User:Connorhs25/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Sodium

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this as my topic because it is an essential element for humans and the world. It is used in all kinds of products such as table salt, anti-icing agents, and baking purposes, just to list a few. My preliminary impression of the article was that it has extensive research behind the article and has many different sub topics that relate to the element.

Evaluate the article
Lead Section

The lead section includes an introductory sentence that concisely describes the topic. The lead includes a brief description of the article's major points. No, the lead does not include information that is not present in the article. The lead is concise considering how important this element is, but there are many details.

Content

The article's content is relevant to the topic. The content is up to date as the last edit was on October 4, 2022. There is nothing missing and all the content belongs to the article. There is no equity gap as sodium is a well known and studied element. The article discusses sodium through astronomical observations so this is one topic that could be considered a historically underrepresented topic.

Tone and Balance

The article is neutral. There are no claims that appear heavily biased. There are no viewpoints that are over or underrepresented. The article does not attempt to persuade the reader.

Sources and References

All facts are backed up with great sources. The sources range from 1900s to present day so I believe the sources are thorough. They also are mostly scientific articles, making them credible sources. As mentioned previously, some sources are current. The sources are written by many authors since there are 109 sources total. They do include historical marginalized individuals such as a source from Kirchhoff and Bunsen. This article doesn't seem to cite news coverage or random websites, but there are probably other scientific articles that can be used in the references section to further back up claims mentioned. The links work in the article.

Organization and Writing quality

The article is well written and starts with an in-depth look into the chemistry of the element, which I believe is the most important part and makes sense to be the first category after identifying characteristics. The article is clear, concise, and easy to read. The article does not have any spelling or grammatical errors that I could find. The article is broken down into sections that make sense and describe every part of sodium to the reader.

Images and Media

The article does include images that enhance the topic such as a periodic table, the structure of sodium chloride, and the hazards of sodium. The images are well captioned and summarize what the image is showing. The images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations since they are cited. The images are laid out in a visually appealing way, put in the category that makes the most sense (structure of NaCl in electrolytes and sodides subtopic).

Talk page Discussion

There is one conversation about how accurate a sentence is in the health subtopic of the article. There is debate on whether low sodium intake is good or bad for health. The article has a rating of GA-class which is really good. There are WikiProjects of chemistry and chemicals which technically have sodium in them. We haven't talked about sodium in class yet.

Overall impressions

The article's overall status is "good article". The article's strengths are that sodium is well known and discussed, therefore the article has many scientific articles to cite from. The article can be improved by continuing to add scientific articles to the sources, which would further back up claims throughout the article and strengthen the facts. I would say this article is well-developed.