What is the function of your article review?

If you've been asked to write an article review, you might be a little stumped when it comes to figuring out what you're supposed to do. The purpose of an article review is to sum up the contents of an article and then give an evaluation of what you read.

Article reviews are a form of peer review that allow someone other than the original author of an article to voice their opinions while still quoting the original article. They can be either positive or negative reviews, and both have their own positive contributions.

Negative Reviews

You might see a negative review and thing that because the word negative is involved that it couldn't possibly be a good thing, but you'd be wrong. A negative review is simply a review that states that the author of the review disagrees with the original article content. This opens up the floor for debate, and points out things that the original author might not have noticed. A negative review points out flaws in the original article and brings in an opportunity for improvement.

Positive Reviews

It's easy to figure out why a positive article review would be a positive thing. The author of the review might elaborate on the topics within the original article and provide more information to back up the contents. It also acts as a second opinion, so if you weren't convinced by the original article, you might be convinced by the review.

There are two main reasons that someone would have to write an article review:

  1. Students: Sometimes, article reviews are assigned by teachers in an effort to introduce them to writing from experts in whatever field of study they teach.
  2. Professionals: Those that are considered experts do reviews on articles in order to either argue against the original article or point out the more important pieces of information that can be found in it.

Article Reviews By Professionals

When it comes to professional article reviews, they're advantageous whether they're positive or negative. The original article writer could be anyone, from any walk of life. They might have researched their topic, or they might have written it in five minutes. Having an expert double check and review the article gives it more credibility.

Whether the article review was written by a student or a professional, it can be considered a useful tool and a step forward in learning for someone: whether that someone is the author or those who read it.

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