User:Karishma.Patel.8/Evaluate an Article

An Evaluation of the Article on Paraganglioma
Name of article: Paraganglioma

Reason for choice: the Paraganglioma article has a concise lead description and colorful photographs. I skimmed the contents list, which looks like the following sections are also thorough, and provide a complete, unbiased overview of the topic. The author's writing style in the general description gives me the impression that the information presented in the rest of the article will be reliable and clear.

Lead
The introductory sentence provides an overview of paraganglioma, classifying it as a neuroendocrine disease, qualifying how common the condition is, and giving some anatomical locations where these growths may be found. While the lead does not include much of a description of the other sections found, the contents box makes the other subjects the article plans to discuss fairly clear. The lead includes some interesting statistics about the prevalence of metastasis, as well as the five-year survival rate which were not found elsewhere in the article, information which is cited.

Content
The content of this article includes the lead, the signs and symptoms, genetics, pathology, signs of origin, diagnosis and classification, treatment, additional images, see also, references, and external links. The article cites sources that are recent, ranging from the early 2000s to ones as recent as 2018. The longest sections, pathology and sites of origin, span several paragraphs each dedicated to specific subtopics, while the shortest section, treatment, features one sentence. Nonetheless, the treatments mentioned are linked to their respective pages, should a reader want more information on a topic. One criticism might be that, although the article refers to paraganglioma as a neuroendocrine neoplasm, the article fails to thoroughly address the role of any potential endocrine dysfunction that may cause tumor development. There is a passing mention of the substances identified in the tumors, including serotonin.

Tone and Balance
The article's main focus is to provide the reader with facts and present statistics. The author does a good job of remaining impartial throughout the article and there is no attempt at persuasion.

The pathology of paragangliomas is discussed thoroughly, including their physical characteristics and anatomical origins. The diagnosis and classification by reputable organizations like the WHO are discussed, and the article connects paragangliomas to other similar diseases. While this information is helpful, and could be important to the reader, the article could stand to balance these clinical aspects with more conceptual information, like the physiological dysfunction that leads to the diseased-state.

Sources and References
Throughout the article, the author provides plenty of links relating concepts to their respective pages on Wikipedia, creating an interconnected web of information that allows readers to continue researching any of the subjects discussed. Certain sections are well-cited, while others could use some additional sources. For example, the Signs and Symptoms section lacks a single citation to verify the information presented. The Genetics section includes four citations at the end, to provide sources for the other genes involved in familial paraganglioma, but fails to provide adequate citation for statistics presented at the beginning regarding how likely this disease is to be inherited or randomly-occurring. Much of the information in Pathology, Sites of Origin, and Diagnosis could be more thoroughly cited.

The links cited do work, and lead to reliable sources like Pubmed. Upon some preliminary searching on Pubmed regarding paraganglioma, I found some more recent reviews (all from 2019) that could be additionally incorporated into this article.

Organization
The overall organization of the article, as reflected in the contents box, is clear and covers a range of related topics in a mostly sequential way. For example, it makes sense to talk about the genetics behind the disease followed by the pathology, diagnosis, and treatment. However, perhaps the signs and symptoms could be reorganized to later in the article, before diagnosis.

The author's writing style is free of any noticeable errors in grammar or syntax. Each paragraph opens with a clear focus and elaborates on the topic in a way that is easy to follow.

Images and Media
This article includes one vibrant image in the lead section to draw the reader's attention, and follows up at the end of the article with a section dedicated to additional images. These images are all labeled with a caption that describes their relevance to the topic. The images are cited properly, are are part of the public domain.

Checking the talk page
The first, most noticeable post on the talk page is by the author, who has personal experience with this disease. They share their story, and offer their help to anyone going through the disease themselves.

The rest of the talk page consists of edits that seem to have been made by T@lk (2014) and BakerStMD (2015) regarding the organization of the article additional information that may be added, or information that may be removed. For example, BakerStMD suggested, among other things, that Classification may be placed as a subheading under Diagnosis, that treatment or management may include alternative treatments like lifestyle changes and to organize treatments by the order in which they might be tried, and removing information about future research directions, as "Wikipedia is not a directory of clinical trials or researchers" (Talk:Paraganglioma).

This article is part of the All WikiProject Medicine articles and is ranked as a B-Class and Mid-importance medicine article.

As opposed to in class, where primary sources are values above most others and a discussion of future research directions is almost always necessary, Wikipedia is a place for peer-reviewed sources like reviews. Because the audience is the general public, they cannot be expected to be able to verify the data presented in any one journal article, and instead, should only be presented with information that has been thoroughly reviewed before.

Overall impressions
In general, this article provides an excellent overview of paraganglioma. The information discussed provides a good starting point for a reader's understanding in a clear and concise way, and provides plenty of links for the reader to further explore the ideas presented. As with any article, more information may always be contributed. Particular areas that may benefit from further contribution include the specific endocrine or physiological dysfunctions that lead to the disease, and more on the treatments available. Nevertheless, this article is fairly well-developed.