Wondering how to write an article review? Your professor may ask you to summarise an article for many college assignments. This is your chance to offer a well-informed review and evaluation of what another scholar has written. Your professor will expect you to dig deeper and provide an objective analysis and evaluation of the material you have read. Writing an article review is a great way to engage your readers about a particular subject. It is also a way to clarify the contributions of an expert in your field of study. So you must first read the article to understand the ideas and arguments the author shares clearly.
In this guide (prepared by our top writing experts), we will define an article review and the preparation needed to write one, including creating an outline. You will also learn how to write an article review and all the mistakes to avoid.
An article review is an academic paper that critically analyzes, summarizes and describes evidence and ideas presented in a text. Put simply, an article review is a summary and constructive evaluation of work written by another professional. Article review requires in-depth analysis and a well-structured presentation of arguments about a particular subject. Writing an article review involves doing the following to the literature.
To analyze, evaluate and compare a text, you must use relevant theories, ideas, and thorough research to the field of study. Your evaluation of the article should be based on the knowledge of that topic that you have gained through research, wide reading, lectures, class discussion, etc. Remember that article review demands that you read the selected article and other related papers to develop objectives and an educated evaluation.
An article review is essential because it helps an audience understand a simple subject and appreciate the value of a topic. Other reasons why an article review is essential are:
You can be assigned to write a scientific, journal, or research article review; the process is all the same.
If you are assigned to write an article review but cannot comprehend where to begin or what to put into it, our writers have compiled a thorough guide to take you through the article review writing process. Having looked at what it is, here are some recommended steps to take when writing an article review.
Start by reading the literature you want to review. As you read, consider how you want your article review to look. Doing this will help you know how to read and write the article effectively. Take note of the title, abstract, introduction, headings, the structure of each paragraph, and conclusion to identify the author’s ideas and arguments. Once you have taken note of this, read the entire article. Make sure you take notes of the questions or points that are difficult to understand. If there are unfamiliar concepts or terms, look them up to get the whole picture. The point is to get an in-depth analysis of the article to understand the overall argument the author is trying to make.
Once you get the big picture, read the article closely as you highlight the critical sections. You can do this as often as possible if you can deeply comprehend the text. Ensure you connect the writer’s arguments with the knowledge gained in class about that particular subject. Ask yourself these questions:
Remember that you cannot write a good article review if you don't understand the article itself.
By now, you already know what you will cover in the paper. Nonetheless, you need to read widely about the history and advancements in that field. Use search engines or citation databases to find relevant references, including PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus.
Learning how to write an article review is not possible without a good outline. As you read the article, organize your thoughts and ideas by creating an outline. Divide all the ideas, points, contradictions, and other relevant information into sections. Then identify any strengths and weaknesses of the article. Creating an article review structure will help you write your review quickly and effortlessly.
More subheadings will likely refine your outline as you add more information to the review. But it's still necessary to have a structure before you begin writing. Come up with a logical sequence for presenting all the ideas you've collected in the paper. Always ask yourself how you plan to organize the body paragraphs so that readers can understand your work's flow.
As you draw up an outline, always refer to the style, word count, page numbers, and reference instructions. Most article reviews are about 4000 words. So, as a rule of thumb, ensure that about 80% of the review is dedicated to the paper's main section.
Your outline should include the following:
Can’t seem to figure out how to write an article review introduction? The first paragraph of your paper is the introduction which tells readers what the review is about. The main aim of an introduction paragraph is to:
The methods section accurately describes how the literature you have reviewed was selected, analyzed, and summarized. The methods section also shows how the validity of your review was judged. It should show what was done to discuss the main topic of your paper. Take note that if you are reviewing a scientific article, it should be precise and orderly. Your methods section should include databases selected, keywords, inclusion and exclusion criteria, access dates etc. Additionally, the method section should clearly describe the types of interventions, processes, and comparisons used.
This section describes what you found when you analyzed the paper. The aim is to use the information collected to answer the questions raised and assess the extent to which your research objectives have been achieved. In short, the findings are the totality of the outcome. However, they are not the reviews, conclusions or recommendations drawn from it.
Use the following tips to collect the findings of your review.
This is the part where you discuss your findings by analyzing, describing, and interpreting them. You have to bring everything together so your reader can understand the significance of your findings. The discussion section highlights an interpretation of the article's findings and your expert opinion. Reviewing is about extracting and analyzing relevant information and synthesizing and drawing meaningful conclusions. Thus, the main purpose of this discussion is to show an objective interpretation of your findings and help readers understand the central ideas.
You must make it clear to the readers if there is insufficient evidence to come up with an objective conclusion. In addition, include the gaps in knowledge and limitations of the literature you have reviewed.
Now with this out of the way, let's get into the nitty-gritty of the paper. Figuring out how to write an article review can seem complicated, but with the following step-by-step guide, you will be on your way to getting an
Now that you know the format of the review, it is time to get down to it. Creating an exciting title will give readers an accurate picture of the review and encourage them to read it. Additionally, your title should be memorable. Your target audience has probably read multiple review papers, so some will likely be forgotten. So, you must ensure that the title sticks to the readers. Also, ensure that your title is:
Take note that the title should reflect the focus of the article review. So, decide whether it is the declarative title, interrogative title, etc.
After writing the title, cite the article in the recommended style. Provide this citation just below the title. Don't skip a line. Additionally, refer to the title and author of the article and the year it was published.
Express all the ideas, arguments, and relevant findings from the article. Make sure you put all this in your own words. Also, include the conclusion from the author and mention why it was necessary to review the article.
If you have to use direct quotes, do so sparingly. But make sure you address the following:
After writing the summary, go through it to ensure you have captured all the relevant information and it presents a description of the author.
Using the notes you wrote and your outline, write a critique of the article. Describe all the main ideas the author expressed in the article. Then analyses each of these ideas to develop a proper explanation of the article. Show whether the author clearly expressed his/her ideas. Ensure your article explanation is successful, as this is the core of the review. Show whether you agree with the author and provide evidence to show why. Use relevant theories and credible facts to support your standpoints. If possible, include display items such as tables, figures, etc.
The final part of the paper should summarize your main points and the significance, validity, and accuracy of the paper. Go back to the critical point of your article and provide future recommendations in your field of study. This final section should also include a take-home message and recommendations to your target audience.
Besides your thoughts and opinions, you used other people's ideas to build your argument. So, you must acknowledge them by providing a list of all the citations used throughout the body. The reference list should follow the citation format used in the paper.
Make use of constructive feedback to improve your draft. Once they read your draft, the reviewer will spot errors, inaccuracies, and inconsistencies you may not have noticed because of reading the draft too many times. You could also use online editing tools to ensure your work has no mistakes.
Your article reviews should adhere to the formatting style given by your professor. If no instructions are given, ask for clarification so you do not waste time writing using the wrong format.
Like other college papers or assignments, the last step of writing an article review entails editing, proofreading, and polishing. This is the step where you check your paper to ensure that it aligns with everything in the rubric or assignment instructions. An excellent article review is devoid of small mistakes and errors. Check your paper for syntax, grammatical, and organizational correctness. Also, ensure that you have met the right word count for the article review, considering the plus or minus 15% word count rule. Ensure the paper is formatted well in APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, or any style your professor directs. When everything is great and polished, send the paper for assessment.
When writing an article review in APA format, you will likely use articles from websites, journals, and newspapers. Here is how you should format your article in APA style.
Journal-
Website-
Newspaper
Use the following tips when citing your paper in MLA format.
Journal-
Website-
Newspaper
Learning how to write an article review is important if you want to make an impact among your readers with a critical appraisal of the current literature. A carefully reviewed article can help readers understand a new subject. Unfortunately, while there is lots of information on how to write reviews, very few provide relevant guidelines on how to come up with detailed reviews about a particular literature. With that said, the following are mistakes that you should avoid when writing an article review.
An article review aims to evaluate an article on a clearly defined topic. In other words, you are trying to inform readers of the current statistics of a particular literature and the implications in your chosen field. Therefore, in the same way, the author chooses the topic of that article, you must also carefully choose a good topic for your review.
There is a lot of published information about most topics, which makes it difficult to conduct a comprehensive literature review. With that said, you will face limits on how much time, effort, and number of pages to put into the article. For his reason, it is necessary to define the scope of your review.
When reviewing a scientific document, you must know how expert input is necessary in the scientific community. Therefore, you must include knowledge of experts in that particular field throughout each stage of the article review.
Writing an article review is not all about summarising articles but also giving an organized view of the findings, critical analysis of the data collected, and all the lessons learned from the article. Therefore, you must include flow charts, tables, and graphics to clarify the reviewed information.
An article review demands an in-depth analysis of an article to develop an objective evaluation of the literature. When writing an article review, you should show why you decided to do the review, provide an analysis of the methods used and include an expert opinion of the information collected in the article. You will not worry about how to write an article review if you follow the above guide and incorporate the tips given.
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