How to Critique an Article

Written by

Elizabeth H. Simmons

August 3, 2023

5 min read

Every day, students get dozens of new assignments of all shapes and kinds, so it is more than simple to get lost in all of the rules and guidelines. One such task is a critique, and often we are asked, ‘What is an article critique?’ as it is not a regular task and has some specific structural and content requirements.

If you want to learn how to critique an article, you should first have a clear understanding of what this assignment is about. Generally, it is an objective analysis of any piece of work (not depending on its genre), which includes your personal thoughts on the subject. You need to give the reader an idea of whether the author of an article based it on facts and credible information. Your main goal is to show your personal opinion, backed with evidence and arguments, so you need to be very attentive while reading the article and noting down key elements.

Many students fail to complete this task, as they simply provide a summary of the analyzed paper, forgetting about personal approach and challenging your own skills and knowledge. That is why it is so simple to make one of many mistakes, while completing an article critique. These mistakes may include:

• Using only negative critique. Although your main aim is to analyze the article, you should add some positive features to dilute the overall impressive of your paper;
• Excessive background information. Most of the readers already know what the article is about or who its author is, so don’t waste too much time and energy on providing boring information on the subject itself and biography or publishing details;
• Not including the main argument. Many students forget about this important element and simply try to summarize the whole article. However, main argument is an essential part of your work and you need to include it at the beginning of your paper to make sure everyone knows what your position on the subject is.

If you follow all the recommendations, you will easily complete an outstanding article critique without any efforts!

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Article Critique Example

One of the ways of simplifying the whole process of completing the assignment is by using an article critique example. Many students decide to download such samples in order to get an overall idea of how the assignment should look like and what key points should be added.

Using an example may greatly help you to create a proper structure, use necessary formatting methods and shape the whole work according to professor’s demands. It is your way of making the whole process of creating an article critique simple and fun, following all the common rules and regulations. With the help of such samples you will be able to save lots of times and nerves, which will definitely contribute to the overall results.

APA Format Article Critique

It is not a secret that most of professors pay careful attention not only to the content of the assignment but also how well it is formatted. That is why you need to be very attentive, when shaping your work and adding final changes. One of the most popular formatting styles, while completing an article critique is American Psychological Association (APA) format, which has its specific rules and guidelines. Your paper should be double-spaced, using 1-inch margins and Times New Roman font in 12 point. The general structure of your critique should consist of a title page, abstract, body and references. When formatting the title page, you should indicate name of your paper and school, as well as your personal data.

APA format article critique follows a clear structure:

• Abstract. This section should consist of a brief summary of the critique you are going to provide. Write down how it will influence the reader and what analysis methods were used. This paragraph should be 15-250 words long with centered word ‘Abstract’ at the top;
• Body. On the next page center the title of your work and start providing necessary details, not forgetting to double space the text. Here you should include mistakes you have found in the article, methods you have used and so on;
• References. This section may include only the paper you are analyzing but you shouldn’t forget about the formatting style you are going to use. Write the reference in such an order: last name of the author, initials, publication year, title of the article, name of the journal in italics, volume, page numbers if necessary.

In-text citations should be made using the author-date system, which means that you only need to indicate name of the author, followed by the year of publication. If you want to quote a certain part of the paper, you need to include the page name at the end.

If you know how to write an article critique, you will easily complete the assignment without depending on its complexity and formatting peculiarities.