I. Citation A. Provide a full citation of the article to include author(s), title of article, and name of journal, volume and pages. II. Topic A. Briefly describe the topic of the journal article (hint: it’s usually in the article’s title). Identify the major and minor objectives of the article as well B. Identify and define the important concepts focused on by the author. Are the definitions clear, in your opinion? III. Theory/Research Methods A. Is the author being guided by a particular theoretical perspective? If so, what is it and how does he use this theory to understand the problem? B. Does the author collect data? If so, what method does he use (survey, field observation, use of existing sources, experiment, and is it cross‐sectional or longitudinal in design)? C. How clearly does the author indicate the above? IV. Main Ideas A. Summarize the article’s content. In doing so, what is the author’s major argument? B. What are the supporting arguments? C. Are the ideas clearly presented? V. Conclusions A. What conclusions does the author(s) make? VI. Reflection A. In your opinion, do the data support the conclusions being made by the author? B. In your opinion, are the results thought provoking? C. In your opinion, what could be done to improve the research?
