Critical Review of Academic Journal
Critical Review of Academic Journal
In this assignment you are asked to write a critical review of an academic journal article that is on a topic related to International Business Management
? Please read ‘Getting Critical’, by Kate Williams (the little red book from the module Pocket Study Skills collection):
Williams, K. 2009. Getting Critical. Oxford Brookers University, UK Preparing your review:
? A key question to ask yourself: What are the main strengths and weaknesses of the journal article?
• When first reading through the article, consider the author’s intentions and whether or not you think those intentions were successfully realised.
• Write notes on the article as you read through it.
• Organize your points into separate groups (e.g. points about structure, style, or argument).
• Devise a logical sequence for presenting these ideas.
• Remember that all of your ideas must support your central thesis.
As you become more familiar with the journal article, consider the following:
• What is the author’s purpose? To survey and summarize research on a topic? To present an argument that builds on past research? To refute another writer’s argument?
• Does the author define important terms?
• Is the information in the article fact or opinion? (Facts can be verified, while opinions arise from interpretations of facts.) Does the information seem well-researched or is it unsupported?
• What are the author’s central arguments or conclusions? Are they clearly stated? Are they supported by evidence and analysis?
• If the article reports on an experiment or study, does the author clearly outline the methodology and the expected result?
• Is the article lacking information or argumentation that you expected to find?
• Is the article organised logically and easy to follow?
• Does the writer’s style suit the intended audience? Is the style stilted or unnecessarily complicated?
• Is the author’s language objective or charged with emotion and bias?
• If illustrations or charts are used, are they effective in presenting information?
? Marking criteria (please refer to Degree Program PGT Marking Criteria). Overall, a marker is evaluating the following:
– Is the journal article appropriate (i.e. from a peer-reviewed journal and related to IBM/Management/Business)
– Is there evidence of a critical analysis, or is the review more descriptive?
– How informed are the evaluations in the review? Are these logical and relevant?
– Is the review coherent? Is there an overall argument or position?
– Is the structure coherent and clear
Presentation of the review:
– Put the full reference of the article at the top of the review
