Seven Tips for Writing Your Article Review

Eight Tips for Writing Your Article Review:
R. Flores, SVD


1. The key to a good article review is, like in any endeavor, preparation. Read and re-read the article. Exert effort to understand the point(s) of the article. Consult dictionaries and/or encyclopedias for strange (technical) words, phrases and names.

2. Ask the most elementary question, What is the article’s state of the question? [or What is the problem that the author is trying to present or solve]?

3. Make your own outline of the article. Sometimes the subtitles can give you an idea of the structure of the article. Re-word the subtitles using your own words.

4. From your outline, write your summary or synopsis of the article. Use your own words [this is what makes your article review your own]; paraphrase the ideas, and quote only if necessary. Avoid too many direct quotations (not more than five). If you quote, use quotation marks and state the page right after the quotation enclosed by a parenthesis, example (p. 6).

5. Afterwards, state your comment, observations positive or otherwise, or questions.

6. Based on the points you raised, write your personal reflections. A good personal reflection corresponds with the salient points in the article review.

7. Submit a "clean" work - meaning, with only three pages as requirement, there should be NO typographical or grammatical errors.

8. Do not forget to cite at the beginning of your paper and  in full and correct bibliographical entry of the article on which you are making a review.