Compare & Contrast Articles

Select two publications. One is a trade magazine and one is a professional journal
(peer-reviewed).
1. Browse through both publications to get a feeling for what they contain.
2. Select one article or story from each publication. One article is to be peerreviewed and one is not. You will use these articles for the following
assignment.
Part 1
In the trade magazine article, answer the following questions.
1. Is this something that you found interesting and/or helpful to you in this
stage of your development in the profession and/or do you think it would
be helpful to practicing medical dosimetrists?
2. Do you have any questions about the accuracy of the information included
or the viewpoint of the author?
3. Describe what you felt to be the strengths and the weaknesses of the
article.
Part 1 Grading
Writing:
Content

Identified article & author

Gave a brief summary of article
Answered questions regarding strength & weakness
Described usefulness of this article to self & others

Mechanics
Sentence structure
Paragraph structure
Introduction & conclusion
Transitions & logical flow
Punctuation & spelling
Word use
Provide superscript citations (per AMA) within the article for references
used and provide a reference list at the end of each article.

Part 2
Write a critical review of the peer reviewed research article that you have selected.
Ask yourself the following questions:
1. Does the article have the subsections required of a research article? (abstract,
introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusion, references) If they are
not clearly labeled, do so yourself as you read the article.

2. In the introduction section, was the problem clearly identified and stated? Was
a literature review presented that gave background on the problem?
3. In the methods section: was the research design clearly explained? Was the
sample representative of the population of interest and was it sufficiently
large? Were the measurement instruments reliable?
4. In the results section were results adequately presented and explained. Did
the statistical tests deal effectively with the type of data generated?
5. In the discussion or analysis section, was data appropriately and logically
evaluated to support the conclusions? Was there any bias or factors that
hindered the data from being relevant or accurate?
6. In the conclusion section: was the research adequately summarized?
7. In the reference section, did the author(s) consult a wide range of sources or
appropriate sources? Were the sources current (within the past 5-7 yrs)?
Write a critique based on the above addressing the following:
a. Name of the article and Author(s) and the publication
b. Describe the presented or implied research question, problem or hypothesis
that were given or assumed.
c. Evaluate the literature review presented. (i.e. Did it pertain, did it make sense,
did it give enough background information?)
d. Describe the research design (how was the research carried out?).
e. Report the results
f. What conclusions were made?
g. What is your overall impression of the research?
Part 2 Grading

Name of the article and Author(s) and the publication

Describe the presented or implied research question, problem or hypothesis given
or assumed
Evaluate the literature review presented, did it pertain, did it make sense, did it
give enough background information?
Describe the research design (how was the research carried out?)
Report the results
What conclusions were made?
What is your overall impression of the research?
Format appropriate to a literature review/critique
Writing is easy to follow, uses transitions, introduction, conclusion
Word choice
Provide superscript citations (per AMA) within the article for references used
and provide a reference list at the end of each article.

See example of a previous student submission of this assignment in course

content of D2L.