User:SaltySamuraiGirl/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: (link) Soil organic matter
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.
 * This article is directly related to my dissertation research.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Lead evaluation
The lead is well written, concise and explains what the article will be talking about. There isn't a brief description of the sections, just an outline list on the page. It is a good introduction. However most of the article is about vegetal detritus, which is only briefly mentioned in the opening paragraph. The statement mentioning vegetal detritus mentions how fresh vegetal detritus is left out which is confusing because the rest of the article talks about that. I believe the author meant to separate the two but that isn't clear. There is a very small paragraph about humus which should most likely be eliminated because the classification of organic matter in soil has changed over time.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?
 * Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?

Content evaluation
This content is out-of-date because soil organic matter classification has changed. This article discusses briefly what humus is which is a bit of an outdated term. In addition there is disagreement whether to use this term or not when discussing soil organic matter. There could be an entire article discussing how SOM classification has changed through time.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Tone and balance evaluation
This article does a good job of being neutral. When reading it I'm not persuaded towards one opinion or another, and it isn't biased.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?
 * Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?
 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Sources and references evaluation
The article citations are from a range of years but they could be broader. Many of the citations are from the Brady and Weil textbook "The Nature and Properties of Soils". For the introduction I think this is OK but beyond that there should be other sources pulled. Many of them are related to agriculture which is different from forests. They could consist of separate articles. In any case I feel they should be mentioned and separate papers cited accordingly. The links do work and do link to relevant articles.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Organization evaluation
The article is well organized. The author breaks down their points and discusses each one.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Images and media evaluation
This article does not include images.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Talk page evaluation
There is only one comment so far on ammonium. The article lists ammonium as NH4- and someone points this out. There have been a lot of edits on it and it is part of three different WikiProjects. The community acknowledges that it is an article that needs help. It is also listed as an article that needs revision and attention on each of these WikiProjects.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Overall evaluation
This is an article in progress. It provides a good introduction for any lay person to understand what soil organic matter is. However it stops there and doesn't delve into any kind of detail on the subject. There are many many subsections that can be added and pages that could link to this. Overall it is a good starting point that can be improved.

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

with four tildes — ~


 * Link to feedback: