For psychology students, critiquing a professional paper is a great way to learn more about psychology articles, writing, and the research process itself. Students will analyze how researchers conduct experiments, interpret results, and discuss the impact of the results.
Steps for Writing an Effective Critique Paper
While these tips are designed to help students writing a psychology critique paper, many of the same principles apply to writing critiques in other subject areas as well. The following guideline can help you assess what you are reading and make better sense of the material.
Begin Writing Your Own Critique of the Paper
Once you have read the article, compile your notes and develop an outline that you can follow as you write your psychology critique paper. Here’s a guide that will walk you through how to structure your critique paper.
Introduction
Begin your paper by describing the journal article and authors you are critiquing. Provide the main hypothesis (or thesis) of the paper. Explain why you think the information is relevant.
Thesis Statement
The final part of your introduction should include your thesis statement. Your thesis statement is the main idea of your critique. Your thesis should briefly sum up the main points of your critique.
Article Summary
Provide a brief summary of the article. Outline the main points, results, and discussion. When describing the study or paper, experts suggest that you include a summary of the questions being addressed, study participants, interventions, comparisons, outcomes, and study design. Don’t get bogged down by your summary. This section should highlight the main points of the article you are critiquing. Don’t feel obligated to summarize each little detail of the main paper. Focus on giving the reader an overall idea of the content of the article.
Your Analysis
In this section, you will provide your critique of the article. Describe any problems you had with the author’s premise, methods, or conclusions. You might focus your critique on problems with the author’s argument, presentation, information, and alternatives that have been overlooked. When evaluating a study, summarize the main findings—including the strength of evidence for each main outcome—and consider their relevance to key demographic groups.
Conclusion
Your critique paper should end with an overview of the article’s argument, your conclusions, and your reactions.
More Tips When Writing a Psychology Critique Paper
As you are editing your paper, utilize a style guide published by the American Psychological Association, such as the official Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Reading scientific articles can be difficult. You might want to read up on how to read (and understand) psychology journal articles. Take a rough draft of your paper to your school’s writing lab for additional feedback and make use of your university library’s resources.
