User:Cjlusing/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Dungeness crab

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose the Dungeness crab article because it is a species that occurs naturally in California's coastal waters and thus plays a part in the state's natural history. The crab is important to many fisheries on the West Coast, so it is important to be aware of the species's current state and the problems facing the species like ocean acidification. Initially, I thought that the article was well-written and provided adequate information on the crab's lifestyle, physiology, and history with people.

Evaluate the article
This article is well-written, but its primary shortcoming is a lack of information on a species that has significant literature readily available.


 * The lead section does a great job at introducing the Dungeness crab. It describes the crab's preferred natural habitat, the animal's size, and other relevant information. It is concise and alludes to other sections of the article.
 * Although there is plenty of information on the species, there are also significant shortcomings on the type of information provided. There is adequate information on the crab's physiology, life cycle, and range. However, despite substantial groundwork, substantial information on the crab's current state is absent. Although an excellent NOAA report on ocean acidification is attached, there is not much mention of how ocean acidification affects the Dungeness crab. Moreover, the conservation status of the Dungeness crab should be mentioned. Is the crab endangered or thriving in its natural environment?
 * The sources in this article are of a good quality but outdated. Most sources are scholarly articles or reports from reputable sources within the marine science community. However, many sources are more than a decade old, and conditions in the Dungeness crab's natural habitat may have changed since then.
 * The article is well-organized and incorporates images very well. One image lacks a caption, but all others are captioned and enhance the article by providing a visual of the article's subject.
 * The article seems to praise the crab's commercial success, which may indicate bias. It seems like the article is actively encouraging people to purchase and consume Dungeness crab.
 * Overall, the article is well-written, well-organized, and well-edited. However, the main issues with the article involve its shortcomings regarding potentially relevant information. The article deals a lot with the historical state of Dungeness crabs in the wild and as part of West Coast's economy. However, the current state of the crabs is unknown with the looming threat of ocean acidification introduced without further elaboration.