How to Critique an Article: The Major Steps

What is an article critique?

An article review is a paper that offers a critical assessment of the article’s (research, opinion, review) content and form. You should be able to determine the article’s strengths and weaknesses.

How do you critique an article?

You don’t need to reword everything the author has already said—instead focus on what you think are their strongest points and then attack those points with objections or questions that could have been raised by someone else reading the article. If something is irrelevant or inaccurate, be sure to point that out too.

Article critique: 8 vital steps

1. Read the article and skim it.

Reading a study or book, especially if it is full of unfamiliar terminology and long philosophical arguments, is intimidating. You shouldn’t expect to fully understand everything at the first reading. Skimming a study can help you to get a general sense of what the author says. What do they want to prove? Are they arguing for or against something? What are their main points? If there are terms you don’t know, get out your dictionary—or look them up online.

2. Read the article again, more carefully.

This time, read the whole article and try to understand everything that happens in it. If you have questions, mark them with a highlighter or a piece of paper—which will also make them easier to find when you go back later to write your critique.

3. Make sure you understand the main point(s) the author is making.

While you are reading, keep track of the author’s main points. At first this may seem difficult because many authors write in a way that is complicated or indirect. Make sure you understand the author’s purpose and thesis (the main point of the paper).

4. Critique it as you read.

Ask yourself questions about what you are reading, especially if it is an argument or a controversial subject. Does the article adequately address your questions? For example, if you are reading an article on the morality of animal testing and then come to a part in which the author argues why it is wrong, ask yourself what problems arise in that section.

5. Be ready to defend what you wrote.

As you read and write, you will find that you have made a claim in your critique. This is OK if it was an opinion. Your critique should be a statement of your opinion or, at the very least, something that could be disputed by someone else reading the same article in another way. If you were arguing in your critique, you may want to go back and clarify what you are saying. For example, if you are arguing that the author is wrong about something, make sure that your argument is not so weak that it could easily be refuted.

6. Write and edit your critique.

Use the box below to help you organize what you have written. As you go along, go back to that section if the piece of information needed is not clear and add more details or your own viewpoint (in italics). Check for grammar, spelling and sentence structure. Make sure the piece stays focused on your evaluation of the article.

7. Use an example to illustrate your ideas (or “back up” an argument).

Rather than just telling the reader what you think about a subject, an example can help you clarify or prove your point. It should be similar to, but not exactly the same as, what is being discussed. If a claim was made in the article that said “men are better at math than women,” an example of this would be “in class, the men do much better on the tests with their hands while most of the women use pencils.”

8. Summarize and restate your critique.

Write a brief summary of what you have written and restate the main points of your critique. This will allow you to see if you have made any major mistakes or whether your argument is sound.