Before you submit your manuscript to a journal, you should always get feedback on your draft - this gives you your best chance of a good decision. Friendly reviewing can be done by senior colleagues, but many people do not have access to colleagues with the necessary time or experience. Copy-editors will proof-read your work and correct typographical and grammatical mistakes but do not provide feedback on the substantive issues that underpin an editor’s decision. You need thorough and detailed recommendations from an experienced academic in your field to ensure your manuscript is as good as it can be before submission.
Why Do You Need The Friendly Reviewer?
Feedback that is Useful
I have been an academic for over 20 years and have been helping doctoral students and reviewing journal articles for around the same length of time. I know the horror of receiving superficial feedback (e.g., fix this wording) when you are desperate for help with fixing the theoretical contribution; or of being told to make a stronger argument without being told how to do it or what was wrong with the original. I also know how difficult it can be to ask for help from a busy colleague. And, let's face it, all academics are incredibly busy these days.
My experience as an Associate Editor and a Reviewer for the top journals in our field enables me to give you the feedback that you need, without having to trouble anybody else.
What you Get
I review your draft paper and assess it against the requirements of your target journal. You will receive detailed comments on your paper as well as a written report with specific, substantive advice and recommendations to improve your manuscript. Here is an example report if you'd like to see one. You will also have the opportunity for a 30-minute meeting with me to discuss my report.
Having this input prior to submitting to the journal means that you can address issues that a reviewer might otherwise use to reject your manuscript. Getting a Friendly Review can't guarantee success, but it certainly helps improve your chances a lot!
COMING SOON: Friendly Reviews
Testimonials
”The support I got from Kerrie was extremely helpful. Not only did it offer valuable feedback that massively helped me in developing my article and getting it published in a CABS4* journal, but also boosted my confidence through constructive and positive comments that underlined the value of my contribution. All much appreciated.”
Assoc. Prof. in Entrepreneurship
”Kerrie's insightful feedback was instrumental in elevating the quality of my manuscript. She provided detailed feedback on how to improve all areas of the paper, from setting the hook, elucidating the methodology to framing the contributions and implications. Her unparalleled mastery in theory-related matters was invaluable to carve out and position especially the theoretical contributions.”
Early career researcher in Strategy
”I've never had more helpful reviews on any of my papers than the ones Kerrie has done for me. She's reliable and responds quickly. She helps you work out big deal vs small fry things. She never gives superficial generic or vague comments. She always explains the weaknesses she's flagging really clearly and even better still she suggests ways forward. Whenever she outlines different ways to go to deal with a particular issue she tells you the positives and negatives of each - which has really helped me make decisions. She also has such a lovely way of feeding back so you feel motivated and confident to make changes rather than feeling judged. I've also realised that she is extremely knowledgeable about lots of different types of papers and story plots for papers, so regardless of topic, I will be continuing to use Kerrie's review services a lot!”
Assistant Prof. in Organizational Behavior
Proofreaders will check that your journal article is grammatically correct, that all the references are in order, and that the formatting meets the journal requirements. Proofreading can be useful just before submitting your article, but they are generally not academics and not content experts.
Copy-editors will suggest changes to your wording to correct, clarify, or tighten the language. They may also suggest changes to sentence or paragraph structure to help your argument. Copy-editing can be useful just before submitting your article, but they are generally not content experts.
Substantive or Academic editors will suggest changes to your sentence and paragraph structure to help strengthen your argument. Substantive editing is useful before submission, but although they may be academics they are generally not specific content experts and do not comment upon issues associated with publishing in our field.
The Friendly Reviewer is not a proof-reader or copy-editor. Instead, the focus is on key issues associated with publishing in our field: theoretical contribution, aligning conceptualization & operationalization, rigorous methods, and so on. Working with The Friendly Reviewer is recommended a month or so before intended submission as the recommendations and advice you receive are likely to require more work as you improve your manuscript.
How is The Friendly Reviewer Different?
Get a Friendly Review
An in-depth review, including detailed comments on your manuscript and recommendations for addressing issues that reviewers are likely to comment upon PLUS 30 minute meeting to discuss your options
Many Business Schools will cover the cost of proof-reading and copy-editing; this is a more advanced and useful version of that and so may be covered by your School. I am happy to either provide standard payment details when you book with me or to work with your Finance Office to provide an invoice.