How to Write an Article Review | How To Write An Article Critique

You will be required to complete tons of papers of different types as a college or university student. Some of the assignments will be article reviews and other critiques.

Article Review

Introduction.

In this type of work, you will be required to summarize and assess an existing article. One of the main goals of this assignment is to familiarize learners with some of the people who have had significant contributions to a particular field. Even experts in various areas review other works to increase their knowledge about certain concepts. You will be required to review the theme and supporting arguments of a specific subject matter. 

Importance of Article Reviews

•   Helps in eliminating vague terms in a piece of work. When writing an article, an individual may include unnecessary or unclear words in their work. The exercise helps reviewers to identify such issues.

•   Helps to ensure a better understanding of questions.

•   A reviewer knows different authors' views and gets rid of biases that they may have in a particular article.

•   Regular article reviews help individuals to improve their grammatical skills.

•   Helps authors to do better in their future projects.

Benefits of Reading Article Review Examples

•   To discover developments and discoveries in a particular subject matter.

•   Identifying specialists in a field.

•   Helps to determine any gaps in knowledge and finding appropriate solutions.

•   Article reviews are good sources of research ideas.

•   Helps learners to become experts in a particular area.

Tips for Preparing an Article Review

•   Determine your target audience. It can be peers or specialists in a particular field. The importance of doing this is that different groups of people may have varying expectations and perceptions.

•   Identify the goals of your work. Reveal what you intend to achieve at the end of the article review. Evaluate whether you have all the sources needed to complete your assignment.

•   Write a background of the article that you are reviewing. The information helps individuals better understand the author’s work and provide ideas for conducting further research about the subject matter.

•   You should explain to your readers why you decided to review a particular article and not others. Explain why you think that the article is credible. Highlight details such as the name of the publisher and date of publication.

•   Analyze some of the work that has been completed in the past as it can provide valuable insights into writing your review

•   Identify the type of review that you would want to do. It could be either conceptual or empirical.

•   Develop a hook by including elements such as jokes or interesting facts about the topic of the review.

•   Have an informative abstract. It should provide a summary of the main points in your work.

•   Write a captivating introduction. The section should have a good thesis and words that will grab the attention of the readers.

•   The use of transition words will ensure that your article review's content flows logically in all the sections.

The Main Sections of an Article Review

1.   Cover page.

2.   Abstract.

3.   The body.

4.   Conclusion.

Writing an Article Critique

Introduction.

The assignment involves writing a critical analysis of an article. It is a common exercise in most programs in different institutions around the world. For example, a science student can write a critique of how others perform experiments and interpret their findings.

It is always advisable to read the following sections before writing a critique of an article:

1)   Read the introduction.

Evaluate how the author of the article stated their hypothesis. Determine whether there is an adequate background in the introductory part and information about previous research about the subject matter. Evaluate the credibility of statements in the section.

2)   The methods section.

Evaluate some of the procedures that were used to conduct the study. Identify the variables that the author of the article was trying to measure in their work. Take note of any thoughts that you may have while looking at the methods section.

3)   The Results.

Evaluate how the tables and graphs in the article are labelled and whether there are reliable statistics to support the author’s statements. Determine whether the amount of data that was collected was adequate to conduct the study. Get a notebook and write all the information that is not consistent with the author’s work's theme.

4)   The discussions section.

Examine how the results of a particular study were interpreted. Disclose whether results of the research were in line with the hypothesis. Explain the nature of the conclusions in the article. Are they reasonable? The readers of your work would want to understand why you agree or disagree with the study's conclusions.

Common Mistakes when Writing Article Critiques

a)   The use of negative critique only.

Most reviewers tend to ignore an article's positive elements yet are essential in diluting the assignment's general impression.

b)   Providing excessive background information.

In most cases, the readers of an article review know what the article is about and have enough background information about the author. You may lose your readers' attention if you write too much information about the author or the article's necessary details.

c)   Forgetting the main argument.

Some people fail to write about the main argument in an article and focus on providing a summary of the whole piece.

The main Sections of an Article Critique

i.   An introduction.

It should include a description of the work you are critiquing and its authors. Provide a thesis of your work and explain some of the main points in the work.

ii.   Article summary.

It should include information from the main sections of an article such as the results and discussion. Provide an overall idea about the work you are critiquing.

iii.   Analysis.

Write the critique of the article at this point. Disclose what you did not agree with regarding the author’s methods and conclusions. Explain whether you have problems with other aspects of an author’s work such as their presentation.

iv.   Conclusion.

The section should include a summary of the arguments in the article you are critiquing and your reactions.