User:Aly Ross/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Microparticle Microparticle - Wikipedia

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
Research in the lab I'm rotating in concerns microparticles and utilizing microparticles, so I thought it would be good to familiarize myself with the topic on Wikipedia. The page is sparse and disjointed. In the table of contents "Applications" is listed twice and both "Applications" sections include vastly different content. Though the page on Nanoparticles includes history, recent uses, fabrication, etc. the Microparticle page is lacking all those categories. Microparticles are their own area of biological research distinct from nanoparticles and more studies have been conducted on them since 2018, when the page was last edited. It is in need of an update.

Evaluate the article
While the page provides a succinct overview of microparticles, it's unpolished and lacks detail. Some suggestions.


 * There are too few references (only 12 for the entire article). Each section makes claims that are unverified. This includes the official definition of microparticle vs nanoparticle, definitions of microspheres, nearly all applications, etc.
 * Nanoparticles should be introduced in the lead, to distinguish them from microparticles.
 * Microparticles in daily life are introduced in the lead, and not discussed again.
 * Metal microparticle explosiveness is also introduced in the lead and not discussed later.
 * There are two applications sections, each covering different material. They should be combined into one section and the formatting should be consistent between the two.
 * The "Alternative definitions for size" section should be structured similarly to the "Definitions" section of Nanoparticle - Wikipedia, with clear size definitions from international bodies listed under sub-headers.
 * The microsphere hyperlink is circular and leads back to this article, not a different Wiki page. You say "Many applications are also listed in the microsphere article." Either this sentence should be removed, or a microsphere article should be created.
 * "Microspheres are sometimes referred to as spherical microparticles." is repetitive and can be incorporated into the introductory sentence of the section.
 * Microspheres (also known as spherical microparticles) are small spherical particles, with diameters in the micrometer range (typically 1 μm to 1000 μm (1 mm)).
 * Each of the categories under "Microspheres" should be converted to a sub-header to increase clarity/improve formatting.
 * "E.g." is not needed when listing examples in "Expendable microspheres." It's clear from context that those are examples.
 * Capitalization is inconsistent in the second "Applications" section i.e. "Dual Functional" & "Added to Scrubs."
 * In "Biological Protocells" the Miller/Urey experiment is not tied back into the discovery of protocells.
 * Discussion that should have remained on the talk page is in the article i.e. "(Requires reference)" & "(grossly overstated)."
 * Images of microparticles vs nanoparticles would be helpful to drive home the difference in size.
 * Though an edit was made in 2018 to include more information on microvesicles, the majority of citations are from 2014 and before. The article should be updated with more current research.

Overall, this article provides an overview of the topic but is in need of more information, improvements to formatting and many more citations. It is correctly rated at a C and will need a lot of work to fully cover the topic. --Aly Ross (talk) 16:50, 5 October 2021 (UTC)