How to Evaluate Journal Articles

To evaluate a journal article look for:

Purpose of Article: Why was the article written? To: persuade the reader to do something? inform the reader? prove something?
Type of Journal: For college-level term papers, information should be obtained mostly from scholarly journals. See also Evaluation Clues for Articles Taken from the Web
Organization and Content: Is the material organized and focused? Is the argument or presentation understandable? Is this original research, a review of previous research, or an informative piece?
Bias (of the publisher)
Date of Article
Bibliography
Usefulness: Is the article relevant to the current research project?
Authority/author: Is the author an expert in this field? Where is the author employed? What else has he/she written? Has he/she won awards or honors?
Coverage: Does the article cover the topic comprehensively, partially, or is it an overview?
Audience: For what type of reader is the author writing?
Illustrations: Are charts, graphs, maps, photographs, etc. used to illustrate concepts? Are the illustrations relevant? Are they clear and professional-looking?

Content: N.Lederer