Critiquing Your Nursing Research Paper

Nursing students and registered nurses frequently submit research articles in addition to caring for their patients and staying abreast of the latest technologies and protocol. To be of use to their peers and colleagues in the health care field, these papers must be readable, logical and philosophically sound. Learning to effectively critique your own research articles will help you in your goal of publication and will greatly benefit your potential readers.

Step 1:

Assure the correct style guide has been employed for the paper. The most commonly accepted style and formatting for nursing research papers is APA (American Psychological Association). Look through the paper to be sure all APA conventions are followed including reference citations, margins and subheadings.

Step 2:

Verify the research methods cited in the article are valid. If the research was conducted by someone other than the author, check with the original paper to be sure all references to the work are consistent and repeatable. Check the theory, procedures, conclusions and repeatability of an author's own research if this is the case.

Step 3:

Check to make sure the fundamentals of a research article are contained in the paper you are critiquing. These include the introduction, background information and internal citations, hypothesis, methodology, and conclusions including any results and bibliographical information.

Step 4:

Scan the paper to make sure all terminology is used correctly. Assess the professionalism of the paper along with its readability, logic and flow. Look for smooth transitioning between paragraphs and an easy flow to the paper.

Step 5:

Proofread carefully for grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes. A final draft of a professional paper submitted for publication must be free of typographical errors. Affirm that the paper is presented on suitable quality paper.

Step 6:

Confirm that lists, bullets, charts, quotes and other non-paragraph formatted sections of the article are presented in a readable fashion and correspond to the appropriate style guide.

Step 7:

Ensure the inclusion of a well-written abstract with the paper. An abstract that briefly describes the focus and conclusions of an article is essential for those who will be considering your paper for their own research.

Step 8:

Assign a point guide to how well the paper addresses each key element. For example you could grant up to 10 points for clarity or up to 20 points for validity of results. Have the point system add up to 100 so that you can assign an overall number based on how a particular paper's numbers add up.

Additional Information:
Be ruthless in your critique whether the paper is yours or someone else's, because publishing research articles is a very competitive enterprise in which only the best succeed.