Re: A bit of clearing up on final reviews

["Jeanne A. E. DeVoto" <jaed -at- jaedworks -dot- com>]

At 10:26 AM -0700 7/27/2000, Sierra Godfrey wrote:
>But I keep sticking on what to do when the two engineers
>here say, like they did last time, that they want to see the
>pre-print version themselves to ensure it's okay? I'm the only
>writer here so having someone else check the final final
>version is helpful--but if it's these two, then they feel free
>to start making all sorts of little changes again, as if it were
>in review. This is what happened last time, and I can't accept
>that again.

There are a couple of observations that might be helpful:

1) When people see something they disagree with in a review document,
they'll make a note of it. This is natural (and actually a good sign in the
sense that the pickier and more detail-oriented a reviewer is, the better a
job they'll do).

2) Someone suggesting a correction or change does not impose an obligation
on you to accept that change. You are the writer, you are ultimately
responsible for the correctness and completeness of the document, you make
the decisions. (You can clarify this throughout the review process, if it's
not clear to your engineers.)

Changing your choice of words will help maintain this distinction, both in
their minds and in yours. You say above that the engineers might make "all
sorts of little changes" - but it's *your* document and they can't make
changes to it. What they're making is "all sorts of little suggestions".
Since it's your document, you can accept or reject their suggestions,
depending on the schedule, whether their suggestions make sense, etc.

--
jeanne a. e. devoto ~ jaed -at- jaedworks -dot- com
http://www.jaedworks.com