Article Review Writing Guide: APA Format, Outline, and Examples

Why Article Reviews Matter

Writing an article review builds three skills your professor is actually grading you on:

• Clear and accurate writing. Reviewing someone else’s article forces you to notice what works and what doesn’t, which sharpens your own writing.
• Exposure to other perspectives. A review pushes you to engage with how someone else approached a topic, which broadens how you think about it.
• Grammar and style. Close reading and structured evaluation naturally improve your own command of academic tone.

1. Journal Article Review

Evaluates a paper published in an academic journal. You are assessing the publication’s strengths and flaws and explaining its significance to the reader. CollegeEssay.org’s APA formatted journal article review example, further down this page, follows the journal review type, the most commonly assigned category.

2. Research Article Review

Closely related to a journal article review, but with a sharper focus on the study’s methodology. You will spend more time evaluating how the research was conducted than summarizing what it found.

3. Scientific Article Review

Covers research articles from the sciences specifically. These often include detailed methodology and data sections, and your review needs to evaluate whether the author used and presented that data well.

Step 1: Plan Your Evaluation’s Structure

Knowing how you’ll structure your paper changes how you should read the source article. Work through these four questions as you read:

1. Summarize based on your research. Identify the major points, claims, and basic information the article presents.
2. Define the strong points. Note where the author makes a successful argument or a genuinely perceptive observation.
3. Look for gaps. Check for inconsistencies, contradictions, or claims the author doesn’t back up with evidence.
4. Identify unanswered questions. Note anything the article raises but never resolves.

Step 2: Read Strategically, Not Just Once

Scanning the article’s title, abstract, and conclusion before a full read gives you its argument in advance.

• Scan the components first. Look at the title, abstract, headings, the first sentence of each paragraph, and the conclusion.
• Read the beginning and end closely. Writers put their core argument in the introduction and conclusion, so reading these two sections first gives you the article’s spine before you fill in the details.
• Then read the whole thing. Once you know where it’s headed, a full read-through goes faster and you retain more.

Step 1: Read and Annotate the Article

Engage with the article actively before you try to review it. You cannot evaluate what you haven’t fully understood.

• Highlight key ideas, arguments, and conclusions.
• Note the author’s tone, purpose, and intended audience.
• Underline evidence, examples, and statistics the author uses.
• Flag unclear or questionable sections to revisit during analysis.

Step 2: Write the Title

Your title should give the reader a clear sense of what your review covers.

• Reference the article’s title or topic.
• Reflect your overall focus or impression.
• Keep it specific and professional.

Step 3: Write the Abstract

Summarize your entire review in 150 to 250 words.

• Name the article’s title and author.
• State the original article’s purpose and scope.
• Briefly outline your evaluation.
• Summarize the key strengths and weaknesses you found.
• Keep the tone objective.

Step 4: Write the Introduction

Identify the article and state your evaluation up front.

• Name the article’s author and source.
• Briefly describe the article’s topic or purpose.
• End with a thesis that reflects your overall judgment.

Step 5: Summarize the Article

Present the article’s key ideas in your own words, without your opinion mixed in yet. If you’re rusty on condensing a source down to its core points, our guide on how to write a summary walks through the same skill in more depth.

• Identify the main argument or purpose.
• Paraphrase the key supporting points.
• Keep personal critique out of this section.
• Keep it tight and clear.

Step 6: Critically Evaluate the Article

Critical evaluation means judging the article’s evidence, bias, and structure, not just summarizing it.

• Examine how clearly the argument is made.
• Assess the quality of the evidence used.
• Identify bias or flawed assumptions.
• Look at the organization, tone, and structure.
• Pull specific examples from the article to support your points.

Forming and defending your own argument here is the same skill an opinion essay asks for, just applied to someone else’s work instead of your own topic.

Step 7: Write the Conclusion

Close with a final judgment that reinforces your evaluation.

• Restate your thesis in different words.
• Summarize the strengths and weaknesses you identified.
• Comment on the article’s overall usefulness or impact.

Step 8: Create a Proper Citation

Cite the article correctly before you consider the review finished. A correct citation gives your review credibility.

• Use the required style: APA, MLA, or Chicago.
• Include the author’s name, title, source, publication date, and page numbers.
• Place the citation according to your style’s specific rules.

Step 9: Proofread and Revise

Review your draft for clarity, accuracy, and tone.

• Check grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
• Confirm your ideas flow logically from one to the next.
• Make sure the tone stays formal and objective throughout.
• Double check every citation is correct and complete.

How to Format in APA Style

How to Format in MLA Style

If your assignment uses Chicago or Turabian style instead, the same core elements apply: author, title, source, and date, just arranged according to that style’s specific punctuation and ordering rules. Check your syllabus or citation guide for the exact format your professor expects.