How to write a critical review of a journal article
A critical review is a type of assignment that requires you to read an academic journal and then review it. This is not a straightforward task as you need to use your own judgement in order to understand the article and then present your reviews. Furthermore, the criteria for a critical review can vary to a great extent. If you want to write a compelling critical review, then you need to take care of the following points:
Read Thoroughly
The most important aspect of a critical review is to read the journal article in a thorough manner. Even if you need to read the journal article multiple times, it is important to grasp the key points put forward in the article and make notes. Furthermore, you also need to read related materials. By focusing on related materials, you will be able to grasp the topic in a much better manner. This will make it easier for you to write the review.
Review the Evaluation Criteria
Another important element of a critical review is that you need to understand the evaluation criteria. There can be several kinds of critical reviews. While some reviews require you to analyse the journal article and summarise the key strengths and weaknesses of the findings, others may need you to add your own thoughts on the topic. Therefore, it is critical that you review the evaluation criteria in great detail.
Create an Outline
Before you start writing the review, it is a good practice to create an outline for your work. This can be done by creating a rough structure of your review. You could start your review by providing a background on the journal article as well as mentioning the nuances of the topic. Thereafter, the main body of your review could focus on evaluating the text of the article. Finally, you could present the main findings in the conclusion section of your review.
Write the Review
Once all of the above steps have been completed, you are ready to write the review. Remember to focus on the requirements of the review and adopt a writing style that is suitable for a critical review. Furthermore, you also need to reference your work in the required referencing style. In addition, you need to be careful in terms of providing relevant examples to support your arguments in the review. This will make your review much more compelling and convincing.