will then place "on review"
at the next chosen date.  During this time, articles are checked for
grammar, punctuation, spelling, and any other problems, such as copyright
infringement.  Reviews should generally be held once every few weeks and
should last for between seven and ten days.

Articles for review should be posted, by the Review Coordinator only, 
on the alt.galactic-guide newsgroup, and the review web pages at
http://megadodo.com/review/.  Official review postings should be indicated
by an emboldened title introduction, such as 'ARTICLE FOR REVIEW: ...'.
Once the articles have been posted, the Review Coordinator should notify the
mailing list of reviewers, including the Quality Committee (defined below).

As review comments arrive, the Review Coordinator should add these comments
to the respective web pages on which the review articles are stored.  Once
the review period is over, the Coordinator should contact the article
authors about any changes that could/should be made to their articles.  
If only small [2] changes are required, these can be made by the Review
Coordinator without consultation.  Large changes are generally additions to
the article, such as new paragraphs, and fundamental changes to structure.

When articles have been unconditionally approved after review, or have
been corrected after the article was "approved with comments", the Review
Coordinator should post them to the Librarian.  If no review comments have
been made after the specified "review end" date, the Review Coordinator may
extend the review session.

It is the Review Coordinator's job to make sure that the Review Status page
is maintained throughout this process, making sure that the passage of
articles in the process is clear.  The structure and presentation of the
page will also be subject to the page guidelines laid down by the Megadodo
Webmaster.

If any articles require rewrites, the Review Coordinator should make sure
these are taken care of.  Very large changes should be conducted with an
editor, and therefore these articles should be referred back for editing.
Smaller changes should be managed by the Coordinator.


The Quality Committee
=====================
The Quality Committee is loosely formed from several regular reviewers,
ideally about five of them, who will conduct reviews upon all, or most, of
the articles available for review.  Review comments should be submitted to
the article's author, and the Review Coordinator.


Independent Reviewers
=====================
Anyone who reads the articles for review in the newsgroup or on the web
pages can submit review comments at any time.  Comments should be mailed to
the author and the review coordinator, and to the newsgroup.


Summary of Review Coordinator's Tasks
=====================================
The following is a summary of the tasks the Review Coordinator must
undertake:

          1) Receive article from editor and send receipt, then update the
             web page;
          2) Post articles to newsgroup for review, then update the web
             page (articles may also be posted on other relevant
             newsgroups);
          3) Convert and put article up for review on web pages;
          4) Tell review committee there is something to review;
          5) Store review comments from the newsgroup;
          6) Add review comments to the Web pages (optional, but
             recommended);
          7) Correct articles by:
                    a) Receiving corrections to article from authors;
                    b) Contacting authors to question about changes; or
                    c) Making final edit according to review suggestions;
                       and
          8) Keep an eye out for authors who forgot to rewrite their
             articles after review rejection.


Contact
=======
The Review Coordinator can be contacted at review@megadodo.com.  Please
contact this address if you want to be added to the review mailing list
(the Quality Committee).  The current Review Coordinator, as of 10
February 1997, is Aaron Rice.

[1] Full title:  Review Coordinator and Chairman of the Quality Committee.
    Seems formal, but it is essentially his position.  
[2] Basically, just word shuffling, changing, correction, and other minor
    alterations.  Also, if reviewers have been in no doubt as to a change
    that must be made, it can also be made without consultation.

See also:
  • Format And Style Policy, The Official Project Galactic Guide
  • FAQ, PGG

  • Go to [Root page | Title list | Author list | Date list | Index]