How to Write an Article Review: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide

Working on article reviews can feel a bit tricky at first. But once you break them down, you’ll see it’s not so bad. Here’s how to tackle this task step by step:

1. Start by giving the article a good read, maybe even twice.
2. As you go through the article, write down your thoughts and questions.
3. Create a short summary of the article without inserting your opinions just yet.
4. Look for the strengths and weaknesses of the article.
5. Share your perspective
6. Finish by summarizing your main points.

At the end of this guide, you'll also find an example of an article review for a better understanding of the topic. However, if you’re still feeling uncertain about writing article reviews, PaperWriter is here to help you out. Whether you need advice on structure, content, or any other aspect of your assignment, our research paper writer has got your back!

What Is an Article Review?

Basically, your review article is a constructive, critical assessment of someone else’s work. It explores the strong and weak points of the given piece, gaps, inconsistencies, and other issues, and gives the whole piece an objective evaluation based on all these points.

Fully grasping how to review the article requires excellent analytical and critical thinking skills, as well as the ability to present ideas and arguments in a well-structured way. Therefore, handling this task can be rather difficult.

To help you get on the right track, here are the basic features of article review writing:

• It always includes summarization, classification, in-depth analysis, comparison, and critiques.
• The evaluation and analysis should use research, ideas, and theories relevant to the subject matter.
• Important: A review of an article should not provide new information. Instead, it should explore and evaluate the work of another writer.

Common Types of Article Review

All article reviews follow a similar structure and pursue the same goal. However, there are different types of article reviews that require a different approach to each.

All in all, we can distinguish three types of this paper based on the kind of article that is being reviewed.

Journal Article Review

If you are creating a journal article review, you should focus on assessing the strong and weak points of the piece. You should share your own interpretation of the article and provide its in-depth analysis to highlight the value and importance of the piece.

This type of work is probably the easiest and least formal of all.

Research Article Review

When writing a research article review, you also have to read, analyze, and evaluate the piece. However, this type of paper needs to have more depth to it compared to a review of a journal article.

The biggest distinctive feature of this work is that along with assessing the strong and weak sides of the article, the author should also evaluate the research methods and use this assessment to conduct further analysis and critique.

Science Article Review

When it comes to a science article review, your focus should be on both the content and the scientific methodology used in the research. A significant part of reviewing an article should be about the research methods used in the study. Are they appropriate for the questions being asked? Were the experiments well-designed and executed? Consider factors like sample size, controls, and data analysis.

Article Review Format

If you are wondering which format to use for your critical review of an article, the first thing you should do is check with your professor. Typically, a professor should provide you with clear guidelines for your paper writing. If you didn’t get any guidelines or something is unclear, don’t hesitate to ask your professor to clarify it for you.

Some of the main questions you should ask in terms of formatting of an article review are:

• What citation style is preferred?
• What is the required word count?
• Are you to include a summary, critique, or your personal opinion in the review?
• Are you expected to drive attention to the main idea or theme within the articles?
• Are you to provide background information?

Having the answers to these questions will help you create a high-quality paper that fully meets the requirements of your professor. So, be sure to clarify them.

Just to give you an idea of how everything should look, let’s consider the two most common formats for this type of work.

APA Format Article Review

Here are some tips that will help you to write an article review with correct bibliographical entries for the most commonly-used sources:

• Web: Author’s last name, initials. (Year, month date of publication). Title. Retrieved from (link to your source)
• Journal: Author’s last name, initials. (Year of publication). Publication title. Periodical title, volume (issue), pp.-pp.
• Newspaper: Author’s last name, initials. (Year, month date of publication). Publication title. The magazine title, pp. xx-xx.

MLA Article Review

The second common style for article review writing is MLA. Here is how to format your citations if you are assigned to write an article review in MLA:

• Web: Author’s last name, first name middle name initial. “Publication Title.” Website Title. Website Publisher, Date Month Year Published. Web. Date Month Year Accessed.
• Journal:  Author’s last name, first name middle name initial. “Publication Title.” Journal Title Series Volume. Issue (Year Published): Page(s). Database Name. Web. Date Month Year Accessed.
• Newspaper:  Author’s last name, first name middle name initial. “Publication Title.” Newspaper Title [City] Date, Month, Year Published: Page(s). Print.

Example of an Article Review

Looking at the examples of review articles will help you effectively summarize the main points, critique the findings, and present your analysis. So, take a look at this sample and apply these techniques in your own writing.

The Pre-Writing Process

Of course, writing a review itself is the biggest part of the task. However, as we all know, no task can be completed well without some basic planning and preparation. The pre-writing process is necessary to get you ready for the writing stage and that’s why it is so important.

So, what do you need to prepare?

‍First and foremost, you need to understand the essence of this task. It is vital that you know what an article review is, what purpose it has, and what is expected of you. Once you know this, there are a few more pre-writing steps to take.

Figure Out How to Organize Your Paper

Before you can get to reading and evaluating the given article, you should have a clear idea of the organization of your future review. Knowing how your paper will be structured will give you an idea of what you should focus on when reading the article.

To help you get started, here is how your review should be set up:

• Summary of the article. Begin your review by summarizing the article, its key ideas, statements, and information.

• Discussion of the strong points. Next, focus on the positive things. Tell the readers what the author does well, what good ideas he or she brings up, and share some insightful observations.

• Discussion of drawbacks, gaps, contradictions, and inconsistencies of the article. To complete your review, tell the readers about the negative aspects you’ve noticed. Discuss if there is an information gap, lack of research, or unanswered questions.

Review the Article by Going Over the Text

Start by quickly skimming the article. During your first reading, don’t cling to any details. Instead, go over the article’s title and abstract, study the headings, opening sentences of the paragraphs, etc. Then only read the first several paragraphs and jump to the concluding paragraph. These tricks will help you quickly grasp the overall idea of the article and the main points the author makes.

Next, read the entire article to get a complete picture. Here are a few tips to help you make the first reading as effective as possible:

• Look for the general idea and key points.
• Note down any terms, concepts, or words that are not familiar to you.
• Write down all questions you get while reading the article.
• Before you move to the next step, be sure to look up the definitions of the unfamiliar words.

Read the Text Attentively

After you give it the first round of superficial reading and note down everything that seems unclear, you can finally read the article closely.

Follow these tips to make the most of this stage:

• Read the article multiple times to ensure that you got the main idea right.
• Make notes on everything that sounds important or unclear.
• Highlight the most important points and helpful quotes that you can refer to later.
• Connect the content of the article with your own knowledge of the topic. Define if the article agrees or disagrees with what you already know.

Interpret the Article In Your Own Words

Putting the article into your own words is a great trick that will help you define how well you understood the main points. Also, this is a good practice for your writing stage.

After writing down your own interpretation of the article, highlight the main parts that you’d like to discuss in your review. 

Based on your interpretation and highlighted points, make a preliminary outline. Then review your outline to cross out everything unnecessary or unimportant.

Create a Detailed Outline

The last stage of preparation is making an outline. Get back to your notes, summary, and preliminary outline to define what to include in your review. Based on this, create a clear, well-organized, and detailed outline. In the next section of our guide, we will give you more tips for making an effective outline.

Your professor has given you an assignment, but you don't know how to write a reflection paper? Our authors have created a great guide that is sure to help you.

Article Review Template & Outline

Writing an outline is the best way to organize all your thoughts and create a solid base for your future paper. It will help you follow the right structure and focus on the right points in your review. Also, an outline will help you see if anything is missing or, on the contrary, if there is anything else you should exclude from your paper.

How to create a good outline? First of all, ensure you are well aware of your teacher’s requirements. There are two sections of the review that are optional - a personal critique and a summary section. You should define if your professor wants you to include these sections or not. If yes, you will also have to add them to your outline. If not, you can follow a standard template.

What parts are included in an outline? The review itself, like any other academic paper, should consist of an introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. However, additionally, you may need to include some other sections to your review, such as:

• Pre-title page that shares full information about the article that is being reviewed (i.e. the type of the article, author(s), the title of the publication, etc.)
• Optional author’s contact details (e.g. email, address, phone number, etc.)
• Running head (this element only applies to papers in the APA format)
• Summary page (used to communicate the background, define why the work was done, sum up results and discuss methods)
• Title page
• Works Cited or References
• Suggested Reading Page (optional)
• Tables and Figure Legends (if required)

Need more help with making an article review outline? Here is a basic sample outline that can serve as a template for your future review:

1. Introduction

• Background information
• Article classification
• A brief summary 

2. Body

• Paragraph 1: A strong point or insightful observation + analysis and critique + supporting evidence
• Paragraph 2: A strong point or insightful observation + analysis and critique + supporting evidence
• Paragraph 3: A drawback, gap, inconsistency, or another weak point + analysis and critique + supporting evidence
• Paragraph 4…

3. Conclusion

• Summary of all discussed points
• Critical evaluation of the author’s work
• Comparison

A Step-by-Step Guide to Article Review Writing

Choose the Title

First, create a relevant title that goes in line with the core focus of your paper. Make sure it is clear and concise, but attention-grabbing.

Cite the Article

Next, you will need to cite the article you are reviewing according to the required citation style.
Here is a sample citation in the MLA style:
Abraham John. “The World of Dreams.” Virginia Quarterly 60.2(1991): 125-67. Print.

Article Identification

Following the citation, you need to provide the identification details of the article, such as:

• Title
• Author
• Name of the journal
• Year of publication

Example: The article, “The World of Dreams,” was written by John Abraham and published in Virginia Quarterly in 1991.

Make a Good Introduction

Creating a solid introduction for your article review is all about being organized. Before you start writing, take a moment to outline your ideas or use an article review template. This will help keep your thoughts clear and coherent.

• If you're wondering how to start an article review, begin with an introduction that mentions the article's title and includes your main thesis. This gives your readers a clear idea of what to expect.
• After that, summarize the article’s key points. This gives context and helps readers understand the focus of your review.
• Make sure to highlight the positive aspects and strong facts presented in the article. This shows what the publication does well.
• Finally, provide your critique. Point out any gaps, contradictions, or inconsistencies in the text, as well as any questions that remain unanswered. This approach not only strengthens your review but also adds depth to your analysis.

Summarize the Article

Provide a more thorough summary of the article. Pay close attention to the key statements, ideas, theories, and findings offered by the author.

Critique It

Make a critical assessment of the article. First, discuss the positive aspects of the work, explain what the author did well, and support your ideas with arguments. After the positive aspects, discuss what gaps, inconsistencies, and other drawbacks are present in the article.

Write a Conclusion

In the conclusion of your article review, revisit the main points you’ve covered, including your findings and critique of the article. Discuss the accuracy, validity, and relevance of the results you’ve analyzed. It’s also a good idea to suggest directions for future research in the field.

Before you submit your article, keep these tips in mind:

• As you read through the article, make sure to highlight the key points. This will help you identify the main argument and the evidence the author used to support it.
• When writing your review, back up your points with evidence from your sources. Using direct quotations can strengthen your argument.
• Choose quotes and supporting evidence carefully, and use direct quotes sparingly. Take the time to thoroughly analyze the article.
• Whenever you reference a source or include a direct quote, remember to use parenthetical citations. This helps you avoid unintentional plagiarism.
• After finishing your piece, take a break and then read it again the next day. This fresh perspective will help you catch any grammatical errors and organizational issues.
• Finally, use a spell-checker and consider getting a second opinion on your paper, especially if you’re tackling complex religion essay topics.

The Last Stage: Proofreading and Editing

If you take a look at a truly well-written article review, you will not find any typos or grammar mistakes there. Although the content of your review plays a big role in your success, the quality of the text is also vital.

Although many students still prefer to skip the post-writing process, they make a huge mistake here. If you don’t bother to proofread and edit your review, you risk getting a low grade just because you didn’t fix the errors. That would be a pity, right? That’s true, so here you have all the reasons to devote some more time and energy to revise your draft.

But how to proofread and edit your review effectively? Here are some key tips that should help:

• First of all, be sure to give yourself a few days to rest after you are done with writing. Often, when you start proofreading the text right after you finished it, you are too tired to notice all the mistakes that might be there. So, it is always a good idea to let it rest for a few days.

• One more tip is to read your review several times. As a rule, reading it only once is not enough to notice all the drawbacks.

• Focus on one type of mistake at a time. When revising your work for all types of mistakes at once, you will most likely miss something. But, if you focus on one specific type of mistake during each round of revision, you will be able to identify and eliminate all the errors.

• Use available tools. Finally, we encourage you to make use of the tools you have to simplify and speed up the process. There are many great tools for proofreading and editing that can come in handy. Don’t rely on them completely, but let them save you some time.

Checklist for Revision

Now that you have all the tips for effective proofreading, here is a checklist that will help you define whether you checked everything:

• Content
• Formatting
• Text structure
• Paragraphs
• Tone of voice
• Sentence structure
• Vocabulary
• Presentation
• Grammar
• Spelling
• Punctuation
• Referencing and citations
• Uniqueness

Article Review: 14 Dos and Don’ts

We already told you about the main steps in writing and shared some handy article review examples to help you get started. But, we have even more tips in store and we are willing to share them with you.

In the list below, we’ve gathered some of the main tips on what you should and should not do when writing.

Dos:

1. Read the article several times to define its main idea and understand it fully.
2. Take notes while you are reading.
3. Focus on the impression the article makes.
4. If there are any unknown terms, be sure to look them up before writing.
5. Base your work on an analysis with insightful observations.
6. Check at least one example to know what it should look like.
7. Write in the third person and stick to the formal style.
8. Make an emphasis on your introduction to engage the readers and make a strong thesis statement.

Don’ts:

1. Don’t think it is enough to read the article only once.
2. Don’t neglect the importance of creating an outline.
3. Don’t go with just any title, brainstorm ideas to find a title that is both concise and attention-grabbing.
4. Don’t focus only on the positive or, on the contrary, only the negative sides of the article. Instead, make an all-rounded review that highlights both strong points and drawbacks.
5. Don’t skip the proofreading and editing stage.
6. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you really need it.

The Bottom Line

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PaperWriter is a professional article review writing service with a huge pool of top-rated writers. Here, students of all academic levels can get any kind of help they need. Whether you need mathematics homework help or any other assistance - PaperWriter has got you covered. Trust us to take care of your article review and we will make sure that you get the highest grade with literally no effort.

FAQs

What Is A Review Article?

A review article is a type of writing that summarizes and analyzes existing research on a specific topic. Instead of presenting new experiments, it looks at findings from various studies, bringing together different insights, trends, and identifying gaps in the research.

How To Write An Article Review?

To write an article review, here’s a simple approach:

1. Read the Article: Start by understanding the main arguments and findings.
2. Summarize: Write a brief summary of the article’s key points.
3. Critique: Share your thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of the work.
4. Structure: Organize your review with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.
5. Use Evidence: Support your critique with examples from the article and other relevant sources.

How To Write An Article Review In APA Format?

If you want to write an article review in APA format, here are some key steps:

1. Title Page: Create a title page with the title of your review, your name, and your institution.
2. Abstract: Write a brief abstract summarizing your review in about 150-250 words.
3. Main Body: Organize your review into sections like introduction, summary, critique, and conclusion.
4. Citations: Include in-text citations and a reference list for all sources, following APA style.
5. Formatting: Make sure to double space your text, use 1-inch margins, and choose a standard font like Times New Roman in 12 pt size.