User:W jonckowski/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Alternative treatments used for the common cold

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article because it was related to the class and C-class. This article is important because many people might look at it as a way of trying to treat their cold. As such it could potentially affect the health of the people viewing it. My first impression of the article is that it is very underdeveloped, with some sections only 1-2 sentences explaining the medicine.

Evaluate the article
Lead Section


 * The article does include an introductory sentence which gives the reader a broad overview of alternative medicines to the common cold.
 * The article does not include a sentence highlighting each major section of the article.
 * The article discusses treatments in the introduction that are not discussed in the rest of the article.
 * The lead section is concise.

Content


 * The article's content is mostly relevant to the topic. However, there is some historical information I feel does not need to be there.
 * The article could use an update as most of the dates discussed in the article are a decade or more old.
 * There is certainly content missing as one major section of the article only has 1 sentence.
 * The article does not discuss any topic related to minority or underrepresented groups.

Tone and Balance


 * The article seems to present all information neutrally.
 * The author does not appear biased to one side, and there are no viewpoints that are under or overrepresented. Additionally, there does not seem to be any specific minority viewpoints on the topic.
 * The article does not attempt to persuade the reader to one viewpoint aside from presenting the efficacy of most of the treatments.

Sources and References


 * The facts in the article seem to come from reliable sources such as academic databases or journals. However, they do not seem to be current on the matter.
 * There seems to be a good diversity among the authors and organizations that are cited in the article.
 * Better, more current sources could most likely be found. However, the article does a good job of not making use of news articles or other unreliable sources.
 * Links to the sources are working.

Organization and Writing Quality


 * The article is easy to read, but I still many of the sentences feel out of place. Some sentences barely seem to relate or build on each other, instead discussing a different thing in each sentence.
 * The article seems to have good grammar.
 * The article is well-organized in that it is broken into sections. However, many sections are so small the writer should have either combined some sections or found information to fill them out.

Images and Media


 * The lone image in the article enhances our understanding of the topic in that it allows us to visualize the echinacea flower.
 * The photo is well-captioned, telling us what the image is.
 * The image is the writer's work and adheres to Wikipedia's copyright policy.
 * The image is visually appealing in that it does not disrupt the natural flow of the page or section.

Talk Page


 * There are some discussions on the wording of the article as some editors disagree on the terminology used. For example, one editor urges for the phrase "is not supported by scientific evidence" in place of "inconclusive."
 * The article is rated as C-class. It does not seem to be a part of any WikiProjects.
 * The article is somewhat similar to our discussion of home remedies in class, presenting different plants or methods to aid the common cold. However, the remedies discussed in this article or more modern than those discussed in class.

Overall Impressions


 * Overall, the article could certainly be improved upon with better phrasing and more information on the topic.
 * The article has sources that come from strong places, even if some are outdated.
 * The article could be improved by adding detail and context to each section, as well as adding additional sections to show more remedies.
 * In my opinion, the article is very underdeveloped and requires a lot of additional information for it to justify its existence.