Blog on How to Write an Article Review?

A review of an article is a summary of another article, where you assess and conclude the essence of a particular writing piece. Review articles are best to save time and speed up your research work by providing the specified and calculated information present in a long research paper or article. Also if you are a student and working on a specific topic, by writing a review article, you can analyze what you have learned and can get familiar too with the work of specialists of the particular fields. Sometimes these specialists review each other’s’ writings too. It is vital to keep in mind that an Article Review is a critical thing in the field of research because when information and knowledge is being collected, when has to properly review articles to get their major points and ideas.

Let’s find out some key factors to be considered while writing a review article:

Check Purpose and Scope of the Article:

First of all, before going to start, find out the basic essence of the journal or research paper for which you are writing a review article. It’s important to check closely whether the review is needed or not because not all journals accept review articles.

Describe your extent:

You need to explain the scope of your review article, and the research questions you are going to answer so that it can be defined that your review article will contribute some thin new in the field.

Write a focused title of the article:  

The title of your review article should describe the main focus of your writings. It can be inquisitive, expressive, and affirmative.

Introduction of the topic:

At the beginning of the review, introduce the topic and explain the overall concept of the particular writing piece. Describe the need for the review and give a brief but impactful introduction so that even non-specialists can have an understanding of the topic.

Critical Point of view:

A perfect review article provides a critical discussion. It should not look like a summary of the topic; you need to put your own experience of learning and knowledge, what you get from the particular writings. With your review article, you are going to help the specialists or non-specialist so it is necessary to analyze a research work or journal critically.

Citation of the article:

It is important to cite your article. There are different specified styles of citation available, like APA, ASA, and MLA, etc. Choose the one which is required for your review article.

Main body of the article:

After introducing your topic precisely, come to the main points of the article. It is the central part of the article, which includes the critical points of the topic. Here you will present the main idea you support; if you are biased on one side, you should mention the reasoning and arguments in favor of the topic. Also if there is some contradiction, provide a balanced discussion about both sides. You can share your personal findings too with strong arguments. Overall after reading your review, your reader should be able to understand the basics essentials of the writings. Keep in mind that your personal opinions are not supposed to be included, but the findings related to the topic should be interconnected.

Conclude your article:

Sum up your article precisely, not more than a paragraph. Here you will pass your judgment about the topic, and will tell your reader the importance of the article, that why they should read it and what will they learn from it. In the conclusion, you can support an argument that you find better and refer to further research about the topic. Basically, the conclusion of a review presents two main things; first key point is the writing, and the second thing is the suggestion for further research or drawbacks if any.

Proof reading of the article:

It is indispensable to proofread your review before submission. Most of the writers skip this step and take it easy, but it is a very important point to be considered. When you are giving a critical review, in other words commenting on the work of other writers, it is essential to be flawless by your side. While re-reading your review, check the sentences, grammar and vocabulary, also check the symmetry of the information provided.

So writing a review article is not that easy job, you have to be experienced enough to analyze someone else’s work. As a reminder keep in mind that your review will be answering these questions, as these are the main key factors for writing a review:

§  What was the basic aim of the article?

§  Did the author convey his thoughts completely?

§  Will the article be able to contribute to the particular field?

§  What kind of theories did the author develop?