User:Mmassengill2016/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: Stem Cell https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell
 * I have chosen this article to evaluate because of a lecture that we had in class recently about stem cells. My interest in them was sparked because of stem cells potential to cure some diseases.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic? Yes, the first sentence does a great job of doing this..
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? It does a decent job of telling of the different types of stem cells that can be grouped together in very broad categories.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article? No it does not.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed? Personally I think the lead is not overly detailed.

Content

 * Guiding questions

Yes the article content is very relevant to the topic. The sources are outdated because the newest source is from 2006. There are some more details that could have been used in the article.


 * 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 article should have more information. The article is short and doesn't have tons of information.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions

The articles tone is neutral. The tone is very neutral and the article does not make any claims that are not biased or not consistent.


 * 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?

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions

The problem with these sources is that the newest article comes from 2006. The oldest article that is referenced comes from 1963. There has been an enormous amount of research that has happened since the time these articles were published. There should also be a lot more than just four articles referenced on a subject such as this. To much recent research has occurred for there only to be 4 outdated sources included in the article.


 * 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?

Organization

 * Guiding questions

In this aspect the article was very well written.


 * 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

The writer includes some very good pictures that clearly show the stem cells. These images are also very clear and of very high quality. All of the images were also captioned.


 * 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?

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions

There was a conversation about some grammar corrections. This Wikipedia approaches the stem cell subject in a more general way and also mentions the stem cells in relation to plant cells. In class we did not mention anything about stem cells in plants.


 * 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?

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions

I think this article is very useful for people who want a quick overview about stem cells. It does a good job of hitting the main points about stem cells. To improve this article there could be much more information about stem cells. There could also be more information about more recent research that has to deal with stem cells.


 * 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?

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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