Introduction
As complex as it sounds, critical writing can be extremely troublesome for a lot of students in college and university considering they are not provided with a proper guideline. At this stage students have to learn many things independently from writing dissertations to journal articles and then article critique as well. Everyone wishes to produce a piece of work without many flaws and difficulty.
For this very reason majority of the individuals opt for assignment writing services so they can write a well-structured and well-written critique for their chosen or given research article. They literary can be from any category. It can be a research article, a journal article, a qualitative paper or even a quantitative one. The purpose remains unchanged and can be done with any writing.
What is an Article Critique?
An article critique however, should not be confused with a summary. There is a fine line between the two. Even though both of them provide a gist of the research paper under consideration, in critique there are a myriad of key features that are essential to be included while in writing a summary there are no major restrictions. A critique is also known as a response paper, which is reflects upon and evaluates different types of literary.
Before jumping on to the process of writing such content it is important to know about the purpose behind it. The main objective is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the piece and evaluate how well the writer comprehends its sources. In simple words, it assesses the validity of arguments provided by the author of the article and how effective they are generally.
A response article is usually written by students acquiring higher education as a part of their assignments but in some cases professors and teachers are also asked to do so. This is done regularly because not every research published is sound scientifically. Therefore, to provide the audience with an authentic and trustworthy piece of work, facts and figures of every article are looked upon very thoroughly.
How to Critique a Research Article: An easy guide
The first and foremost requirement of writing a critique is of course critical thinking. Only then the writer can think from that specific perspective in order to produce the desired results. Secondly, it requires following a proper procedure that encompasses all the key aspects of writing. A step wise guide will enable everyone to construct this type of literary. From the world of psychology we learn about the heuristic approach, which means, following mental shortcuts in order to solve problems and formulate judgments efficiently and quickly. This method can also be adopted to reach conclusions in smarter ways.
Before moving forward, it should be noted that a good critique consists of points that either validate or declare the reviewed article as void. It is indeed much like persuasive writing except for the 5-paragraph format. There may be multiple but the main thing is to cover all aspects.
Here are the two main steps of writing a good critique:
READING THE ARTICLE
Self-explanatory, you cannot respond to anything without acknowledging it. Similarly, before critical analysis, one must read through the specific research article very thoroughly and with utmost attentiveness. Reason being, these high level articles are mostly very lengthy and often contain difficult terminologies that need to be searched up. Comprehending the writing can sometimes be more time consuming than writing it. If needed, it must be read several times, as it will help in understanding it better. When the content is fully understood, they must re-read it and form bullet points that highlight the important parts of the research. This should be done while reading side-by-side, as going through the text again will cross check the bullets and allow for any alterations in the interpretation.
Moving forward with the article, the writer will come across a number of details and facts about the research text. These should also be a part of the critique as they will be the basis of the author’s arguments. Moreover, the research paper writer’s main idea about the research will also reveal along with their findings. All of these must be kept in mind all along and this is why brief notes should be avoided. Instead detailed pointers along with proper citation and reference must be in practice. The writer of the critique is not restricted from writing detailed reviews and analysis therefore, taking full advantage of this, they must provide the reader with every evidence possible to make it sound and authentic.
For ease, here is a set of questions that must be addressed for the critique:
- Why is the author of the article considered to be an expert in the specified field?
It is impossible to reflect upon a piece of writing without taking into notice where the actual writer is coming from and what ideologies they possess. How and how not their arguments regarding the topic are valid. This will speak a lot about whether or not the author is knowledgeable enough to produce such research and thus can help in analyzing how authentic it is.
Moreover, it is also important to learn whether the research is theory based or has been conducted considering relevant previous literature. Though these pointers will not completely talk about the topic and its research, background knowledge is of utmost value here as it indicates where it all starts from. This will allow the critical thinker to fathom out the reasons behind many facts and figures stated throughout the text.
- What is the writer’s thesis statement and what does the abstract say?
As mentioned before, critique writer must carefully examine the thesis statement and why it was made. It will provide hints about the research and indicate if it is an outdated or present research. While on the other hand the abstract of the study will help in deciding to what degree it is relevant for their purpose. That may be in terms of topic, audience, and methodology.
- Are the presented arguments valid?
Critique writers must be informed about the sources the researched have used during their research. One should know whether they are from a variety of places or based in one specific area.
- Are there any fallacies provided by the researcher?
While critically reading the research paper, the reader must keep an eye on any blind spots that may appear in the context. Illogical reasoning have a tendency to easily declare the argument invalid. Thus, such appearances can help in concluding how effective and useful the study is for the audiences.
To aid this process of extracting out the logic and providing reasoning, similar articles and research papers may be required to be studied as well. Additional research will clarify any confusions and provide explanation for any unexplained areas.
- Identify any contradictions
The researchers’ opinions should not contradict with their findings. This is an important part to look out for. Neglecting contrary evidence and misinterpretation of context could be advantageous for the biased author. That’s one thing about critique writing; right should be right while wrong should be out rightly declared as is.
- What are the research methods used by the researchers?
Research methods play a crucial role in any research as using a proper one will increase the chances of the results being authentic. Of course, old research methods will create loop holes in studies that are happening now. With the passage of time, effective and smarter research methods have been introduced in order obtain the desired results faster and with minimal errors.
- What are the stylistic elements used by the author?
It may not sound judicious, but style of writing is an essential part of the research too. Critique must explicitly make a mention of the style being used in order to learn about the target audience and what field of study it is more related to.
- WRITING WHILST FOLLOWING THE LAYOUT
A Simple and Easy Structure of Research Article Critique
A critique like most pieces of writing has a simple structure that comprises of four main components. First is the introduction as usual, followed by a summary and then the main critique, finally ending up on a solid conclusion.
The introduction will contain the main topic of research along with important relevant information like the name of the author or authors if many, the author’s main objective and lastly a rephrased thesis statement that gives an overview of the writer’s critical analysis.
The summary, as the name suggests will contain a gist of the entire research article including all the important information and arguments with brief reasoning that has been mentioned. This will also incorporate in itself facts, findings and data (if any).
Now coming to the most eminent component, the critique body. This part will shed light on the major strengths, weaknesses and limitations of the research article under consideration. Not just that, the critical analysis will also be presented in this text only. Here, the writer is supposed to state their opinions regarding the article, deciding whether it is effective and useful or not. It can also provide a suggestion on how it could be improved or altered.
Like any content, this too should end on a conclusion to sum up everything that has been discussed. The writer should give a final verdict here on basis of all the pointers.
Conclusion
Following this simple structure of writing a critique correctly will surely result in better outcomes. However, Individuals must remember that critique as the name sounds, is not always negative. By definition in the aforementioned text, critique is simply an analysis and proven judgments of the critique writer about any literary work. A positive critique will revolve mostly around proving the thesis and research correct and valid, while a negative one will focus on points and arguments of the researcher that are void and unreasonable.
