How To Referee
Resources
- How to Referee by Saul Greenberg, University of Calgary
- slide deck - powerpoint
- A Guide for New Referees in Theoretical Computer Science
- by Ian Parberry, Dept Computer Science, University North Texas, April, 1990
Overview
Refereeing is important for many reasons.
Most importantly, you will learn tremendously by refereeing. Refereeing many papers will help you understand how to critique and appraise other people's work, and will also help you understand the norms of your community. It will also help you write better as you will learn what makes good or bad papers
Refereeing is an expected part of your profession as a researcher. You are a member of a community, and are expected to provide service to it.
Refereeing gives back to the community. Just as others will be refereeing your work, so should you be refereeing theirs. For example, if you write a conference paper, it is likely that at least 3 or 4 others will referee it. That gives you a reasonable fairness ratio: for every paper you submit, you should be refereeing at least 4 or more papers.