How to Do a Peer Review: Part One

Posted on February 4, 2026 by | Leave a comment
by Jose Rodriguez, MD, FAAFP, Meharry Medical College School of Medicine, Nashville, TN

As journal editors, we fundamentally believe in peer reviewing. Peer review helps make published papers higher quality. Objective experts and peers often see areas in a manuscript and research study that the authors and editors did not elucidate. Journals in general (and Family Medicine specifically) have a hard time finding peer reviewers. Doing a peer review takes time, is unpaid, and often feels like one more thing for already overwhelmed faculty. On behalf of the editorial team of Family Medicine, we are writing a series of blog posts about why we think you should sign up to be a peer reviewer (Family Medicine), how your expertise can contribute to the mission of the journal, and step-by-step instructions on how to construct a valuable peer review.

Why Was I Asked to Do This Review?
We often hear from early-career faculty that they don’t feel qualified to conduct peer reviews because they aren’t “experts.” Our Associate Editors aim to include a diversity of viewpoints in each manuscript. So, they may ask an expert to comment on the methodology or the statistics. But we also want input from our readers. Yes, you may not be a content area expert, but if you are a reader of the journal, your opinion is valuable. If you didn’t understand some of the paper, then other readers may also not understand. You should feel empowered to include comments to the editor about which aspects of the paper you feel qualified to comment on. I will often state, “I am not a statistician, but the numbers do not make sense to me.” If it doesn’t make sense to you, it may not make sense to others, so we want to know!

Getting Started
If you do not know where to start, go to the reviewer page on the journal’s website. There is a lot of material about how to do a peer review. Alternatively, you can ask a senior colleague or mentor for help. If you feel comfortable doing the review, then the first step is to read the paper. Most people recommend reading the paper through to the end the first time and not getting bogged down with comments or questions.

The first questions to ask yourself after you read the paper the first time are: 

1. Did this make sense?

2. Does it add to the field?

3. Does it matter?

4. Is it written well?

Often, we don’t notice if a paper is written well, but we do see if it is written in an unclear manner or if there are typos or grammatical errors. Those errors, while easily corrected, usually signal that the manuscript needs more work.

The Second Time Through  
After you have done a full read of the paper and answered some general questions to yourself, it is time to reread it. This time, when you read it, we want you to focus on all the details. We want reviewers to pay attention to the details of every section of the paper. The following two blogs will go section by section with descriptions of what to look for and how to provide feedback.

How to Organize Your Review
This is a matter of personal preference. Some reviewers organize their reviews by section. So, they start the review with comments on the title and continue with comments on the abstract, the introduction, the methods, the results, the discussion, the tables, the conclusion, and the references. Other reviewers prefer a more “free form” review, using bullet points or a numbered list to capture all the comments for each section. But, bottom line, we want reviewers to carefully assess all these sections of the paper. As editors, we must see in your review that you read the paper. A one-sentence review that is general, like “this was a great paper” or “this paper is not acceptable,” without comments on each section or other specific evaluative statements, is not helpful in the evaluation of a paper.

Tone and Goal of the Review
The overall goal of any peer review is to make the paper better. As such, we ask that you frame your feedback in a constructive manner and avoid disparaging comments. SS once had a reviewer say, “if the authors had only read the literature, they wouldn’t have made this mistake.” A better way of phrasing that same sentiment would be, “I suggest that the authors review these papers to get a different perspective on the subject.” These two phrases say essentially the same thing, but one is much more respectful. Remember, academic family medicine is a small community. Treat the authors as if they knew it was you writing the review, and keep your comments constructive and respectful.

The next two blogs will review how to evaluate specific sections of the paper in your review.

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A Life in Family Medicine: Steven Lin, MD: A Journey to the STFM Presidency

Posted on March 19, 2025 by | Leave a comment

The Power of Community in Family Medicine

For incoming STFM President Steven Lin, MD, STFM is more than an organization—it’s a home. “Going to an STFM conference with colleagues and friends from all over the world is like going back home for Thanksgiving!” he says. “That cozy feeling of purpose and belonging is what makes STFM and its community of members so indispensable, especially during times of challenge.” Coming from an institution that lacked a strong primary care culture, he found a sense of belonging in STFM’s network of educators and clinicians. This deep connection is why he is so committed to strengthening and expanding STFM’s role in supporting family medicine educators. “Our vision is to be the indispensable academic home for every family medicine educator” he added.

A Passion for Social Justice and Medicine

Before pursuing medicine, Dr Lin was enamored with music and musical theater. “My childhood dream was to become a symphony conductor or a Broadway musical director. By the time I graduated high school, I had learned how to play multiple instruments and earned a piano performance degree from the London College of Music.” As it turned out, fate had other plans. “It was during college that I became interested in health disparities and social determinants of health,” he says. “I dedicated much of my free time to volunteering at halfway homes in underserved communities to better understand the needs and struggles of vulnerable populations. In medical school, I committed my energies to the study and advocacy of immigrant health and addressing structural determinants,” he continued. “So naturally, I was led to pursue primary care and family medicine.”

Leadership and Lessons for the Future

“When I was younger, I never aspired to be a leader… My greatest fear was not knowing what to say or do.” However, leadership eventually found Dr Lin. “If I could travel back in time to my past self, I would impart this sage advice from Maya Angelou, renowned poet and civil rights activist: ‘People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’” This perspective continues to shape his leadership philosophy, reminding him that empathy and impact matter more than perfection. “I have the same itch that drives many of my colleagues in family medicine: that deeply human urge to do something meaningful, something lasting, something that touches the lives of others, in the relatively short time we have on the planet. That, and a lot of coffee,” he said.

Finding Balance Beyond Work

When not advocating for family medicine education, Dr Lin enjoys binge-watching K-dramas and baking competitions on Netflix. He is also an avid fan of Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Final Fantasy, and Harry Potter. “Oh, in case you’re wondering, I’m supposed to be a Gryffindor,” he quipped. And music still holds a special place in his life—especially when playing piano with his 7-year-old daughter. He stressed, “She is way more musically talented than I ever was!”  In fact, Dr Lin takes great pride in his titles of dad and husband. “I can’t think of anything else in life that is more crushingly difficult yet so endlessly fulfilling.”

A Message for Future Family Medicine Leaders

For medical students and residents embarking on their careers, Dr Lin offers a piece of advice: “Whatever it was that drew you to family medicine—whether it was a story, a cause, a loved one, a patient, a mentor—find a way to capture that memory. Write a letter to your future self, create a time capsule, or share your journey with those who can help remind you why you chose this noble path.”

The Challenges and Opportunities Ahead

As he prepares to step into his role as STFM President, Dr Lin is aware of the hurdles facing family medicine today. “There has never been a more challenging time to be a family medicine clinician, scholar, or educator. Global socio-political-economic unrest, the greed-driven corporatization of healthcare, the disruptive pace of artificial intelligence advancement, and a deepening crisis of human and planetary health all add to a practice and teaching environment that is increasingly complex. Now, more than ever, we need Family Medicine to be the countervailing force for a healthier world,” he emphasized.

When asked for his advice for young medical students and residents, he encourages future family medicine practitioners and educators to remember what drew them to the field in the first place. “Write a letter to your future self. Put photos in a time capsule. Share your personal journey with family and friends so they can help you remember why you walk this noble path,” he recommends. “The crippling forces of the modern medical-industrial complex can weigh you down sometimes. Whatever it was that drew you to family medicine—a story, a cause, a loved one, a patient, a mentor—find a way to capture that memory so that you can always go back to it when times get tough.”

Looking Forward

With a deep commitment to the future of family medicine, Dr Lin is ready to lead STFM into a new chapter. His vision is clear: to foster community, advocate for primary care, and support practitioners and educators in their vital work. “STFM members are on the frontlines, being the change that we so desperately need,” he says. “I’m proud to stand alongside each and every one of our members in this fight, and I look forward to finding new ways to support and empower our amazing community of family medicine heroes.”

Prior to being sworn in as president of the STFM Board of Directors, Dr Lin served as member-at-large on the STFM Board of Directors, the chair of the Artificial Intelligence in Medical Education Task Force, and the chair of the Telemedicine Curriculum Task Force.

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Writing With a Team

Posted on November 18, 2025 by | 1 comment
by Sarina Schrager, MD, MS,
Family Medicine Editor-in-Chief

Writing for publication is hard work, especially if you are doing it alone. I find that having a team to write papers with makes the experience easier and more engaging. But, in order to make the process move smoothly, it makes sense to spend a little bit of time at the outset to set some ground rules.

  • Delegation of responsibilities—There are a lot of details to address when writing a paper and I find that is pays off at the end to be clear about who is going to do what at the beginning.  My colleagues and I divide tasks, including being in charge of the reference manager, finding author instructions for potential journals, and delegating one person to be the “corresponding author”. The designated corresponding author will be responsible for sending calendar invites, Zoom meeting information, and reminders throughout the process.
  • Authorship guidelines—You want to avoid any misunderstandings about author order or even who is included in the author list. There are myriad ways to decide who will be the first author and the senior author. It is helpful to talk about this order at the beginning. There may also be decisions about who is going to be an author vs being acknowledged at the end of the paper. I have had situations where one of the co-authors ended up doing much more work than the person who was designated as the first author and the group had a conversation about reordering author lists.
  • Outline of paper—Before starting to write, the group should sit down and develop an outline of what needs to be covered. During this process, different authors may volunteer (or be assigned) different sections. You may elect to use a Google Doc or have people write their sections in Microsoft Word to be forwarded to one designated person to integrate each section into the whole document.
  • References—You may also want to decide how to designate references at this point. Should authors put citations into a comment?  Or at the end?  It is helpful to be clear about this at the beginning. Some people may want to number their references, but this makes integration more challenging, so I usually recommend writing the author’s name and a date in parentheses and just adding the citation somewhere in the document.   It is also helpful to decide at the beginning how you are going to manage references. It can be tricky to integrate several different reference lists from different (or even the same) reference managers. One way to manage this aspect of your paper is to assign someone at the beginning to be in charge of references and have each author forward citations to that person.
  • Deadlines—One thing I love about writing in a group is that everyone is accountable to each other. Unless you are planning to submit to a special issue with a rigid time frame , writing a paper comes with artificial deadlines. But, that said, setting firm deadlines and scheduling regular meetings can keep a project moving forward.
  • Editing—Once each author has written their first draft and the sections have been assembled into one unique document, one author may take the lead in making the paper sound like it has one voice. People write differently and it can be distracting to read a paper that is obviously written by different people. Each author will then want to edit for content and readability using track changes. Ultimately, the corresponding author will accept all track changes and finalize the paper.
  • Post–writing tasks—After you are finished writing the final draft of your paper, someone needs to take the lead and submit the paper to the desired journal. This process, even after reading the author instructions carefully, can take a couple of hours. The corresponding author (often the first author but sometimes the senior author or one of the other contributing authors) will need to upload information about each author, designate suggested reviewers (for some journals), and write a cover letter among other tasks.  Also, it is a great idea to discuss who will take the lead in revising the paper if you get a revision request from the journal and who will be responsible for resubmitting to a different journal if your paper is rejected.
  • Opportunities for mentoring—Writing in a team is an excellent way for more experienced authors to provide support and mentoring to more junior authors. By using clear communication and empowering junior faculty to take ownership of the writing process, mentors can role model a streamlined and effective way to write for publication.

See our recent FM Focus on this topic, “Team Writing Etiquette in Verse”  Team Writing Etiquette in VERSE

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Crafting Narratives for Publication

Posted on October 27, 2025 by | Leave a comment

By Sara Shields, MD
associate editor,
Family Medicine

You’ve had a defining clinical, teaching, or learning experience in your role as a family physician educator, clinician or student.  Someone suggests that you write about it. Here are some pearls for crafting your reflective piece in hopes of publication in a journal like Family Medicine that accepts such narrative work.

  • What story are you trying to tell? Just as with any written piece, consider first your content. What are your key themes (keeping in mind that any word limit may mean focusing on just one theme)?  Consider the readership of the journal—how would a medical student on a family medicine rotation respond to your story? How would a seasoned family medicine faculty member?
  • Avoid judgment–In general, an effective narrative piece is a personal story that shares a particular learning point, but does so without editorializing or requiring references.  How can your writing avoid judgment even as you elucidate and emphasize what you hope the reader will learn with you in your story?
  • Focus on the writing–In narratives, the “methods” of your writing enrich your themes and help them resonate for your readers.  The term “methods” refers to the craft of the writing—how are you using language to move your meaning along?  While avoiding redundancies or complicated phrasing is important, your writing may “sing” more to your readers with careful use of specific literary devices such as metaphor, alliteration, rhythm, or repetition of key words.  No matter whether you are choosing prose or poetry, remember the adage “show, don’t tell” –how can you describe people or events in ways that invoke the reader’s sensory or emotional response rather than simply stating what happened?
  • Every word matters–Especially for formats with strict word counts such as 6 word stories or 55 word essays, every word needs to move your story along. 
  • Circle back to the meaning—When looking at every word,do not lose sight of the totality of the essay.  Does this piece make sense overall?  Does it still say what you want it to say?
  • Do your homework–If your themes seem like they are common in narrative work (e.g. a physician’s experience of their own illness), you may want to look for similar pieces and think about how your story offers new angles or reflections compared to other similar work.  What can you contribute that may be new or surprising for readers?
  • Ask a friend or colleague to read your story–Consider asking someone to read your work before submitting it, to help assess both the content/themes and your storytelling style.  Do these readers resonate with your language?  Your themes?
  • You may need permission__If you describe a patient or learner scenario with enough detail, you may need to get their permission to submit your story for possible publication.
  • Don’t lose yourself–Be authentic; challenge yourself to dig deeply into both personal and professional lessons from your story.   How can you help the reader to consider multiple perspectives?

Reference: Walling A, Shapiro J, Ast T. What Makes a Good Reflective Paper? Fam Med 2012;45(1):7-12.

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