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OER Project Management: Stage 4: Review

Guidance for creating or adapting OER at Charles Sturt, centred on Pressbooks but applicable to other formats.

Peer review

Peer review is a crucial step in academic publishing: Subject-matter experts evaluate accuracy, relevance, and fitness for purpose to ensure high academic standards. In the context of OER, peer review enhances credibility, fosters collaboration, and supports iterative improvement - leading to reliable, engaging, and impactful materials.

Requirement: All titles published on the Library’s Pressbooks platform must complete an appropriate peer-review process prior to publication (and should document this in the book’s front/back matter).

There are a variety of peer-review models that can be adopted for open textbooks:

Traditional peer review
  • Description: Mimics the peer review process used in traditional academic publishing.
  • Process: Experts in the field are invited to review the textbook before publication, providing detailed feedback on accuracy, comprehensiveness, and pedagogical quality.
  • Benefits: High level of scrutiny ensures credibility and rigour.
Open peer review
  • Description: Emphasises transparency by making the peer review process visible to the public.
  • Process: Reviewer comments and author responses may be published alongside the textbook, sometimes with reviewer identities disclosed.
  • Benefits: Promotes accountability, fosters collaboration, and engages a broader academic community.
Post-publication peer review
  • Description: The review occurs after the textbook is published.
  • Process: Educators, subject-matter experts, and users provide feedback as they use the resource, which is incorporated into subsequent editions.
  • Benefits: Encourages ongoing improvement and adapts to evolving academic needs.
Crowdsourced peer review
  • Description: Leverages input from a large community of educators, experts, and users.
  • Process: The draft is shared openly, allowing multiple contributors to provide feedback, suggestions, and corrections.
  • Benefits: Increases diversity of input and reduces costs; suitable for community-driven projects.
Hybrid peer review
  • Description: Combines elements of multiple models to suit specific project needs.
  • Process: For example, a traditional review might be conducted pre-publication, followed by open or crowdsourced feedback post-publication.
  • Benefits: Balances rigour with inclusivity and adaptability.

If your OER doesn't neatly fit into one of the above categories, we can always discuss other ways to peer review your work. 

Read more:

Peer review rubric

Copyedit and proofread

Ensuring your Open Educational Resource (OER) is professional and high-quality is essential for credibility, adoption, and usability. If you’re publishing on the Library’s Pressbooks platform our Library OER team can advise on standards and may be able to assist with proofreading; please contact us early to discuss options.

To ensure quality:

Copyediting

  • Purpose: Focus on improving clarity, style, and consistency. Ensure content aligns with the intended audience's needs.

  • Key Actions:

    • Simplify complex language while maintaining accuracy.

    • Check for consistency in terminology, headings, and formatting.

    • Verify adherence to accessibility guidelines (e.g. alternative text for images, clear hyperlinks).

Proofreading

  • Purpose: Identify and correct minor errors such as typos, grammatical mistakes, and formatting inconsistencies.

  • Key Actions:

    • Read through the resource multiple times, focusing on different types of errors (e.g. spelling, punctuation, layout).

    • Use tools like grammar checkers but always verify with human judgment.

    • Check cross-references, hyperlinks, and citations for accuracy.

Tips

tip
  • Separate stages: Keep copyediting and proofreading as distinct processes to maintain focus.
  • Collaborate: If possible, involve multiple reviewers to catch errors and ensure objectivity.
  • Final test: Review the OER in its final format (e.g. web view, PDF) to spot any overlooked issues.

Quality editing enhances the user experience, builds trust and ensures your OER adhives its educational goals. 

Read more:

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