User:JG8828/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
I've chosen to evaluate Catalysis, found under the Chemistry WikiProject

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose to evaluate this article because it is relevant to all aspects of biochemistry. They possess high utility in a multitude of chemical reactions; for instance, spontaneous reactions that occur in our body generally occur with the help of catalysts. Initially, the article is comprehensive - it provides a general definition and characteristics of catalyzed reactions. Units, reaction pathways, and various types are also included - which reaffirms my impression that this article does a good job at teaching a student who may be unfamiliar with the topic about it.

Evaluate the article
The lead provides a simple, yet concise definition of what catalysis is: an increase in the rate of a chemical reaction by a catalyst; the catalyst is not consumed by the reaction and remains unchanged. While this section doesn’t describe the subsections of catalysis, such as what types of homo- and heterogeneous catalysts are used in chemistry and the applications of catalysis, it does allude to these topics in general phrases. The lead does not include any irrelevant or misplaced information, and is overall, a concise piece of writing.

The content is relevant and up to date. It provides a historical account for the Greek origin of the term “catalyst” and later conceptualization of it in the 18th and 19th century by several European chemists, including Elizabeth Fulhame and Jons Jakob Berzelius. There are also additional articles about recent developments in organocatalyst research, namely the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021. Furthermore, the references sections cites a wide range of research contributed by chemists, ranging from 1969 to 2023. The article does not deal with Wikipedia’s equity gaps, as it mainly focuses on a chemical event that has proven useful in a molecular context, not a societal one. Furthermore, there are no pieces of content that are missing and/or misplaced.

For tone, the article is neutral and remains unbiased. The overall language of the article remains objective; it states the biographies of notable inventors, their contributions to catalytic chemistry, and defines novel innovations in the field in ways that do not overrepresent a particular person or party. Overall, the article’s contributors have been effective in remaining impartial as they wrote, but the word choice could be changd. Some sentences utilize an informal tone, such as under “Related concepts” in the “General Principles” section (ex: Some so-called catalysts are really…)

A wide range of sources and references have been used to compose “Catalysis.” There are references to chemical kinetics textbooks, national laboratory websites, and IUPAC – which are reliable due to their collective academic reputation in scientific research. The sources are current, with more recent findings citing papers from 2022 and 2023. Earlier, historical pieces of information about the discovery, conception, and invention of catalysis references literature from the years between the 1990s and the 2000s. The first authors for the referenced literature remains centered on existing sources from the United States and Europe.

The article contains minimal spelling errors and is well-written overall. The sections are categorized in a manner that is easy to follow. The general principles of catalysis, including the overview, relevant examples, and reaction mechanisms, are all provided. This is succeeded by the two types of catalysts that exist: (1) homogenous and (2) heterogeneous. Lastly, there is a section devoted to catalysis’ significance in various settings, from natural environmental processes to industrial energy and food production. Nevertheless, the article’s organization could be further improved; this can be accomplished by keeping only the most relevant details in the introduction and moving secondary details to other sections. It was also unusual for the first immediate section under the lead to be an example of catalysis, rather than an elaborated version of the lead.

While there aren’t many, the images that are present help to visualize the concepts explained. The schematic posted under ‘Fine chemicals’ helps to visualize a process that would otherwise be difficult to grasp, but schematics for the other reactions would be useful. There are also pictures, both animated and real, that show various types of catalysts that are used in various reactions. However, it would have been beneficial to include more of these images - especially under “History”, “Homogeneous Catalysts”, and “Inhibitors, poisons and promoters” because these will help the audience to contextualize the lengthier descriptions under these sections.

On the talk page, there was lengthy discussion over the redundancy of this article since an Wiki article about “Catalyst” already exists. In 2006, there was talk about needing to upload appropriately labeled axis for the reaction diagrams. Discussions in later years focus on the weaknesses of sections that lack sufficient information and/or recognition in the chemistry community – this was removed2. More recent discussions mainly focus on the article format itself, such as removing repetition and an opposed decision on merging it with Catalyst.

This article is rated a C-class article - it still warrants further improvement. It falls under the Chemistry WikiProject. Wikipedia covers catalysis in a much more extensive way than we would in our biochemistry lab class. Our lab focuses mainly on the general principles, such as what catalysis is and what it isn’t as well as a handful of equations and values that are needed to help us do our kinetics experiments. However, this article takes a general, holistic approach by looking at catalysis in broad strokes; while there is information about its principles, there is further information about its history and its utility and applications in chemistry.

Overall, the article is descriptive and conveys information that would be necessary to teach a beginner or advanced chemistry student about catalysis if they were interested. The strengths of the article include conveying the general chemistry basics of catalysis, showing relevant examples, and using a diverse range of sources. While the article can be considered developed, it is not complete. The word choice, language, and organization of the article needs to be improved on before it can be considered for a higher rating.