User:Kvboyette/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Blue-ringed octopus

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article to evaluate because I am planning to choose a species of octopus as my topic and I thought that the blue ringed octopus would be an interesting article to read and get a feel for the type of writing and research I will need to conduct for my article.

Evaluate the article
The first sentence of the lead is actually pretty effective because it mentions the genus of the blue ringed octopus, where it can be found in the world, and the fact that it is highly venomous which is one of the biggest distinguishing factors of this octopus that separates is from other octopuses. The lead includes most of the information that is present in the major categories of the article, however, it does not mention hardly anything about the toxicity of the venom or how they are viewed in pop culture which are two of the major categories of the article. The lead it very concise and does not include any information that is not included in the article. In general the content is informational and relevant. There is not information about that actual organism itself, it is focused more on readers who are curious about the toxins and how to treat the infected person if someone is exposed to the venom. There could be significantly more information on the organism and how it survives in its natural habitat. This article is purely informational, so the viewpoint is neutral. There is no bias about this organism present in the article, it is simply trying to present the reader with information about the octopus and what to expect if someone is exposed to the toxin. Most of the references are not peer reviewed sources. The article would be a lot stronger and more reliable if the author used more peer reviewed sources when conducting research to write this article. The reference links in the article are functional. Some sources are from news stations which means they are unreliable because news reporters are often very biased about the topics they are reporting about. The article is easy to read and it is organized well broken into parts that discuss various aspects of the octopus. There were no observed spelling or grammatical errors. The pictures that were included in the paper enhanced the article because it gave the readers something to look at and understand what exactly the blue ringed octopus looks like, which is important seeing as how they are extremely dangerous to people if they are exposed to them. It is not clear as to whether or not the photos were within the Wikipedia copyright regulations. As a general overview, I thought that the article was concise and well written, but I think it definitely could have used much more information about the animal and what happens during its life. The article is very factual and gives the reader a lot of knowledge about the blue ringed octopus especially for a reader looking to learn about the effects of the toxin and what to do if someone is exposed which could be useful information to have in an emergency.