Journal Article Critique Template

FORMAT:

• Your paper must be double-spaced, using Times New Roman, 12-point font, and one-inch

margins all around.

• Your critique should be 625 to 700 words, NOT including the words on the title page and

references page. A 10-point reduction will be applied to the Writing Skills section if your

word count is not in range. These are mandatory requirements.

• Your critique must be in narrative form, and your headings should be identical to those in

this template.

• See the APA Style Guidelines to assist you with the APA formatting requirements.

• Please see below for a template of what to include in the critique.

• Please submit your assignment in a <docx>, <doc>, or <rtf> document format.

 Leave the header blank (for student paper only, there is no running head in header)
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4 Title of Article

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Author(s) of article
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Student Name (Student)
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AU ID #________
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Department of Psychology, Athabasca University
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PSYC 290: General Psychology
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Journal Critique 1 or 2
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Tutor’s Name (Tutor)
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Date of Submission: Month Date, Year
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22 NOTE: Student papers do not contain an author’s note. This is only a requirement for the

23 Professional title page, as per APA 7th ed.

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Title of Article

I. Research Question or Problem

Ask yourself, “Is the question or problem clearly stated?” State the question or problem

in your own words. This will require two succinct sentences. Two succinct sentences will be

sufficient to answer the question.

II. Introduction

The introduction of a research article presents an overview of the problem studied in the

research. Ask yourself, “Is there a review of the literature related to the problem or question?”

“How many references were cited in the introduction?” Review and summarize the research

(e.g., theories and previous research) in your own words (paraphrase). Cite all sources as per

APA (7th edition, 2019). The introduction should be no more than three or four succinct

sentences so that more emphasis can be put into the remaining sections.

III. Methodology

The methods section of a research article should be detailed enough to permit another

researcher to attempt to replicate the study. Ask yourself, “Does the researcher explain the

methods used in the study?” “Who or what was the population studied?” “How were they

selected?” “What did the participants do for the study?” “What instruments were used to gather

data?” Paraphrase the methodology in your own words and cite from the article using APA Style.

NOTE: Your critique must be in narrative form (not question-answer, question-answer),

and your headings should be identical to those in this template.

NOTE: Paraphrasing involves restating another writer’s text, explanation, argument, or

narrative in your own words. Paraphrased material may be similar in length to the
original text, but is substantially different in wording and sentence structure. A
paraphrase is considered an indirect quote, so it does not require quotation marks.
However, it must be attributed/cited to the original source.
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IV. Results

The results section of a research article reports the raw data and statistical analysis

obtained in the study. Ask yourself, “Were the results clearly stated and understandable?” “Did

the author’s results answer the question or clarify the hypothesis?” “Were there tables or

graphs?” Paraphrase the results in your own words and cite from the article using APA Style.

V. Discussion/Conclusions

The discussion section of a research article includes the conclusions drawn by the

author(s). Ask yourself, “Were the results discussed?” “Were there suggestions for practical

implications?” “Were there recommendations for further research?” Write your answers to these

questions in your own words and cite from the article using APA Style.

VI. Critical Evaluation

The critical evaluation section is included here to enable you to critically analyze the

knowledge you gained about the topic researched, about the methodology, and about the

meaningfulness of the research. You should provide an integrated discussion of the strengths and

limitations of the article, based on your reading of the literature and on your own analysis. Ask

yourself, “What are some of the strengths of the article?” “What further questions did it

generate?” “What are some of the limitations of the article?” “Were the methods appropriate to

the research question?” “Were the statistics appropriate? “Should they have examined other

variables or a different sample? If so, why?” State your critique in your own words.

NOTE: This discussion section must be written in a detached, formal manner. Under
APA rules, you should not refer to yourself in the first person. Alternative ways to avoid
first person references (I, me, my, etc.) could be stated as follows: this author, this writer,
etc. For example, instead of saying “I think that the sample of subjects used by Smith and
Jones was biased...,” you would say “A major flaw of Smith and Jones’ research was that
that the sample of subjects was biased...”

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References

NOTE: Formatting the APA Reference Page

References is centered 1-inch down (first line after header), and pluralized even if there is only
one reference. It's upper and lower case, bold, and not italicized.

Name(s) of the author(s) (i.e., last name and initials). (Copyright/publishing date). Title

of article. Journal Name, volume number(issue number), page numbers, and doi.

(If the doi is not available, please provide the URL).

NOTE: The digital object identifier (DOI) can be used to cite and link to electronic
documents. A DOI is guaranteed never to change, so you can use it to link permanently
to electronic documents. If the DOI is not available, include the exact URL of the
journal’s home page. If you are having difficulty locating the DOI, click on the
following link: free DOI lookup. The doi is already included for your convenience with
the article in the PSYC 290 Digital Reading Room.