User:SeaCowSnuggles/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Dewclaw

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article to evaluate because I work in a vet office where we do nail trims often and dewclaws are always a challenge to cut. Dewclaws matter because not all dogs have them; some are born with them, some are not, and some owners get their animal's dewclaws removed. Similar to the declawing debate for cats, many people question the ethics of getting dewclaws removed from dogs.

Evaluate the article
Evaluation of the lead section:

The introductory sentence of the lead section is an accurate, scientific description of a dewclaw. Perhaps readers may benefit from further elaboration in more common terms, such as; a dewclaw is essentially a finger or toe found higher on the legs of some vertebrates, and may have lost its function over evolutionary time. I think the lead section could use an outline of the upcoming sections. There is also some information that is brought about in the lead section that needs further explained later in the article, such as the origin of the name dewclaw, and similar species that do not have dewclaws.

Evaluation of the content section:

The content section contains information that is relevant to the topic of dewclaws. However, the content is unevenly distributed, with a focus on dogs and less information on cats and other species with dewclaws. The content seems to be up-to-date, although it seems like some citations may be missing for information that is not common knowledge. I think the article could benefit from further explanation of the topics introduced in the lead section, like similar species that do not have dewclaws, and the origin of the word dewclaw.

Evaluation of tone and balance:

This is a neutral article that does not seem biased towards any point of view. The only edit I would suggest is to provide more content for other species with dewclaws other than dogs.

Evaluation of Sources and References:

As I stated earlier, it does seem like the author is missing citations where information is not common knowledge. Under the "Hoofed animals" section, the article states that a citation is needed to support one of their claims. However, the articles that are cited seem to be credible, scholarly articles. I checked a few links to see if they still worked, and one of them titled, "Clipping a Cat's Claws (Toenails)," said that the page was not found.

Evaluation of Organization and Writing Quality:

I think the article could be re-organized to have a better flow of main ideas. The article has very few grammatical errors; the only thing I noticed were some commas missing before direct quotes.

Evaluation of Images and Media:

I think the images are relevant to the article and provide important visual information for readers. One edit I would suggest is the side by side comparison of the older vs. younger dog's dewclaw. Why does a younger dog's dewclaw wear down more than an older dogs? I think the writing would also benefit from an image of a dewclaw found on a cat, since it does have a section about cat dewclaws.

Talk Page Discussion:

I think Wikipedia users highlighted some key information that was missing from this article, such as the lack of information about dewclaws in cats and their importance for activities like hunting. This wikipedia page is rated a C-class article and is part of WikiProjects.

Overall Impressions:

Overall, I think this is a great start to the subject of dewclaws. It is a little underdeveloped in terms of in depth information and balance of content. The article has very strong coverage of dewclaws found in dogs, it just needs some more information on cats and other species that have dewclaws. Altogether, I think this article was an interesting and enjoyable read!