Review technical documents? Whether for a class, magazine, or industry publication, the procedure for writing a review is fundamentally similar and we’ve discussed it on this blog several times before (you can do a search if you’re interested). Yes, writing is also better done with review writing software, as we have insisted countless times in the past.

I like to classify reviews of technical stuff into three types: internal, friendly, and anonymous. All three share similarities, though their nature forces them to display several distinct characteristics.

Internal reviews, as the name suggests, are examinations of the work done within the organization from which it came. For example, before a research center allows a mentee’s work to be submitted to an industry journal, it will most likely be subject to scrutiny within the organization itself. After all, he doesn’t want to put his name behind writing whose quality is not representative of what he would like to be known for. These reviews can range from a single staff writing a job evaluation to be presented to superiors to an extremely rigorous inspection by a panel.

Friendly reviews refer to solicited criticism, such as when an author sends their work to their peers (like you) to leverage their feedback before trying to get it published. I personally suggest being as harsh as you would be with an anonymous review; that kind of sincerity is rare in friendly criticism and will probably help your “friends” more than you can hope for by being extremely tactful.

Anonymous reviews are the kind you read about in industry magazines and are specifically requested by publishers for publication. If you’re going to write one, the focus should be on the material, rather than other things around it, like the author’s personality.