Peer Review and Authorship
Encyclopedia articles and translations in the Radical Buddhism Project's (RBP) wiki are intended to be peer reviewed. However, the wiki model adopted by the RBP is inherently more democratic than the typical publishing/review model, and because of that the boundaries between "review" and "revision" and between "reviewer" and "co-author" are (intentionally) thin. Consequently, our peer review process works quite a bit differently than what is common in case of academic journals, for example.
If you have been asked to review an article or translation in the RBP wiki, what does this mean in practice?
The answer to this question depends entirely on your "status" within the project, specifically on whether you are (or want to become) a "wiki editor".
If you already are a "wiki editor", you have editing rights on the wiki and access to the wiki editors' forum. If you want to make major changes to the article or translation you are reviewing, start a forum thread in "The Editorial Desk" subforum about that article or translation, and discuss the changes you are proposing. Given that you have been asked as a reviewer on the basis of your relevant expertise, it is unlikely that anyone will object to your proposed revisions. The main purpose of the forum thread is that it warns the rest of the editorial staff about upcoming changes, and that it gives them a chance to give you some feedback or remind you of technicalities. When you make your revisions, you will become a co-author of the article/translation. (See "Editorial Authorship and Revision Control" in the Editorial Guidelines.) If you just want to make some minor changes, then you can just go ahead. If you're not sure whether the changes you have in mind are "major" or "minor", discuss in the "The Editorial Desk" subforum — that is (among others) what it is for.
If you are not yet a "wiki editor", but want to become one, then let the editor who asked you to review an article or translation know this, and create a forum account (if you don't have one yet).
If your are not a "wiki editor" and don't want to become one either, that's fine. In that case, just email your review comments or suggestions for revisions to the editor who asked you to review an article or translation in the RBP wiki. You may still become a co-author if you are proposing explicit revisions (rather than merely requesting them). The editor in question will discuss this with you, depending on the nature and content of your review report. In case your review report just consists of comments and requests for revisions, the editorial staff will handle revision of the article or translation after discussing your review in the wiki editors' forum.
