User:Holdenhansli/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: Agouti (gene)
• I took genetics last year and was very intrigued about the agouti gene. We learned about how in mice if you cross two mice with the agouti gene, the fetuses of the mice that have both copies of the gene will die in the womb because the combination is lethal.

Lead

Guiding questions:

• Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
• Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
• Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
• Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Lead evaluation

The lead overall is very concise, yet still provides a detailed overview of the article. I like how the first sentence is very simple and defines exactly what the agouti gene is and what it does phenotypically. I believe that it's a good lead because it briefly goes over the agouti gene in mice which is then expanded upon in the article. The only major section that's not accounted for in the lead is the human homologue section.

Content

Guiding questions:

• Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
• Is the content up-to-date?
• Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?

Content evaluation

When reading the content it all seems relevant and informational. The article goes in-depth about what exactly the agouti gene does, different phenotypes of it, how it can be lethal, and then goes into the methylation and diet experiments that were done on mice with the agouti gene. The last section to wrap up the agouti gene talks about a homologue in humans, which I hadn't heard about before and was interesting. The only problem I see is that that content may not be up-to-date because most of the references are from the 1990's and early 2000's with two from 2008 and 2010. There may be more research or information from the last 10 years that can be added.

Tone and Balance

Guiding questions:

• Is the article neutral?
• Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
• Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
• Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Tone and balance evaluation

This is an informational article, so it's not trying to sway anyone's opinion. I think that the article is well-rounded in what it discusses and gives an adequate amount of information about the agouti gene.

Sources and References

Guiding questions:

• Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
• Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
• Are the sources current?
• Check a few links. Do they work?

Sources and references evaluation

I checked several of the links and they all worked, although one was linking to another Wikipedia page (I'm not sure if that counts as a source?). Essentially all of the sources are research papers and journal articles detailing aspects of the agouti gene. Overall, the sources are very good and seem reliable. The only problem is thatt he most current source is from 2010 and many are from closer to 20 years ago.

Organization

Guiding questions:

• Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
• Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
• Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Organization evaluation

The article is well-organized and thorough. The sections make sense and are important parts of explaining what the agouti gene is. I didn't see any spelling or grammatical errors, but I do think it's written relatively confusing. If I didn't already have a genetics background and general understanding of what the agouti gene is, I would be extremely lost reading this. I believe that parts could be simplified or reworded to make the information more clear and understandable.

Images and Media

Guiding questions:

• Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
• Are images well-captioned?
• Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
• Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

Images and media evaluation

There is only one image on this page and it's a diagram explaining yellow obese syndrome, a very small aspect of this article. More pictures need to added to depict the different phenotypes and crosses for the agouti gene. I believe that adding pictures would be very beneficial to this page.

Checking the talk page

Guiding questions:

• What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
• How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
• How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Talk page evaluation

It's part of WikiProject Molecular and Cell Biology, which is how I found the article, WikiProject Equine, and WikiProject Genetics. It's rated C-class, mid-importance for each WikiProject. No one has talked on this page since 2011, and it was just someone asking if they should reword one of the sentences. In May 2019 the page Agouti (coloration) was merged onto Agouti (gene).

Overall impressions

Guiding questions:

• What is the article's overall status?
• What are the article's strengths?
• How can the article be improved?
• How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

Overall evaluation

In June 2019 it was proposed to merge the article with Agouti-signaling protein and this page is even shorter with even less information. I think that these pages should stay separate, but both need to be updated and filled with more current information and research. The article's strengths are that it's extremely informative and detailed, but it needs to be written better. I would also add pictures and diagrams (like Punnet Squares, for instance) to make the information more understandable and accessible.

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 with four tildes ~~~~

• Link to feedback: Talk:Agouti (gene)