User:Irondome44/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article
This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.


 * Name of article: Escherichia coli
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.
 * In lab, we use a mutant strain of this bacterium to obtain our desired enzyme, Alkaline Phosphatase.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * Yes, the introductory sentence describes the most general aspects of E.coli.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * The lead focuses on E.coli's role in causing disease and this seems to be the focus and running theme in all sections.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * The lead mentions that the bacterium grows quickly for 3 days in fecal matter and then its population declines, but this is not discussed in any sections of the article (including the section on cell cycle). It would be a good idea to discuss this and E. coli's ability to survive outside of an organism in general.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?
 * Concise for the most part. The first paragraph describes E. coli, the second talks about its pertinence to disease, and last section explains its importance in the modern laboratory.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * Yes, each section describes important aspects of E. coli.
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * It was last reviewed on 2014, but it has comments on its talk session going back a couple of months, so I would say the content is up to date.
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
 * No, all relevant sections summarize aspects of E.coli well.
 * Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?
 * No

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral?
 * Yes, facts are stated and described. The author points out different opinions regarding specific aspects of E.coli but does not take a stance.
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * No, as stated previously, the author does not have a position about any claims regarding E. coli.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * No, the viewpoints about certain aspects of E. coli are spread throughout the sections, there is no overrepresented or underrepresented viewpoint.
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?
 * No, it is objective in describing aspects of E.coli.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * Yes, all facts are cited and the secondary sources include articles from Nature and the National Library of Medicine.
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
 * Yes, they are scientific journals and textbooks, so they present a lot of content and most are published after the 21st century.
 * Are the sources current?
 * No, most are within a decade of this article being reviewed. Very few are within this year.
 * Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?
 * It's difficult to identify the diversity of the authors, given that there are over a 100 citations and each citation has multiple authors, but at least the authors have reliable credentials.
 * Check a few links. Do they work?
 * Yes, the links work.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * Yes, some of the scientific vocabulary is beyond me, but it is understandable for the most part.
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * No, no grammatical or spelling errors.
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?
 * Yes, the article is well-organized into appropriate sections and covers important aspects of E.coli.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * Yes, charts and images of E.coli help visualize different properties of E.coli. such as their shape and color.
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * Yes, every image is captioned and relevant to the appropriate section.
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * Yes, the images are linked to their source and are either in the public domain, under creative common license, or permission was granted by the original authors.
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?
 * Yes, images are next to the words they try to enhance.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * People are asking about specific details of E.coli that were not explained (such as their color).
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * It is rated as a "Natural sciences good articles", level-4-vital article. and a GA-Class article. It is part of 3 WikiProjects: Wikipedia Version 1.0 Editorial Team, WikiProject Microbiology, and WikiProject Molecular and Cell Biology.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
 * This topic was not discussed in class other than it being mentioned that a mutant strain produces large amounts of a desired enzyme.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * It is an overall good article, an updated review would make it even better as it would address some of the questions in the Talk page.
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * It covers a breadth of information about E.coli but it is not overwhelming as it is neatly organized.
 * How can the article be improved?
 * Adding more diagrams would help, such as adding a diagram of its cell cycle.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?
 * The article is well-developed no doubt. It covers a vast amount of information, and all of it is well-organized with no errors whatsoever.

Optional activity

 * Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback

with four tildes — ~


 * Link to feedback: Talk:Escherichia coli