Reviews FAQs

This page contains answers to frequently asked questions about US Lawi Reviews.

Lawi Reviews are a collection of comments submitted by viewers, sometimes in response to a question posed in the piece of content at Lawi. The question may vary from topic to topic and is meant to create a discussion related to the topic. Our goal is to incorporate what users know by providing readers with valuable knowledge based on the experiences of people familiar with the topic.

We’ve tried to anticipate all of your questions. If we’ve missed yours, please contact us with your questions.

Internet consumers are demanding feedback from their peers on every type of Web site. Third-party feedback is essential for developing trust in services and products that can’t be experienced in-person prior to purchase. Articles and Guides are no exception. Lawi consumer surveys indicate that this is not only desired by readers, but expected. Research tells us that reviews help convince people to choose pieces of information.

Yes, we conducted a survey of hundreds of readers and lawyers to get feedback on how this system should work. The majority of our readers are in favor of reviews and feel it can help their search of information. We incorporated their suggestions into the design of this system.

Peer-reviewed journal articles are essential for communicating the results of scholarship to academic audiences, but they are not sufficient and are often not the most important mechanism for disseminating the results of community-engaged pieces of content or information, which were developed in partnership with communities. Community-based participatory research and other community-engaged activities require diverse pathways and products for dissemination in order to reach and benefit community members and practitioners. These products include, for example, guides, training manuals, briefs, presentations, instructional DVDs and other online tools.

Pieces of content that are in forms other than journal articles are usually not peer-reviewed, published or disseminated widely. As a result, they are often perceived as being of less importance, quality, credibility and value. Further, they are rarely seen and used beyond the community with which the engaged work was conducted. Without ready access to these products, community members and practitioners are often left to “reinvent the wheel.”

Yes. That is why we ask reviewers to focus the reviews on the accuracy of their opinions.

If you receive a review you feel is negative, please reply to the review. Your comments will be posted next to the review on the site. We suggest that you keep comments professional and do not criticize the reviewer.

We try to screen each review before it goes live. Often, we have to act afterwards. Reviews that are inappropriate, malicious or promote other services are not published or are deleted.

Encourage all satisfied users to submit a review. Most users are highly satisfied. Listen to any constructive feedback and use it to continuously improve the experience you piece of content provide.

Users trust other users. Consequently, multiple reviews should encourage inquiries and reputation. We believe it is important to “jump start” this process by contacting people who have used your information, and encouraging them to visit the site and fill out a review. Let them know that it only takes a few minutes!

The reviews are connected to topics. A link to a specific review can be found at the bottom of some of the medical reference articles (not all articles have questions). This link is in a question box below the featured question.

No, you do not need to sign up to participate. Since all comments may be anonymous, we do not registration or login for you to participate.

In the question box, there is a “Submit Your Review” button. Clicking on this button takes you to a submission form page. On this form, you can enter your comment. You’ll then need to check the agreement check box and finally the Submit Your Comment button.

No, your comment will not be published immediately. It will first go through an editorial review process, and if it’s accepted, it will be published within a few days.

No, not all comments submitted are published. During the review process, our editors will select the comments that best address the article, guide or question and provide an educational benefit to others.

Please keep these guidelines in mind when writing your comments:
•Please make sure you address the question asked.
•When selecting comments to publish, our staff will choose those that are educational and complement the topic. Please try to stay on topic.

We will not notify you if your comment has been published, save if you give instructions to us about this. We suggest that you check back on the topic article regularly.

Your comment may be edited. We would typically edit comments to make them clearer and more readable. We will remove personal information such as  web addresses, and  potentially harmful information.

We have no set limit to the length your comment can be although they typically tend to be one to three paragraphs in length. Please keep your comments on topic to the question.

Having a few negative reviews will not particularly hurt a business. Users know no business is perfect and they’re looking for the information to make a well-informed choice. You can respond directly to reviews within the system, so a negative review is an opportunity to display how you respond and make things right when the need arises. A few negative reviews also make all of your reviews more credible to users. Having nothing but good reviews can look suspicious to customers.

Customers are looking for an accurate, well-rounded, and current picture of how your business or piece of content act. Testimonials are often viewed as hand picked from the past and out of date. Verified reviews hosted by a third party carry more weight and authenticity and are guaranteed to be current. They help generate more leads and keep site content fresh.

Reviews left for your business will appear on our page and be linked in our Twitter feed. Customers who are logged into Facebook can have their review posted to their Facebook wall. Lawi uses the reviews microformat, which means search engines like Google can recognize and index them, allowing them to appear next to the map with your local listing. The full reviews system can be embedded within your company’s website with a simple piece of code, or an icon linking to your reviews can be placed on your website as well. Your reviews can also be printed to hand out with job Quotes or used with other marketing campaigns. Lawi provides many tools to help you get your reviews in front of potential customers.

Customers are looking for you online whether you do business via your website or not. The majority of consumers will do research about your business online before choosing you and most of those consumers are looking to see what your previous customers say about you. Reviews are the online equivalent of word of mouth advertising and allow people searching online to benefit from the opinions and experiences of your existing customers. Recent independent reviews increase customer acquisition and let your best customers speak on your behalf.

The editorial and peer review processes used by Lawi Reviews mirror to some extent those of most journals. Lawi maintains an editorial staff and an editorial board and follows a rigorous peer review process, but we are not based on standards of scholarship. Other important difference is that Lawi Reviews uses review criteria that include assessing the extent of community engagement in the work that led to the piece of content, the potential for it to be used by others and its usefulness.

US Lawi reviewers have diverse areas of expertise and are based often in academic settings such as colleges and universities and based in community organizations, professional associations, non-governmental organizations, and international, national, state, and local agencies. However, there is no specific requirement for a certain amount of prior review experience.

Yes. US Lawi believes that reviewers from both academic and community backgrounds have knowledge and skills gained from their professional and personal experience that would be useful in providing a review for US Lawi Review. Even if you wouldn’t think of yourself as an “expert” or you are not according to traditional definitions of expertise, if you are appasionate about one area of law, for us you are an expert in that area.