A guide for new referees in theoretical computer science

Abstract

Your success as a scientist will in part be measured by the quality of your research publications in high-quality journals and conference proceedings. Of the three classical rhetorical techniques, it is logos, rather than pathos or ethos, which is most commonly associated with scientific publications. In the mathematical sciences the paradigm for publication is to describe the mathematical proofs of propositions in sufficient detail to allow duplication by interested readers. Quality control is achieved by a system of peer review commonly referred to as refereeing. This guide is an attempt to distill the experience of the theoretical computer science community on the subject of refereeing into a convenient form which can be easily distributed to students and other inexperienced referees. Although aimed primarily at theoretical computer scientists, it contains advice which maybe relevant to other mathematical sciences. It may also be of some use to new authors who are unfamiliar with the peer review process. However, it must be understood that this is not a guide on how to write papers. Authors who are interested in improving their writing skills can consult the "Further Reading" section. The main part of this guide is divided into nine sections. The first section describes the

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