My thesis focuses on the engagement of PhD students in academic peer review, the resources or mentorship they draw on to navigate the review process, and their perceived motivations for participating. I interviewed 51 Chinese PhD students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) from 11 elite research universities in mainland China. Each interview lasted around 1 hour. Almost all of the interviews were conducted face to face in Chinese and were recorded. The data files include verbatim transcripts of these 51 semi-structured interviews, the interview protocols that guided the semi-structured interviews, and a readme file.