User:Turtlegirl33/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: Racial Profiling
 * Article Evaluation
 * The WikiProject "Law Enforcement" has been helpful and interesting to focus on so far, so I browsed the Project's page for their article alerts and quality statistics. There are 7 C-class rated articles of Top importance, including this one. I wanted to focus on these as I started evaluating and maybe use this project/these articles for my Final Portfolio. The "Racial Profiling" article's strengths are: coverage of underrepresented issues, strong set of references (68), and the high volume of connections to other Wikipedia articles, concentrated in the lead and introductory paragraphs. I noticed many sources were originally written and cited in languages other than English, most notably Spanish, showing how the authors/editors gave notice to inclusivity and put effort into finding primary sources from the countries they are about. One critique I have of this article is the format and the sense of neutrality. After the lead, the article goes into "Academic debate" section, divided into "Pros" and "Cons." The two sides are exploring different philosophical viewpoints on if/when racial profiling is morally permissible. While this is really interesting, it is definitely reads as more of an ethical paper than as an informative and concise encyclopedia article. I believe that formatting an encyclopedia article in this manner (Pros vs. Cons) lends itself to bias and persuasion, though I understand where the authors/editors are coming from after reading the discussions on the Talk page.
 * Sources
 * I found a lot of really good sources that made me want to look into this issue and this article more. The first one I would add to the "Canada" section: Roacj, Kent. "Making progress on understanding and remedying racial profiling." Alta. L. Rev. 41 (2003): 895. Link The "Canada" section only cited news reports from the Toronto Star, so this source would elaborate on the quotes from the studies by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, which is much more verifiable and significant. Secondly, even though I do not totally agree with the formatting of the "Academic debate" section, I did find a peer-reviewed journal article that would be valuable to this section: Engel, R. S., Calnon, J. M., & Bernard, T. J. (2002). Theory and racial profiling: Shortcomings and future directions in research. Justice Quarterly, 19(2), 249–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418820200095231. Link This source is a bit dated but contains a lot of good philosophical debate points that could beef up the debate paragraphs, as well as dozens of other high-quality sources cited within the article. Another "Debate" section addition could be this source from Research Centres for the Departments of Criminology, Sociology and Immigration & Settlement from the University of Toronto: Wortley, Scot, and Julian Tanner. "Discrimination or ‘good’policing? The racial profiling debate in Canada." Our Diverse Cities 1.Spring (2004): 197-201. Link
 * Sources
 * I found a lot of really good sources that made me want to look into this issue and this article more. The first one I would add to the "Canada" section: Roacj, Kent. "Making progress on understanding and remedying racial profiling." Alta. L. Rev. 41 (2003): 895. Link The "Canada" section only cited news reports from the Toronto Star, so this source would elaborate on the quotes from the studies by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, which is much more verifiable and significant. Secondly, even though I do not totally agree with the formatting of the "Academic debate" section, I did find a peer-reviewed journal article that would be valuable to this section: Engel, R. S., Calnon, J. M., & Bernard, T. J. (2002). Theory and racial profiling: Shortcomings and future directions in research. Justice Quarterly, 19(2), 249–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418820200095231. Link This source is a bit dated but contains a lot of good philosophical debate points that could beef up the debate paragraphs, as well as dozens of other high-quality sources cited within the article. Another "Debate" section addition could be this source from Research Centres for the Departments of Criminology, Sociology and Immigration & Settlement from the University of Toronto: Wortley, Scot, and Julian Tanner. "Discrimination or ‘good’policing? The racial profiling debate in Canada." Our Diverse Cities 1.Spring (2004): 197-201. Link

Option 2

 * Article title: Drug policy
 * Article Evaluation
 * This source was another one listed on the "Law Enforcement" WikiProject C-class articles, and interested me because I didn't previously know how to make the distinction between "Drug policy" and "Drug law." The lead section is really strong, neutral and concise while providing the right amount of information that does fit the central themes. Other strengths of the article are the references, which cover a wide variety of source types, and the connections to "Drug law" section on the bottom of the page, which contains an organized table of drug laws, policies, and regulations, with hyperlinks to "Aspects," "International law," + recreational drug use, public policy/health, occupational safety and health, and United Nations. I will be looking into these links and reference sets as I continue to move forward in my contributions. I will also continue looking into the WikiProjects that this article is a part of, including "Law Enforcement," "Law & Politics," and "Drug Policy" (though that one seems to be inactive now). The Talk page reveals some of the article's weaknesses, mostly around the point that Wikipedia's drug-related articles are messy, not organized well/overlapping coverage of issues, demonize drugs/drug users, do not include the intricacies of the vast licensed drugs industry, conflated with drug addiction articles, etc. This topic is a lot to grasp, but I do believe that the contributors are almost "there" with polishing it.
 * Sources
 * The "History" and "International drug control treaties" section is strong, with a lot of citations and factual references. The sections that need some more sources are the "Canada" and "China" pieces, which are basically null besides hyperlinks to other articles. The article for China is outdated and the link takes you to a sketchy page, so one source that this section could focus on is: Dong, Hengjin, et al. "Drug policy in China: pharmaceutical distribution in rural areas." Social Science & Medicine 48.6 (1999): 777-786. This source is similar in theme and time period (1980s-current) to the ones in the other country counterpart sections, centering around drug policy - implantation and criminalization of drugs in marginalized areas.
 * Sources
 * The "History" and "International drug control treaties" section is strong, with a lot of citations and factual references. The sections that need some more sources are the "Canada" and "China" pieces, which are basically null besides hyperlinks to other articles. The article for China is outdated and the link takes you to a sketchy page, so one source that this section could focus on is: Dong, Hengjin, et al. "Drug policy in China: pharmaceutical distribution in rural areas." Social Science & Medicine 48.6 (1999): 777-786. This source is similar in theme and time period (1980s-current) to the ones in the other country counterpart sections, centering around drug policy - implantation and criminalization of drugs in marginalized areas.

Option 3

 * Article title: Direct rule
 * Article Evaluation
 * While the "International Law" article is level-4 vital B-class, it is a member of the "Globalization" WikiProject which contains Direct Rule as one of the To-do list items under the category tree (all accessed through the WikiProject page). The "Direct Rule" article really piqued my interest to seek examples of how nations/territories can become self-governing bodies, but it is clearly underdeveloped. It is rated Start-Class and has a measly lead section of only one sentence. For such an intricate subject, I think that the lead should have a bit more substance to it, outlining and introducing the examples that follow. The listed subcategories are not logically or strategically organized. The first of which is "Examples", which has redundancy - "India" and later, "India and China." The category named "Elsewhere" didn't read Encyclopedia-like to me. References, of which there are 6, are mostly news reports from CNN, Reuters, and BBC News. There is one piece of grey literature, a piece from The American Historical Association, which has formatting errors in the citation. The article does cover equity gaps and does maintain neutrality, though fact-checking could be necessary.
 * Sources
 * The section titled "President's rule" on the Constitution of India only referenced other Wikipedia articles, so one peer-reviewed historical journal piece I found that could strengthen this section is: Dua, Bhagwan D. “Presidential Rule in India: A Study in Crisis Politics.” Asian Survey, vol. 19, no. 6, 1979, pp. 611–26. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2643898. Accessed 20 July 2024. Link
 * Sources
 * The section titled "President's rule" on the Constitution of India only referenced other Wikipedia articles, so one peer-reviewed historical journal piece I found that could strengthen this section is: Dua, Bhagwan D. “Presidential Rule in India: A Study in Crisis Politics.” Asian Survey, vol. 19, no. 6, 1979, pp. 611–26. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2643898. Accessed 20 July 2024. Link

Option 4

 * Article title: Customs officer
 * Article Evaluation
 * This article is not as relevant to my final project focus, but is relevant to the course content and is part of the "Law Enforcement" WikiProject C-Class working articles. It was also part of the "Taxation" and "Occupations" Projects, which are both inactive. The article has a clear and concise lead sentence, useful images and useful hyperlinks to other articles, but only covers a few countries: Canada, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, and the US. These sections are informative and neutral, but it feels like an encyclopedia should try to cover as many nations as possible to compare and contrast. The Talk page explains the need for constant updates to this page, as changes are made to customs officers' powers every few years. One user cited a few specific legislative examples dating back to 2000, which shows that this article definitely needs some current events checking.
 * Sources
 * Since no countries from Africa are mentioned, I found sources that explains customs officers in:
 * Malawi: Chisale, Catherine D., and Alfred Maluwa. "Perceptions Of Customs Managers And Agents Towards Import Tax Non-Compliance During Goods Clearing In Malawi." Manag Econ Res J 7.3 (2021). Link
 * Uganda: Julius, Kugonza, and Mugalula Christabel. "Effectiveness and efficiency of artificial intelligence in boosting customs performance: a case study of RECTS at Uganda Customs administration." World Customs Journal 14.2 (2020): 177-192.
 * Egypt: Lord, Montague J. "IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF CUSTOMS AND TRADE REFORMS IN EGYPT." USAID - Cairo, Egypt. (2005). Link
 * All of these sources were written by and in the countries they are about, which is important for gathering verifiable resources.
 * Uganda: Julius, Kugonza, and Mugalula Christabel. "Effectiveness and efficiency of artificial intelligence in boosting customs performance: a case study of RECTS at Uganda Customs administration." World Customs Journal 14.2 (2020): 177-192.
 * Egypt: Lord, Montague J. "IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF CUSTOMS AND TRADE REFORMS IN EGYPT." USAID - Cairo, Egypt. (2005). Link
 * All of these sources were written by and in the countries they are about, which is important for gathering verifiable resources.
 * All of these sources were written by and in the countries they are about, which is important for gathering verifiable resources.

Option 5

 * Article title: Transactionalism
 * Article Evaluation
 * As a C-class article of low-importance to the Philosophy (contemporary social/political) WikiProject, this article's content overall is relevant to the topic, which deals with the philosophical approaches humans use to gain a sense of balance and value in social exchanges. With this topic being so complex and hard to define in a few words, I do think that the introductory sentence rambles on and could be focused better. The article itself is super long with broad/somewhat repetitive subsections. The subsections, simply organized as Lead, Overview, Definition, Background, General Significance, and Benefits and Applications, cover a wide breadth of topics under the category "Transactionalism" which I think complicates the term more than readers are seeking it to. The major strengths of the article are that the contributors clearly put a lot of time and effort into gathering an impressive array of sources (100+) that support and expand on the central themes. The weakness is that the central themes aren't clear-cut; there are so many important ideas discussed that it clouds the central idea of what transactionalism actually is. Neutrality is consistent, though the article does have more of a philosophical and introspective tone than most matter-of-fact articles do. The article definitely does broaden understanding but also does get redundant, so I agree with the Talk page comment that clarity should not be sacrificed for "seeming intelligent." I think that the lack of traffic on the Talk page and the fact that no edits have been made since 2016 speaks to the fact that this article stands alone as one of its kind and represents an obscure but notable topic.
 * Sources
 * There were 116 sources, with every type of material from iTunes podcasts on ethical debates to medical handbooks/journals to peer-reviewed philosophical studies. I honestly don't believe that this article needs more sources, since the thorough research was one of its strengths.
 * Sources
 * There were 116 sources, with every type of material from iTunes podcasts on ethical debates to medical handbooks/journals to peer-reviewed philosophical studies. I honestly don't believe that this article needs more sources, since the thorough research was one of its strengths.