Article Review Guidelines

1. Write the citation of the article in APA (American Psychological

Association) format at the top of your paper.
o Example:
 Bargas-Avila, J.A., Orsini, S., Piosczyk, H., Urwyler, D., &
Opwis, K. (2011). Enhancing online forms: Use format
specifications for fields with format restrictions to help
respondents. Interacting with Computers, 23(1), 33-39.
2. Write an introduction paragraph that informs the reader that you intend to
review an article or other document. Tell the reader the reason why you
selected that particular article to review. The purpose of the introduction
paragraph is to prepare the reader for what is to follow in your review.

3. Make an effort to cover the following points. It may require more than one
paragraph to cover them.
o State the overall purpose of the article. What was the main theme of
the article?
o What new ideas or information were communicated in the article?
o Why was it important to publish these ideas?

4. Writing about the research methodology and results is critical to your

review. These questions are to hone your skills in critical thinking about
research methodology.
o What methods did the authors use to reach conclusions?
o If this is an experiment or survey, how were the data collected and
analyzed?
 Who were the subjects?
 Briefly describe the research methodology.
 What were the basic results or findings from the research?

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 o If this is an opinion article, where did the author get the information to
formulate his or her opinions or results? Are the opinions trustworthy?
o If this is a technical article, how do you know that the material is
accurate?
5. Give your impressions of the usefulness of the article. Give your reasons for
your opinions. Write about your opinions of the strengths and weaknesses
of the article in separate paragraphs.
o In your opinion, what were the strengths and weaknesses of the
article? Be sure to think about your impressions and the reasons for
them. Listing what the author wrote as limitations is not the same
thing as forming your own opinions and justifying them to the reader.
 Be advised that challenging statistical arguments are not
considered to be a weakness of a research article. It is
understood that readers of the literature will come prepared. If
you have trouble with the statistics, note that as something you
need to learn.
o Make an effort to go beyond commenting only about the organization
and layout of the article.
o Were the findings important to a reader?
o Were the conclusions valid? Do you agree with the conclusions?
o If the material was technical, was the technical material innovative?

6. Write a conclusion paragraph that briefly informs the reader what you
wrote about in your review and your overall findings. A conclusion
paragraph provides intellectual closure for the reader. Don't leave it out.
There is some redundancy in a conclusion paragraph, but it still is essential
to provide closure in a skillfully written review.

7. Carefully proofread your work before submitting it.

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