Peer Review Guide

This list is not intended to be prescriptive and reviewers should, of course, use contextual and professional judgement when reviewing academic articles. They focus on specific considerations for research with international students and are intended to be in addition to standard review considerations. The considerations below can support the research community with further reflections on key conceptual and methodological problems that are common in research in this specific subfield.

Conceptual considerations
Defining international students	Has the concept ‘international students’ within the study context been defined, described, and rationalised in the introduction?  If relying on nationality to define international students, is there critical recognition of the limitations of this? (see Huang, 2022)
Focus	Is there a clear, targeted, and narrowed topic in focus? If focusing broadly on ‘experiences’, is the concept of ‘experiences’ defined, described, and problematised? (see Deuchar, 2022)
Defining concepts	Are the key concepts being researched defined, described, and rationalised in the literature review? Is there a reflection on how these key concepts may be culturally bound or viewed in different ways by students from varied backgrounds or identities?
Theoretical framing	Is a theoretical framework described and defined in the literature review? If this theoretical framework originated outside the contexts of their study or students’ own cultural contexts, is there a critical reflection on its suitability? (see our Theoretical Framework Bank)
Deficit narratives	Are international students depicted only as struggling, experiencing challenges, or under-skilled?  Do authors recognise and reflect on problematic deficit framings of international students in research and practice?
Othering	Are international students portrayed using ‘us versus them’ narratives? Are they assumed to be ‘different’ or lesser-than by nature of their international students status? Do the claims made about international students also apply to home students or to student populations more generally? If so, is this recognised?
Homogenisation	Are international students collectivised in any way (as a whole or by national groupings, for instance)? Are they assumed to have similar needs or experiences? If so, is there evidence for this?
Intersectionality	Is ‘difference’ deduced to only students’ nationality or visa status? Is there recognition of other identity facets that intersect with their migrant identities to impact upon their experiences?
Literature and citations	Have the authors recognised that research with international students is an interdisciplinary subfield? Have authors made efforts to cite research from beyond their own discipline?  Has there been a consideration for research beyond the canon of the Global North and publications in English? If the study focuses on classroom or university practices and is published outside the field of education, is there engagement with pedagogic research beyond the discipline?
Significance	Is there evidence that there is a need for research to be conducted? Is there a reflection on why any gaps are an important omission from current knowledge?  Is it made explicit how the work makes a meaningful and practical contribution to research with international students?
Research questions	Are explicit research questions provided for the research undertaken?  Do the research questions focus only on challenges or deficits that students are assumed to lack?
Methodological considerations
Participant recruitment and focus	Is a rationale provided for which students are included in the research? If students from a single nationality are in focus, is there a compelling reason provided for why?
Describing participants	Have the authors described the participants beyond simply that they are ‘international students’? Have the authors described the participants beyond just their nationality? Are enough details about participants’ backgrounds provided in relation to the topic being researched?
Positionality	Have authors been reflective in describing their own positionality and identity in relation to the research? Have they considered their insider or outsider status in relation to international students? (see Spangler & Adriansen, 2021) Have the authors described their relationship with the research context and participants? Have they made reflections about the ethical and practical implications of this relationship?
Ethics	Have the authors reflected on ethics from an intercultural perspective? Have they considered the suitability of ethics frameworks in their context and how these may have multiple meanings to students from other contexts?

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