User:MaskedSparrow/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Blood Falls

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
The premise seemed fascinating, and I felt it would contain interesting connections to microbiology. This subject matters because the Blood Falls have produced a unique insight into microbial ecosystems and pose questions about new metabolic reactions. The article had interesting information, though in some areas it seemed more akin to an essay than a Wikipedia article.

Evaluate the article
The lead section is lacking and is not very cohesive. The lead article does not highlight the sections found in the article. Information contained in the lead article was not always elaborated upon. In order to improve the lead section, the beginning paragraph could be edited to improve flow of concepts and highlight important sections in the article.

The content of the article is relevant and appears up to date. Though the section covering the snowball earth hypothesis is small and could have further in depth explanations.

The article seems to be swayed by opinion and in some cases seems to propose new theories. It would be beneficial if the author clarified that the theories could pose explanations rather than state a theory explains what has happened, given theories by nature are unproven.

The article lacks scholarly articles on the subjects presented and would benefit from using more reliable sources such as research articles. The sources appear to come from a reasonable time period, however, there is more recent research the article could be updated with. Many of the sources come from websites that are unreliable sources of information for a Wikipedia article.

The organization seems appropriate as well as the grammar. Though the initial section could benefit from increasing the flow and providing an overview of each of the sections.

The images are good and pertain to the article though they could benefit from more detailed captions.

Much of the talk page discussion is geared towards addressing information not present in the article and information that has been misrepresented. It was a candidate for Wikipedia Featured Picture. The article is rated C-class and of low to mid importance. This source is unclear on the metabolic systems and lacks the bacterial organisms found in the Blood Falls, where this information would be presented in class.

Overall the article requires review and editing in order to become a more reliable source. The articles strength is that it covers a topic that has not been widely reported on in Wikipedia. The article can be improved by including more reliable sources, more factual information, and improving the transitions of the article. It feels poorly and underdeveloped.