Write a Critical Review of a Scientific Journal Article

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These guides, templates, and videos are designed to help academic writers at various stages of their writing process, including the pre-writing and revising stages.

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What is a scientific journal?

A scientific journal is a publication intended to further the progress of scientific discovery by reporting novel research. Scientific journals publish both original research articles and review articles.

What is a critical review?

A critical review is an assessment of an original research article. Writing a critical review of a journal article can help you improve your research skills. By assessing the work of others, you develop skills as a critical reader and become familiar with the types of evaluation criteria that will be applied to research in your field.

You are expected to read the article carefully, analyze it, and evaluate the quality and originality of the research, as well as its relevance and presentation. You should assess its strengths and weaknesses, followed by its overall value.

This guide is divided into two parts. The first part, "Analyzing the Text," outlines the steps involved in evaluating a research article. The second part, "Writing Your Critique," discusses two possible ways to structure your review.​

More help with science writing

Use this worksheet to develop, assess, and refine your research questions. There is also a downloadable PDF version.

This workbook provides writers with a mapping template and fillable worksheets to begin organizing and drafting sections of a research article.

This 6-page fillable pdf handout provides writers with a template to begin outlining sections of their own research proposal.