One of the purposes of conducting a peer review is to find and remove defects early. Peer reviews are performed incrementally, as work products are being developed. These reviews are structured and are not management reviews.
Peer reviews may be performed on key work products of specification, design, test, and implementation activities and specific planning work products.
The focus of the peer review should be on the work product in review, not on the person who produced it.
When issues arise during the peer review, they should be communicated to the primary developer of the work product for correction.
Peer reviews should address the following guidelines: there must be sufficient preparation, the conduct must be managed and controlled, consistent and sufficient data must be recorded (an example is conducting a formal inspection), and action items must be recorded.