IntroductiontoCriminalJustice

Fall2010
EWW
HowToCritiqueaScholarlyJournalArticle
I. Citation
A. Provideafullcitationofthearticletoincludeauthor(s),titleofarticle,andnameof
journal,volumeandpages.Forexample:
McFarlane,J.,Malecha,A.,Gist,J.,andWatson,K.2002.AnInDepthAnalysisof
CaliforniasUseofAdultIncarcerationforJuveniles:ItsAffectsandAfterAffects.
JournalofCriminalJustice,Vol.51(6),347594.

II. Topic
A. Brieflydescribethetopicofthejournalarticle(hint:itsusuallyinthearticlestitle).
Identifythemajorandminorobjectivesofthearticleaswell
B. Identifyanddefinetheimportantconceptsfocusedonbytheauthor.Arethe
definitionsclear,inyouropinion?

III. Theory/ResearchMethods
A. Istheauthorbeingguidedbyaparticulartheoreticalperspective?Ifso,whatisitand
howdoesheusethistheorytounderstandtheproblem?
B. Doestheauthorcollectdata?Ifso,whatmethoddoesheuse(survey,fieldobservation,
useofexistingsources,experiment,andisitcrosssectionalorlongitudinalindesign)?
C. Howclearlydoestheauthorindicatetheabove?

IV. MainIdeas
A. Summarizethearticlescontent.Indoingso,whatistheauthorsmajorargument?
B. Whatarethesupportingarguments?
C. Aretheideasclearlypresented?

V. Conclusions
A. Whatconclusionsdoestheauthor(s)make?

VI. Reflection
A. Inyouropinion,dothedatasupporttheconclusionsbeingmadebytheauthor?
B. Inyouropinion,aretheresultsthoughtprovoking?
C. Inyouropinion,whatcouldbedonetoimprovetheresearch?
D. Whatwasthemostimportantthingyoulearnedbyreadingandcritiquingthisarticle?