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Subject:Re: Getting more than nits from reviews From:Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- westnet -dot- com -dot- au> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Thu, 24 May 2007 09:41:00 +0800
Kathleen MacDowell said:
> Long ago I realized that it was easiest on everyone if I only
> send out materials after I've checked the grammar and spelling.
> It's hard enough to get substantive comments from them, even
> without providing distractions.
Yes, this is a good point. One way to reduce distraction is to say,
"Don't be distracted by grammar and spelling errors," which in effect is
what my cover letter says. The other way to reduce the number of
distractions is to reduce the number of nits!
It's not just the distraction factor that causes reviewers to focus on
nits, though. Sometimes a reviewer just doesn't *want* to do a thorough
review, because:
- they left it to the last minute and there's no time
- "I'm too busy"
- "The docs are a waste of time--no one reads them anyway"
- "I hate reviewing--it's so boring"
Skimming through the draft for a few minutes and highlighting a few nits
is the fastest way to give the appearance of having done a review
without actually doing it.
The idea of the cover letter is to make it clear (in a
non-confrontational way) that a review that yields nits but doesn't
uncover technical flaws is an unsuccessful review. A review that
uncovers technical flaws but misses some nits is a successful review.
Stuart
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