Outline Refereeing

There are no accepted guidelines for refereeing outlines. However, I have attempted to created a set of guidelines to assist you in refereeing the outlines (these tend to be my feeling about what we should be doing, and are not based on theory, UNLIKE what your outlines should be). AFTER you have read and fully understood what is required, you MUST submit your reviews by going to the OUTLINE REVIEW SUBMISSION located at the SUBMISSIONS page.

You MUST provide comments AND RATE (see below) the following areas:

1. Topic Interest. This refers to how much interest you feel the topic has. This is a consideration, but NOT a major one. Rate this area in terms of how mush interest you believe that the topic has for the general research community, NOT in terms of how much interest it holds for you (although, let's face it, if you think it is really a boring area, then rate it accordingly)
    

2. Topic Definition. This refers to how Definitive you think the topic is (i.e., "Does the outline try and do too Much?? Does it try and do too little?? Is it appropriate??"). You are to determine how well the topic applies, comment upon it, and rate accordingly.
    
3. Topic Feasibility. This refers to  whether or not you think the topic can be completed in the time allotted. Essentially, it is the question: "Is it doable??". You are to determine how feasible the topic seems, comment upon it, and rate accordingly.
4. Outline Strengths. This refers to what you felt were the BEST points of the outline. You are to comment and rate accordingly.
    
5. Outline Deficiencies. This refers to what you felt were the WORST points of the outline. You are to comment and rate accordingly. NOTE: For this evaluation area, USE THE OUTLINE DEFICIENCIES RATING SCALE.
    
6. Outline Improvement.  This area does NOT involve rating. We all want feedback on what we have done. This is where you enter comments about how the submitter might go about improving there outline. You might feel that the outline is terrible. You can let the author know this, BUT ONLY IF YOU SUBMIT COMMENTS THAT WILL ASSIST THE AUTHOR IN IMPROVING THEIR OUTLINE.

For Questions 1 through 4, Rate each area using the following scale. YOU MUST ENTER A NUMERIC SCORE BETWEEN 1 AND 9 ON THE SUBMISSION FORM.

   Very                          Below                                                             Above                      Absolutely
   Poor                         Average                      Average                    Average                     Perfect!!!
   |--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
   1        2        3        4        5        6        7        8        9

For Question 5 (ONLY), Outline Deficiencies, Rate each area using the following scale. YOU MUST ENTER A NUMERIC SCORE BETWEEN 1 AND 9 ON THE SUBMISSION FORM.

Loaded with        Far Too Many                                                   Very Few                 Absolutely No
Errors &                   Errors &                                                         Errors &                      Errors &
Deficiencies           Deficiencies                  Average                    Deficiencies                  Deficiencies 
   |--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|---------|
   1        2        3        4        5        6        7        8         9

The referee Must submit their Reviews using the SUBMISSION FORM by the date given in the course schedule.

This page was last updated on 01/20/04