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How to Review a Journal Article

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For many kinds of assignments, like a  literature review , you may be asked to offer a critique or review of a journal article. This is an opportunity for you as a scholar to offer your  qualified opinion  and  evaluation  of how another scholar has composed their article, argument, and research. That means you will be expected to go beyond a simple  summary  of the article and evaluate it on a deeper level. As a college student, this might sound intimidating. However, as you engage with the research process, you are becoming immersed in a particular topic, and your insights about the way that topic is presented are valuable and can contribute to the overall conversation surrounding your topic.

IMPORTANT NOTE!!

Some disciplines, like Criminal Justice, may only want you to summarize the article without including your opinion or evaluation. If your assignment is to summarize the article only, please see our literature review handout.

Before getting started on the critique, it is important to review the article thoroughly and critically. To do this, we recommend take notes,  annotating , and reading the article several times before critiquing. As you read, be sure to note important items like the thesis, purpose, research questions, hypotheses, methods, evidence, key findings, major conclusions, tone, and publication information. Depending on your writing context, some of these items may not be applicable.

Questions to Consider

To evaluate a source, consider some of the following questions. They are broken down into different categories, but answering these questions will help you consider what areas to examine. With each category, we recommend identifying the strengths and weaknesses in each since that is a critical part of evaluation.

Evaluating Purpose and Argument

  • How well is the purpose made clear in the introduction through background/context and thesis?
  • How well does the abstract represent and summarize the article’s major points and argument?
  • How well does the objective of the experiment or of the observation fill a need for the field?
  • How well is the argument/purpose articulated and discussed throughout the body of the text?
  • How well does the discussion maintain cohesion?

Evaluating the Presentation/Organization of Information

  • How appropriate and clear is the title of the article?
  • Where could the author have benefited from expanding, condensing, or omitting ideas?
  • How clear are the author’s statements? Challenge ambiguous statements.
  • What underlying assumptions does the author have, and how does this affect the credibility or clarity of their article?
  • How objective is the author in his or her discussion of the topic?
  • How well does the organization fit the article’s purpose and articulate key goals?

Evaluating Methods

  • How appropriate are the study design and methods for the purposes of the study?
  • How detailed are the methods being described? Is the author leaving out important steps or considerations?
  • Have the procedures been presented in enough detail to enable the reader to duplicate them?

Evaluating Data

  • Scan and spot-check calculations. Are the statistical methods appropriate?
  • Do you find any content repeated or duplicated?
  • How many errors of fact and interpretation does the author include? (You can check on this by looking up the references the author cites).
  • What pertinent literature has the author cited, and have they used this literature appropriately?

Following, we have an example of a summary and an evaluation of a research article. Note that in most literature review contexts, the summary and evaluation would be much shorter. This extended example shows the different ways a student can critique and write about an article.

Chik, A. (2012). Digital gameplay for autonomous foreign language learning: Gamers’ and language teachers’ perspectives. In H. Reinders (ed.),  Digital games in language learning and teaching  (pp. 95-114). Eastbourne, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Be sure to include the full citation either in a reference page or near your evaluation if writing an  annotated bibliography .

In Chik’s article “Digital Gameplay for Autonomous Foreign Language Learning: Gamers’ and Teachers’ Perspectives”, she explores the ways in which “digital gamers manage gaming and gaming-related activities to assume autonomy in their foreign language learning,” (96) which is presented in contrast to how teachers view the “pedagogical potential” of gaming. The research was described as an “umbrella project” consisting of two parts. The first part examined 34 language teachers’ perspectives who had limited experience with gaming (only five stated they played games regularly) (99). Their data was recorded through a survey, class discussion, and a seven-day gaming trial done by six teachers who recorded their reflections through personal blog posts. The second part explored undergraduate gaming habits of ten Hong Kong students who were regular gamers. Their habits were recorded through language learning histories, videotaped gaming sessions, blog entries of gaming practices, group discussion sessions, stimulated recall sessions on gaming videos, interviews with other gamers, and posts from online discussion forums. The research shows that while students recognize the educational potential of games and have seen benefits of it in their lives, the instructors overall do not see the positive impacts of gaming on foreign language learning.

The summary includes the article’s purpose, methods, results, discussion, and citations when necessary.

This article did a good job representing the undergraduate gamers’ voices through extended quotes and stories. Particularly for the data collection of the undergraduate gamers, there were many opportunities for an in-depth examination of their gaming practices and histories. However, the representation of the teachers in this study was very uneven when compared to the students. Not only were teachers labeled as numbers while the students picked out their own pseudonyms, but also when viewing the data collection, the undergraduate students were more closely examined in comparison to the teachers in the study. While the students have fifteen extended quotes describing their experiences in their research section, the teachers only have two of these instances in their section, which shows just how imbalanced the study is when presenting instructor voices.

Some research methods, like the recorded gaming sessions, were only used with students whereas teachers were only asked to blog about their gaming experiences. This creates a richer narrative for the students while also failing to give instructors the chance to have more nuanced perspectives. This lack of nuance also stems from the emphasis of the non-gamer teachers over the gamer teachers. The non-gamer teachers’ perspectives provide a stark contrast to the undergraduate gamer experiences and fits neatly with the narrative of teachers not valuing gaming as an educational tool. However, the study mentioned five teachers that were regular gamers whose perspectives are left to a short section at the end of the presentation of the teachers’ results. This was an opportunity to give the teacher group a more complex story, and the opportunity was entirely missed.

Additionally, the context of this study was not entirely clear. The instructors were recruited through a master’s level course, but the content of the course and the institution’s background is not discussed. Understanding this context helps us understand the course’s purpose(s) and how those purposes may have influenced the ways in which these teachers interpreted and saw games. It was also unclear how Chik was connected to this masters’ class and to the students. Why these particular teachers and students were recruited was not explicitly defined and also has the potential to skew results in a particular direction.

Overall, I was inclined to agree with the idea that students can benefit from language acquisition through gaming while instructors may not see the instructional value, but I believe the way the research was conducted and portrayed in this article made it very difficult to support Chik’s specific findings.

Some professors like you to begin an evaluation with something positive but isn’t always necessary.

The evaluation is clearly organized and uses transitional phrases when moving to a new topic.

This evaluation includes a summative statement that gives the overall impression of the article at the end, but this can also be placed at the beginning of the evaluation.

This evaluation mainly discusses the representation of data and methods. However, other areas, like organization, are open to critique.

How to Write an Article Review: Template & Examples

An article review is an academic assignment that invites you to study a piece of academic research closely. Then, you should present its summary and critically evaluate it using the knowledge you’ve gained in class and during your independent study. If you get such a task at college or university, you shouldn’t confuse it with a response paper, which is a distinct assignment with other purposes (we’ll talk about it in detail below).

In this article, prepared by Custom-Writing experts, you’ll find:

  • the intricacies of article review writing;
  • the difference between an article review and similar assignments;
  • a step-by-step algorithm for review composition;
  • a couple of samples to guide you throughout the writing process.

So, if you wish to study our article review example and discover helpful writing tips, keep reading.

❓ What Is an Article Review?

  • ✍️ Writing Steps

📑 Article Review Format

🔗 references.

An article review is an academic paper that summarizes and critically evaluates the information presented in your selected article.

This image shows what an article review is.

The first thing you should note when approaching the task of an article review is that not every article is suitable for this assignment. Let’s have a look at the variety of articles to understand what you can choose from.

Popular Vs. Scholarly Articles

In most cases, you’ll be required to review a scholarly, peer-reviewed article – one composed in compliance with rigorous academic standards. Yet, the Web is also full of popular articles that don’t present original scientific value and shouldn’t be selected for a review.

Not sure how to distinguish these two types? Here is a comparative table to help you out.

Article Review vs. Response Paper

Now, let’s consider the difference between an article review and a response paper:

  • If you’re assigned to critique a scholarly article , you will need to compose an article review .
  • If your subject of analysis is a popular article , you can respond to it with a well-crafted response paper .

The reason for such distinctions is the quality and structure of these two article types. Peer-reviewed, scholarly articles have clear-cut quality criteria, allowing you to conduct and present a structured assessment of the assigned material. Popular magazines have loose or non-existent quality criteria and don’t offer an opportunity for structured evaluation. So, they are only fit for a subjective response, in which you can summarize your reactions and emotions related to the reading material.

All in all, you can structure your response assignments as outlined in the tips below.

✍️ How to Write an Article Review: Step by Step

Here is a tried and tested algorithm for article review writing from our experts. We’ll consider only the critical review variety of this academic assignment. So, let’s get down to the stages you need to cover to get a stellar review.

Read the Article

As with any reviews, reports, and critiques, you must first familiarize yourself with the assigned material. It’s impossible to review something you haven’t read, so set some time for close, careful reading of the article to identify:

  • The author’s main points and message.
  • The arguments they use to prove their points.
  • The methodology they use to approach the subject.

In terms of research type , your article will usually belong to one of three types explained below.

Summarize the Article

Now that you’ve read the text and have a general impression of the content, it’s time to summarize it for your readers. Look into the article’s text closely to determine:

  • The thesis statement , or general message of the author.
  • Research question, purpose, and context of research.
  • Supporting points for the author’s assumptions and claims.
  • Major findings and supporting evidence.

As you study the article thoroughly, make notes on the margins or write these elements out on a sheet of paper. You can also apply a different technique: read the text section by section and formulate its gist in one phrase or sentence. Once you’re done, you’ll have a summary skeleton in front of you.

Evaluate the Article

The next step of review is content evaluation. Keep in mind that various research types will require a different set of review questions. Here is a complete list of evaluation points you can include.

Write the Text

After completing the critical review stage, it’s time to compose your article review.

The format of this assignment is standard – you will have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The introduction should present your article and summarize its content. The body will contain a structured review according to all four dimensions covered in the previous section. The concluding part will typically recap all the main points you’ve identified during your assessment.

It is essential to note that an article review is, first of all, an academic assignment. Therefore, it should follow all rules and conventions of academic composition, such as:

  • No contractions . Don’t use short forms, such as “don’t,” “can’t,” “I’ll,” etc. in academic writing. You need to spell out all those words.
  • Formal language and style . Avoid conversational phrasing and words that you would naturally use in blog posts or informal communication. For example, don’t use words like “pretty,” “kind of,” and “like.”
  • Third-person narrative . Academic reviews should be written from the third-person point of view, avoiding statements like “I think,” “in my opinion,” and so on.
  • No conversational forms . You shouldn’t turn to your readers directly in the text by addressing them with the pronoun “you.” It’s vital to keep the narrative neutral and impersonal.
  • Proper abbreviation use . Consult the list of correct abbreviations , like “e.g.” or “i.e.,” for use in your academic writing. If you use informal abbreviations like “FYA” or “f.i.,” your professor will reduce the grade.
  • Complete sentences . Make sure your sentences contain the subject and the predicate; avoid shortened or sketch-form phrases suitable for a draft only.
  • No conjunctions at the beginning of a sentence . Remember the FANBOYS rule – don’t start a sentence with words like “and” or “but.” They often seem the right way to build a coherent narrative, but academic writing rules disfavor such usage.
  • No abbreviations or figures at the beginning of a sentence . Never start a sentence with a number — spell it out if you need to use it anyway. Besides, sentences should never begin with abbreviations like “e.g.”

Finally, a vital rule for an article review is properly formatting the citations. We’ll discuss the correct use of citation styles in the following section.

When composing an article review, keep these points in mind:

  • Start with a full reference to the reviewed article so the reader can locate it quickly.
  • Ensure correct formatting of in-text references.
  • Provide a complete list of used external sources on the last page of the review – your bibliographical entries .

You’ll need to understand the rules of your chosen citation style to meet all these requirements. Below, we’ll discuss the two most common referencing styles – APA and MLA.

Article Review in APA

When you need to compose an article review in the APA format , here is the general bibliographical entry format you should use for journal articles on your reference page:

  • Author’s last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year of Publication). Name of the article. Name of the Journal, volume (number), pp. #-#. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy

Horigian, V. E., Schmidt, R. D., & Feaster, D. J. (2021). Loneliness, mental health, and substance use among US young adults during COVID-19. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 53 (1), pp. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2020.1836435

Your in-text citations should follow the author-date format like this:

  • If you paraphrase the source and mention the author in the text: According to Horigian et al. (2021), young adults experienced increased levels of loneliness, depression, and anxiety during the pandemic.
  • If you paraphrase the source and don’t mention the author in the text: Young adults experienced increased levels of loneliness, depression, and anxiety during the pandemic (Horigian et al., 2021).
  • If you quote the source: As Horigian et al. (2021) point out, there were “elevated levels of loneliness, depression, anxiety, alcohol use, and drug use among young adults during COVID-19” (p. 6).

Note that your in-text citations should include “et al.,” as in the examples above, if your article has 3 or more authors. If you have one or two authors, your in-text citations would look like this:

  • One author: “According to Smith (2020), depression is…” or “Depression is … (Smith, 2020).”
  • Two authors: “According to Smith and Brown (2020), anxiety means…” or “Anxiety means (Smith & Brown, 2020).”

Finally, in case you have to review a book or a website article, here are the general formats for citing these source types on your APA reference list.

Article Review in MLA

If your assignment requires MLA-format referencing, here’s the general format you should use for citing journal articles on your Works Cited page:

  • Author’s last name, First name. “Title of an Article.” Title of the Journal , vol. #, no. #, year, pp. #-#.

Horigian, Viviana E., et al. “Loneliness, Mental Health, and Substance Use Among US Young Adults During COVID-19.” Journal of Psychoactive Drugs , vol. 53, no. 1, 2021, pp. 1-9.

In-text citations in the MLA format follow the author-page citation format and look like this:

  • According to Horigian et al., young adults experienced increased levels of loneliness, depression, and anxiety during the pandemic (6).
  • Young adults experienced increased levels of loneliness, depression, and anxiety during the pandemic (Horigian et al. 6).

Like in APA, the abbreviation “et al.” is only needed in MLA if your article has 3 or more authors.

If you need to cite a book or a website page, here are the general MLA formats for these types of sources.

✅ Article Review Template

Here is a handy, universal article review template to help you move on with any review assignment. We’ve tried to make it as generic as possible to guide you in the academic process.

📝 Article Review Examples

The theory is good, but practice is even better. Thus, we’ve created three brief examples to show you how to write an article review. You can study the full-text samples by following the links.

📃 Men, Women, & Money  

This article review examines a famous piece, “Men, Women & Money – How the Sexes Differ with Their Finances,” published by Amy Livingston in 2020. The author of this article claims that men generally spend more money than women. She makes this conclusion from a close analysis of gender-specific expenditures across five main categories: food, clothing, cars, entertainment, and general spending patterns. Livingston also looks at men’s approach to saving to argue that counter to the common perception of women’s light-hearted attitude to money, men are those who spend more on average.

📃 When and Why Nationalism Beats Globalism

This is a review of Jonathan Heidt’s 2016 article titled “When and Why Nationalism Beats Globalism,” written as an advocacy of right-wing populism rising in many Western states. The author illustrates the case with the election of Donald Trump as the US President and the rise of right-wing rhetoric in many Western countries. These examples show how nationalist sentiment represents a reaction to global immigration and a failure of globalization.

📃 Sleep Deprivation  

This is a review of the American Heart Association’s article titled “The Dangers of Sleep Deprivation.” It discusses how the national organization concerned with the American population’s cardiovascular health links the lack of high-quality sleep to far-reaching health consequences. The organization’s experts reveal how a consistent lack of sleep leads to Alzheimer’s disease development, obesity, type 2 diabetes, etc.

✏️ Article Review FAQ

A high-quality article review should summarize the assigned article’s content and offer data-backed reactions and evaluations of its quality in terms of the article’s purpose, methodology, and data used to argue the main points. It should be detailed, comprehensive, objective, and evidence-based.

The purpose of writing a review is to allow students to reflect on research quality and showcase their critical thinking and evaluation skills. Students should exhibit their mastery of close reading of research publications and their unbiased assessment.

The content of your article review will be the same in any format, with the only difference in the assignment’s formatting before submission. Ensure you have a separate title page made according to APA standards and cite sources using the parenthetical author-date referencing format.

You need to take a closer look at various dimensions of an assigned article to compose a valuable review. Study the author’s object of analysis, the purpose of their research, the chosen method, data, and findings. Evaluate all these dimensions critically to see whether the author has achieved the initial goals. Finally, offer improvement recommendations to add a critique aspect to your paper.

  • Scientific Article Review: Duke University
  • Book and Article Reviews: William & Mary, Writing Resources Center
  • Sample Format for Reviewing a Journal Article: Boonshoft School of Medicine
  • Research Paper Review – Structure and Format Guidelines: New Jersey Institute of Technology
  • Article Review: University of Waterloo
  • Article Review: University of South Australia
  • How to Write a Journal Article Review: University of Newcastle Library Guides
  • Writing Help: The Article Review: Central Michigan University Libraries
  • Write a Critical Review of a Scientific Journal Article: McLaughlin Library
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By the time you're reading this, you've probably written at least a few term papers during your time in school, whether at the high school or college level, but now you're in your major courses and professors are saying that it's time to write a "Literature Review." If this is the first time you're hearing of a paper like this, you're not alone! Literature reviews can seem overwhelming, but they are doable. This guide will help you determine what a literature review is, how to structure your literature review, how to summarize a journal article, and where to find your peer-reviewed resources.

What is a Literature Review?

There is one major difference between the term papers you've written before and the literature review you're writing now: Goal of the final product.

Term papers are written to research a specific topic that you have an opinion on and, in a way, provide informaiton to prove that your opinion is the most accurate according to the supporting research. You'll often find that term papers include things like counterarguments and emotion-weighted words. These aren't bad things! They're very important to term papers! However, literature reviews have a different end-goal.

Literature reviews are written to do one thing and one thing only: Review the literature. If you have an opinion on your topic (which, hopefully, you do!), the literature review  is not  the time to talk about it. For a literature review, you're going over the research that has already been done to establish a baseline of knowledge between you and your reader. You're looking to figure out what the experts already know and what they haven't figured out yet (also referred to as "gaps in the literature"). You're summarizing articles and drawing connections between them; not much more and not much less.

How to Structure a Literature View

If your professor has already given you an outline, ignore this box completely, and follow your professor's provided outline!

If you're writing your literature review from a blank slate, you can choose what kind of structure you want your literature review to have:

  • Chronological = If you're writing about the history of a topic for your literature review, you can structure your review in such a way that indicates theory origins, early research, and more recent research and applications. For example, if you're researching applications for a theory like "Color Theory," then you may benefit most from a historical look from past to present.
  • Topical  = If your topic doesn't necessarily have a clear historical timeline or you're looking at a specific application of a theory, you'll likely need an outline that allows you to review topics of interest to your research. For example, if your topic is "Experiences of Hope in Religious Students," then you don't need to give a history; you only need to review current research that covers the topic you're looking for. Your topical outline may include headings like "Christianity and Experiences of Hope," "Buddhism and Experiences of Hope," etc.  or  "Elementary Students' Experiences of Hope," "Middle School Students' Experiences of Hope," etc.
  • Synthetic  = Honestly, don't pick this one unless you have to; this is the hardest kind of literature review to write, but is best if only a little bit of research has been done on your topic of interest. For example, if your topic is "Information seeking habits of squirrels on a college campus," not much research exists on this topic. Instead, you'll need to search for something like "how squirrels learn," "habits of squirrels on a college campus," and then combine (AKA synthesize) the information you found to draw conclusions where necessary. This is the most difficult structure because it requires advanced writing skills; this outline might be the right one if you're having trouble finding relevant resources to your topic, but talk to a librarian first, and see if we aren't able to help you find sources!

The structure you choose will determine how your outline is best set up; however, every outline should include both an introduction and a conclusion. Everything that's mentioned above is to help you figure out all the stuff in the middle.

Writing Your Conclusion & Introduction

Every term paper you've written up until now should have included an introduction and a conclusion, and your literature review is no different in that regard! Your conclusion will be the same as it has always been: A paragraph-ish summary of your paper, tying up all of your loose ends, and drawing any final conclusions for your reader. In literature reviews, your conclusion can (and should!) also include information on gaps in the literature; these are those areas or facets that very few people (or no one at all!) have researched yet. This is a great place to talk about where future research can go, including your current research that you're doing.

While your conclusion is still just a conclusion but with an extra flair, your introduction is likely to look a bit different than the ones you've written for past term papers. It's going to be much longer than 4-5 sentences, and it will include a great deal more in it. Here's something of an outline that you can consider for your introduction:

  • Hook (an attention-catching statement that gets your reader to actually read your paper)
  • Statistics (include any relevant statistics to your topic; consider things like how many people are affected by your topic)
  • Definitions (define any terms/phrases/keywords you'll be using throughout your paper; even if you already think your reader knows the definition of an academic term, define it anyway to make sure you and your reader are on the same page) [Note: Figuring out what terms to define might be a bit tricky at first. Start with any term that could have multiple interpretations. For example, if your paper is about "Experiences of Hope in Religious Students," you may find it best to define the terms "Hope" and "Religious/Religion" so your readers don't misunderstand.]
  • History (this is especially useful if you're doing a topical or synthetic outline, but it also applies to chronological; provide short biographical information, timelines, or key historical events to your topic.)
  • Theories/Approached (this may not apply to every literature review or every topic, but, in general, think about whether or not there is already a baseline idea that your topic is based off of and discuss the main tenants of that theory/approach [e.g. "Cognitive Behavioral Theory" or "Catholocism"].)
  • Thesis statement (avoid "I" and "You" statements like "In this paper, I am going to teach you about..." These statements aren't academic; if you need help formatting a thesis statement, you can visit the learning center on campus or reach out to writing center if you're online.)

Keep in mind that this is a generic/general outline. Your paper's introduction may include more (or even a little bit less!) than what's been listed here. It may be in a different order (maybe you define your terms and then give statistics). Not every introduction is going to look exactly the same, nor should they! As long as they give your reader the most basic understanding of what your paper discusses, you're well on your way to a passing literature review!

How to Summarize an Article

So we know now that a literature review, however it's structured, doesn't involve your own opinion. That leaves one major question: What  does  go in a literature review? What does "review the literature" actually mean? At the foundational level, what goes into a literature review are summaries of the peer-reviewed/scholarly/academic journal articles you find while researching. These summaries will help your readers understand what research already exists and how it applies to your theory or research topic. All you need to do after writing a summary is make the information connect by drawing bridges between articles, using transition statements (you can visit the Learning Center on campus or reach out to the Writing Center online if you need help with your writing and transitions), and pointing out agreements (or disagreements where appropriate!) in the research you're summarizing.

(Pro tip! Ever heard of an article abstract being referred to as that article's summary? The summaries you'll be writing and the article's abstract are pretty different. This means you can't just copy and paste an article's abstract into your paper. Not only is this not the right kind of summary your professor is looking for, this is also considered plagiarism. You can  read  an article abstract to help you figure out what might be important to your paper, but do not  copy  the abstract and paste it into your paper.)

Sounds simple enough, right? But if you've never summarized an article, how do you know what information to include? Our best recommendation is to use the following resource that was created and refined through a collaborative process between librarians and professors. This Journal Article Review Worksheet gives you step-by-step guidance on summarizing an article effectively and includes websites to help you determine key pieces of information like what kind of research you're looking at and how it can be used. After you've gotten all of your information into the worksheet, you can combine the aspects most important to your research/topic/theory into a 1-paragraph (sometimes 2-paragraph) summary that you'll be able to copy and paste into your literature review paper (don't forget to make your summary flow!).

  • Journal Article Review Worksheet Note: While this document focuses primarily on research in the behavioral sciences (e.g. psychology research articles), the information should be relatively generalizable to most research articles. If this document isn't helpful, you don't have to use it at all, but it may be a good idea to look it over to understand the broad concepts of article summary.

Where to Find Peer-Reviewed/Academic/Scholarly Journal Articles

Finding your resources should be a breeze with Nelson Memorial Library's variety of databases and FAQs on how to search them! We recommend starting at the guide that's been created and curated with your subject in mind. Remember to choose the subject guide that matches the topic you're researching most closely (i.e. don't use the psychology subject guide for theological research or vis versa).

  • Subject Guides

If you're having trouble figuring out how to use the databases you've found, check out our Library FAQs to see if we don't already have an answer for you!

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If all else fails and you're still having trouble doing your research, never fear: That's exactly why your librarians are here to help you! You can schedule an appointment with any librarian by using our online scheduling service.

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Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

  • Annotated Bibliography
  • Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article
  • Group Presentations
  • Dealing with Nervousness
  • Using Visual Aids
  • Grading Someone Else's Paper
  • Types of Structured Group Activities
  • Group Project Survival Skills
  • Leading a Class Discussion
  • Multiple Book Review Essay
  • Reviewing Collected Works
  • Writing a Case Analysis Paper
  • Writing a Case Study
  • About Informed Consent
  • Writing Field Notes
  • Writing a Policy Memo
  • Writing a Reflective Paper
  • Writing a Research Proposal
  • Generative AI and Writing
  • Acknowledgments

Definition and Introduction

Journal article analysis assignments require you to summarize and critically assess the quality of an empirical research study published in a scholarly [a.k.a., academic, peer-reviewed] journal. The article may be assigned by the professor, chosen from course readings listed in the syllabus, or you must locate an article on your own, usually with the requirement that you search using a reputable library database, such as, JSTOR or ProQuest . The article chosen is expected to relate to the overall discipline of the course, specific course content, or key concepts discussed in class. In some cases, the purpose of the assignment is to analyze an article that is part of the literature review for a future research project.

Analysis of an article can be assigned to students individually or as part of a small group project. The final product is usually in the form of a short paper [typically 1- 6 double-spaced pages] that addresses key questions the professor uses to guide your analysis or that assesses specific parts of a scholarly research study [e.g., the research problem, methodology, discussion, conclusions or findings]. The analysis paper may be shared on a digital course management platform and/or presented to the class for the purpose of promoting a wider discussion about the topic of the study. Although assigned in any level of undergraduate and graduate coursework in the social and behavioral sciences, professors frequently include this assignment in upper division courses to help students learn how to effectively identify, read, and analyze empirical research within their major.

Franco, Josue. “Introducing the Analysis of Journal Articles.” Prepared for presentation at the American Political Science Association’s 2020 Teaching and Learning Conference, February 7-9, 2020, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Sego, Sandra A. and Anne E. Stuart. "Learning to Read Empirical Articles in General Psychology." Teaching of Psychology 43 (2016): 38-42; Kershaw, Trina C., Jordan P. Lippman, and Jennifer Fugate. "Practice Makes Proficient: Teaching Undergraduate Students to Understand Published Research." Instructional Science 46 (2018): 921-946; Woodward-Kron, Robyn. "Critical Analysis and the Journal Article Review Assignment." Prospect 18 (August 2003): 20-36; MacMillan, Margy and Allison MacKenzie. "Strategies for Integrating Information Literacy and Academic Literacy: Helping Undergraduate Students make the most of Scholarly Articles." Library Management 33 (2012): 525-535.

Benefits of Journal Article Analysis Assignments

Analyzing and synthesizing a scholarly journal article is intended to help students obtain the reading and critical thinking skills needed to develop and write their own research papers. This assignment also supports workplace skills where you could be asked to summarize a report or other type of document and report it, for example, during a staff meeting or for a presentation.

There are two broadly defined ways that analyzing a scholarly journal article supports student learning:

Improve Reading Skills

Conducting research requires an ability to review, evaluate, and synthesize prior research studies. Reading prior research requires an understanding of the academic writing style , the type of epistemological beliefs or practices underpinning the research design, and the specific vocabulary and technical terminology [i.e., jargon] used within a discipline. Reading scholarly articles is important because academic writing is unfamiliar to most students; they have had limited exposure to using peer-reviewed journal articles prior to entering college or students have yet to gain exposure to the specific academic writing style of their disciplinary major. Learning how to read scholarly articles also requires careful and deliberate concentration on how authors use specific language and phrasing to convey their research, the problem it addresses, its relationship to prior research, its significance, its limitations, and how authors connect methods of data gathering to the results so as to develop recommended solutions derived from the overall research process.

Improve Comprehension Skills

In addition to knowing how to read scholarly journals articles, students must learn how to effectively interpret what the scholar(s) are trying to convey. Academic writing can be dense, multi-layered, and non-linear in how information is presented. In addition, scholarly articles contain footnotes or endnotes, references to sources, multiple appendices, and, in some cases, non-textual elements [e.g., graphs, charts] that can break-up the reader’s experience with the narrative flow of the study. Analyzing articles helps students practice comprehending these elements of writing, critiquing the arguments being made, reflecting upon the significance of the research, and how it relates to building new knowledge and understanding or applying new approaches to practice. Comprehending scholarly writing also involves thinking critically about where you fit within the overall dialogue among scholars concerning the research problem, finding possible gaps in the research that require further analysis, or identifying where the author(s) has failed to examine fully any specific elements of the study.

In addition, journal article analysis assignments are used by professors to strengthen discipline-specific information literacy skills, either alone or in relation to other tasks, such as, giving a class presentation or participating in a group project. These benefits can include the ability to:

  • Effectively paraphrase text, which leads to a more thorough understanding of the overall study;
  • Identify and describe strengths and weaknesses of the study and their implications;
  • Relate the article to other course readings and in relation to particular research concepts or ideas discussed during class;
  • Think critically about the research and summarize complex ideas contained within;
  • Plan, organize, and write an effective inquiry-based paper that investigates a research study, evaluates evidence, expounds on the author’s main ideas, and presents an argument concerning the significance and impact of the research in a clear and concise manner;
  • Model the type of source summary and critique you should do for any college-level research paper; and,
  • Increase interest and engagement with the research problem of the study as well as with the discipline.

Kershaw, Trina C., Jennifer Fugate, and Aminda J. O'Hare. "Teaching Undergraduates to Understand Published Research through Structured Practice in Identifying Key Research Concepts." Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology . Advance online publication, 2020; Franco, Josue. “Introducing the Analysis of Journal Articles.” Prepared for presentation at the American Political Science Association’s 2020 Teaching and Learning Conference, February 7-9, 2020, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Sego, Sandra A. and Anne E. Stuart. "Learning to Read Empirical Articles in General Psychology." Teaching of Psychology 43 (2016): 38-42; Woodward-Kron, Robyn. "Critical Analysis and the Journal Article Review Assignment." Prospect 18 (August 2003): 20-36; MacMillan, Margy and Allison MacKenzie. "Strategies for Integrating Information Literacy and Academic Literacy: Helping Undergraduate Students make the most of Scholarly Articles." Library Management 33 (2012): 525-535; Kershaw, Trina C., Jordan P. Lippman, and Jennifer Fugate. "Practice Makes Proficient: Teaching Undergraduate Students to Understand Published Research." Instructional Science 46 (2018): 921-946.

Structure and Organization

A journal article analysis paper should be written in paragraph format and include an instruction to the study, your analysis of the research, and a conclusion that provides an overall assessment of the author's work, along with an explanation of what you believe is the study's overall impact and significance. Unless the purpose of the assignment is to examine foundational studies published many years ago, you should select articles that have been published relatively recently [e.g., within the past few years].

Since the research has been completed, reference to the study in your paper should be written in the past tense, with your analysis stated in the present tense [e.g., “The author portrayed access to health care services in rural areas as primarily a problem of having reliable transportation. However, I believe the author is overgeneralizing this issue because...”].

Introduction Section

The first section of a journal analysis paper should describe the topic of the article and highlight the author’s main points. This includes describing the research problem and theoretical framework, the rationale for the research, the methods of data gathering and analysis, the key findings, and the author’s final conclusions and recommendations. The narrative should focus on the act of describing rather than analyzing. Think of the introduction as a more comprehensive and detailed descriptive abstract of the study.

Possible questions to help guide your writing of the introduction section may include:

  • Who are the authors and what credentials do they hold that contributes to the validity of the study?
  • What was the research problem being investigated?
  • What type of research design was used to investigate the research problem?
  • What theoretical idea(s) and/or research questions were used to address the problem?
  • What was the source of the data or information used as evidence for analysis?
  • What methods were applied to investigate this evidence?
  • What were the author's overall conclusions and key findings?

Critical Analysis Section

The second section of a journal analysis paper should describe the strengths and weaknesses of the study and analyze its significance and impact. This section is where you shift the narrative from describing to analyzing. Think critically about the research in relation to other course readings, what has been discussed in class, or based on your own life experiences. If you are struggling to identify any weaknesses, explain why you believe this to be true. However, no study is perfect, regardless of how laudable its design may be. Given this, think about the repercussions of the choices made by the author(s) and how you might have conducted the study differently. Examples can include contemplating the choice of what sources were included or excluded in support of examining the research problem, the choice of the method used to analyze the data, or the choice to highlight specific recommended courses of action and/or implications for practice over others. Another strategy is to place yourself within the research study itself by thinking reflectively about what may be missing if you had been a participant in the study or if the recommended courses of action specifically targeted you or your community.

Possible questions to help guide your writing of the analysis section may include:

Introduction

  • Did the author clearly state the problem being investigated?
  • What was your reaction to and perspective on the research problem?
  • Was the study’s objective clearly stated? Did the author clearly explain why the study was necessary?
  • How well did the introduction frame the scope of the study?
  • Did the introduction conclude with a clear purpose statement?

Literature Review

  • Did the literature review lay a foundation for understanding the significance of the research problem?
  • Did the literature review provide enough background information to understand the problem in relation to relevant contexts [e.g., historical, economic, social, cultural, etc.].
  • Did literature review effectively place the study within the domain of prior research? Is anything missing?
  • Was the literature review organized by conceptual categories or did the author simply list and describe sources?
  • Did the author accurately explain how the data or information were collected?
  • Was the data used sufficient in supporting the study of the research problem?
  • Was there another methodological approach that could have been more illuminating?
  • Give your overall evaluation of the methods used in this article. How much trust would you put in generating relevant findings?

Results and Discussion

  • Were the results clearly presented?
  • Did you feel that the results support the theoretical and interpretive claims of the author? Why?
  • What did the author(s) do especially well in describing or analyzing their results?
  • Was the author's evaluation of the findings clearly stated?
  • How well did the discussion of the results relate to what is already known about the research problem?
  • Was the discussion of the results free of repetition and redundancies?
  • What interpretations did the authors make that you think are in incomplete, unwarranted, or overstated?
  • Did the conclusion effectively capture the main points of study?
  • Did the conclusion address the research questions posed? Do they seem reasonable?
  • Were the author’s conclusions consistent with the evidence and arguments presented?
  • Has the author explained how the research added new knowledge or understanding?

Overall Writing Style

  • If the article included tables, figures, or other non-textual elements, did they contribute to understanding the study?
  • Were ideas developed and related in a logical sequence?
  • Were transitions between sections of the article smooth and easy to follow?

Overall Evaluation Section

The final section of a journal analysis paper should bring your thoughts together into a coherent assessment of the value of the research study . This section is where the narrative flow transitions from analyzing specific elements of the article to critically evaluating the overall study. Explain what you view as the significance of the research in relation to the overall course content and any relevant discussions that occurred during class. Think about how the article contributes to understanding the overall research problem, how it fits within existing literature on the topic, how it relates to the course, and what it means to you as a student researcher. In some cases, your professor will also ask you to describe your experiences writing the journal article analysis paper as part of a reflective learning exercise.

Possible questions to help guide your writing of the conclusion and evaluation section may include:

  • Was the structure of the article clear and well organized?
  • Was the topic of current or enduring interest to you?
  • What were the main weaknesses of the article? [this does not refer to limitations stated by the author, but what you believe are potential flaws]
  • Was any of the information in the article unclear or ambiguous?
  • What did you learn from the research? If nothing stood out to you, explain why.
  • Assess the originality of the research. Did you believe it contributed new understanding of the research problem?
  • Were you persuaded by the author’s arguments?
  • If the author made any final recommendations, will they be impactful if applied to practice?
  • In what ways could future research build off of this study?
  • What implications does the study have for daily life?
  • Was the use of non-textual elements, footnotes or endnotes, and/or appendices helpful in understanding the research?
  • What lingering questions do you have after analyzing the article?

NOTE: Avoid using quotes. One of the main purposes of writing an article analysis paper is to learn how to effectively paraphrase and use your own words to summarize a scholarly research study and to explain what the research means to you. Using and citing a direct quote from the article should only be done to help emphasize a key point or to underscore an important concept or idea.

Business: The Article Analysis . Fred Meijer Center for Writing, Grand Valley State University; Bachiochi, Peter et al. "Using Empirical Article Analysis to Assess Research Methods Courses." Teaching of Psychology 38 (2011): 5-9; Brosowsky, Nicholaus P. et al. “Teaching Undergraduate Students to Read Empirical Articles: An Evaluation and Revision of the QALMRI Method.” PsyArXi Preprints , 2020; Holster, Kristin. “Article Evaluation Assignment”. TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology . Washington DC: American Sociological Association, 2016; Kershaw, Trina C., Jennifer Fugate, and Aminda J. O'Hare. "Teaching Undergraduates to Understand Published Research through Structured Practice in Identifying Key Research Concepts." Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology . Advance online publication, 2020; Franco, Josue. “Introducing the Analysis of Journal Articles.” Prepared for presentation at the American Political Science Association’s 2020 Teaching and Learning Conference, February 7-9, 2020, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Reviewer's Guide . SAGE Reviewer Gateway, SAGE Journals; Sego, Sandra A. and Anne E. Stuart. "Learning to Read Empirical Articles in General Psychology." Teaching of Psychology 43 (2016): 38-42; Kershaw, Trina C., Jordan P. Lippman, and Jennifer Fugate. "Practice Makes Proficient: Teaching Undergraduate Students to Understand Published Research." Instructional Science 46 (2018): 921-946; Gyuris, Emma, and Laura Castell. "To Tell Them or Show Them? How to Improve Science Students’ Skills of Critical Reading." International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education 21 (2013): 70-80; Woodward-Kron, Robyn. "Critical Analysis and the Journal Article Review Assignment." Prospect 18 (August 2003): 20-36; MacMillan, Margy and Allison MacKenzie. "Strategies for Integrating Information Literacy and Academic Literacy: Helping Undergraduate Students Make the Most of Scholarly Articles." Library Management 33 (2012): 525-535.

Writing Tip

Not All Scholarly Journal Articles Can Be Critically Analyzed

There are a variety of articles published in scholarly journals that do not fit within the guidelines of an article analysis assignment. This is because the work cannot be empirically examined or it does not generate new knowledge in a way which can be critically analyzed.

If you are required to locate a research study on your own, avoid selecting these types of journal articles:

  • Theoretical essays which discuss concepts, assumptions, and propositions, but report no empirical research;
  • Statistical or methodological papers that may analyze data, but the bulk of the work is devoted to refining a new measurement, statistical technique, or modeling procedure;
  • Articles that review, analyze, critique, and synthesize prior research, but do not report any original research;
  • Brief essays devoted to research methods and findings;
  • Articles written by scholars in popular magazines or industry trade journals;
  • Pre-print articles that have been posted online, but may undergo further editing and revision by the journal's editorial staff before final publication; and
  • Academic commentary that discusses research trends or emerging concepts and ideas, but does not contain citations to sources.

Journal Analysis Assignment - Myers . Writing@CSU, Colorado State University; Franco, Josue. “Introducing the Analysis of Journal Articles.” Prepared for presentation at the American Political Science Association’s 2020 Teaching and Learning Conference, February 7-9, 2020, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Woodward-Kron, Robyn. "Critical Analysis and the Journal Article Review Assignment." Prospect 18 (August 2003): 20-36.

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How to Write a Peer Review

journal article review worksheet

When you write a peer review for a manuscript, what should you include in your comments? What should you leave out? And how should the review be formatted?

This guide provides quick tips for writing and organizing your reviewer report.

Review Outline

Use an outline for your reviewer report so it’s easy for the editors and author to follow. This will also help you keep your comments organized.

Think about structuring your review like an inverted pyramid. Put the most important information at the top, followed by details and examples in the center, and any additional points at the very bottom.

journal article review worksheet

Here’s how your outline might look:

1. Summary of the research and your overall impression

In your own words, summarize what the manuscript claims to report. This shows the editor how you interpreted the manuscript and will highlight any major differences in perspective between you and the other reviewers. Give an overview of the manuscript’s strengths and weaknesses. Think about this as your “take-home” message for the editors. End this section with your recommended course of action.

2. Discussion of specific areas for improvement

It’s helpful to divide this section into two parts: one for major issues and one for minor issues. Within each section, you can talk about the biggest issues first or go systematically figure-by-figure or claim-by-claim. Number each item so that your points are easy to follow (this will also make it easier for the authors to respond to each point). Refer to specific lines, pages, sections, or figure and table numbers so the authors (and editors) know exactly what you’re talking about.

Major vs. minor issues

What’s the difference between a major and minor issue? Major issues should consist of the essential points the authors need to address before the manuscript can proceed. Make sure you focus on what is  fundamental for the current study . In other words, it’s not helpful to recommend additional work that would be considered the “next step” in the study. Minor issues are still important but typically will not affect the overall conclusions of the manuscript. Here are some examples of what would might go in the “minor” category:

  • Missing references (but depending on what is missing, this could also be a major issue)
  • Technical clarifications (e.g., the authors should clarify how a reagent works)
  • Data presentation (e.g., the authors should present p-values differently)
  • Typos, spelling, grammar, and phrasing issues

3. Any other points

Confidential comments for the editors.

Some journals have a space for reviewers to enter confidential comments about the manuscript. Use this space to mention concerns about the submission that you’d want the editors to consider before sharing your feedback with the authors, such as concerns about ethical guidelines or language quality. Any serious issues should be raised directly and immediately with the journal as well.

This section is also where you will disclose any potentially competing interests, and mention whether you’re willing to look at a revised version of the manuscript.

Do not use this space to critique the manuscript, since comments entered here will not be passed along to the authors.  If you’re not sure what should go in the confidential comments, read the reviewer instructions or check with the journal first before submitting your review. If you are reviewing for a journal that does not offer a space for confidential comments, consider writing to the editorial office directly with your concerns.

Get this outline in a template

Giving Feedback

Giving feedback is hard. Giving effective feedback can be even more challenging. Remember that your ultimate goal is to discuss what the authors would need to do in order to qualify for publication. The point is not to nitpick every piece of the manuscript. Your focus should be on providing constructive and critical feedback that the authors can use to improve their study.

If you’ve ever had your own work reviewed, you already know that it’s not always easy to receive feedback. Follow the golden rule: Write the type of review you’d want to receive if you were the author. Even if you decide not to identify yourself in the review, you should write comments that you would be comfortable signing your name to.

In your comments, use phrases like “ the authors’ discussion of X” instead of “ your discussion of X .” This will depersonalize the feedback and keep the focus on the manuscript instead of the authors.

General guidelines for effective feedback

journal article review worksheet

  • Justify your recommendation with concrete evidence and specific examples.
  • Be specific so the authors know what they need to do to improve.
  • Be thorough. This might be the only time you read the manuscript.
  • Be professional and respectful. The authors will be reading these comments too.
  • Remember to say what you liked about the manuscript!

journal article review worksheet

Don’t

  • Recommend additional experiments or  unnecessary elements that are out of scope for the study or for the journal criteria.
  • Tell the authors exactly how to revise their manuscript—you don’t need to do their work for them.
  • Use the review to promote your own research or hypotheses.
  • Focus on typos and grammar. If the manuscript needs significant editing for language and writing quality, just mention this in your comments.
  • Submit your review without proofreading it and checking everything one more time.

Before and After: Sample Reviewer Comments

Keeping in mind the guidelines above, how do you put your thoughts into words? Here are some sample “before” and “after” reviewer comments

✗ Before

“The authors appear to have no idea what they are talking about. I don’t think they have read any of the literature on this topic.”

✓ After

“The study fails to address how the findings relate to previous research in this area. The authors should rewrite their Introduction and Discussion to reference the related literature, especially recently published work such as Darwin et al.”

“The writing is so bad, it is practically unreadable. I could barely bring myself to finish it.”

“While the study appears to be sound, the language is unclear, making it difficult to follow. I advise the authors work with a writing coach or copyeditor to improve the flow and readability of the text.”

“It’s obvious that this type of experiment should have been included. I have no idea why the authors didn’t use it. This is a big mistake.”

“The authors are off to a good start, however, this study requires additional experiments, particularly [type of experiment]. Alternatively, the authors should include more information that clarifies and justifies their choice of methods.”

Suggested Language for Tricky Situations

You might find yourself in a situation where you’re not sure how to explain the problem or provide feedback in a constructive and respectful way. Here is some suggested language for common issues you might experience.

What you think : The manuscript is fatally flawed. What you could say: “The study does not appear to be sound” or “the authors have missed something crucial”.

What you think : You don’t completely understand the manuscript. What you could say : “The authors should clarify the following sections to avoid confusion…”

What you think : The technical details don’t make sense. What you could say : “The technical details should be expanded and clarified to ensure that readers understand exactly what the researchers studied.”

What you think: The writing is terrible. What you could say : “The authors should revise the language to improve readability.”

What you think : The authors have over-interpreted the findings. What you could say : “The authors aim to demonstrate [XYZ], however, the data does not fully support this conclusion. Specifically…”

What does a good review look like?

Check out the peer review examples at F1000 Research to see how other reviewers write up their reports and give constructive feedback to authors.

Time to Submit the Review!

Be sure you turn in your report on time. Need an extension? Tell the journal so that they know what to expect. If you need a lot of extra time, the journal might need to contact other reviewers or notify the author about the delay.

Tip: Building a relationship with an editor

You’ll be more likely to be asked to review again if you provide high-quality feedback and if you turn in the review on time. Especially if it’s your first review for a journal, it’s important to show that you are reliable. Prove yourself once and you’ll get asked to review again!

  • Getting started as a reviewer
  • Responding to an invitation
  • Reading a manuscript
  • Writing a peer review

The contents of the Peer Review Center are also available as a live, interactive training session, complete with slides, talking points, and activities. …

The contents of the Writing Center are also available as a live, interactive training session, complete with slides, talking points, and activities. …

There’s a lot to consider when deciding where to submit your work. Learn how to choose a journal that will help your study reach its audience, while reflecting your values as a researcher…

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Write a Critical Review of a Scientific Journal Article

What is a scientific journal, what is a critical review, more help with science writing.

  • Analyzing the Text
  • Writing Your Critique

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A scientific journal is a publication intended to further the progress of scientific discovery by reporting novel research. Scientific journals publish both original research articles and review articles.

A critical review is an assessment of an original research article.  Writing a critical review of a journal article can help you improve your research skills. By assessing the work of others, you develop skills as a critical reader and become familiar with the types of evaluation criteria that will be applied to research in your field.

You are expected to read the article carefully, analyze it, and evaluate the quality and originality of the research, as well as its relevance and presentation. You should assess its strengths and weaknesses, followed by its overall value.

  • Do not be confused by the term critique: it does not mean that you only look at the negative aspects of what the researchers have done. You should address both the positive and negative aspects of the journal article.
  • If your instructor has given you specific advice on how to write a critical review, follow that advice. If not, the following steps may help you. 

This guide is divided into two parts. The first part, "Analyzing the Text," outlines the steps involved in evaluating a research article. The second part, "Writing Your Critique," discusses two possible ways to structure your review.​

  • Developing a Research Question + Worksheet Use this worksheet to develop, assess, and refine your research questions. There is also a downloadable PDF version.
  • Research Article Mapping Template This workbook provides writers with a mapping template and fillable worksheets to begin organizing and drafting sections of a research article.
  • Organizing your Research Proposal - Template This 6-page fillable pdf handout provides writers with a template to begin outlining sections of their own research proposal.
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Critical Appraisal tools

Critical appraisal worksheets to help you appraise the reliability, importance and applicability of clinical evidence.

Critical appraisal is the systematic evaluation of clinical research papers in order to establish:

  • Does this study address a  clearly focused question ?
  • Did the study use valid methods to address this question?
  • Are the valid results of this study important?
  • Are these valid, important results applicable to my patient or population?

If the answer to any of these questions is “no”, you can save yourself the trouble of reading the rest of it.

This section contains useful tools and downloads for the critical appraisal of different types of medical evidence. Example appraisal sheets are provided together with several helpful examples.

Critical Appraisal Worksheets

  • Systematic Reviews  Critical Appraisal Sheet
  • Diagnostics  Critical Appraisal Sheet
  • Prognosis  Critical Appraisal Sheet
  • Randomised Controlled Trials  (RCT) Critical Appraisal Sheet
  • Critical Appraisal of Qualitative Studies  Sheet
  • IPD Review  Sheet

Chinese - translated by Chung-Han Yang and Shih-Chieh Shao

  • Systematic Reviews  Critical Appraisal Sheet
  • Diagnostic Study  Critical Appraisal Sheet
  • Prognostic Critical Appraisal Sheet
  • RCT  Critical Appraisal Sheet
  • IPD reviews Critical Appraisal Sheet
  • Qualitative Studies Critical Appraisal Sheet 

German - translated by Johannes Pohl and Martin Sadilek

  • Systematic Review  Critical Appraisal Sheet
  • Diagnosis Critical Appraisal Sheet
  • Prognosis Critical Appraisal Sheet
  • Therapy / RCT Critical Appraisal Sheet

Lithuanian - translated by Tumas Beinortas

  • Systematic review appraisal Lithuanian (PDF)
  • Diagnostic accuracy appraisal Lithuanian  (PDF)
  • Prognostic study appraisal Lithuanian  (PDF)
  • RCT appraisal sheets Lithuanian  (PDF)

Portugese - translated by Enderson Miranda, Rachel Riera and Luis Eduardo Fontes

  • Portuguese – Systematic Review Study Appraisal Worksheet
  • Portuguese – Diagnostic Study Appraisal Worksheet
  • Portuguese – Prognostic Study Appraisal Worksheet
  • Portuguese – RCT Study Appraisal Worksheet
  • Portuguese – Systematic Review Evaluation of Individual Participant Data Worksheet
  • Portuguese – Qualitative Studies Evaluation Worksheet

Spanish - translated by Ana Cristina Castro

  • Systematic Review  (PDF)
  • Diagnosis  (PDF)
  • Prognosis  Spanish Translation (PDF)
  • Therapy / RCT  Spanish Translation (PDF)

Persian - translated by Ahmad Sofi Mahmudi

  • Prognosis  (PDF)
  • PICO  Critical Appraisal Sheet (PDF)
  • PICO Critical Appraisal Sheet (MS-Word)
  • Educational Prescription  Critical Appraisal Sheet (PDF)

Explanations & Examples

  • Pre-test probability
  • SpPin and SnNout
  • Likelihood Ratios

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A step-by-step guide to peer review: a template for patients and novice reviewers

1 General Medicine and Primary Care, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Charlotte Blease

2 Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

3 Harvard Medical School

While relatively novel, patient peer review has the potential to change the healthcare publishing paradigm. It can do this by helping researchers enlarge the pool of people who are welcome to read, understand and participate in healthcare research. Academic journals who are early adopters of patient peer review have already committed to placing a priority on using person-centred language in publicly available abstracts and focusing on translational and practical research.

A wide body of literature has shown that including people with lived experiences in a truly meaningful way can improve the quality and efficiency of health research. Traditionally considered only as ‘subjects’ of research, over the last 10–15 years, patients and care partners have increasingly been invited to contribute to the design and conduct of studies. Established institutions are increasingly recognising the distinctive expertise patients possess—many patients have acquired deep insights about their conditions, symptoms, medical treatments and quality of healthcare delivery. Among some funders, including the views of patients is now a requirement to ensure research proposals are meaningful to persons with the lived experience of illness. Further illustrating these developments, patients are now involved in reviewing and making recommendations as part of funding institutions, setting research agendas and priorities, being funded for and leading their own research and leading or coauthoring scholarly publications, and are now participating in the peer review process for academic journals. 1–5 Patients offer an outsider’s perspective within mainstream healthcare: they have fewer institutional, professional or social allegiances and conflicts of interest—factors recognised as compromising the quality of research. Patient involvement is essential to move away from rhetorical commitments to embrace a truly patient-centred healthcare ecosystem where everyone has a place at the table.

As people with lived health experiences climb a ladder of engagement in patient–researcher partnerships, they may be asked to act as peer reviewers of academic manuscripts. However, many of these individuals do not hold professional training in medicine, healthcare or science and have never encountered the peer review process. Little guidance exists for patients and care partners tasked with reviewing and providing input on manuscripts in search of publication.

In conversation, however, even experienced researchers confess that learning how to peer review is part of a hidden curriculum in academia—a skill outlined by no formal means but rather learnt by mimicry. 6 As such, as they learn the process, novices may pick up bad habits. In the case of peer review, learning is the result of reading large numbers of academic papers, occasional conversations with mentors or commonly “trial by fire” experienced via reviewer comments to their own submissions. Patient reviewers are rarely exposed to these experiences and can be at a loss for where to begin. As a result, some may forgo opportunities to provide valuable and highly insightful feedback on research publications. Although some journals are highly specific about how reviewers should structure their feedback, many publications—including top-tier medical journals—assume that all reviewers will know how to construct responses. Only a few forward-thinking journals actively seeking peer review from people with lived health experiences currently point to review tips designed for experienced professionals. 7

As people with lived health experiences are increasingly invited to participate in peer review, it is essential that they be supported in this process. The peer review template for patients and novice reviewers ( table 1 ) is a series of steps designed to create a workflow for the main components of peer review. A structured workflow can help a reviewer organise their thoughts and create space to engage in critical thinking. The template is a starting point for anyone new to peer review, and it should be modified, adapted and built on for individual preferences and unique journal requirements. Peer reviews are commonly submitted via website portals, which vary widely in design and functionality; as such, reviewers are encouraged to decide how to best use the template on a case-by-case basis. Journals may require reviewers to copy and paste responses from the template into a journal website or upload a clean copy of the template as an attachment. Note: If uploading the review as an attachment, remember to remove the template examples and writing prompts .

Peer review template for patients and other novice reviewers

It is important to point out that patient reviewers are not alone in facing challenges and a steep learning curve in performing peer review. Many health research agendas and, as a result, publications straddle disciplines, requiring peer reviewers with complementary expertise and training. Some experts may be highly equipped to critique particular aspects of research papers while unsuited to comment on other parts. Curiously, however, it is seldom a requirement that invited peer reviewers admit their own limitations to comment on different dimensions of papers. Relatedly, while we do not suggest that all patient peer reviewers will be equipped to critique every aspect of submitted manuscripts—though some may be fully competent to do so—we suggest that candour about limitations of expertise would also benefit the broader research community.

As novice reviewers gain experience, they may find themselves solicited for a growing number of reviews, much like their more experienced counterparts or mentors. 8 Serving as a patient or care partner reviewer can be a rewarding form of advocacy and will be crucial to harnessing the feedback and expertise of persons with lived health experiences. As we move into a future where online searches for information are a ubiquitous first step in searching for answers to health-related questions, patient and novice reviewers may become the much-needed link between academia and the lay public.

Acknowledgments

LS thanks the experienced and novice reviewers who encouraged her to publish this template.

Twitter: @TheLizArmy, @@crblease

Contributors: Both authors contributed substantially to the manuscript. LS conceived the idea and design and drafted the text. CB refined the idea and critically revised the text.

Funding: The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Competing interests: The authors have read and understood the BMJ policy on declaration of interests and declare the following interests: LS is a member of the BMJ Patient Advisory Panel, serves as a BMJ patient reviewer and is an ad hoc patient reviewer for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute; CB is a Keane OpenNotes scholar; both LS and CB work on OpenNotes, a philanthropically funded research initiative focused on improving transparency in healthcare.

Provenance and peer review: Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

Ethics statements

Patient consent for publication.

Not required.

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Understanding and Evaluating Research: A Critical Guide

Student resources, worksheet for critiquing a journal article.

This site is intended to enhance your use of  Understanding and Evaluating Research: A Critical Guide  by Sue L. T. McGregor. Please note the resources on this site are especially geared toward maximizing your understanding of the material.

An editable version of the Appendix,  "Worksheet for Critiquing a Journal Article or Research Report,"  is available for download below.

›   Worksheet

Learning Center

Note-Taking Template for Journal Articles

Download the Word Document: Note Taking Template for Journal Articles Word Document Download the PDF: Note Taking Template for Journal Articles PDF

Use this worksheet to help you take notes and learn important content in journal articles.

The note taking document that features a column listing the sections of a scientific article on the left with another column for notes on each on the right.

REMEMBER: The  UNC Learning Center  is a great resource! Both  Peer Tutoring  and  Academic Coaching  can help you create a balanced approach to succeeding at Carolina. Our friendly staff is ready to help – drop by or make an appointment!

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Article review writing format, steps, examples and illustration PDF Compiled by Mohammed Yismaw

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2021, Article review writing format, steps, examples and illustration PDF Compiled by Mohammed Yismaw

The purpose of this document is to help students and researchers understand how a review of an academic journal is conducted and reported in different fields of study. Review articles in academic journals that analyze or discuss researches previously published by others, rather than reporting new research results or findings. Summaries and critiques are two ways to write a review of a scientific journal article. Both types of writing ask you first to read and understand an article from the primary literature about your topic. The summary involves briefly but accurately stating the key points of the article for a reader who has not read the original article. The critique begins by summarizing the article and then analyzes and evaluates the author’s research. Summaries and critiques help you learn to synthesize information from different sources and are usually limited to two pages maximum.

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Firms tap into user knowledge to learn about the users’ needs. While users have been recognized as a valuable source of knowledge for innovation, few studies have investigated how their knowledge is integrated into innovation processes in the context of complex products and systems (CoPS). The purpose of this study is to reveal the practices of CoPS manufacturers to facilitate user knowledge utilization for innovation. We investigate two case companies, a medical device manufacturer and an aircraft manufacturer, and report on seven managerial practices for utilizing user knowledge. We adopt the absorptive capacity model in structuring our findings and elaborate three of the model's sub-capabilities (recognition of the value of user knowledge, acquisition of user knowledge, and assimilation/transformation of user knowledge) by proposing that each is associated with a distinct managerial goal and related practices: (1) Sensitizing the organization to the innovation potential of user knowledge, (2) identifying and gaining access to suitable user knowledge, and (3) analyzing and interpreting user knowledge and integrating it into product development. Our study contributes to the innovation management literature by analyzing the capabilities required to utilize user knowledge throughout the CoPS innovation process.

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Intersession hours Jan. 3-11. The Libraries are open daily during intersession. Get more details.

Evidence-based Decision Making (EBDM) and Journal Club Guide

  • Introduction
  • Evidence-based Decision Making (EBDM) Resources
  • MEDLINE, PubMed, PubMedCentral, OvidSP, and MedlinePlus
  • Guidance on How to Run a Journal Club

Guides and Templates for Leaders of Journal Clubs

  • Template from the Cochrane Library on Leading a Journal Club Wonderful template from the Cochrane Library that walks you through all the steps necessary to lead a journal club session.
  • Suggestions for Leading a Journal Club Tom Newman originally wrote this article in 2007 to help UCSF "Senior Consulting Residents" in the Pediatric Clinic to lead a successful monthly journal club.

Articles about Running Successful Journal Clubs

Deenadayalan Y, Grimmer-Somers K, Prior M, & Kumar S. (2008).  How to run an effective journal club: a systematic review.   J Eval Clin Pract, 14 (5), 898-911. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2008.01050.x

Eusuf D, Shelton C. (2022). Establishing and sustaining an effective journal club . BJA Educ , 22(2):40-42. doi: 10.1016/j.bjae.2021.11.001. 

Hartzell JD, Veerappan GR, Posley K, Shumway NM, & Durning SJ. (2009).  Resident run journal club: a model based on the adult learning theory.   Med Teach, 31 (4), e156-161. doi: 10.1080/01421590802516723

Kearley K. (2007).  The 6 steps of evidence-based medicine: action plans and changing clinical practice through journal clubs.   Evid Based Med, 12 (4), 98-100. doi: 10.1136/ebm.12.4.98-a

Parkes J, Hyde C, Deeks J, & Milne R. (2001).  Teaching critical appraisal skills in health care settings.   Cochrane Database Syst Rev (3), CD001270. doi: 10.1002/14651858.cd001270

Schwartz MD, Dowell D, Aperi J, & Kalet A. (2007).  Improving journal club presentations, or, I can present that paper in under 10 minutes.   ACP J Club, 147 (1), A8-9. 

Shrivastava, S. R., & Shrivastava, P. S. (2021). Promoting the Conduct of Medical Education Journal Clubs in Teaching Medical Institutions .  Avicenna J Med ,  11 (3), 156–159. https://doi-org.ezproxy4.library.arizona.edu/10.1055/s-0041-1735126

How to do Critical Appraisal

Critical appraisal: websites.

  • Critical Appraisal tools from the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Critical appraisal worksheets to help you appraise the reliability, importance and applicability of clinical evidence.
  • EBM Worksheets From Dartmouth Worksheets on Asking the Clinical Question, Appraising the Evidence for Therapy, Systematic Reviews, Diagnosis, Prognosis, Harm/Etiology, Qualitative Research, Practice Guidelines, Applying Evidence to the Patient, and Putting it All Together 
  • CASP Appraisal Checklists   CASP has appraisal checklists designed for use with Systematic Reviews, Randomised Controlled Trials, Cohort Studies,  Case Control  Studies, Economic Evaluations, Diagnostic Studies, Qualitative studies and Clinical Prediction Rule.
  • BMJ Best Practice - Critical Appraisal Checklists

Critical Appraisal: Articles and Books

  • Greenhalgh, T. (2014).  How to Read a Paper : The Basics of Evidence Based Medicine . 5th ed. Wiley.
  • Horsley T, Hyde C, Santesso N, Parkes J, Milne R, Stewart R. (2011).  Teaching critical appraisal skills in healthcare settings.   Cochrane Database Syst Rev (11), Cd001270. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001270.pub2
  • Judd S, Antaki F.  Approach to presenting a clinical journal club. (2014).  Gastroenterology . 146(7):1591-3. 
  • Kellum, JA., Rieker, JP, Power, M., & Powner, DJ. (2000).  Teaching critical appraisal during critical care fellowship training: a foundation for evidence-based critical care medicine.   Crit Care Med, 28 (8), 3067-3070. doi: 10.1097/00003246-200008000-00065.
  •  Mohr NM, Stoltze AJ, Harland KK, Van Heukelom JN, Hogrefe CP, Ahmed A. (2015).  An evidence-based medicine curriculum implemented in journal club improves resident performance on the Fresno test.   J Emerg Med .48(2):222-229.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2014.09.011.
  • << Previous: MEDLINE, PubMed, PubMedCentral, OvidSP, and MedlinePlus
  • Last Updated: Jul 18, 2023 1:22 PM
  • URL: https://libguides.library.arizona.edu/uahsl/jebdm_journalclub

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Articles review

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Mariela Fernanda Rivera

Mariela Fernanda Rivera

A worksheet to practise definite, indefinite and zero articles

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Articles review

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  1. CURRENT NEWS ARTICLE REVIEW WORKSHEET Complete one

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  5. Student Worksheet Analyzing A Journal Article

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  6. Weekly Journal Article Review Worksheet.docx

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VIDEO

  1. NeuroBio Journal review

  2. JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEW # 8: PAANO MAGING MASAYA (TAMIR ET AL, 2017)

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  6. JOURNAL ARTICLE REVIEW # 12: ATTACHMENT AND RELATIONAL SATISFACTION (MADEY & ROGERS, 2009)

COMMENTS

  1. PDF Article Review Sheet

    Journal Article Review. Overview: 1. What is the main hypothesis/question posed by this study? 2. Why is it an important question to ask/investigate? 3. Describe the study design (eg. randomized controlled trial, cross-sectional, case-control, etc.) Statistical Analysis:

  2. PDF APA Style Research Article Activity

    Research Article Activity. This activity helps students find, cite, analyze, and summarize a scholarly research article. For each step of the activity, type your responses directly into the text fields provided, or copy the questions into your preferred word-processing program and answer them there. Complete this activity multiple times to help ...

  3. How to Review a Journal Article

    For many kinds of assignments, like a literature review, you may be asked to offer a critique or review of a journal article.This is an opportunity for you as a scholar to offer your qualified opinion and evaluation of how another scholar has composed their article, argument, and research.That means you will be expected to go beyond a simple summary of the article and evaluate it on a deeper ...

  4. How to Write an Article Review: Template & Examples

    Article Review vs. Response Paper . Now, let's consider the difference between an article review and a response paper: If you're assigned to critique a scholarly article, you will need to compose an article review.; If your subject of analysis is a popular article, you can respond to it with a well-crafted response paper.; The reason for such distinctions is the quality and structure of ...

  5. PDF sci article review

    Article Review Definition of Genre Summaries and critiques are two ways to write a review of a scientific journal article. Both types of writing ask you first to read and understand an article from the primary literature about your topic. The summary involves briefly but accurately stating the key points of the article for a reader who has

  6. Literature Reviews

    This Journal Article Review Worksheet gives you step-by-step guidance on summarizing an article effectively and includes websites to help you determine key pieces of information like what kind of research you're looking at and how it can be used. After you've gotten all of your information into the worksheet, you can combine the aspects most ...

  7. PDF Format for reviewing an article

    Write the literature review in the past tense; the research has already been completed. The article cannot "do", "find", or "say" anything. The authors are the people who conducted the study. The above format is a guideline. It may be necessary to change the verbs or to expand an idea. Sample format, Page 2 of 2.

  8. Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article

    "Introducing the Analysis of Journal Articles." Prepared for presentation at the American Political Science Association's 2020 Teaching and Learning Conference, February 7-9, 2020, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Woodward-Kron, Robyn. "Critical Analysis and the Journal Article Review Assignment." Prospect 18 (August 2003): 20-36.

  9. How to Write a Peer Review

    Think about structuring your review like an inverted pyramid. Put the most important information at the top, followed by details and examples in the center, and any additional points at the very bottom. Here's how your outline might look: 1. Summary of the research and your overall impression. In your own words, summarize what the manuscript ...

  10. Write a Critical Review of a Scientific Journal Article

    A critical review is an assessment of an original research article. Writing a critical review of a journal article can help you improve your research skills. By assessing the work of others, you develop skills as a critical reader and become familiar with the types of evaluation criteria that will be applied to research in your field.

  11. PDF Magazine Article Analysis Worksheet

    Magazine Article Analysis Worksheet Di recti o n s: Use the Magazi ne A rt i cl e A nal ysi s W orksheet to answer the magazine article questions. Write in complete sentences to answer each question. Use the T.A.G. method. ... New terminology from the article that I need to clarify: ...

  12. PDF Student Worksheet: Analyzing a Journal Article

    journal article as reported by the authors. b. Re-read your notes and explain why you think this is o a strong or weak scientific article o a strong or weak scientific study Resources for students: 1. If you are struggling with plagiarism and paraphrasing, then refer to our online "Paraphrasing" module. 2.

  13. PDF Writing a Literature Review Mini-Lesson

    Writing a Literature Review Mini-Lesson. Lesson Objective Students will learn how to write a short literature review essay for disciplines in the social sciences and humanities based on scholarly journal articles. This lesson includes an exercise to demonstrate how to create a brief literature review, and provides straightforward steps and ...

  14. Critical Appraisal tools

    If the answer to any of these questions is "no", you can save yourself the trouble of reading the rest of it. This section contains useful tools and downloads for the critical appraisal of different types of medical evidence. Example appraisal sheets are provided together with several helpful examples. Critical Appraisal Worksheets. English.

  15. Organizing Your Literature: Spreadsheet Style

    Second, headings. The beautiful thing about workflow and organization is that there is no right way to do it; you can customize anything. The headings of your spreadsheet are where you can make this your own. In my spreadsheet, I have: ID number (I'll come back to this) Year. Author (s) + Year. Title. APA Reference.

  16. A step-by-step guide to peer review: a template for patients and novice

    Table 1. Peer review template for patients and other novice reviewers. Name of journal. Insert the name of the journal here. The journal's area of focus. Type the area of focus here (eg, oncology and health literacy) Title of manuscript. Insert the title of the manuscript you are reviewing. Link to review website.

  17. Worksheet for Critiquing a Journal Article

    An editable version of the Appendix, "Worksheet for Critiquing a Journal Article or Research Report," is available for download below. ›. This site is intended to enhance your use of Understanding and Evaluating Research: A Critical Guide by Sue L. T. McGregor. Please note the resources on this site are especially geared toward maximizing ...

  18. Note-Taking Template for Journal Articles

    Download the PDF: Note Taking Template for Journal Articles PDF. Use this worksheet to help you take notes and learn important content in journal articles. REMEMBER: The UNC Learning Center is a great resource! Both Peer Tutoring and Academic Coaching can help you create a balanced approach to succeeding at Carolina.

  19. PDF Article Summary Worksheet

    Article Analysis Worksheet. Directions: Complete one Article Analysis Worksheet for each article read. Remember to staple a copy of the article to the back of the worksheet. Use the copy to highlight, underline, and make notes as you read. What was the most surprising/interesting thing you learned by reading this article? What question(s) do ...

  20. Article review writing format, steps, examples and illustration PDF

    - What are the article's shortcomings and limitations? - Are all important aspects and issues of its domain covered? - Examine and comment the logic given in the article Suggested Format of an article review uous information. Illustrative Example for article review Article Reviewed: Matthias, M., Sascha, V., & Jonathan, L. (2014).

  21. Evidence-based Decision Making (EBDM) and Journal Club Guide

    Articles about Running Successful Journal Clubs. Deenadayalan Y, Grimmer-Somers K, Prior M, & Kumar S. (2008). How to run an effective journal club: a systematic review. J Eval Clin Pract, 14(5), 898-911. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2753.2008.01050.x. ... Critical appraisal worksheets to help you appraise the reliability, importance and applicability ...

  22. Journal Article Review Worksheet 1.docx

    Journal Article Review Worksheet Review a full text peer review journal article from Chaminade University of Honolulu's library and answer the following questions. Your Name: _____Nicole Laing _____ Journal Article Title: ___Childhood Victimization and Violent Offending _____ (Upload to Canvas a pdf copy of the full-text journal article used with this completed worksheet) STEP 1: Purpose

  23. Articles review worksheet

    Language: English (en) ID: 284628. 24/06/2020. Country code: AR. Country: Argentina. School subject: English as a Foreign Language (EFL) (1061043) Main content: Articles (1868347) From worksheet author: A worksheet to practise definite, indefinite and zero articles.