Journal Article Analysis (~3 double-spaced pages)

Points: 100

Assignment

To learn more about writing a research paper in your discipline, choose a journal article from the journal you analyzed in the last assignment. Analyze the following topics:

1)    Overall structure of the article (IMRD or something else?)

2)    Moves 1, 2, and 3 in the introduction part

3)    Types of research presented (survey, research study, experiment, literature review, observation, analysis of existing data, etc)

4)    How data or information are included (graphs, tables, paragraph form, etc)

5)    How existing studies are reported (summary, paraphrase, direct quotes, etc)

6)    School of citation and examples

Write a paper summarizing and explaining these findings. Don’t just report what you see in the journal article. Explain what this information suggests about writing a research paper in your field.

Grading Criteria

An excellent paper will meet the following criteria, showing that you can:

·       Identify and briefly summarize an appropriate journal article in your field

·       Recognize the structure of the overall article and the introduction section

·       Recognize type of research project, school of citation, use of visual data, and use of existing research

·       Effectively synthesize information in a logical and ordered way

·       Offer reasonable explanations for features of the article

·       Edit your paper for errors in grammar and word usage

A Paper

This paper will meet all grading criteria and be well written. It need not be perfect but it will be well structured and demonstrate varied information about the chosen academic journal article. The paper will adequately present the article and briefly summarize the content, describe the overall structure of the article and introduction and explain various relevant features of the article as stated above (school of citation, graphs, tables, how research is integrated). This paper will provide examples and quotations to demonstrate understanding of important features. Moreover, this paper will reasonably explain what these features suggest about writing a research paper in the discipline. There are few errors in grammar or sentence structure.

Requirements

Instructor Feedback of Journal Article Analysis Paper

____________Introduction/background of Journal article

___ Your paper clearly introduces the title of the journal article, where it was published, and a brief summary of the content (1 to 2 sentences only).

___ Your paper contains a sentence that clearly states the nature or aim of the present assignment.

___ To improve: State the title of the article, where it was published, and a brief summary.

___ To improve: Write a Move 3 sentence to indicate the purpose or nature of this paper.

___________Selection of content for the paper

___ Your paper demonstrates thoughtful and relevant commentary about your chosen journal.

___ To improve: Explain the overall structure of the journal article

___ To improve: Explain the structure of the introduction. Do you see Moves 1, 2, and 3

___ To improve: Explain the type of research project is introduced in this article

___ To improve: Explain how the data are incorporated in article

___ To improve: Explain how previous scholarship is introduced in this article

___ To improve: Explain the school of citation used in this article

___________ Structure/organization of paper

___ Your paper analyzes and explains WHY certain features are present in this journal article.

___ Your paper carefully synthesizes information in a logical and ordered way.

___ Your paper adequately explains what YOU learned from the journal article about scholarly journal articles.

____ To improve: Reorganize your paper so that findings are presented by topic or theme rather than just a random list of details.

___ To improve: Add more information/detail/development of ideas to one or more places in your paper.

___ To improve: Focus on answering the question WHY? Why does this journal article have certain features?

___ To improve: Use strong transitions between paragraphs or sentences to show relationships between ideas.

____To improve: Use citations correctly for any information extracted from the journal article and include a reference page at the end. 

____To improve: Cite our text by Swales and Feak for any discussion about the introduction Moves and include this reference in your reference page at the end

___________ Careful editing of grammar, spelling, and word choice  

___ To improve: Need more control over sentence structure, grammar, spelling, word choice, and punctuation

___ To improve: Write more concisely, avoiding wordy language in some areas

___ To improve: Avoid using “you” and command form of verbs.

__ To improve: Replace informal language with appropriate academic substitutes in style and tone