apa article review

apa article review

The Importance of APA Article Reviews

1. Introduction

This piece starts with the changing purposes of journal writing and reviewing, noting how they evolve throughout your career to eventually highlight the importance of understanding the APA guidelines. From there, it continues by breaking down the specifics of APA article reviews, discussing the types and some common misconceptions. This acts as a good introduction to learning the APA guidelines considering these reviews are an excellent way to begin understanding them before trying to apply them to your own writing. The article goes on to discuss the difficult task of learning both content and format when it comes to the APA guidelines and how to judge others’ writing. Finally, it talks about how journal articles have become more available to the general public in the age of the internet and easier to access means more exposure. APA guidelines were created for information to be uniform across the field and being able to access all this information means more young scholars will have to understand and apply the guidelines. This essay is concluded with a summary of the content and some thoughts for the future. This article has a logical flow and is easy to follow. Each point is well thought out and explained in a way that the reader can understand. A good example is given when talking about referencing in the APA format and what can happen if it is not done correctly. A brief history lesson is given explaining how in earlier times researchers would have a hard time finding information on a newly published article. This is not to confuse readers with information unrelated to APA guidelines but rather to show why it is so important to understand them today.

2. Summary of the Article

In the article “Becoming a Vessel for Social Justice Activism through Pictive,” the writer endeavors to promote the use of digital photographs as a conduit for social change. The article begins by outlining the traditional use of photographs as evidence of a theory or statement, with the intention of persuading the viewer to adopt a particular stance. In essence, the photographer uses their camera as a tool to pinpoint a social injustice, and the resulting photographs are the supporting evidence for their argument. While this method is simple, it often requires a substantial amount of time to impart any effective change and may not be truly understood unless the viewer is familiar with the social context. This is where Pictive is heralded as an excellent alternative method, as it involves the immediate transfer of photographs to digital image databases with a predetermined set of social or cultural issues. The pictures remain connected to their social context and have the potential to “speak” at a later time through different interpretations or incorporation into new issues. The article argues that this progression provides longevity for the photographs in addressing social issues.

3. Critical Analysis

Now try to rephrase the author’s position in your own words. Does this creative analysis have an analogy for what the author is suggesting be done? Whether affirmative or negative, critique of this nature is a good indication that you understand and can see the change wanted in the article. The understanding, a change of worse to better or better to worse, is paramount in understanding the implications of the work. Finally, the implications of the change at all levels must be speculated. The article may stop here and would be suitable for an article review. Information from the author may need to be inferred or consulted firsthand to adequately speculate these implications, and most importantly, the reader must be interested in the changes suggested. Intent of readers to read similar data is a good indication of success or failure at this level.

Next, reread the article again pondering over the aspects of the writing which the article is focused upon. Are the descriptive or interpretive data provided by the author(s) comparable to what the author(s) are trying to change? This is important as often it is from the misinterpretation of data that the problem, issue, or question has arisen. So the quality of data, descriptive to causal, should then be measured against what the author(s) are attempting to change through their work. How was this data obtained? Data analysis? Would it be safe to suggest that correlation to the possibility of cause and effect was thought to be very high? High enough to warrant an attempt of change? Again, these questions are vital in understanding. The more powerful an attempt of change, the more likely a success in the identification of the cause and data resulting in a job well done.

In writing a critical assessment of a research article, the most important thing to remember is that critique writing should be more of a comment than a summary. First, read the article several times to obtain a complete understanding of the concepts and content of the piece. This can be a daunting task. After you have finished reading the article, you need to put aside time to analyze and evaluate what you have read. Think about the following: What are the credentials of the author(s)? Are the author’s arguments for his/her position or stance convincing? What are the implications or consequences of the author’s reasoning? Try to evaluate the success of the author in convincing the reader to adopt his/her position. For example, the article may have succeeded in contributing to the field of knowledge development and dissemination. In the course of the evaluation of the arguments, the article may have provided valid data and facts that have led to a change in the issue of concern to the author. The conclusions that have been drawn may have been an impetus for more concrete implications for policy change and better practice at both the professional and academic levels. With these evaluations, the author(s) of the article could have discovered a new intervention that has great potential for success!

4. Implications and Applications

The accessibility of internet publishing and previous unavailability of instruction in academic writing can also result in authors from less developed nations or non-native English speakers, which can be a crippling disadvantage. In their attempts to publish abroad or in English-language journals, researchers of such background may face repeated rejection due to language issues and it is quite possible that revision and resubmission of manuscripts may disappear altogether if it becomes financially infeasible for them. A skilled student of academic writing who has an ability to correctly decipher and critique the work of these authors can have a meaningful impact as a consultant.

The article review is a low-stakes writing genre often assigned as an extra credit or supplement to multiple-choice tests; most find it difficult and time consuming, and do not always understand why it is required of them. This type of situation can lead to student resentment and a lack of effort in doing a thoughtful job. Should students do article reviews and improve in their writing and analysis skills, they could play a role in improving the credibility and quality of published research and thus contribute to the betterment of the field. This is however a topic for another discussion, but the main point is that without strong writing skills, the potential impact of one’s research and ideas may never be realized.

The implications and applications section of this review does an excellent job of restating the importance of article reviewing and its significance. With student writers in mind, it points out the increasing importance of strong academic writing skills in social and applied sciences, which we can assume includes a comprehensive understanding of APA style.

5. Conclusion

A systematic review summarising the existing articles that suggests how being culturally competent can enhance the clinical assessment of psychiatric illness, with a particular focus on ethnicity and race within the UK and US. Findings suggest that cultural competence should be an integral part of clinical assessment, and its importance lies in improving the accuracy and efficiency of diagnosis, increasing treatment compliance and aiding in the psychoeducation of patients concerning their diagnosis and treatment. There are a number of limitations and methodological issues within the research on this topic; however, it appears to be an area of great importance and the application of cultural competence to clinical assessment is an inevitable and crucial step for future mental health practice.