User:Shibbeln/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
History of herbalism

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article because I am interested in the historical herbal treatments that were used in society and how it has transformed into the modern health care I am aware of currently. This article holds importance as individuals need to understand the root of treatments for diseases. Every individual sometime within their lifetime is bound to get ill, therefore, the history behind pharmaceutical drugs is relevant to every individual. My preliminary impression was that it was an abundance of information as it covers the history of herbalism in many different areas of the world. Overall, it was informative.

Evaluate the article
Lead Section


 * Yes, the introductory sentence gives a quick oversight of the article topics. However, it is somewhat broad.


 * No, it doesn't include a brief description of the major topics discussed in the article excluding the Content table below the lead section.
 * No, the article stays on all the topics listed and information that is relevant.
 * Yes and no, the lead for this specific article gives the reader a good premise of what information is covered in the article. However, it covers details that are not as important as others such as not detailing about the major sections of the article but discussing current events of the article. This is displayed in the final sentence of the section.

Content


 * Yes, the content listed effectively describes the medical treatments in ancient history, middle ages, translation of herbals, early modern era modern era.
 * To my knowledge, the content is not relatively up-to-date. The most recent research provided was in the modern era section as it outlines quickly the 21st century approach to herbalism. There could be more evidence and discussion around current content of this topic.
 * Yes and no, at times the organization of the content does not flow. Since the first section, Ancient History, is separated into different countries than the whole article should do that so that the reader is able to see the difference and change throughout various countries and time periods. Additionally, the Translation of Herbals section does not necessarily fit with the rest of the article content and alters the flow of relevant content.
 * No, the article doesn't address equity gaps or underrepresented populations. The only part of the article that almost does is under the Translation of Herbals where the author discussing who and what level of knowledge is needed to create herbal mixtures.

Tone and Balance


 * Yes, the article provides a relatively neutral point of view as it describes only the facts and reality of past herbal medicines but it states, "These illustrations were of no use to everyday individuals; they were intended to be complex and for people with prior knowledge and understanding of herbal".
 * Yes, the one statement that seems biased is towards how physicians approach herbalism in modern society. It states "Many alternative physicians in the 21st century incorporate herbalism in traditional medicine due to the diverse abilities plants have and their low number of side effects". This statement is a generalized statement as all physicians around the world approach and utilize medical treatments in vast different ways.
 * Yes, the viewpoints that is overrepresented is the traditional male that has access to the knowledge and financial status to create herbal treatments.
 * No, there are no fringe viewpoints described in the article.
 * No, the article explains the history of herbalism and how it has been altered with time and knowledge in different areas of the world.

Sources and References


 * Yes, the information provided in the article is backed up by sufficient secondary sources.
 * Yes, the sources reflect the literature on the topic effectively so that the reader understands the full history on herbalism.
 * No, all the sources range from the time period of 1970-2000. The most current sources that is used within the article was published in 2012. The article is based upon the historical aspect of herbalism, however, it should include a couple of articles about the 21st century stance on herbalism to fully complete the article topic.
 * Yes, there was a diverse selection of authors. However, there was no source that speaks on behalf of marginalized individuals.
 * There should be some resources and organization in the article that specify a certain herbal that was important.
 * Some links work while most links you need to have a specific subscription or pay a certain amount, therefore, you are not able to see the article.

Organization and Writing Quality


 * Yes, the article is easy to read except at times it becomes too descriptive in smaller topics that are not useful to the entire article such as "The practice of prescribing treatments and cures to patients requires a legal medical license in the United States of America, and the licensing of these professions occurs on a state level. "There is currently no licensing or certification for herbalists in any state that precludes the rights of anyone to use, dispense, or recommend herbs". This sentence takes away from the explanation of what the World Health Organization outlines regarding herbalism. The section was focused primarily upon the world as a whole viewing herbals then suddenly switches into the United States without an introductory sentence.
 * No, the article doesn't have any grammatical or spelling errors.
 * No, as stated above the Translation of Herbals should either be removed or put at the end of the article as it separates the flow of the time periods.

Images and Media


 * No, there is only two pictures within the whole article that does not effectively add another level of understanding to the information being explained within the article.
 * Yes, the images have a solid and informative caption.
 * Yes, it adheres to the Wikipedia's copyright regulations.
 * Yes, the images are visually appealing. However, I believe more images could be used to exemplify the content in a visual way.

Talk Page Discussion


 * There are no conversations occurring on the Talk Page of this article.
 * The article is a part of a WikiProject. It is a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment for students. It is a WikiProject Plants, WikiProject Alternative Medicine, WikiProject Medicine, and WikiProject History of Science. Each WikiProject is rated C-class.
 * Wikipedia discusses topics in a very similar way as we do in class. However, in class we focus primarily upon one specific aspect of a topic while Wikipedia covers an abundance of information on a topic.

Overall Impressions


 * The article's overall status is c-class.
 * The article is strong in the ability to provide a timeline of information upon the topic and ability to exemplify the difference of this topic around the world.
 * The article can be improved by using more visual components. Personally, I would suggest that the article focus on one herb that is seen all throughout history in different countries to provide more specificity.
 * The article is for the most part well-developed. I would suggest including the underrepresented populations into the article to provide a more complete and realistic viewpoint of the history of herbalism.