Learning how to write a review paper is not easy because it takes time to read and review the original content. Since it must be done through the lens of certain objectives and arguments, most college students find it extremely difficult. This helpful guide explains how you can compose an excellent article review, the types one may encounter, structure, outline, things to remember, and formatting peculiarities. After finishing this article, you will learn all it takes to succeed, even with the most challenging article review tasks.
Definition of article review assignments
When asked to write an article review, it is only natural to feel confused about the purpose and definition, especially if you are only learning how to write a good article review. In simple terms, this type of academic writing represents certain work where you have to provide an analysis and summary of an article already written by another individual. It is safe to say that we are dealing with an evaluation, yet to write a review of an article is not about seeking all the critical parts and outlining only the negatives.
It is necessary to provide a clear and logical evaluation by finding out the main argument or subject the original author followed to deliver his or her message. This way, you can write and support specific arguments by researching how the objectives have been achieved and possibly offer suggestions for further research by focusing on the conclusion. The main purpose is to understand whether the main points have been followed and explored to a certain degree. You have to ask yourself whether the article is clear and accurate as you provide a summary process through the lens of a personal review.
As a rule, your article review will always depend on the type of content you have to deal with. Yet, most university and college tasks are limited to literature and critical reviews. At the same time, one should provide critical analysis in certain cases, especially when dealing with a published article or a book chapter. In such a case, a much broader approach to writing will be closer to complex academic research. Summing up on how to write an article review, it should be said that it represents both an evaluation and a summary of another article based on the format and presented guidelines.
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Why do students write article reviews?
An article review is one of those tasks that help students to determine their analytical skills and learn to process and evaluate someone else’s scientific work. If we sum things about the importance of such work, we shall see the following:
- Article writing is a deeply analytical process that helps students to correct vague terms when and if they are present. Likewise, when composing an article review or an original assignment, such work provides more clarity regarding using appropriate words. If an article has colloquial language or logical gaps, it is one of those aspects to mention in an article review. It also allows writers to determine whether certain terms must be replaced and edited.
- Article review essay writing helps to clarify scientific questions.
- Writing an article review allows students to see and understand how others approach specific issues and what perspectives should be studied regarding the problems at hand. Once a person reads the review, it makes it easier to get rid of bias.
- Article review assignments also provide students with editing and grammar work to help with more accurate papers.
- Most importantly, an article review is a way to encourage better work and provide critical analysis with due criticism and evaluation of the original article.
Types of article review tasks
Speaking of literature reviews types in academic writing, we define the following 7 types you can use to review an article:
- Original Research Article Review. The original research article review is close to what is often seen as the literature review. An author must explore the author’s hypothesis and some background studies with due analysis to outline scientific methods. It’s one of the most challenging tasks to write as one must interpret the findings and talk about future implications. This type of work can also get lengthy and be up to 6,000 words in subjects like History or Sociology.
- Critical Analysis. As the name implies, it critically evaluates the author’s work and can be up to 3,000 words.
- Literature Review. It stands for the review of secondary literature sources. As a rule, such reviews do not present much new data and only evaluate the importance of sources and information that supports the author’s arguments.
- Systematic Review. This case stands for research questions and articles that require a deeper synthesis of available facts or certain evidence. The purpose here is to define and evaluate the quality of the data obtained by the author.
- Meta-Analysis Reviews. Once again, it is a systematic review focusing on a specific topic, the literature issues. You must provide a special quantitative estimate for exposure and intervention.
- Clinical Trial Reviews. It means that one must provide a study related to an investigation offered by the author. It can relate to a drug or talk about a sample group of people, thus bringing it into the field of a defined population or a group of participants.
- Perspective or Opinion Article Review. This is where one poses an opinion, meaning things can get biased toward a certain opinion. In writing a good review, a student can look for perspectives and evaluate the importance of the original article. Likewise, posing an opinion is one of the obligatory aspects.
Article review structure and outline
Most article review assignments will keep up with the class structure and contain the article’s title, an introduction with the main thesis statement, up to five body parts, and a strong conclusion summarizing things and providing your analytical writing. Depending on your assignment type, it may be necessary to provide references, the meaning of terms, and additional data to showcase the original article you have worked with.
Article review structure
The following parts are obligatory for regular article review:
- Title page.
- An article introduction presenting the main subject and/or a problem.
- Brief article summary.
- Critical article evaluation and/or a summary.
- Conclusion with the moral lesson and discussion on the findings’ pros/cons.
- Bibliography with relevant citations.
Article review outline
Writing an article review, make sure that you follow these five crucial steps to narrow things down and outline the most important:
- You provide an evaluation and summary of the author’s article.
- Your audience can receive sufficient knowledge regarding the subject.
- You have made points about the strongest arguments of the author.
- You have criticized the author’s work and explained how it contributes to the scientific field.
- You conclude your article review with your original thoughts and opinions without turning to additional research unless the grading rubric required it.
Step-by-step writing guide
Most importantly, you should not let an article review writing frighten you, even if it may seem overly difficult for beginners. The trick is to read the article repeatedly and ensure you understand it. Once you know the subject and see what the author has tried to achieve, it becomes easier to compose a review. Remember that preparation plays a critical role! Here are the steps to write a journal article review to compose an excellent article review:
Step 1: Learn about the article’s agenda.
Understand what the author has tried to achieve. Reading about the author online helps to get a better perspective. Your audience should see that you have sufficient knowledge regarding the subject. Adjust your writing or add a glossary if it’s not a general audience. As you write, you must summarize all the primary ideas of the articles. Start by looking for arguments, taking notes about the author’s position, and outlining the findings. You can also provide a healthy share of criticism and explore contributions and additional links if there are any.
Step 2: Summarize the main article ideas
When you already know the basics, you must respond to the author’s work by offering a summary that may or may not include new research. Alternatively, depending on your grading rubric, you may evaluate and summarize an article without taking an opinion.
Step 3: Organization aspect of the review
It is essential to focus on the structure you want to follow. It is necessary to help you understand how to approach your future work and process the article’s content. The best and safest method to do an article review would be to summarize the article. Include all the important points, look for the author’s claims, and see how you can support or debunk them! Remember to discuss all the positive aspects and talk about the good points made by the author. At the same time, it’s important to identify the gaps and provide contradictions or inconsistencies in the article done by another person. You have to identify if the author has provided sufficient knowledge and offered statistical or empirical data based on the original author’s claims. If any questions have not been answered, mention them as well.
Step 4: Article preview and take notes
You must again read an article, take notes, and look for evidence. It will help you to narrow things down and highlight all the critical points and facts. If there are any important references, mention them as well.
Step 5: Paraphrasing and analysis
An article review should not be a static rewriting or summary of an author’s work. Think about putting it all in your own words. Do so accurately and logically. Always proofread and edit your summary to ensure that nothing is missed!
Step 6: Final evaluation
This step is usually the most complex as you must create a mental evaluation outline and identify all the aspects supporting your main thesis. Consider the original article’s pros and cons, the author’s contributions, expertise, and areas that could be improved. Indicate the strengths and the weaknesses by explaining why you think so! If there is not enough information, research it before making a claim! Providing good references in your article review assignment with at least one piece of evidence per claim is recommended. Write down the ones that the author uses.
Summing things up, we receive the following points to consider next:
Working on your title
It can be either something descriptive or declarative. You can write an interrogative title if it’s a critical article review. It will all come down to your main requirements.
Citations
Make sure to cite the original author since it’s an important part of any article review. Turn to your grading rubric and an academic advisor for more information regarding the citation style that must be followed. Always check things twice before you write.
Author’s identification aspect
Before starting any work, provide the original article’s title, information about the author, the journal title/another publishing source, and the publication year. As a rule, it must be added to the first paragraph of your article’s review.
Article review format
The formatting of an article review will always come down to what type of assignment you plan to write and your citation style. Still, you should provide a title page, the course title, your name, and the work date. In certain cases, it may be required to include an abstract of 200 to 300 words. It is only relevant when you have to provide a separate research assignment based on a case study that you review. Remember that no references appear in an abstract as you write it!
The other article review format parts include but are not limited to:
- An introduction. The topic of your study must be mentioned here in the first sentence. Indicate what your article contains and talk about the author’s background. Provide an order of the subjects you plan to discuss to explain what your readers expect. The introduction should provide the author’s claims and the main arguments that result in your thesis statement. When writing an introduction, you must determine the main argument.
- Body paragraphs. This is where you provide an evaluation with a summary and write about the author’s work.
- Conclusion. Speak of your reasons for providing a review and talk about whether you could support your thesis and what you have learned.
- Works Cited page. Refer to your grading rubric to identify what citation style must be used.
How to write a good article review?
Writing a good article review must follow your instructions to the letter. At the same time, some writing tips include the next rules:
- Do not write the statements in the first person. It is recommended to use the third person instead by turning to a formal academic tone.
- Your introduction with the information about the original article should take from 10 to 25% of your assignment’s volume.
- An introduction must end with a strong thesis and make an assumption or research the author’s main claim. A typical thesis to start an article review for an assignment may look this way:
Although the author makes numerous good points about the positive sides of video games, there is no statistical data provided nor mention of the cases where violent video games have led to serious crimes among teenagers in the United States and Canada.
- Write down all the important points and share your findings. It will help to show that you have done your homework correctly.
- Discuss how the article supports the claims and whether it provides good evidence.
- Always provide background information about the author.
- Use direct quotes to support your claims by turning to the original article.
- Read your summary twice to evaluate whether it follows the main thesis.
- Talk about the contributions of the author to the academic community.
- Provide reasons for whether you support the author’s view or not. Why or why not?
- Summarize all the important points in a conclusion part.
Once done, always proofread your work by looking for grammar, spelling, writing mechanics, and other things wherever possible. A good article review is always accurate!
Why choose article review examples?
Looking through available article review samples is always good because it helps determine how to review existing content and gain some basic understanding. When you see how other students and professional experts have approached specific topics, it’s always easier to write! Here are some good article review template links worth checking for more info:
- Wright State University’s Journal Article Review Example.
- University of Illinois Springfield’s Article How-to Review Guide.
- UC Merced Library’s Article Review Sample
When you look through some article review samples, you will be able to:
- Identify recent and important changes in your field of study.
- Determine who works in a specific field of science and why.
- Narrow things down and identify essential information to help you start with research.
- Use obtained information in school debates, and references work.
- Generate new ideas and conduct lab experiments.
- Write an article review through the lens of personal experience and expertise.
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