This is an invited Account and Perspective, providing observations and advice on writing for review derived from a 40-year academic career that has included 27 years' service as an Associate Editor for the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (JASMS) and nearly 14 years at the National Science Foundation. This work describes an Associate Editor's perspective. It offers observations on what editors and reviewers look for in manuscripts and some of the more common, best avoided mistakes. Emphasis is on JASMS guidelines, but many elements should be generally applicable and are intended for use by both authors and reviewers.