How To Review an Article – A Guide with Examples

During their educational journey, students are asked to write summaries and reviews of various literary elements, such as stories, essays, poems, or chapters. However, as they move further in their journey, they are also required to review different academic papers, such as articles, research papers, dissertations, and research reports. This compels them to ask, “How to review an article?”.

Whether you’re a student, researcher, or an academic professional, reviewing an article is a critical skill you must master. An article review deals with the work’s strengths, weaknesses, and overall value. It significantly lets reviewers understand and highlight the contribution, credibility, and quality of the research study. If you’re struggling to review a particle article, don’t get stressed; you’re in the right place.

This guide discusses all the essential steps that you must follow to review an article efficiently. 

Why Review an Article?

Here are the five reasons for reviewing an article: 

To ensure accuracy and correctness

The main reason for reviewing an article is to ensure accuracy and correctness. Whenever reviewers review an article, they verify factual accuracy, data integrity, and proper interpretation of results. This significantly helps to prevent errors, misleading claims, and the misinterpretation of information. 

To enhance clarity and readability 

Reviewing an article involves going through its logical flow, structure, and language. Whenever a reviewer thoroughly analyses an article, he suggests simplifying jargon, reorganizing content, and clarifying ambiguous points. All this leads to the enhancement of clarity and readability of the article. 

To validate the research methodology 

Reviewing an article also allows us to validate the research methodology remarkably. Whenever a reviewer goes through an article, he scrupulously assesses the soundness of research design, data collection, and analysis. This assessment ensures that all conclusions are supported by evidence and citations. 

To assess relevance and contribution

The relevance and contribution of an article can also be assessed through review. When reviewers review a particular article, they address all the meaningful gaps, offer significant insights, and align with the scope of a journal or publication. This significantly ensures that the article contributes to its field. 

To ensure compliance with guidelines

Reviewing an article helps to ensure compliance with guidelines to a great extent. When reviewers assess the formatting, citation, ethical, and stylistic standards in an article, they eventually evaluate its credibility. Consequently, it also helps to verify the proper attribution of sources and avoid plagiarism. 

Literature Review Vs. Article Review

Here is a concise table discussing various aspects of the differences between the literature review and the article review: 

8 Essential Steps to Review a Research Article

Above, we discussed why an article is reviewed and how a literature review differs from an article review. Now, we’ll extensively discuss the techniques and methods for efficiently reviewing a research article. Read and understand these steps efficiently and quickly to write a compelling and impactful article review. Here are the essential steps you must follow to review a research article: 

Step 1: Read the article thoroughly

The first and most important step in reviewing an article is to read it thoroughly. Reading will significantly help you make sense of the whole article and grasp its main theme and purpose. Start from the abstract and then proceed to the introduction, methodology, results, and conclusions. 

Read twice, first to develop an understanding and second for deep analysis. Highlight key points, take notes, and jot down questions. Try to understand what the article is trying to achieve. 

Step 2: Understand the context 

Once you’ve read the whole article, now, it’s time to understand its context. It means you’d need to situate it within its academic or scientific context. Check out what discipline or field it is associated with, and whether it is inspired by previous work or challenging existing theories. Also, know about its key authors, publication location, and references cited. 

Understanding the context of the article will significantly allow you to evaluate the relevance of the study to the current disclosure, the adequateness of the literature review, and the gaps that this article tends to fill. 

Step 3: Evaluate the content structure

The next step is to evaluate the context structure. An excellently written research article must follow a logical and standardized structure, such as: 

• Title and Abstract
• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Methodology
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• References

Thoroughly review to check if all the sections are clearly labeled and efficiently explained. Also, check the content flow to see if one section smoothly transitions to the other and how headings and subheadings are used in the whole article. 

Step 4: Analyze the research methodology

Analyzing the methodology is the most critical step in reviewing an article. It informs you about how the research case study was conducted and which methods were used to derive the given results. Learn what research type is used, i.e., qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods. Also, assess the sampling methods, data collection tools, and variables used. 

Moreover, check if all the ethical considerations were addressed, especially if the study is related to humans or animals. It will significantly enable you to know if the methods used are scientifically sound and suitable for achieving reliable results.

Step 5: Assess the results and discussion 

The next essential step is to assess the results of the article. Thoroughly understand and make sense of what researchers have found and how they have interpreted those results. Check whether the results are presented efficiently using tables, charts, or graphs. Also, see if the findings align properly with the hypothesis and research questions. 

When you’re assessing the discussion section, check how the author interprets results, how alternative interpretations are considered, and how findings are compared with the existing research. This will significantly help you understand how results and discussion efficiently add meaningful insights to the field. 

Step 6: Check the writing style and clarity

When you have assessed the results and discussion section, it’s time to check out the writing style and clarity of the article. Academic writing must be clear, concise, and format. It must be free of all the grammatical and unnecessary jargon. So, check thoroughly if the article is written in an academic tone and if the terms explained are suitable for the intended audience. 

Right after that, also check for proper citation and referencing style, such as APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard. Only one style must be used in an article; using two significantly compromises the article’s credibility. 

Step 7: Positively criticize and provide feedback

The next step involves the constructive critique and feedback of the article. You must criticize the article’s elements in a positive way; you must not tear apart the author. Criticism must be done by identifying the strengths, weaknesses, and gaps of the article. It includes where the author did well, what could have been improved, and what is missing in the article. 

After criticism comes to the feedback, you must provide specific suggestions to the author, such as, “The literature review could benefit from one more recent study”. Also, ensure to keep your tone objective and respectful, considering that every part of the research is a large scholarly discussion. 

Step 8: Summarize and conclude the article

The review of an article ends with a summary and conclusion. When you are done with all the primary aspects, summarize the article by recapping the main contributions, highlighting key strengths and weaknesses, and stating whether this article is suitable for publication. It must efficiently encapsulate the final judgment of your detailed analysis. 

However, if you’re writing the summary in a formal tone, it can also become the conclusion paragraph without adding it separately. 

Article Review Structure

Above, we have thoroughly discussed the essential steps to follow in order to review an article; now, we’re highlighting the structure you must consider while writing an article review. You can make your article review credible and authentic only by following the appropriate structure. Here is the article review structure. 

Article Review Example

Here is a condensed example of an article review that will guide you in reviewing your specific articles efficiently: 

Meanwhile, avail yourself of professional essay writing services if you require well-written essays. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Why is an article reviewed?

An article is reviewed to ensure accuracy and correctness, enhance clarity and readability, validate the research methodology, assess relevance and contribution, and ensure compliance with guidelines. 

Q2: How is an article review different from a literature review?

An article review critically analyzes the strengths, weaknesses, and contributions of one article, while a literature review is a synthesis of the existing research on a topic to identify trends, gaps, or debates.

Q3: What is the structure of an article review?

Here is the structure of an article review: 

Article Review: Title of the Article

By (Reviewer’s Name)

• Introduction
• Summary
• Critical Analysis
• Evaluation
• Conclusion
• References