User:ArjunChikkappa/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article

Complete your article evaluation below. Here are the key aspects to consider:

Lead section

A good lead section defines the topic and provides a concise overview. A reader who just wants to identify the topic can read the first sentence. A reader who wants a very brief overview of the most important things about it can read the first paragraph. A reader who wants a quick overview can read the whole lead section.

Does the lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
Does the lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
Does the lead include information that is not present in the article? (It shouldn't.)
Is the lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Content

A good Wikipedia article should cover all the important aspects of a topic, without putting too much weight on one part while neglecting another.

Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
Is the content up-to-date?
Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?

Tone and Balance

Wikipedia articles should be written from a neutral point of view; if there are substantial differences of interpretation or controversies among published, reliable sources, those views should be described as fairly as possible.

Is the article neutral?
Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
Are minority or fringe viewpoints accurately described as such?
Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Sources and References

A Wikipedia article should be based on the best sources available for the topic at hand. When possible, this means academic and peer-reviewed publications or scholarly books.

Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
Are the sources current?
Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?
Are there better sources available, such as peer-reviewed articles in place of news coverage or random websites? (You may need to do some digging to answer this.)
Check a few links. Do they work?

Organization and writing quality

The writing should be clear and professional, the content should be organized sensibly into sections.

Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Images and Media

Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
Are images well-captioned?
Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

Talk page discussion

The article's talk page — and any discussions among other Wikipedia editors that have been taking place there — can be a useful window into the state of an article, and might help you focus on important aspects that you didn't think of.

What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Overall impressions

What is the article's overall status?
What are the article's strengths?
How can the article be improved?
How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

Examples of good feedback

A good article evaluation can take a number of forms. The most essential things are to clearly identify the biggest shortcomings, and provide specific guidance on how the article can be improved.

Peer review of this article about a famous painting

Which article are you evaluating?

Norse colonization of North America

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?

(Briefly explain why you chose it, why it matters, and what your preliminary impression of it was.)

This article was chosen for evaluation as it the article I will update/ improve in the upcoming weeks (as part of an course assignment). This article explores the only widely accepted event(s) of Europeans in the Americas pre-Columbus; because of this, it not only receives a high volume of traffic, but is also a highly important online source concerning the history of the Americas.

My preliminary impression was of an article that had the basics/ structure of the topics presented down, but could use expansion and updates in a few few areas. The article's context are somewhat unbalanced — with large amounts of content in some sections while leaving others somewhat barren.

Evaluate the article

(Compose a detailed evaluation of the article here, considering each of the key aspects listed above. Consider the guiding questions, and check out the examples of what a useful Wikipedia article evaluation looks like.)

The lead section of this article is almost satisfactory: it offers a brief synopsis of almost all of the articles main points/ sections. Aside from this, it does a decent job of summarizing the article's content, however, it is somewhat excessive in it's use of dates within the lead.

While the content is generally satisfactory, it does have a few short comings. Some sections of the article of lacking in content, specifically, the sections "Vinland" and "Pseudo-History" are lacking in content, and are only fractional compared to others. This creates an imbalance in content; with some sections offers deep explorations and insights into their respective topics, while others only providing brief a synopsis. Specially, the article only briefly mentions the Norse settlements in North America, and offers little information concerning this topic. Addiontally, while the article mentions / links the various pseudo-scientific "discoveries" or "theories," it does a somewhat inadequate job in exploring them.

The organization and media shown are clearly well thought out and easy to understand/ relevant. There is no present copyright violation or any other issue like such.

Concerning sources, the article offers proper citation/ sources for all but one presented fact. However, various numbers/ dates, all pertaining to dates about perspective settlements, are somewhat out of date. The article contains no issues with tone, bias, or forwarding fringe ideas; the author appears to be neutral and have no vested interest in any particular argument.