User:Wiki811pedia/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.

• Name of article: Presentence investigation report
• Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.

I have chosen to evaluate this article due to the importance of this topic in relation to our in-class reading and discussion of Caren Converse's "Unpoetic Justice" article.

Lead

Guiding questions

User

• Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic? Yes, the information that is present is relevant to the topic but it is lacking important information.
• Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? No, it doesn't really touch on the history, preparation, rules, or controversy sections at all.
• Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article? No.
• Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed? It's concise but again, lacking information.

Content

Guiding questions

• Is the article's content relevant to the topic? Yes
• Is the content up-to-date? Yes, most of the sources that are present are relatively recent but it could use more citations.
• Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong? I believe the controversy section could be elaborated upon but my classmates have done a good job of adding content from Converse's article.
• Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics? Yes, PSI's are directly related to hyper-criminalized groups although this is not thoroughly discussed in the article's contents.

Tone and Balance

Guiding questions

• Is the article neutral? The article is generally neutral but could touch on some more of the issues associated with PSI's.
• Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position? No
• Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented? I believe the topic of how PSI's impact minority populations vs. non-minority populations is necessary to correct any underrepresentation.
• Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another? No

Sources and References

Guiding questions

• Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information? No, some citations are missing. For example, the middle area of the controversy section indicates a need for citation.
• Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic? Some of the sources seem outdated and could use more updated literature on the topic.
• Are the sources current? It's about half and half.
• Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible? It doesn't seem like there is much diversity in the spectrum of authors as it's a lot of legal documents and university scholars. There isn't much information from minorities, etc.
• Check a few links. Do they work? Yes

Organization

Guiding questions

• Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read? Some areas could use some cleaning up but overall the concept is clear.
• Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors? There are a few minor issues but I believe my classmates have fixed a lot of them.
• Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic? Yes

Images and Media

Guiding questions

• Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic? No, there are no images present.
• Are images well-captioned? N/A
• Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations? N/A
• Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way? N/A

Checking the talk page

Guiding questions

• What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
  • call for more information in the history section
  • need for lead section to have better summary of article's contents
  • calls to better cite sources and include more information in general
• How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
  • rated as a Start-class article
  • part of Wikiproject Law but low-importance
• How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
  • more legal discussion than genre study
  • less discussion about the impact of the PSI

Overall impressions

Guiding questions

• What is the article's overall status?
  • Start-class
• What are the article's strengths?
  • very good technical definitions
• How can the article be improved?
  • make it easier to understand with less legal vocabulary
  • add more updated content and more content about the societal impact of the PSI
• How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?
  • underdeveloped

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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