Writing a Critical Review - Washington State University

1 Research and Teaching Methods Writing a Critical ReviewWriting a Critical ReviewGenerally, the purpose to write a Critical Review is twofold: letting readers know (1) about the article and(2) your opinions about the paper. Additionally, we often have a third purpose when reviewing a publishedstudy, that is, to relate that study under Review to our Critical Review typically includes the following components (the sub-headings, though, are not necessarilyused) : mention the title and author(s) of the paper; clarify paper subject; establish your criticalpoint of : briefly summarize the contents of the paper - main ideas, procedures, results and : present your OBJECTIVE opinions, positive and negative, about the paper.

2 The aspects youshall evaluate are importance of subject matter timeliness of the paper objectivity of author completeness of literature Review thoroughness of research originality of method applicability of method opinions of other expertsThe enhancement of our ability to properly write Critical Review is extremely helpful for us to develop theliterature Review section when Writing a journal article. Literature Review is a necessary and crucial componentin essentially any scientific publication. The Review of literature serves three important functions [Weissbergand Buker, 1990]. First, it helps to provide additional background information about your study. Second, itassures your readers that you are familiar with the important existing research in your area.

3 Third, it establishesyour study as one link in a chain of research that is developing and enlarging knowledge in your field [Weissberg and Buker, 1990].There are two major forms of citation, namely, information prominent and author prominent. In the former,the focus is on the information provided by the author, , a flume study on frozen soil erosion is performedrecently [Greer et al., 2003]. In the latter, the focus is more on the author him- or herself, , Greer et al. [2003]conducted a flume study on frozen soil erosion. Information prominent citations are commonly used to indicatethe beginning of the literature Review section. As this part evolves, the citations would refer to studies moreclosely related to your own and the author s name may be given more emphasis [Weissberg and Buker, 1990].

4 ReferencesWeissberg, R., and S. Buker, 1990. Writing up Research: Experimental Research Report Writing for Studentsof English. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ.