Question : How to Write a Critical Review of a Scientific Journal Article

Why??

Why??

1. Help improve your research skills.

2. Develop skills as a critical reader.

3. Become familiar with types of evaluation criteria that is applied to research in your field.

4. In summary, to develop a good bullsh!t meter.

1. Read the article 

2. Analyze it

3. Evaluate the quality, originality, relevance, and presentation of the research

4. Assess its strengths and weaknesses

1. Don’t forget to address the positive and the negative aspects to the article.

1. Two parts to writing a review.

2. Researching the Critique.

3. Writing the Critique.

1. Select a topic
2. Select a research article
3. Analyze the text
4. Establish the research context
5. Evaluate the text
6. Establish the significance of the research

1. A scientific research article from a peer-reviewed scientific journal

2. Article must have been published no earlier than 2012(no more than 8 years old)

3. Must be on the thoracolumbopelvic region

4. Read the abstract first!!!  
5. If you cannot understand the abstract, you will have a difficult time evaluating the article

1. As you read the article, use the following questions to help you understand how and why the research was carried out:

2. What is the author's central purpose? 

As you read the article, use the following questions to help you understand how and why the research was carried out:

1. What methods were used to accomplish this purpose (systematic recording of observations, analysis and evaluation of published research, assessment of theory? 
2. Look at Methods
3. What were the techniques used? 

4. How was each technique performed?

5. What kind of data can be obtained using each technique?

6. How are such data interpreted?

7. What kind of information is produced by using the technique?

1. As you read the article, use the following questions to help you understand how and why the research was carried out:

What objective evidence was obtained from the author's e?orts (observations, measurements etc.)? What were the results of the study? 
Look at Result
2. How was each technique used to obtain each result?

3. What statistical tests were used to evaluate the signi?cance of the conclusions based on numeric or graphic data?

4. How did each result contribute to answering the question or testing the hypothesis raised in the introduction?

Questions such as the following should be addressed:

1. Was this research pertinent only within the authors' geographic locale, or did it have broader (even global) relevance?

2. On what prior observations was the research based? What was and was not known at the time?

3. How important was the research question posed by the researcher?

1. After you have read the article and answered the questions in the previous section, you should have a good understanding of the research undertaken. 

2. You can now begin to evaluate the author's research. 

3. Making judgements about someone else's work is often the most di?cult part of writing the review

Introduction

1. In the introduction, cite the journal article in full and provide a summary of the journal article. 

2. Use the answers to the questions in the section Analyze the Text to develop the summary.

Body

1. Follow the structure of the journal article. 

2. Evaluate each section of the article – Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion – highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each section. 

Use the answers to the questions in Evaluate the Text to develop this section.

Conclusion

1. In this section, sum up the strengths and weaknesses of the research as a whole. 

2. Establish its practical and theoretical signi?cance. 

3. Use the answers to questions Establish the Signi?cance of the Research to develop this section.