Hannah Rockwell:
Reviewing others' work offers numerous lessons

As a regular article and textbook reviewer, Hannah Rockwell gains more insight into her work as an academic. Serving on the editorial boards for Communication Studies, International Journal of the Humanities, Oxford University Press, Wadsworth and Thomson Publishing also enhances her life as a writer.

A communications professor at Loyola University Chicago, Rockwell holds a strong area of expertise in philosophy of dialogue. She teaches courses in communication theory and methods, including interpersonal communication, intercultural communication, gender studies, contemporary culture and critical ethnography.

"Working as a reviewer helps to keep me connected to writing that is going on in the discipline of communication," Rockwell said. "It's also good exercise for me with regard to my own writing. It's easier to see the limitations of my own writing when I'm reading carefully written work from others. I try to write the kind of reviews that I would like to receive myself."

Rockwell has been a reviewer for about 15 years, but has reviewed more frequently in the past five to seven years, since her two children have grown and moved from home. "I usually review materials that are related to my areas of research expertise," Rockwell said. "Since I specialize in feminist theory and criticism (particularly French Feminism) and know the work of Russian Semiotician Mikhail Bakhtin well, the journal articles I review are typically critical interpretive readings of 'texts.' The actual topics range from the discourse of public figures to feminist controversies to other kinds of participant observation related to multiculturalism, social context, language use and issues related to pleasure and desire."

Rockwell also reviews textbook materials. "These reviews might be a few chapters, a textbook proposal or a nearly published work," she said. "In these cases, the topics are usually public speaking texts or basic communication theory."

As a "blind peer reviewer," Rockwell said, she's unable to be more specific about actual works. Authors and reviewers aren't given one another's identity. "It protects the integrity and credibility of the process," she said. "There's more room for candor."

Getting started as a reviewer

A native of Southern California, Rockwell came to Loyola in 1992 from the University of Utah, where she was a graduate teaching fellow. She earned her doctorate in communication and received an Outstanding Dissertation Award from the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language and Gender.

While completing her doctorate, Rockwell was given her first opportunity to review by her professor and mentor, Mary S. Strine, who was the book review editor for Text and Performance Quarterly. Rockwell reviewed Deborah Tannen's, "Talking Voices: Repetition, Dialogue and Imagery in Conversational Discourse."

This was Rockwell's first print review, which came out around 1993. It was a valuable learning experience for her academic and writing life. Reviewing others' work continues to offer her numerous lessons. "Since I read a lot of philosophical writing, there's a process of translation that's required to clarify concepts for a wide range of readers," she said. "I try to write with clarity without compromising the specialized language that's common to philosophy. This can be a great challenge and I struggle with this when writing my own work every day. I don't want to dilute conceptual distinctions to a point where they're distorted; however, I also want to honor the richness of a particular concept. This usually means taking care in defining terms that can come across as being 'jargony.' "

Rockwell strives to balance her work as a reviewer and as an academic. For starters, she makes the time to review, sometimes to the detriment of writing her own work. "I am trying to finish a book right now, so each review I do is a reminder that I need to finish it, but it's also a good exercise to remind me where the pitch of language needs to be for my potential audience of readers," Rockwell said.

For those who would like to review, the first step is to say "yes" when asked, Rockwell says. The next steps are to read the material carefully and offer thorough and constructive comments. "I always approach a review with an attitude of helping the author(s) make the work better," she said. "I look for what's right and good about the work, as well as its limitations. No essay or book chapter can do it all. I look for areas that need to remain in the work as well as ways to help the author clarify things that are not yet fully developed."

Rockwell tries to be as specific as possible with her comments to authors. "However, if the author is missing a whole body of work that needs to be acknowledged, I try to offer academic resources that are on topic," she said. "It's usually clear whether or not the author has done their homework. I also try to read the essay with the author's main purpose in mind. Sometimes that's not clear, and that would be a problematic essay or book chapter."

It's important to review within your own area of expertise; that way you can be most helpful to authors, she said. It's also important to always meet deadlines if you want to continue reviewing regularly. If a timeline seems unmanageable, negotiate it, but then stick with the agreed upon deadline, Rockwell said.

Insights into good manuscripts

Having reviewed dozens of manuscripts, Rockwell offers insight for other authors on what makes work great. First impressions - neatness and organization - do matter, she said.

"I look for polish," Rockwell said. "If an article is presented well, it shows that the author has taken care in its overall presentation, and therefore, cares about the work versus sending underdeveloped work from journal to journal."

At times, Rockwell has problems discerning the author's main thesis. "If that's not clear, then the article will offer lots of information without a clear point of view, and I wonder why I'm reading it," she said.

Her other tips for authors are to define or clarify discipline specific terms, especially if there is a contemporary debate over them, and to have well-cited sources. Rockwell pays attention to the bibliography: "If most citations come from pages one through five, that can be a telling sign that the author has not read or only skimmed primary sources. Most importantly, the essay should bring new insight in to the topic area researched; if it doesn't offer a unique or original perspective, then it's less likely to get the support of reviewers to be published."

Rockwell is currently completing her first textbook, The Life of Voices: Bodies, Subjects and Dialogue. Her goal is to complete the book this summer of 2008.

Kim Seidel, a freelance writer based in Onalaska, Wis., contributed to this article.