Learning Skills
Qualities of an effective critical review
- Gets attention early by stating your intentions
- Holds the attention of the reader throughout with interesting commentary
- Uses sufficient detail and examples to build your case
- Concentrates on those details and information which are most relevant to your evaluation
- But, most importantly, it goes beyond mere description. It shows your appreciation of the work and the value you feel it holds from your analysis and evaluation. You should be able to offer a conclusion that evaluates the balance you see existing between its strengths and weaknesses
Format to be followed (in the case of an article)
There are several steps that you should follow in critically evaluating / reviewing an article:
Take a quick overview of the article by reading the:
- Title
- Abstract (if any)
- Introduction
- Subheadings (if any)
- Conclusion
- Read the article without taking notes in order to gain an overall idea of its aim and main idea
- Read the article again analytically and make notes of main ideas and main topic
- Highlight important ideas
- Make brief notes in the margin or on paper
- Check you notes to ensure that they include
- The main aim of the article, e.g. to analyse, explain, evaluate, argue, criticise, discuss opposing views
- The methodological approach i.e. what research or analysis the authors may have used!
- The main findings/conclusions
- Use your notes to write a summary