User:KQM2020ALR/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: Johnson v. McIntosh
 * We learned about this landmark case in my property class. According to the WikiProject for law, this article was of high important but start quality, so I was interested to review what it looked like.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Lead evaluation
I found the lead a bit difficult to follow as the language is relatively complex for the average lay reader. It is also missing an overview of the major sections. The first sentence is helpful in determining the holding of the case though.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?

Content evaluation
The content appears to be up to date. There is more of a focus on the case's relevance to legal education as opposed to its historical relevance for Native American populations. I would be interested in learning more about how this court case affected US government relations with Native Americans following the decision (or how this precedent was used more generally in later decisions), but that information is missing from the article.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral?
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Tone and balance evaluation
The lead uses descriptors like "most influential" and "eminently quotable" which don't seem entirely neutral. This article seems to leave out the controversy surrounding this case, which I think is important to note from am objective perspective.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
 * Are the sources current?
 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Sources and references evaluation
No citations are included in the lead, but a lot of information is included there that is not mentioned elsewhere in the article. Unfortunately the sources are not linked so I am unable to easily access them (and as they come from law review articles, they may not be freely accessible to the general public). Only 2 sources are listed under the references section, though I would have to believe there are numerous sources to pull from on this topic.

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?

Organization evaluation
The article is relatively short and the section headings are helpful. Some the language is overly complex or contains too much legal jargon for the lay-reader.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


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

Images and media evaluation
The only impact included here is the seal for the U.S. Supreme Court. This image does not add much in terms of enhanced understanding to the topic.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Talk page evaluation
The article is rated Top or High importance by various projects but it is currently listed as start-class. There isn't a ton of activity in the talk page, but there is a discussion over the complexity of the article/use of jargon which resonated with my reading of the article.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * How can the article be improved?
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

Overall evaluation
While you could pull out a one sentence summary of the case from this article, I think there is still a lot of work to be done to develop the various sections. The language is too complex/full of legal jargon for the average reader and it largely leaves out the Native American perspective. It also onIy references 2 sources, though there is no shortage of academic literature written on this case.

Optional activity

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