User:Raphaël.Dobbelstein/Choose an Article

Article Selection
Please list articles that you're considering for your Wikipedia assignment below. Begin to critique these articles and find relevant sources.

Option 1

 * Article title

Syrian civil war https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_civil_war


 * Article Evaluation
 * Article Evaluation

First of all, the lead section is too brief, as it is only one sentence. Although it does effectively introduce the topic, it does not discuss any information on the different aspects of the topic that will be analyzed in the article.

Secondly, content-wise the article hugely lacks in depth, especially considering the complexity of the Syrian Civil War. While the discussed aspects of the topic are undoubtedly most essential in order to fully understand the Syrian Civil War, these aspects are discussed in the simplest possible way, with some sections only consisting of one sentence. Consequently, essential information is missing. This is especially apparent in the section on foreign interference; while the Syrian Civil War remains one of the most internationalized intrastate wars in the contemporary world, the section in the article only briefly mentions Turkish and Iranian interference.

Thirdly, each claim has a citation referring to a reliable source. Moreover, a wide variety of sources is used, ranging from newspaper articles, to United Nations reports, to academic articles. This contributes to the legitimacy of the article. However, there are relatively little academic articles used as sources, which could potentially diminish the legitimacy of the article.
 * Sources
 * Sources

Option 2
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant First of all, while briefly touching on its opposition to Shiism, the article does not elaborate enough on the ideological and religious dimension of ISIL. Most of the article is focused on the strategic interests of ISIL in establishing a worldwide caliphate. The ideological reasoning behind this goal is left untouched however.
 * Article title
 * https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant
 * Article Evaluation
 * Article Evaluation

Secondly, although the article does discuss the most important military activities that ISIL has carried out, is does analyze the organizational structure underlying these activities. As ISIL was the political authority governing substantial masses of land in Syria and Iraq around 2014, it is important to include an analysis of the organizational structure that brought this governing function about.

Thirdly, while using a significant amount of sources and backing each claim with a relevant source, the used sources are once again often newspaper articles. The article would improve greatly in legitimacy if more academic sources would be included.
 * Sources
 * https://web.archive.org/web/20150713102203/http://soufangroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/TSG-The-Islamic-State-Nov14.pdf
 * http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/18/world/meast/isis-syria-iraq-hierarchy/index.html
 * https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716216672649

Option 3
Arab Spring First of all, and perhaps most importantly, the article fails to provide a reliable source to every claim. The reference list only contains two sources for the whole article. In order for the article to reliably and exhaustively present the Arab Spring, a bigger amount and variety of sources must be used to back up the claims made in the article.
 * Article title
 * https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Spring
 * Article Evaluation
 * Article Evaluation
 * Article Evaluation

Secondly, the article only states in which countries uprisings occurred during the Arab Spring. It does however not go more into depth into the individual cases. This is important as each uprising had its own reasoning and characteristics that cannot be dismissed in order to fully understand the Arab Spring.
 * Sources
 * https://www.jstor.org/stable/48630168
 * https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2t4dk8
 * https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2t4dk8