PY 550 Article Review Guidelines

For this assignment, you are to write a scholarly/academic “critical review” for each of two journal articles you choose from those provided. Each review should be at least 2-3 pages in length (not including title and reference pages).

Q: What is a critical review?

A: The word “critical” does not mean to criticize negatively, but rather to thoughtfully evaluate the quality of the paper.

Structure of a Critical Review

The review will include an introduction, summary, evaluation, and conclusion. (plus title page and reference page)

Introduction

1. Introduce the author(s), title, and topic of the article.

2. Make a brief statement about the purpose of the study and findings, or in the case of a conceptual/theoretical paper, the key arguments or propositions presented. Don’t go into detail here, you will do that in the summary

3. Make a very brief statement that “previews” your evaluation/critique of the article.

Summary

In this section, your goal is to convey the content of the article in a very concise and unbiased manner. There should not be any critique in the summary. To write an accurate summary, you must read and seek to fully comprehend the entire paper so that you may summarize in your own words (i.e., paraphrase) in a way that accurately reflects that which you have read. After reading the paper, reflect on its purpose, main points, and conclusions. Determining the main points of the article can sometimes be challenging. As you read, it may serve you well to create an outline of the article. Two very important guidelines are relevant to writing the summary.

1. Many of us were taught that paraphrasing involves rearranging or replacing a few words from the source text so that you make the same statement using slightly different words. This is in fact, NOT proper paraphrasing. This is inadequate, and is actually a form of plagiarism. Please see the APA publication manual for guidance on paraphrasing and avoiding plagiarism.

2. Also, as a rule, you should avoid using word for word passages from the source text. This rule can occasionally be broken when the author has made a statement in such a way that to paraphrase would substantially lower its impact. Any word for word passage should be put in quotation marks, of course.

Evaluation

Think of this section as the critique. This will be the longest section of your paper. Here, you’ll discuss strengths, weaknesses, and the most notable, interesting, or controversial points. Your discussion should be well reasoned and not simple opinion with nothing to back it up. It is also better to avoid statements such as “I believe,” “I think,” and “Personally,…” You may certainly believe something to be true and of course you have an opinion, however it is better not to use an “I believe” statement. Simply begin stating the arguments or facts upon which your opinion is based. There are many alternative phrases that work well, such as “Based on ________, it could be argued that _______.” Also, where needed, consider citing other sources to help bolster your commentary. This is useful for both disputing/questioning and supporting claims made in the article you are evaluating.

The overall structure of the evaluation/critique portion of your paper is a matter of preference and will differ according to what works best for the type of article you are reviewing. However, in every case, there should be a structure. In other words, your writing shouldn’t jump around with disconnected, rambling ideas and statements. There should be a flow that makes it coherent.

Here are some suggestions for structure.

· Order your commentary about the paper according to importance of each point or topic. This can be done either from most important to least important or reversed, i.e., from least important to most important.

· If your evaluation is more positive than negative, present the negative points first and the positive last. Likewise, if there is more negative than positive, then present the positive points first and the negative last. Doing this will provide an easy transition to your conclusion.

Conclusion

This is a fairly short paragraph.

Restate your claims (above), but don’t be redundant. Restating doesn’t mean repeating the exact statements that you have already made. Think of this as a super concise summary of your evaluation section.

End with possible recommendations.

References

List all sources used in the review. If no other sources are cited, then only the article you reviewed will be in the reference page.

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