User:Littlecometsburning8/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article

Complete your article evaluation below. Here are the key aspects to consider:

Lead section

A good lead section defines the topic and provides a concise overview. A reader who just wants to identify the topic can read the first sentence. A reader who wants a very brief overview of the most important things about it can read the first paragraph. A reader who wants a quick overview can read the whole lead section.

Does the lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
Does the lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
Does the lead include information that is not present in the article? (It shouldn't.)
Is the lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Content

A good Wikipedia article should cover all the important aspects of a topic, without putting too much weight on one part while neglecting another.

Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
Is the content up-to-date?
Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?

Tone and Balance

Wikipedia articles should be written from a neutral point of view; if there are substantial differences of interpretation or controversies among published, reliable sources, those views should be described as fairly as possible.

Is the article neutral?
Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
Are minority or fringe viewpoints accurately described as such?
Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Sources and References

A Wikipedia article should be based on the best sources available for the topic at hand. When possible, this means academic and peer-reviewed publications or scholarly books.

Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
Are the sources current?
Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?
Are there better sources available, such as peer-reviewed articles in place of news coverage or random websites? (You may need to do some digging to answer this.)
Check a few links. Do they work?

Organization and writing quality

The writing should be clear and professional, the content should be organized sensibly into sections.

Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Images and Media

Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
Are images well-captioned?
Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

Talk page discussion

The article's talk page — and any discussions among other Wikipedia editors that have been taking place there — can be a useful window into the state of an article, and might help you focus on important aspects that you didn't think of.

What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Overall impressions

What is the article's overall status?
What are the article's strengths?
How can the article be improved?
How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

Examples of good feedback

A good article evaluation can take a number of forms. The most essential things are to clearly identify the biggest shortcomings, and provide specific guidance on how the article can be improved.

Peer review of this article about a famous painting

Which article are you evaluating?

Threadtail anthias

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?

It was an article requested underneath the Marine Life WikiProject page as a stub that needs improvement so I chose to evaluate it under the assumed premise that there would be much to critique.

Evaluate the article

(Compose a detailed evaluation of the article here, considering each of the key aspects listed above. Consider the guiding questions, and check out the examples of what a useful Wikipedia article evaluation looks like.)

Lead -- This section is relatively complete as far as phylogeny of the species and habitat / area of the ocean where it can be found. However, It could dedicate a couple sentences to remarkable features of this species. One sentence notes that it's the only member of its genus - this could likely be expanded upon slightly as well if there's research into why that is.

Content -- This article is incredibly lacking, as there are no subheadings after the initial lead paragraph. This article would do well to add subheadings: Habitat, Features, Behavior, & Development. Also, the current picture on this article is a drawing dated from 1906 - I assume there must be a more current image of this species available that could be added to improve the accuracy and comprehensibility of the article.

Tone and Balance -- There doesn't seem to be any prejudice / non-scientific language.

Sources and References -- The sources are currently very limited, only from Catalog of Fishes and a website database called "FishBase". While both sources seem scholarly and appropriate, it's important for an article to have a wide range of scholarly sources that knowledge is drawn from to show depth of information as well as a well of secondary sources for wikiusers to draw upon for more detailed information.

Organization and Writing Quality -- For the amount of writing that exists, it's clear and concise. There are minimal comments to be made on the organization, as the only paragraph is the lead section. However, commenting on the organization within that paragraph, it does well to comment first on phylogeny and then on general location within the ocean - I think these two pieces of information could be ordered either way because both are relevant for the lead section.

Talk Page Discussion -- The Talk page has no comments yet. This may make it difficult for future wikicitizens / editors to know where to start researching, find direction, or know if there are any areas specifically where other people would like to see improvement.

Overall Impressions -- Status: Stub ; Strengths: objective writing style, academic sources, concise lead section ; Weaknesses: lacking detail, just needs overall to be updated with current findings / research, needs an updated image / photograph. This article is under developed.