GUIDELINES FOR NUTRITION ARTICLE REVIEWS The purpose of this assignment is to he

GUIDELINES FOR NUTRITION ARTICLE REVIEWS
The purpose of this assignment is to help you develop critical thinking skills
and to use library research skills. You will determine if the information in the
article you select is accurate OR inaccurate by locating professional
resources. You need to look at the source of your article and the ways the
information is presented to do this assignment adequately.
1. Find an article in newspapers, magazines, books or on the Internet that
describes some aspect of a nutrient’s function in the body, weight control,
heart disease, women’s, men’s or child health, cancer, fitness or nutrition for
a particular segment of the population. (Such as Shape, MSN.com, Men’s
Fitness, Women’s World, Daily Newspaper, etc) This is not a complete list
of subjects that you might use but merely some suggestions. The article
you select should not come from professional sources. Peer reviewed
journals are not acceptable for this part of the assignment. Your article
should have at least 1 page of reading information. Do not use articles that
provide more pictures then text. Meaning you will only have 1-2 paragraphs
of information to review.
2. Articles found in popular magazines and on the internet tend to begin
one accurate nutrition fact and twist it in such a way that is appears true.
Such as, vinegar burns fat and can help you to lose weight quickly or cures
arthritis or heart disease. Review Chapter 1: what is considered credible
nutrition research and obtaining nutrition advice.
3. The article critique should be no longer than 5 pages. The article that you
select should NOT be older than one year. Do not select articles from
professional publications (Nutrition Today, Dental Hygiene or Nursing
Magazines).
4. The discussion should include.
Section 1-summarize the information in the article. This does not need to
be extensive since you will provide a copy of the article.
Section 2-Evaluate the source-this includes the publication itself, the
author, persons quoted for information, their degrees or certifications, and
their affiliation.
 Evaluate whether there is some economic gain to come to the
publisher from the information presented in the article.
 Evaluate the type of nutrition study that is presented, if any, (for
example: controlled, double blind, epidemiological). Not every article
presents a study so you will not discuss this with all articles. Describe
whether the study appears to have a sufficient number of participants
(less that 30 is usually too limited to provide data that might apply to
everyone).
 Sometimes articles are written by staff journalists who are not nutrition
experts or medical professionals. If this is the case, did they do
appropriate research to get the facts?
 Did the interview include credible sources and are they
identified/cited?
o If no one is cited, does it appear that this writer did sufficient
research to present the information accurately?
Section 3-The intent of this assignment is to have you do some research
using on-line or HACC’s online library resources. In this part of the
assignment you should attempt to find some source which is more
technical/professional. Find one source which supports or refutes what is
presented in the article. You may use more than one source if an article
does not provide enough information. You should NOT however merely find
or use the technical articles provided with the article you selected. Find
another source of information which supports or refutes the information in
your article. Discuss and summarize the information you found. You DO
NOT need to provide a copy of the professional resources. You must
include a reference page and listing your sources in APA format.
Section 4-Discuss how you feel about the information in the article and the
research you did. When you evaluate the article, do the tables or photos or
even the headline affect how you respond to the information? What attracts
you to the information, regardless of whether the information is good or
bad? Does the article you selected possess the following:
Clarity–is it understandable
Accuracy–is it free from errors or distortions?
Precision–is it exact to the necessary level of detail?
Relevance–does it keep to the matter at hand?
Depth–does it contain and explain complexities and multiple
interrelationships?
Breadth–does it encompass multiple viewpoints?
Logic–do the parts make sense together with no contradictions?
Significance–does it focus on the important, not trivial?
Fairness–it is justifiable, not self-serving or one-sided?