Okay Loungers, what do I do re: slackers in my peer review group? (long)

[deadparrot]

So I'm a college student. In one of my classes, the teacher is big on peer reviewing, so for our big research paper, she divided us up into groups of 3-4. The peer reviewers read and review 5-10 page samples of our paper, plus the full, final 20-25 page rough draft. We have to turn the peer-revised copies in, along with our revised copies. Our grade hinges upon how well we've taken into consideration what our peer reviewers have to say, so essentially, this is a group grade.

Currently, we're at the point where our peer reviewers are reviewing the 5-10 page samples. We exchanged our papers last Thursday in class. We were supposed to review and return them over the weekend or early this week (we didn't have class today), and the revised copies (along with the peer-reviewed copies) are due in class on Thursday (two days from now).

My grandmother has recently taken ill, and because of this and a few other factors, I've decided to go home for Easter tomorrow afternoon, a day early. I let both my peer reviewers know that on Thursday. I didn't think it was unreasonable to ask that the peer reviews be returned by tonight, because the revisions based on the peer reviewers' suggestions are due Thursday morning for the rest of the class--I'll (hopefully) be turning in mine tomorrow afternoon.

Peer Reviewer #1 was not in class on Thursday. However, immediately after I got back around noon, I e-mailed her an attachment of my paper and explained the situation. I didn't hear from her at all over the weekend (didn't receive her draft, no reply whatsoever).

Peer Reviewer #2 was in class Thursday, but seeing as he got a D+ on his annotated bibliography and admitted that he had trouble writing the draft, he and the professor asked me if I would mind if he e-mailed me a new, hopefully improved copy over the weekend. I was completely fine with that.

Well, the weekend comes and goes, and no one sends me anything. I spent 4 hours in a car on Sunday. Since I hadn't received the aforementioned improved draft from PR2, I said "what the hell" and went ahead and reviewed the copy he'd given me.

After I get back from my road trip on Sunday and I haven't heard from either reviewer, I send a polite e-mail to each. To PR1, I make sure that she got the e-mail and attachment, since I never even got confirmation of that much, and remind her to send me her sample whenever she gets a chance (these were due to our peer reviewers in class on Thursday, remember). To PR2, I let him know that since I hadn't heard from him on Sunday afternoon and had a lot of downtime, I reviewed the original copy, and he could either pick it up from my room or we could find a place and time to meet.

PR1 replies on Sunday night that she did in fact get my e-mail, that she had been having trouble writing the sample, and that she'd get it to me soon. To her credit, she sent it yesterday evening. I made the revisions last night and e-mailed her the revised copy around noon today. However, this morning, I had two e-mails from her: one said that she would have my paper for me by tonight, the other said that she had deleted the e-mail with the attachment to my paper. I rolled my eyes, but whatever. I reattach the paper and resend it, saying I totally understood.

PR2 replies yesterday morning that he's "still working" on the revised draft (yes, that draft that was due on Thursday, and for him was extended to the weekend). I didn't hear anything from him until I e-mailed him this morning politely but firmly reminding him of my time constraints. He replied this afternoon, saying that he was "really busy," and that he'd have my paper returned to me by "tonight." To kind of passively-aggressively hurry him along, I went to his dorm to return the copy of the paper that I reviewed over the weekend. What was this "really busy" guy doing when I showed up? Playing video games. :eyes:

Okay, so both reviewers have said they'll get my drafts to me by tonight. It's now 9PM, and neither has followed through. The night is still relatively young, I guess, but I'm not taking it as a good sign.

Like I said above, we have to turn in both peer-reviewed papers along with our revised copy, and our grades hinge upon the changes we make based on the suggestions of our peers, so it's not like I can just make some random changes to my paper tonight, grab the peer reviews tomorrow right before I leave, and turn it all in. The professor will be looking at the peer reviewers' suggestions and evaluating how I responded to them.

I'm really just pissed right now. I know people are busy, but it can't take that long to skim a paper and scribble some comments, even if they're inane. I've written a draft of a really icy e-mail, but I'm kind of scared to send it (I'm not the out-and-out confrontational type, unfortunately--I like to be thought of as "the nice one."). I feel like I'm lecturing them; however, like my title expresses, I'm their peer, not their professor. Obviously, the cheerful, polite, understanding e-mails aren't working, no matter how firm I am about the dates, but I'm still hesitant to send an e-mail expressing my irritation. I also don't want to seem like a tattletale to the professor in describing what happened. I know people are busy (I'm currently in the midst of writing 60 pages of research, conducting and transcribing two oral history interviews, and planning two 10-20 minute presentations), but this lack of communication is driving me up the damn wall. Peer reviewing five pages should not take almost six days.

Even if I just had ONE copy returned to me, I'd be much more relaxed. But I have nothing to go on here.

Good vibes are appreciated. And sorry for the rambly ranty-ness. :banghead:

[wildhorses]

1. sounds like you need to get

skittles to kick their ass:kick:


good luck and you might consider attaching a revised version of this post to your paper...

i mean if you get nothing back from them...

perhaps that means you can turn in a blank paper:P


sorry, just trying to cheer you up:hug:

good vibes headed your way

[deadparrot]

2. Thanks.

:hug:

I'm just worried that the minute I send an irritated e-mail, my paper from PR1 will pop into my inbox or PR2 will show up at my door with the revisions done.

On the other hand, I'm hesitant to wait too long in case they go to bed.

:banghead:

[BleedingHeartRN]

3. You poor thing.....

I'm guessing you're an undergrad due to the extreme slack-ass behavior of the two peer reviewers (neither of which you chose - correct?) But maybe not, based on the depth of the assignment. Either way, group work sucks.:argh:

Your request to have the reviews done one day early was not-at-all unreasonable to us rational folks. Unfortunately, it really seemed to screw up Mr. Peer Reviewer #2's training for the world video game championships, so he couldn't possibly do it any sooner than the last possible freakin second.

Princess peer reviewer #1 simply does not give a rat's ass about your success or failure. She has far more important things to worry about - like how many new friends she has on myspace, and what color she should paint her toenails.

Anyhow, if I were you, I would try to have my paper finalized as much as you can without their illustrious input. Do you know anyone else that could proof it for you? You could also go sniveling to your professor and give him/her the scoop on your lazy classmates. I'd be willing to bet $$$ that other students in your class are in your predicament, and it's certainly not anything your instructor hasn't heard many times before. Surely there are penalities for them not doing their portion of the assignment.

The good news is, the semester is almost over and hopefully, you'll never have to deal with those nimrods again. The bad news is, group projects will haunt you the rest of your academic career. :nuke:

Good luck!

[deadparrot]

4. Thanks for the sympathy.

:hug:

Yeah, I am an undergrad. Only one more year, though.:)

I sent them both an e-mail around 9:30. It wasn't as nasty as my original, but it clearly stated that I hate to be a pest (I've only been telling them this for DAYS now), but I "absolutely need my paper by tonight." I explained that because of work and class, I'd barely have time to shower tomorrow, much less revise a paper. I'm willing to stay up late if one or both of them eventually get their revisions to me, but so far, no luck.

I'm really, really tempted to write an e-mail to the professor explaining the situation (I know she stays up late and is an obsessive e-mail checker), but then again, I'm worried that I'll sound like a whiny, anal-retentive tattletale. If it gets to be 11PM or so with still no word, I think I'm going to have to send her an e-mail worded as professionally as possible that essentially communicates a whine. "These people aren't doing their worrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrk." Thing is, I'm one of those people who doesn't want anyone to dislike me, so if she chews them out, I'm going to feel extremely guilty and awkward.

Ten after ten, and my inbox is still empty. :grr:

[tigereye]

5. obviously you are a much better planner than the other 2 folks!

that's a hard one. You don't want to irk them too much, but sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

I've found as I've gotten older that I am much more willing to piss people off when necessary if I have to if I have a deadline.

Good luck.

[deadparrot]

6. Thanks for the advice.

I wouldn't say I'm a good planner necessarily; we've had five, almost six, days to review and comment on two 5-page writing samples. My schedule is busy, but really it doesn't take THAT long, especially when you have a weekend and a day off (today) in there.

Like I said above, if there's no response by 11, I'll probably e-mail my professor and let her know the situation. I'm just really not sure how to say "Despite reassurances from my peer reviewers that I'd have my papers back by this evening, it's now 11PM and my e-mail inbox is empty," without sounding like a whiny child.

I mean, it's true, I am going home a day early, but these revised papers are due on Thursday morning at 10:30, and we have to e-mail her a copy before class. So asking for the peer reviewed papers to be returned by Tuesday night isn't an unreasonable request, considering there's only a day (Wednesday) for corrections to be made before class on Thursday.

Thanks again, and sorry for the whine. :hi:

[realisticphish]

7. I feel your pain

I check my email 9 million times a day, which I understand not everyone does. But for the love of god, it's not like you have to climb Mt. Everest to check your email, especially when you're expecting something. I've had this problem with people who I have homework for; "I wasn't in class, can I drop by and pick it up?" Sure, call me whenever. They wait three days, then come the morning it's due, and bitch about not having time :grr:

[deadparrot]

8. When I'm expecting something important,

I'm an obsessive e-mail checker.

Like I said, I'm not asking for it a week early. Even if I was going to be in class on Thursday, I'd want my peer reviews back by this time tonight, just so I would have all day tomorrow for the revisions.

Good news though: PR2 just got the paper back to me. And of course, he says "It was pretty much perfect." Here comes my guilt trip. I apologized profusely when he brought it.

*sigh*

One down, one to go...

[realisticphish]

9. thank god I never needed peer reviews

yay being a science major :D

[deadparrot]

10. I envy you.

:P

PR2 corrected one word out of a ten-page sample. A word that was correct to begin with.

"By analyzing the literature, music, and film of the period, one can easily identify the early calls for equality that pervaded the Egyptian arts."

He crossed out "pervaded" and replaced it with "persuaded." Eep.

He really is a nice guy under all that absentmindedness. He apologized about my grandmother and walked across campus to deliver the paper even after I offered to meet him somewhere. English just isn't his strong suit. :)