critical article review example

critical article review example

The Impact of Critical Article Reviews

1. Introduction

In today’s fast-paced information age, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find reliable support and valid resources for academic articles. More and more articles fail to meet the standard of what constitutes a “good” research article. A good research article is one which has high reliability and validity. This means internal and external confounds are low, as well as there is a high degree of statistical conclusion validity. This basically is a summation of any research article or study which is trying to prove causal relationships. Good articles also have no type I or type II errors and have a very good effect size. It is important for students to be able to discover whether or not validity and reliability is present in an article, and the best way to do this is to look at the research methods which were used in the article. By viewing what statistics were employed in the study and how the conclusions were made, students can see whether the research was credible or seriously flawed. This type of article is one that students of higher education are familiar with. It is the student that decides whether or not to continue school above and beyond high school, and usually they will get a degree to pursue a career in a field of interest. These students frequently need to find research articles for various assignments, so it is important to learn to judge the quality of an article. A pertinent resource for these students is the Journal of Consumer Psychology. This journal has insightful research for students as it incorporates a lot of theories learned in the classroom with real-life consumer activity. A research article on how consumers’ category-based decisions are impacted by the uncertainty of predictions is found in the edition of the journal. This article can be quite useful for a student taking cognitive psychology as it can help the student to better understand the topic and it can be a good resource to understand the techniques which were used in the study. These students need to be able to assess the quality of research in this article and in similar articles which pertain to the APA. So therefore students at all levels aim to critically review a research article or two to gain a better understanding of what they are reading and to critique the validity and reliability of the article. This usually requires a type of peer evaluation, and one excellent method used to evaluate a research article in a classroom setting involves the students writing article summaries and reviews, and then swapping with peers for assessment and feedback on the review. A study by Leach and Myrna was aimed to research how a method of peer evaluation, which includes the construction of a quasi-judicial hearing and the rating of decision confidence, can enhance student understanding of causality in research of alternative methods. An evaluation into the impact of students’ understanding of causality research seems very similar to a mixed category factorial analysis and the Leach Myrna research. Thus it seems only fitting to review an article designed to evaluate alternative methods, using a methodology designed for the same. This article will be reviewed on the criteria of ability to augment understanding.

2. Importance of Critical Article Reviews

Reviewing journal articles is an important assignment on its own or as part of a much larger research paper. Article reviews are designed to explore the work of an expert in a field, able to understand the subject matter and evaluate how successful the author has been in meeting the stated goals. They must do this using evidence, reason and logic in the article critique, and be able to justify any assessment made. Writing an article review typically involves a direct and concise approach to merely summarise the author’s journal article, and then critique the work, providing enough evidence to aid the readers in making an informed decision. The critique may also compare the article to others similar in subject matter, evaluate how successful the article is and should recommend the article to a specific audience or refute it owing to an inadequate analysis of the journal’s content. When writing an article review it is essential for the article to be read and understood in depth, and a critical evaluation to take place.

3. Key Elements of a Critical Article Review

Introduction: Usually the review will introduce the topic and often the writer of the article being reviewed. This is done mainly in order to show the reader that the review’s author has actually read the article in question. This may seem a little unlike the standard for an introduction to a well-structured essay, and you could find that it feels repetitive, but it is an essential part of the review and you must be sure you stay on topic. There should also be a brief indication of the contents of the article being reviewed in an attempt to inform the reader of what they are reading about.

Most critical reviews will follow this pattern:

A good critical article review, whether a review of a technical article or an article for a general audience, has a specific structure. Since much of the advice we give on constructing reviews is about structure, it is crucial to explain the key elements of a critical review.

4. Benefits of Engaging in Critical Article Reviews

Reviewing is an excellent way to keep up with literature in your field, an important skill for an academic. Reviews can vary in significance from a course assignment to a published article. It can also be an excellent preparation for carrying out your own research project or a thesis. The ways in which reviewing an article will differ depending on the type of article and the author’s reasons for writing it. In the case of a peer-reviewed article, an individual will be assigned the task of reviewing the article in a thorough and unbiased manner. This will then be followed by a verbal or written feedback to the author, citing the article’s strong and weak points. In this instance, the article review provides the details on the author’s main idea, then explains the argument presented and its strong points. This is often done by an academic, and it is an especially useful approach for students to take before completing their own research project or thesis. A way to embark on this is to take the main idea from an approach such as a case study and compare it with similar research on the topic. The provision of feedback is an especially useful incentive for reviewing an article that is not one’s own. By giving the feedback a personal touch, for instance, a student explaining to a teacher the understanding they have gained from the article, this becomes a method of learning where the reviewer can apply the information to their own knowledge. It is often the case that a student has been asked by a teacher to find out if an article is available, and in this scenario, the teacher may have forgotten the article and done little more than print out a copy. In order to simulate an ‘uninformed’ review with feedback, it is possible for the student to compare their own understanding of the article with the teacher’s knowledge on the same topic.

5. Conclusion

It is clear from the literature that the author has had substantial experience with critical articles and has used this to demonstrate a typical response pattern from a journal reviewer. This has enabled a coherent and fluent insight into the mind of a journal referee and has identified key aspects on how a bad review can adversely affect the author. The author has pointed out that those new to a field of research may not recognize a bad review and dismiss it as constructive criticism. This can lead to years of research being based on a flawed premise, previously identified with ample examples from the author. Although the impact of a bad review has been clearly identified and may convince some authors to avoid certain journals, the author fails to approach the negative effects and how they can be prevented or reversed. In a similar instance, various damaging effects to an author identified by the author may be difficult to avoid even if they can write a flawless paper with perfect rebuttals to all potential criticisms. A good clearer understanding of how a bad review can be so damaging would be useful here although it is evident from the examples provided that a bad review can sometimes make it impossible to clarify the author’s intended message. Overall, the paper does well to highlight the importance of a critical review to the article and the profound effects it can have although lacks degree of prevention or reversal of the identified negative effects.