A Few Brilliant Steps To Critique Various Types Of Articles

Article critique is one of the complex academic assignments and requires a critical eye to accomplish. Getting this assignment can be overwhelming for many students since it takes the evaluation of various sources such as scientific publications, literature, journals, etc.,

A student must demonstrate whether the author provides sufficient arguments to support their point of view. Looks intimidating, doesn’t it? Well, our helpful hints will help you do the process with ease.

What Is An Article Critique?

An article critique, also known as a response paper, is basically an assignment requiring a student to critically analyze and reflect on a research article. The main objective is to identify the piece’s strong and weak points and to evaluate how well the author understands its sources. 

In other words, your goal is to determine whether the author offered credible arguments and data to support their primary assertions. Simply expressed, a critique considers the validity and usefulness of the arguments employed by the author of the piece in their work.

To succeed in this kind of writing, you have to develop critical thinking skills along with research skills. This helps you distinguish between strong and weak arguments. It also helps you have the right kind of tools that help you sift through vague and incomplete information and pick up credible facts. 

How To Write An Article Critique?

This type of writing task is inherently tricky and perplexing. To assist you in completing your task, we have produced simple step-by-step instructions on how to summarize and criticize an article:

Step 1: Read The Article

To begin with, you must read the article attentively in order to critique it. It is understandable that students may become overwhelmed when attempting to compose an article critique. Usually, these journal papers can be rather extensive, and they frequently contain vocabulary that you are unfamiliar with. 

That is why just reading will not be enough. You’ll need to do numerous active and close reading sessions, with some research, to define and comprehend unfamiliar concepts. Once you comprehend the article, consider answering the following questions:

1. What is the author’s or writer’s main point or hypothesis?

What is the main point that the author is attempting to convey? Is the message understood? Or are there just a lot of generic statements with no specifics?

2. Why is the author regarded as an expert?

What makes a specific author’s point of view credible? Is the author well-versed in the subject? What do other professionals in the field have to say about the author? Is the author of the article lauded academically or dismissed?

3. Who is the article’s target audience?

Is the article intended for a broad audience? Or does it target a specific audience and use language that only that audience understands?

4. What are the logical flaws in the author’s point of view?

Are there any logical flaws? How much influence do they have on the outcome?

5. Do the arguments offer to make sense?

Are the author’s sources from all over the place? Does it appear that some sources are obtained from areas with cult-like vocabulary?

6. Is the conclusion logical and clear?

Did the author reach a clear conclusion in his or her work?

While going through the article, answer these questions and make notes. Identify the main aspects such as the following in the article:

• Research problem and research goal
• Research methods
• Hypothesis
• Variables
• Research participants
• Main findings
• Conclusions

Tip: Make detailed notes to avoid missing any vital information and explanation regarding essential aspects of the article.

Step 2: Gather Proof And Develop The Outline

The previous step will assist you with reading and comprehending the text and critically analyzing and reflecting on it. When you’ve decided on your critique paper’s direction, it’s time to start gathering evidence. The following are the necessary actions you should take:

Step 3: Determine If The Author Is Following Formal Logic

When writing an article critique, one of the most important things to look for is the presence of any logical fallacies. Establishing that the author’s overall notion follows logic is difficult, but it is a necessary step in completing the assignment.

Undereducated persons frequently exhibit several typical logical fallacies, such as Ad hominem, where the author attacks someone to discredit their POV. Or wishful thinking, where the author believes something that is not supported by evidence.

Step 4: Analyze The Author’s Main Points

The article critique is not a summary; rather, it is a critical examination. When the professor begins reading your review, the first thing they will ponder is, “Did this student understand the difference between a summary and an analysis?”

Although your primary goal is not persuasion, you must nonetheless construct a convincing argument. To do so, you must consider whether the writer’s overall point is rational. This objective will necessitate additional investigation. 

You hardly have the whole knowledge base required to analyze a researcher’s work. As a result, you’ll need to look for similar examples and compare this article’s premise to them. You may easily check the message’s logic by comparing the introduction and conclusion. Do the elements of these two sections correspond?

Step 5: See How The Author Interprets Others’ Texts

To begin with, it is crucial noting that some people become involved in specific topics due to their emotional connection to the things they are interested in. People who write a lot about animals, for example, are very likely to adore them. This puts their work at risk of being prejudiced toward showing animals in a way that elevates their issue above its due. 

Thus, when going through the article, try to find the instances where the author has overstated a few things of some factors due to their bias or beliefs.

Step 6: Verify The Cited Sources

Another critical stage in producing an excellent critique report is determining whether the author of the article used untrustworthy sources of information. This is not an easy task and requires prior experience.

Step 7: Distinguish Contradictions

Researchers can be biased, whether purposefully or accidentally. As a result, they may disregard or misinterpret conflicting evidence to use it to their advantage. Furthermore, prejudices can contribute to bias. 

An architect with a traditional background, for example, may have preconceptions against feng shui and may disregard facts that may establish the method’s merits. A medical professional will have preconceived notions about Chinese medicine. 

Step 8: Evaluate The Language Used

Language is vital in every piece, regardless of the field or topic. Thus, as you work on your review, pay particular attention to the language used by the author of the piece. To give you a clear illustration of what you should be searching for: 

Some words have cultural meanings that can cause a form of conflict in the essay. 

Step 9: Consider The Research Methods In Scientific Articles

This is not usually required, but if you know how to write an article review or if you are writing one now, you should query and assess how the author conducted their research.

Ask the following questions to accomplish this:

• What is the study’s design? Is there anything wrong with it?
• How does the article describe the research methods?
• Was there a control group utilized in this study?
• Were there any concerns with the sample size?
• Were any statistical errors made?
• Is it possible to replicate the experiment in a laboratory setting?
• Is there any meaningful influence and/or value in the research (or experiment) in its field of science?

Step 10: Start Writing 

You’ll have a lot of notes by this point. Thus, all you have to do is organize them in a logical order as you debate the topic. When you’re ready, you can begin the writing process.

State your main point in the introduction:

It’s not difficult to begin writing the introduction. You must provide the title of the article, the author’s name, the journal where it was published, and the publication date. Next, you’ll make a statement about the research article’s focus. 

Also, ensure that you know how to write a thesis statement as most academic papers begin with a thesis statement. Thus, the beginning of the article critique should also outline your major point. Reveal your primary points of critique in this section to indicate to your readers what they are about to read.

Compose the body section:

Each body paragraph should elaborate on a fresh point from the article. You may use subheadings for these sections. However, you don’t have to do that if you’re writing a brief article critique.

Each paragraph in the body should begin with a topic statement that you will expand on throughout the paragraph. Check if there is a logical connection between these sections of the article.

Critique the article:

You have to highlight the strong and weak points of the article, which include what works and what doesn’t work. Furthermore, include an educated opinion about the clarity, relevancy, and accuracy of the article. You’ll have to back up your claims with direct examples from the piece.

Sum up your arguments 

You will summarise your critique and provide potential consequences in the end. You may suggest more research that will throw new light on the subject and improve the work of the writer you just critiqued.

Step 11: Proofread And Revise The Article

Please do not skip this step! The article critique is a significant project that should demonstrate your critical thinking and argumentation skills. Even the smallest error will spoil the reader’s impression if you do not revise it.

Pay close attention to the citations during this process. Additionally, proofread the bibliography properly. If you’re not sure how to format it, make sure to follow the article critique APA formatting style requirements.

Primary Purposes of Writing an Article Critique

A critique is a comprehensive examination of an argument to evaluate what is said and how well the arguments are conveyed. Furthermore, what assumptions underpin the argument, what difficulties are ignored, and what conclusions are reached from such observations are analyzed. It is an organized yet personal reaction to and evaluation of what you read.

One can say that the main purposes of writing an article critique are:

• Describe the major ideas and the author’s intention.
• Analyze each significant and intriguing topic and create an explanation for the article.
• Determine the author’s goal.
• Summarize and evaluate an article’s worth, indicating whether you agree or disagree with the author and providing supporting evidence.

How To Critique A Journal Article?

Here’s a step-by-step method for criticizing a journal article:

1. Gather Basic Information

Whatever the subject of the article you are going to evaluate, your paper must include some essential information, such as the following:

• The title of the article under consideration
• The title of the journal in which it appears, the date and month of publication, volume number, and page numbers where the article can be found
• The primary issue or problem revealed in the work is stated
• The purpose, study methods, technique, hypothesis, and major findings are all included
• As a result, the initial step is to gather this information

2. Read The Article Once And Then Re-read It

First, gain an overview of the article to grasp the big picture. An excellent critique should reflect your informed and qualified view of the article. To form such an opinion, you must reread the text critically and highlight everything that will be relevant in writing your paper.

3. Write The Critique

The critique should include the evidence you collected. Some of the essential questions that you must concentrate on when writing your critique are as follows:

• Is the title of the article clear and appropriate?
• Is the abstract of the paper provided correctly, related to the article’s substance, and specific?
• Is the introduction’s stated objective made clear?
• Are the author’s opinions and facts correct?
• Is the discussion pertinent and worthwhile?
• Has the author used reliable and credible sources?
• Were there any ideas in the article that you felt were overemphasized or underemphasized?
• Do you think any parts of the piece should be enlarged, condensed, or omitted?
• Are all of the author’s statements clear?
• What are the author’s fundamental assumptions?
• Has the article’s author been objective in their statements?
• Are the approaches and research methodologies employed appropriate?
• Are the statistical methods suitable?

How To Critique A Research Article?

If you’re wondering how to critique a specific research study, we’ve detailed the main steps below:

Before you begin, consider the following:

• Choose a piece that fits your professor’s requirements
• To get the primary idea, read the entire article
• Read the piece again with a critical eye

While you’re reading:

• Define the author’s expertise on the specified topic. What are the author’s qualifications?
• Consider the research methods used. Are the methods chosen by the author appropriate and useful for solving the stated research question(s)?
• Analyze the outcomes. Is there any evidence that the results are generalizable?
• Examine the article for any prejudice. Is there any evidence of a conflict of interest or bias?
• Define the overall level of research quality. Is the article current or out of date?
• Take note of the sources used. Did the sources back up their findings with theory and/or previous literature on the subject?

Conclusion

Writing an article critique is not a straightforward task. In fact, the article critique may be one of the most complicated academic writing assignments for students. If you feel it is a very complicated task then you can approach an academic writing service to write one. However, it also teaches you how to use another writer’s work without totally agreeing with their point of view. Furthermore, it teaches you how to question and scrutinize your claims. If you feel it is a very complicated task then you can