# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Structure of a Critical Review | UNSW Current Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Summarising and paraphrasing are essential skills for academic writing and in particular, the critical review. To summarise means to reduce a text to its main points and its most important ideas. The length of your summary for a critical review should only be about one quarter to one third of the whole critical review.

# data[].attributes.body
Summarising and paraphrasing for the critical review

Summarising and paraphrasing are essential skills for academic writing and in particular, the critical review. To summarise means to reduce a text to its main points and its most important ideas. The length of your summary for a critical review should only be about one quarter to one third of the whole critical review.

The best way to summarise is to:

1. Scan the text. Look for information that can be deduced from the introduction, conclusion and the title and headings. What do these tell you about the main points of the article?

2. Locate the topic sentences and highlight the main points as you read.

3. Reread the text and make separate notes of the main points. Examples and evidence do not need to be included at this stage. Usually they are used selectively in your critique.

Paraphrasing means putting it into your own words. Paraphrasing offers an alternative to using direct quotations in your summary (and the critique) and can be an efficient way to integrate your summary notes.

The best way to paraphrase is to:

1. Review your summary notes

2. Rewrite them in your own words and in complete sentences

3. Use reporting verbs and phrases (eg; The author describes…, Smith argues that …).

4. If you include unique or specialist phrases from the text, use quotation marks.

Some General Criteria for Evaluating Texts

The following list of criteria and focus questions may be useful for reading the text and for preparing the critical review. Remember to check your assignment instructions for more specific criteria and focus questions that should form the basis of your review. The length of the review / assignment will determine how many criteria you will address in your critique.

Criteria | Possible focus questions

Significance and contribution to the field

What is the author's aim?

To what extent has this aim been achieved?

What does this text add to the body of knowledge? (This could be in terms of theory, data and/or practical application)

What relationship does it bear to other works in the field?

What is missing/not stated?

Is this a problem?

Methodology or approach (this usually applies to more formal, research-based texts)

What approach was used for the research? (eg; quantitative or qualitative, analysis/review of theory or current practice, comparative, case study, personal reflection etc...)

How objective/biased is the approach?

Are the results valid and reliable?

What analytical framework is used to discuss the results?

Argument and use of evidence

Is there a clear problem, statement or hypothesis?

What claims are made?

Is the argument consistent?

What kinds of evidence does the text rely on?

How valid and reliable is the evidence?

How effective is the evidence in supporting the argument?

What conclusions are drawn?

Are these conclusions justified?

Writing style and text structure

Does the writing style suit the intended audience? (eg; expert/non-expert, academic/non-academic)

What is the organising principle of the text? Could it be better organised?

# data[].attributes.body
Binary Search Tree Balancing Methods: A Critical Study

# data[].attributes.body
A comparison of bibliometric indicators for computer science scholars and journals on Web of Science and Google Scholar

# data[].attributes.body
Automatic Queuing Model for Banking Applications

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Paper 2-Automatic Queuing Model for Banking Applications

# data[].attributes.body
COMPOSITIONAL TYPE SYSTEMS FOR STACK-BASED LOW-LEVEL LANGUAGES

# data[].attributes.body
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT QUEUING MECHANISMS IN HETROGENEOUS NETWORKS

# data[].attributes.body
Instruction :

1. Setup group - 3 or 4 person per group

2. choose only 1 journal per group