I tend to do a lot of peer reviewing, but I’m certain that I don’t do it well. Of all of the consequential stuff that I have to write as a professional academic, I get the least feedback on my reviewer reports, and there isn’t much incentive to reflect on my deficiencies as a reviewer. I know that I have many such deficiencies, but I don’t know exactly what they are. If you were to point to any bit of advice and say that it’s poor, I would deny it and have a justification for it ready at hand. But I also recognize that I’m no better than (and probably worse than) the average reviewer, and I know that the average reviewer has significant vices. So while I can’t point to any direct evidence of my vices, I know by other routes that I have them, and that they are significant.

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