Regardless of the domain that you major in or the University you study at, writing an article review is any teacher’s favorite task. There’s nothing that better evaluates your grasp of a certain subject, than having to review a scientific paper on that particular topic.
When talking about an article review, think of it as the preparation for a debate against the author. Except for the part where you get all fiery and intense. You need to understand the author’s point of view, his arguments and establish any shortcomings. The first thing to remember: it’s not about you, nor your findings. You might introduce new data only as an argument when presenting the eventual failings of the author’s statements.
There are two areas of focus, as in any essay, the preparation and the writing itself, each with certain particularities, which we’ll succinctly describe as follows.
Create your masterplan
Any article review should be based on these three steps: summarizing the content of the article, identifying and discussing the positive points of the author’s research, identifying and discussing the shortcomings of the mentioned paper.
First, try and make a brief, using your own words, connecting the information that you found in the paper with your own knowledge of the subject. Rewrite the main points of the paper, connecting them to the data or research that supports them.
Write a pros and cons list. Establish the main points you want to pursue in your analysis, thus setting the ideas your review will focus on.
Time is of the essence
If you want to do this by the book, you should read the article once just to pin out its main idea, making sure you understood the meaning of the paper. Then, go through a second, more attentive read, in order to figure out the main arguments and points. The third time you go through it, highlight and underline the parts you want to focus on.
When you don’t have the luxury to spend all this time just on reading the text for a number of times, you could save yourself some troubles and apply to a qualified UK article writing service. Also, you can reduce the time spent, by giving it just one thorough read. But you’ll open yourself up to the risk of missing some crucial points, or arguments, perhaps even misunderstanding its meaning altogether.
Starting is the hardest part
When you finally start to write, take into account some of the pointers that come from other’s experience.
First off, carefully choose the title, in order to clearly state the focus of your review, while also identifying the item you are to talk about.
As an overall tip, the whole review should be written in the third person, using an objective tone, never using the first person to make a statement. You need to show a critique vision of the article, but without getting emotionally involved and making it a personal fight.
In the introduction, the identification sentence must be stated. As well as specifying the central theme and main arguments. Reveal the thesis as specifically stated by the author, or if not, determined by yourself. End the introductory part by revealing your own thesis.
Continuing is no treat either
Summarize the article as to accurately describe it, without using statistics, specific information or making use of too many quotes. Your draft summary used in the preparation of the review should be of assistance.
Write the critique, having in mind the answer to the following questions:
- What was the author trying to prove?
- What was his initial assumption?
- How clearly has he constructed his concepts and arguments?
- Is the evidence to support them adequately?
- Does this work bring a plus of value to the field?
As stated before, you should try to be as objective as possible, never expressing your own personal beliefs. You need to indicate your opinion on this specific scientific article and the author’s approach, not your opinion on the subject, field or author himself.
Finally, it’s done
Before you start celebrating another job well done, remember the importance of a perfect conclusion. Keep your focus for just a little while longer and conclude the main points of the article, along with your own findings of their significance. Make a final statement about the overall accuracy of the presented article and its relevance in starting further research or debates.
The only thing left to do is proofread and enjoy the benefits of your work!