User:Jillychoi/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: Peace and conflict studies
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate. I have chosen this article because I am a social science major interested in peace and conflict studies.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic? Yes it defines what peace and conflict studies means as part of the social science field.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? It doesn't really offer descriptions about the article's major sections.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article? Yes, it mentions how peace and conflict is similar or different to other field such as peace studies and military studies.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed? The Lead is concise, but it does not provide descriptions about major sections of the article, only a table of contents.

Lead evaluation
Very concise and well-written. Could add more information highlighting the key points that will be discussed throughout the article.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic? Yes.
 * Is the content up-to-date? It seems the content can use an update as many recent sources that are listed are from around 10 years ago. The most current one I could find is from 2014.
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong? I believe more can be said about the Teaching peace and conflict studies to the military section, especially since the section only offers one journal article to expand on the topic.

Content evaluation
I learned a lot about the history, purpose, ideas, and controversies within the field of peace and conflict. The article is well-organized and contains robust information, but I believe certain sections can be expanded and updated with current advancements in the field.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral? Yes.
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position? No.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented? No.
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another? No.

Tone and balance evaluation
The article makes neutral claims about peace and conflict. I appreciated the fact that it includes a section where it discusses the criticisms and controversies associated with the field and how that has shaped current debates about how academics approach peace and conflict in the international realm.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information? Yes.
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic? Yes.
 * Are the sources current? Not really.
 * Check a few links. Do they work? Yes.

Sources and references evaluation
I wish the sources used in the article were more up-to-date. The most recent one I can find dates back to 2014, but a majority are from the late 90s or 2000s.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic? Yes
 * Are images well-captioned? Yes
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations? Yes
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way? They could be bigger.

Images and media evaluation
I like all the images that were used in the article. I wish some were a little bigger so I could see them more clearly.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? There are substantial conversations going on behind the scenes about sources and evaluation of content.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects? The article is rated C-Class. It is a part of WikiProject Anti-war.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class? I haven't really taken a peace and conflict studies course so I can't really say too much on that.

Talk page evaluation
There are conversations being held about improving the article through the use of academic peer-reviewed journals in order to make the article more representative of what is being talked about in the field.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status? Could use work.
 * What are the article's strengths? Great use of sources and analysis!
 * How can the article be improved? More information needed to expand sections further.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed? Well-developed, but needs more work.

Overall evaluation
It is a great article that provides the basic information needed to understand the peace and conflict field. There is a lot of historical and background analysis and I really enjoyed that it included a series of criticisms and controversies that have come up. But, there needs to be more analysis on the content that is taught, how it is taught by various institutions, and how it is being used to solve or mediate international conflicts.

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

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