User:Jamesmarg/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Venus' flower basket

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose to evaluate the Venus' Flower Basket article because it is the topic of study for my group's final project. It is important to evaluate this article to identify its strengths and weakness in order to be more prepared for updating and improving it. Deep sea organisms are widely understudied or lack organized publications of information, so it is extremely important to expand articles like this one. Overall, my first impression was the article has a solid foundation with many important sections of information, however it definitely has room for additions and edits.

Evaluate the article
Lead Section:

The lead section includes an introductory sentence that concisely describes the article's topic. The lead includes a brief description of the major sections of the article, including the main points regarding occurrence, morphology, and applications. The lead is concise and clear overall, however the last sentence introduces information that is not present later in the article. It mentions Japanese tradition surrounding Venus' Flower Basket, which should not necessarily be taken out but instead discussed more in detail later in the article.

Content:

The article's content is relevant to the topic and introduces important aspects of Venus' Flower Basket. However, the content seems like it could be updated and expanded, specifically with new discoveries about the organism. The article's main sections need to discuss the mutualistic relationship between Venus' Flower Basket and shrimp in more depth, since it was mentioned in the lead section but not described later on. Additionally, the article needs to describe the Japanese tradition surrounding Venus' Flower Basket in more depth, since it was introduced in the lead section and especially since it is a topic related to historically underrepresented populations.

Tone and Balance:

Overall, the article is quite neutral when discussing Venus' Flower Basket. There are no claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position, and most viewpoints are presented equally. The article does not attempt to persuade the reader in favor of a specific perspective, but rather provides neutral scientific facts. Viewpoints that are fringe, unproven, or undecided are stated as such. The only aspect that may need to be altered to ensure neutrality is the sentence that states "properties are in some ways superior to man-made materials." While the intentions of this sentence are good, it may need to be reworded to be more neutral. (Delete the word "superior")

Sources and References:

The article has a thorough and current list of references. All the reference links work, except for one "dead link" where a subscription is necessary to view the article. Most facts throughout the article are backed up by a reliable secondary source of information, however there should be more reference links throughout the article rather than solely in the reference list at the end. While the list of sources is relatively thorough, additional newly-published sources should be added to expand the article's content on the subject.

Organization and Writing Quality:

The article is generally well-written: it concise, clear, easy to read, and there are no grammatical or spelling errors that I noticed. The article should be divided into more specific sections, especially after expanding the content with more up-to-date, detailed information and references. It also repeats the sentence "Their peculiar skeletal motifs have been found to have important fluid-dynamic effects on both reducing the drag experienced by the sponge and in promoting coherent swirling motions inside the body cavity, arguably to promote selective filter feeding and sexual reproduction" twice in the exact wording, so one should be removed.

Images and Media:

The article includes images of Venus' Flower Basket that enhance understanding of the topic, and are organized in a visually appealing way. The images are well-captioned in a concise manner, although longer captions could potentially be added to include more detail. The images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations. It could be beneficial to add additional images, specifically one depicting the mutualistic relationship with shrimp.

Talk Page Discussion:

The conversations within the Talk Page include suggestions regarding spelling errors, reference errors, and a few comments that don't quite make sense. The article is part of two projects, WikiProject Animals and WikiProject Marine Life. It is rated Start-Class and Low-Importance in both projects. Wikipedia discusses this topic in a more species-specific perspective, rather than discussing overarching patterns and interconnected relationships between organisms like we do in class.

Overall Impressions:

I would say the article has a strong foundation in introducing Venus' Flower Basket. Its strengths include a good list of references and detailed explanations of structure and function. The article could benefit from a more in-depth description of certain aspects of the organism, as well as better organized sections. The article needs to be developed more using current data and research on the organism.