User:Aeburtner/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article

This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.

Ames test

I chose this article because it was long enough to provide thought provoking information while not being so long that it would seem to go on forever. It also seemed like a topic that I would be interested in when I read the lead paragraph to get an idea of what it was about.

Lead

Guiding questions

• 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?
• Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Lead evaluation

The first sentence of the lead very neatly describes the topic of the article without going in to too much detail. The lead section includes a table of contents (like most Wikipedia sites), but does not contain descriptions of each of these captions. The lead does contain a brief sentence about background information that I did not see anywhere else in the article. Outside of this, to me the lead seemed to be an appropriate length and have appropriate information

Content

Guiding questions

• 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?

Content evaluation

The article itself explains in sufficient detail the process for running Ames tests on a variety of potential mutagens. All of the content seemed to be appropriate and I did not notice any major gaps in the information provided. Based on the citations though, I would be worried about the relevance of the data provided. The most recent thing cited in the article is from 2004, more than 15 years ago. Because this is a method of testing, this does not give me great pause, though I do think that more recent research or applications could be helpful.

Tone and Balance

Guiding questions

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

Tone and balance evaluation

This article is written in an appropriate, neutral tone. While reading, I did not perceive any major biases or claims. All of the information in the article was presented to an equal degree of thoroughness and there was no attempt to sway readers, simply facts.

Sources and References

Guiding questions

• 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?
• Check a few links. Do they work?

Sources and references evaluation

The majority of the citations in this article are scientific literature. There is a broad variety of sources from both B. Ames who came up with the test initially, to others who have studied it or done research with it since then. The sources may be slightly outdated, but because this is a defined method of scientific testing that has not changed as far as I can tell from the article and the suggested further reading I do not think it is critically important for more up to date sources. Certainly, though, updating sources if there is new material available would never hurt. All of the links that I checked, even those to older sources, were functional.

Organization

Guiding questions

• 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?

Organization evaluation

The article is written in a very professional and understandable manner. Even thought the article is about a fairly advanced scientific test, the authors provide the necessary information without going to far in to extraneous scientific jargon that would above the knowledge of someone without extensive genetic or biological training. The article was also free of gramatical errors and provided the information in a sensible, organized manner.

Images and Media

Guiding questions

• 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?

Images and media evaluation

The images and graphics in this article are very helpful to understanding the topic. They are labeled simply, but clearly. However, they are not cited, but they do fall under the creative commons and therefore follow Wikipedia's guidelines. They are laid out in a way that makes sense to the information they relate to.

Checking the talk page

Guiding questions

• 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?

Talk page evaluation

The talk page for this article is fairly quiet, with only one comment threat about the clarification of a topic. The article is part of WikiProjects Medicine and Genetics. We have not discussed this topic specifically, but based on the related topics I am familiar with because of class the protocol being described makes sense. The article is rated as a class C low importance article.

Overall impressions

Guiding questions

• 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?

Overall evaluation

The article is well developed and covers the information necessary to understand the method it is discussing. I would say that this article could be categorized as complete, but I would like to see some more information about the practical uses of this test and how effective and accurate it has turned out to be as we have learned more about the causes of cancer and other mutagenic disorders.

Optional activity

• Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback

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