Example of article critique using apa format

Article Critique Paper

Use the check sheet below to make sure your paper is the best it can be! Make sure you answer “Yes” to all questions before submitting your paper or you will lose points!

General Paper Format

Yes

No

1. Is everything in your paper (including headers, the main body of your mini-literature review, and your references) in 12 point Times New Roman font?

2. Is everything in your paper double spaced, including references (here I mean the spacing above and below each line, not the spaces following a period)?

3. Do you have one inch margins on all sides of the paper (one inch from the top of the page, one inch from the bottom, and one inch from each side)

4. Are the first lines of all paragraphs indented roughly ½ inch?

5. Are your paragraphs aligned left? (That is, text should be flush left, with lines lining up on the left of the page, but text should NOT line up on the right side of the page – it should look ragged)

6. Do you need help figuring out how to configure a word document in APA format (inserting headers, page numbers, proper indents, etc.)? If YES or NO, I highly recommend watching this video which walks you through setting up an APA formatted paper! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pbUoNa5tyY​

Title page

Yes

No

Header

1. Do you have the phrase “Running head” in your header (with a lower case h)?

2. Is the rest of your Running head title in ALL CAPS?

3. Is your Running head in 12 point Times New Roman font?

4. Do you have a page number that is flush right (also in 12 point Times New Roman font)?

Title / Name / Institution

1. Is your title 12 words or less (as recommended by the APA)?

2. Do all title words with four letters or more start with a capital letter?

3. Are your name and institution correct?

4. Are your title, name, and institution elements centered and in 12 point Times New Roman font?

Main Body of the Paper (Page Two)

Yes

No

Header

1. Is your header title present and identical to your header title on the title page?

2. Is your header title in ALL CAPS and 12 point Times New Roman font?

3. Does your header on this second page omit the phrase “Running head”

4. Do you have a page number starting on page 2

Title for the literature review

1. Do you have the identical title you used on the title page rewritten at the top of your literature review?

2. Is this title centered?

Main Body of the Paper (Page Two) Continued

Yes

No

Global Summary of the Article

1. Does your summary note the type of design (experimental vs. correlational)?

2. Does your summary note the independent and dependent variables?

3. Does your summary describe the methods for the article?

4. Does your summary describe the findings?

Critique of the Article

1. Does your critique identify at least four of the needed elements (validity and reliability, interpreting findings, ethics, follow-up study, weak vs strong results, implications not mentioned in the article, theory problems, why the methods used are better or worse than alternatives

Brief Summary

1. Do you summarize the article in less than two paragraphs?

Citations for the main body of the paper

1. Did you cite the article you read using APA format (That is, ONLY the last name of the author(s) and date of publication)?

a. Note that you do NOT include first names, initials, or the title of the article the authors wrote when citing. That information belongs in the references pages only.

b. Also note that you only use an ampersand – the & symbol – when it occurs within parentheses. In other instances, use the word “and”

2. If you quoted, did you provide a page number for the direct quote?

3. If you paraphrased in any way, did you cite the source of that information?

References Page

Yes

No

Title for the references page

1. Do references start on their own page?

2. Is the word “References” centered?

References – Make sure these are in APA format!

1. If you have more than one reference, are references listed in alphabetical order (starting with the last name of the first author listed)?

2. Are all citations that you include in the body of the paper referenced?

3. Is the first line of the reference flush left while subsequent lines are indented (Note: Use the ruler function for this. DO NOT simply tab)?

4. Did you use the “&” symbol when listing more than one author name?

5. Did you include the date of publication

6. For article references, is the article title (which is not italicized) present, with only the first word and proper names starting with a capital letter?

7. For article references, is the name of the journal present with all major words starting with a capital letter (Note: this journal title is italicized)?

8. For article references, is the volume number italicized

9. For article references, are the page numbers present (not italicized)

10. For article references, is the DOI present