journal article assignment

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How to Review a Journal Article

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For many kinds of assignments, like a literature review , you may be asked to offer a critique or review of a journal article. This is an opportunity for you as a scholar to offer your qualified opinion and evaluation of how another scholar has composed their article, argument, and research. That means you will be expected to go beyond a simple summary of the article and evaluate it on a deeper level. As a college student, this might sound intimidating. However, as you engage with the research process, you are becoming immersed in a particular topic, and your insights about the way that topic is presented are valuable and can contribute to the overall conversation surrounding your topic.

IMPORTANT NOTE!!

Some disciplines, like Criminal Justice, may only want you to summarize the article without including your opinion or evaluation. If your assignment is to summarize the article only, please see our literature review handout.

Before getting started on the critique, it is important to review the article thoroughly and critically. To do this, we recommend take notes, annotating , and reading the article several times before critiquing. As you read, be sure to note important items like the thesis, purpose, research questions, hypotheses, methods, evidence, key findings, major conclusions, tone, and publication information. Depending on your writing context, some of these items may not be applicable.

Questions to Consider

To evaluate a source, consider some of the following questions. They are broken down into different categories, but answering these questions will help you consider what areas to examine. With each category, we recommend identifying the strengths and weaknesses in each since that is a critical part of evaluation.

Evaluating Purpose and Argument

How well is the purpose made clear in the introduction through background/context and thesis?
How well does the abstract represent and summarize the article’s major points and argument?
How well does the objective of the experiment or of the observation fill a need for the field?
How well is the argument/purpose articulated and discussed throughout the body of the text?
How well does the discussion maintain cohesion?

Evaluating the Presentation/Organization of Information

How appropriate and clear is the title of the article?
Where could the author have benefited from expanding, condensing, or omitting ideas?
How clear are the author’s statements? Challenge ambiguous statements.
What underlying assumptions does the author have, and how does this affect the credibility or clarity of their article?
How objective is the author in his or her discussion of the topic?
How well does the organization fit the article’s purpose and articulate key goals?

Evaluating Methods

How appropriate are the study design and methods for the purposes of the study?
How detailed are the methods being described? Is the author leaving out important steps or considerations?
Have the procedures been presented in enough detail to enable the reader to duplicate them?

Evaluating Data

Scan and spot-check calculations. Are the statistical methods appropriate?
Do you find any content repeated or duplicated?
How many errors of fact and interpretation does the author include? (You can check on this by looking up the references the author cites).
What pertinent literature has the author cited, and have they used this literature appropriately?

Following, we have an example of a summary and an evaluation of a research article. Note that in most literature review contexts, the summary and evaluation would be much shorter. This extended example shows the different ways a student can critique and write about an article.

Chik, A. (2012). Digital gameplay for autonomous foreign language learning: Gamers’ and language teachers’ perspectives. In H. Reinders (ed.), Digital games in language learning and teaching (pp. 95-114). Eastbourne, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Be sure to include the full citation either in a reference page or near your evaluation if writing an annotated bibliography .

In Chik’s article “Digital Gameplay for Autonomous Foreign Language Learning: Gamers’ and Teachers’ Perspectives”, she explores the ways in which “digital gamers manage gaming and gaming-related activities to assume autonomy in their foreign language learning,” (96) which is presented in contrast to how teachers view the “pedagogical potential” of gaming. The research was described as an “umbrella project” consisting of two parts. The first part examined 34 language teachers’ perspectives who had limited experience with gaming (only five stated they played games regularly) (99). Their data was recorded through a survey, class discussion, and a seven-day gaming trial done by six teachers who recorded their reflections through personal blog posts. The second part explored undergraduate gaming habits of ten Hong Kong students who were regular gamers. Their habits were recorded through language learning histories, videotaped gaming sessions, blog entries of gaming practices, group discussion sessions, stimulated recall sessions on gaming videos, interviews with other gamers, and posts from online discussion forums. The research shows that while students recognize the educational potential of games and have seen benefits of it in their lives, the instructors overall do not see the positive impacts of gaming on foreign language learning.

The summary includes the article’s purpose, methods, results, discussion, and citations when necessary.

This article did a good job representing the undergraduate gamers’ voices through extended quotes and stories. Particularly for the data collection of the undergraduate gamers, there were many opportunities for an in-depth examination of their gaming practices and histories. However, the representation of the teachers in this study was very uneven when compared to the students. Not only were teachers labeled as numbers while the students picked out their own pseudonyms, but also when viewing the data collection, the undergraduate students were more closely examined in comparison to the teachers in the study. While the students have fifteen extended quotes describing their experiences in their research section, the teachers only have two of these instances in their section, which shows just how imbalanced the study is when presenting instructor voices.

Some research methods, like the recorded gaming sessions, were only used with students whereas teachers were only asked to blog about their gaming experiences. This creates a richer narrative for the students while also failing to give instructors the chance to have more nuanced perspectives. This lack of nuance also stems from the emphasis of the non-gamer teachers over the gamer teachers. The non-gamer teachers’ perspectives provide a stark contrast to the undergraduate gamer experiences and fits neatly with the narrative of teachers not valuing gaming as an educational tool. However, the study mentioned five teachers that were regular gamers whose perspectives are left to a short section at the end of the presentation of the teachers’ results. This was an opportunity to give the teacher group a more complex story, and the opportunity was entirely missed.

Additionally, the context of this study was not entirely clear. The instructors were recruited through a master’s level course, but the content of the course and the institution’s background is not discussed. Understanding this context helps us understand the course’s purpose(s) and how those purposes may have influenced the ways in which these teachers interpreted and saw games. It was also unclear how Chik was connected to this masters’ class and to the students. Why these particular teachers and students were recruited was not explicitly defined and also has the potential to skew results in a particular direction.

Overall, I was inclined to agree with the idea that students can benefit from language acquisition through gaming while instructors may not see the instructional value, but I believe the way the research was conducted and portrayed in this article made it very difficult to support Chik’s specific findings.

Some professors like you to begin an evaluation with something positive but isn’t always necessary.

The evaluation is clearly organized and uses transitional phrases when moving to a new topic.

This evaluation includes a summative statement that gives the overall impression of the article at the end, but this can also be placed at the beginning of the evaluation.

This evaluation mainly discusses the representation of data and methods. However, other areas, like organization, are open to critique.

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Acknowledgments

Definition and Introduction

Journal article analysis assignments require you to summarize and critically assess the quality of an empirical research study published in a scholarly [a.k.a., academic, peer-reviewed] journal. The article may be assigned by the professor, chosen from course readings listed in the syllabus, or you must locate an article on your own, usually with the requirement that you search using a reputable library database, such as, JSTOR or ProQuest . The article chosen is expected to relate to the overall discipline of the course, specific course content, or key concepts discussed in class. In some cases, the purpose of the assignment is to analyze an article that is part of the literature review for a future research project.

Analysis of an article can be assigned to students individually or as part of a small group project. The final product is usually in the form of a short paper [typically 1- 6 double-spaced pages] that addresses key questions the professor uses to guide your analysis or that assesses specific parts of a scholarly research study [e.g., the research problem, methodology, discussion, conclusions or findings]. The analysis paper may be shared on a digital course management platform and/or presented to the class for the purpose of promoting a wider discussion about the topic of the study. Although assigned in any level of undergraduate and graduate coursework in the social and behavioral sciences, professors frequently include this assignment in upper division courses to help students learn how to effectively identify, read, and analyze empirical research within their major.

Franco, Josue. “Introducing the Analysis of Journal Articles.” Prepared for presentation at the American Political Science Association’s 2020 Teaching and Learning Conference, February 7-9, 2020, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Sego, Sandra A. and Anne E. Stuart. "Learning to Read Empirical Articles in General Psychology." Teaching of Psychology 43 (2016): 38-42; Kershaw, Trina C., Jordan P. Lippman, and Jennifer Fugate. "Practice Makes Proficient: Teaching Undergraduate Students to Understand Published Research." Instructional Science 46 (2018): 921-946; Woodward-Kron, Robyn. "Critical Analysis and the Journal Article Review Assignment." Prospect 18 (August 2003): 20-36; MacMillan, Margy and Allison MacKenzie. "Strategies for Integrating Information Literacy and Academic Literacy: Helping Undergraduate Students make the most of Scholarly Articles." Library Management 33 (2012): 525-535.

Benefits of Journal Article Analysis Assignments

Analyzing and synthesizing a scholarly journal article is intended to help students obtain the reading and critical thinking skills needed to develop and write their own research papers. This assignment also supports workplace skills where you could be asked to summarize a report or other type of document and report it, for example, during a staff meeting or for a presentation.

There are two broadly defined ways that analyzing a scholarly journal article supports student learning:

Improve Reading Skills

Conducting research requires an ability to review, evaluate, and synthesize prior research studies. Reading prior research requires an understanding of the academic writing style , the type of epistemological beliefs or practices underpinning the research design, and the specific vocabulary and technical terminology [i.e., jargon] used within a discipline. Reading scholarly articles is important because academic writing is unfamiliar to most students; they have had limited exposure to using peer-reviewed journal articles prior to entering college or students have yet to gain exposure to the specific academic writing style of their disciplinary major. Learning how to read scholarly articles also requires careful and deliberate concentration on how authors use specific language and phrasing to convey their research, the problem it addresses, its relationship to prior research, its significance, its limitations, and how authors connect methods of data gathering to the results so as to develop recommended solutions derived from the overall research process.

Improve Comprehension Skills

In addition to knowing how to read scholarly journals articles, students must learn how to effectively interpret what the scholar(s) are trying to convey. Academic writing can be dense, multi-layered, and non-linear in how information is presented. In addition, scholarly articles contain footnotes or endnotes, references to sources, multiple appendices, and, in some cases, non-textual elements [e.g., graphs, charts] that can break-up the reader’s experience with the narrative flow of the study. Analyzing articles helps students practice comprehending these elements of writing, critiquing the arguments being made, reflecting upon the significance of the research, and how it relates to building new knowledge and understanding or applying new approaches to practice. Comprehending scholarly writing also involves thinking critically about where you fit within the overall dialogue among scholars concerning the research problem, finding possible gaps in the research that require further analysis, or identifying where the author(s) has failed to examine fully any specific elements of the study.

In addition, journal article analysis assignments are used by professors to strengthen discipline-specific information literacy skills, either alone or in relation to other tasks, such as, giving a class presentation or participating in a group project. These benefits can include the ability to:

Effectively paraphrase text, which leads to a more thorough understanding of the overall study;
Identify and describe strengths and weaknesses of the study and their implications;
Relate the article to other course readings and in relation to particular research concepts or ideas discussed during class;
Think critically about the research and summarize complex ideas contained within;
Plan, organize, and write an effective inquiry-based paper that investigates a research study, evaluates evidence, expounds on the author’s main ideas, and presents an argument concerning the significance and impact of the research in a clear and concise manner;
Model the type of source summary and critique you should do for any college-level research paper; and,
Increase interest and engagement with the research problem of the study as well as with the discipline.

Kershaw, Trina C., Jennifer Fugate, and Aminda J. O'Hare. "Teaching Undergraduates to Understand Published Research through Structured Practice in Identifying Key Research Concepts." Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology . Advance online publication, 2020; Franco, Josue. “Introducing the Analysis of Journal Articles.” Prepared for presentation at the American Political Science Association’s 2020 Teaching and Learning Conference, February 7-9, 2020, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Sego, Sandra A. and Anne E. Stuart. "Learning to Read Empirical Articles in General Psychology." Teaching of Psychology 43 (2016): 38-42; Woodward-Kron, Robyn. "Critical Analysis and the Journal Article Review Assignment." Prospect 18 (August 2003): 20-36; MacMillan, Margy and Allison MacKenzie. "Strategies for Integrating Information Literacy and Academic Literacy: Helping Undergraduate Students make the most of Scholarly Articles." Library Management 33 (2012): 525-535; Kershaw, Trina C., Jordan P. Lippman, and Jennifer Fugate. "Practice Makes Proficient: Teaching Undergraduate Students to Understand Published Research." Instructional Science 46 (2018): 921-946.

Structure and Organization

A journal article analysis paper should be written in paragraph format and include an instruction to the study, your analysis of the research, and a conclusion that provides an overall assessment of the author's work, along with an explanation of what you believe is the study's overall impact and significance. Unless the purpose of the assignment is to examine foundational studies published many years ago, you should select articles that have been published relatively recently [e.g., within the past few years].

Since the research has been completed, reference to the study in your paper should be written in the past tense, with your analysis stated in the present tense [e.g., “The author portrayed access to health care services in rural areas as primarily a problem of having reliable transportation. However, I believe the author is overgeneralizing this issue because...”].

Introduction Section

The first section of a journal analysis paper should describe the topic of the article and highlight the author’s main points. This includes describing the research problem and theoretical framework, the rationale for the research, the methods of data gathering and analysis, the key findings, and the author’s final conclusions and recommendations. The narrative should focus on the act of describing rather than analyzing. Think of the introduction as a more comprehensive and detailed descriptive abstract of the study.

Possible questions to help guide your writing of the introduction section may include:

Who are the authors and what credentials do they hold that contributes to the validity of the study?
What was the research problem being investigated?
What type of research design was used to investigate the research problem?
What theoretical idea(s) and/or research questions were used to address the problem?
What was the source of the data or information used as evidence for analysis?
What methods were applied to investigate this evidence?
What were the author's overall conclusions and key findings?

Critical Analysis Section

The second section of a journal analysis paper should describe the strengths and weaknesses of the study and analyze its significance and impact. This section is where you shift the narrative from describing to analyzing. Think critically about the research in relation to other course readings, what has been discussed in class, or based on your own life experiences. If you are struggling to identify any weaknesses, explain why you believe this to be true. However, no study is perfect, regardless of how laudable its design may be. Given this, think about the repercussions of the choices made by the author(s) and how you might have conducted the study differently. Examples can include contemplating the choice of what sources were included or excluded in support of examining the research problem, the choice of the method used to analyze the data, or the choice to highlight specific recommended courses of action and/or implications for practice over others. Another strategy is to place yourself within the research study itself by thinking reflectively about what may be missing if you had been a participant in the study or if the recommended courses of action specifically targeted you or your community.

Possible questions to help guide your writing of the analysis section may include:

Introduction

Did the author clearly state the problem being investigated?
What was your reaction to and perspective on the research problem?
Was the study’s objective clearly stated? Did the author clearly explain why the study was necessary?
How well did the introduction frame the scope of the study?
Did the introduction conclude with a clear purpose statement?

Literature Review

Did the literature review lay a foundation for understanding the significance of the research problem?
Did the literature review provide enough background information to understand the problem in relation to relevant contexts [e.g., historical, economic, social, cultural, etc.].
Did literature review effectively place the study within the domain of prior research? Is anything missing?
Was the literature review organized by conceptual categories or did the author simply list and describe sources?
Did the author accurately explain how the data or information were collected?
Was the data used sufficient in supporting the study of the research problem?
Was there another methodological approach that could have been more illuminating?
Give your overall evaluation of the methods used in this article. How much trust would you put in generating relevant findings?

Results and Discussion

Were the results clearly presented?
Did you feel that the results support the theoretical and interpretive claims of the author? Why?
What did the author(s) do especially well in describing or analyzing their results?
Was the author's evaluation of the findings clearly stated?
How well did the discussion of the results relate to what is already known about the research problem?
Was the discussion of the results free of repetition and redundancies?
What interpretations did the authors make that you think are in incomplete, unwarranted, or overstated?
Did the conclusion effectively capture the main points of study?
Did the conclusion address the research questions posed? Do they seem reasonable?
Were the author’s conclusions consistent with the evidence and arguments presented?
Has the author explained how the research added new knowledge or understanding?

Overall Writing Style

If the article included tables, figures, or other non-textual elements, did they contribute to understanding the study?
Were ideas developed and related in a logical sequence?
Were transitions between sections of the article smooth and easy to follow?

Overall Evaluation Section

The final section of a journal analysis paper should bring your thoughts together into a coherent assessment of the value of the research study . This section is where the narrative flow transitions from analyzing specific elements of the article to critically evaluating the overall study. Explain what you view as the significance of the research in relation to the overall course content and any relevant discussions that occurred during class. Think about how the article contributes to understanding the overall research problem, how it fits within existing literature on the topic, how it relates to the course, and what it means to you as a student researcher. In some cases, your professor will also ask you to describe your experiences writing the journal article analysis paper as part of a reflective learning exercise.

Possible questions to help guide your writing of the conclusion and evaluation section may include:

Was the structure of the article clear and well organized?
Was the topic of current or enduring interest to you?
What were the main weaknesses of the article? [this does not refer to limitations stated by the author, but what you believe are potential flaws]
Was any of the information in the article unclear or ambiguous?
What did you learn from the research? If nothing stood out to you, explain why.
Assess the originality of the research. Did you believe it contributed new understanding of the research problem?
Were you persuaded by the author’s arguments?
If the author made any final recommendations, will they be impactful if applied to practice?
In what ways could future research build off of this study?
What implications does the study have for daily life?
Was the use of non-textual elements, footnotes or endnotes, and/or appendices helpful in understanding the research?
What lingering questions do you have after analyzing the article?

NOTE: Avoid using quotes. One of the main purposes of writing an article analysis paper is to learn how to effectively paraphrase and use your own words to summarize a scholarly research study and to explain what the research means to you. Using and citing a direct quote from the article should only be done to help emphasize a key point or to underscore an important concept or idea.

Business: The Article Analysis . Fred Meijer Center for Writing, Grand Valley State University; Bachiochi, Peter et al. "Using Empirical Article Analysis to Assess Research Methods Courses." Teaching of Psychology 38 (2011): 5-9; Brosowsky, Nicholaus P. et al. “Teaching Undergraduate Students to Read Empirical Articles: An Evaluation and Revision of the QALMRI Method.” PsyArXi Preprints , 2020; Holster, Kristin. “Article Evaluation Assignment”. TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology . Washington DC: American Sociological Association, 2016; Kershaw, Trina C., Jennifer Fugate, and Aminda J. O'Hare. "Teaching Undergraduates to Understand Published Research through Structured Practice in Identifying Key Research Concepts." Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology . Advance online publication, 2020; Franco, Josue. “Introducing the Analysis of Journal Articles.” Prepared for presentation at the American Political Science Association’s 2020 Teaching and Learning Conference, February 7-9, 2020, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Reviewer's Guide . SAGE Reviewer Gateway, SAGE Journals; Sego, Sandra A. and Anne E. Stuart. "Learning to Read Empirical Articles in General Psychology." Teaching of Psychology 43 (2016): 38-42; Kershaw, Trina C., Jordan P. Lippman, and Jennifer Fugate. "Practice Makes Proficient: Teaching Undergraduate Students to Understand Published Research." Instructional Science 46 (2018): 921-946; Gyuris, Emma, and Laura Castell. "To Tell Them or Show Them? How to Improve Science Students’ Skills of Critical Reading." International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education 21 (2013): 70-80; Woodward-Kron, Robyn. "Critical Analysis and the Journal Article Review Assignment." Prospect 18 (August 2003): 20-36; MacMillan, Margy and Allison MacKenzie. "Strategies for Integrating Information Literacy and Academic Literacy: Helping Undergraduate Students Make the Most of Scholarly Articles." Library Management 33 (2012): 525-535.

Writing Tip

Not All Scholarly Journal Articles Can Be Critically Analyzed

There are a variety of articles published in scholarly journals that do not fit within the guidelines of an article analysis assignment. This is because the work cannot be empirically examined or it does not generate new knowledge in a way which can be critically analyzed.

If you are required to locate a research study on your own, avoid selecting these types of journal articles:

Theoretical essays which discuss concepts, assumptions, and propositions, but report no empirical research;
Statistical or methodological papers that may analyze data, but the bulk of the work is devoted to refining a new measurement, statistical technique, or modeling procedure;
Articles that review, analyze, critique, and synthesize prior research, but do not report any original research;
Brief essays devoted to research methods and findings;
Articles written by scholars in popular magazines or industry trade journals;
Pre-print articles that have been posted online, but may undergo further editing and revision by the journal's editorial staff before final publication; and
Academic commentary that discusses research trends or emerging concepts and ideas, but does not contain citations to sources.

Journal Analysis Assignment - Myers . Writing@CSU, Colorado State University; Franco, Josue. “Introducing the Analysis of Journal Articles.” Prepared for presentation at the American Political Science Association’s 2020 Teaching and Learning Conference, February 7-9, 2020, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Woodward-Kron, Robyn. "Critical Analysis and the Journal Article Review Assignment." Prospect 18 (August 2003): 20-36.

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Oxford University Press's Academic Insights for the Thinking World

How to write a journal article

Oxford Academic journals

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By Rose Wolfe-Emery
July 21 st 2023

Academics normally learn how to write while on the job, sugge s ts Michael Hochberg. This usually starts with “the dissertation and interactions with their supervisor. Skills are honed and new ones acquired with each successive manuscript.” Writing continues to improve throughout a career, but that thought might bring little solace if you are staring at a blank document and wondering where to start.

In this blog post, we share tips from editors and outline some ideas to bear in mind when drafting a journal article. Whether you are writing a journal article to share your research, contribute to your field, or progress your career, a well-written and structured article will increase the likelihood of acceptance and of your article making an impact after publication.

Four tips for writing well

Stuart West and Lindsay Turnbull suggest four general principles to bear in mind when writing journal articles:

Keep it simple: “Simple, clear writing is fundamental to this task. Instead of trying to sound […] clever, you should be clear and concise.”
Assume nothing: “When writing a paper, it’s best to assume that your reader is [subject] literate, but has very little expert knowledge. Your paper is more likely to fail because you assumed too much, than because you dumbed it down too much.”
Keep to essentials: “If you focus on the main message, and remove all distractions, then the reader will come away with the message that you want them to have.”
Tell your story : “Good […] writing tells a story. It tells the reader why the topic you have chosen is important, what you found out, and why that matters. For the story to flow smoothly, the different parts need to link clearly to each other. In creative writing this is called ‘narrative flow’.”

“A paper is well-written if a reader who is not involved in the work can understand every single sentence in the paper,” argues Nancy Dixon. But understanding is the bare minimum that you should aim for—ideally, you want to engage your audience, so they keep reading.

As West and Turnbull say , frankly: “Your potential reader is someone time-limited, stressed, and easily bored. They have a million other things to do and will take any excuse to give up on reading your paper.”

A complete guide to preparing a journal article for submission

Consider your research topic.

Before you begin to draft your article, consider the following questions:

What key message(s) do you want to convey?
Can you identify a significant advance that will arise from your article?
How could your argument, results, or findings change the way that people think or advance understanding in the field?

As Nancy Dixon says: “[A journal] editor wants to publish papers that interest and excite the journal’s readers, that are important to advancing knowledge in the field and that spark new ideas for work in the field.”

Think about the journal that you want to submit to

Research the journals in your field and create a shortlist of “target” journals before writing your article, so that you can adapt your writing to the journal’s audience and style. Journals sometimes have an official style guide but reading published articles can also help you to familiarise yourself with the format and tone of articles in your target journals. Journals often publish articles of varying lengths and structures, so consider what article type would best suit your argument or results.

Check your target journals’ editorial policies and ethical requirements. As a minimum, all reputable journals require submissions to be original and previously unpublished. The ThinkCheckSubmit checklist can help you to assess whether a journal is suitable for your research.

Now that you’ve decided on your research topic and chosen the journal you plan on submitting to, what do you need to consider when drafting each section of your article?

Create an outline

Firstly, it’s worth creating an outline for your journal article, broken down by section. Seth J. Schwartz explains this as follows:

Writing an outline is like creating a map before you set out on a road trip. You know which roads to take, and where to turn or get off the highway. You can even decide on places to stop during your trip. When you create a map like this, the trip is planned and you don’t have to worry whether you are going in the correct direction. It has already been mapped out for you.

The typical structure of a journal article

Make it concise, accurate, and catchy
Avoid including abbreviations or formulae
Choose 5-7 keywords that you’d like your journal article to appear in the search results for
Summarize the findings of your journal article in a succinct, “punchy”, and relevant way
Keep it brief (200 words for the letter, and 250 words for the main journal)
Do not include references

Introduction

Introduce your argument or outline the problem
Describe your approach
Identify existing solutions and limitations, or provide the existing context for your discussion
Define abbreviations

Methods

For STEM and some social sciences articles

Describe how the work was done and include plenty of detail to allow for reproduction
Identify equipment and software programs

Results

For STEM and some social science articles

Decide on the data to present and how to present it (clearly and concisely)
Summarise the key results of the article
Do not repeat results or introduce new discussion points

Acknowledgements

Include funding, contributors who are not listed as authors, facilities and equipment, referees (if they’ve been helpful; even though anonymous)
Do not include non-research contributors (parents, friends, or pets!)
Cite articles that have been influential in your research—these should be well-balanced and relevant
Follow your chosen journal’s reference style, such as Harvard or Chicago
List all citations in the text alphabetically at end of the article

Sharing data

Many journals now encourage authors to make all data on which the conclusions of their article rely available to readers. This data can be presented in the main manuscript, in additional supporting files, or placed in a public repository.

Journals also tend to support the Force 11 Data Citation Principles that require all publicly available datasets be fully referenced in the reference list with an accession number or unique identifier such as a digital object identifier (DOI).

Permissions

Permission to reproduce copyright material, for online publication without a time limit, must also be cleared and, if necessary, paid for by the author. Evidence in writing that such permissions have been secured from the rights-holder are usually required to be made available to the editors.

Learning from experience

Publishing a journal article is very competitive, so don’t lose hope if your article isn’t accepted to your first-choice journal the first-time round. If your article makes it to the peer-review stage, be sure to take note of what the reviewers have said, as their comments can be very helpful. As well as continuing to write, there are other things you can do to improve your writing skills, including peer review and editing.

Christopher, Marek, and Zebel note that “there is no secret formula for success”, arguing that:

The lack of a specific recipe for acceptances reflects, in part, the variety of factors that may influence publication decisions, such as the perceived novelty of the manuscript topic, how the manuscript topic relates to other manuscripts submitted at a similar time, and the targeted journal. Thus, beyond actively pursuing options for any one particular manuscript, begin or continue work on others. In fact, one approach to boosting writing productivity is to have a variety of ongoing projects at different stages of completion. After all, considering that “100 percent of the shots you do not take will not go in,” you can increase your chances of publication by taking multiple shots.

Rose Wolfe-Emery , Marketing Executive, Oxford University Press

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How to Write an Article Review

Last Updated: September 8, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Jake Adams . Jake Adams is an academic tutor and the owner of Simplifi EDU, a Santa Monica, California based online tutoring business offering learning resources and online tutors for academic subjects K-College, SAT & ACT prep, and college admissions applications. With over 14 years of professional tutoring experience, Jake is dedicated to providing his clients the very best online tutoring experience and access to a network of excellent undergraduate and graduate-level tutors from top colleges all over the nation. Jake holds a BS in International Business and Marketing from Pepperdine University. There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 3,085,625 times.

An article review is both a summary and an evaluation of another writer's article. Teachers often assign article reviews to introduce students to the work of experts in the field. Experts also are often asked to review the work of other professionals. Understanding the main points and arguments of the article is essential for an accurate summation. Logical evaluation of the article's main theme, supporting arguments, and implications for further research is an important element of a review . Here are a few guidelines for writing an article review.

Education specialist Alexander Peterman recommends: "In the case of a review, your objective should be to reflect on the effectiveness of what has already been written, rather than writing to inform your audience about a subject."

Things You Should Know

Read the article very closely, and then take time to reflect on your evaluation. Consider whether the article effectively achieves what it set out to.
Write out a full article review by completing your intro, summary, evaluation, and conclusion. Don't forget to add a title, too!
Proofread your review for mistakes (like grammar and usage), while also cutting down on needless information. [1] X Research source

Preparing to Write Your Review

Step 1 Understand what an article review is.

Article reviews present more than just an opinion. You will engage with the text to create a response to the scholarly writer's ideas. You will respond to and use ideas, theories, and research from your studies. Your critique of the article will be based on proof and your own thoughtful reasoning.
An article review only responds to the author's research. It typically does not provide any new research. However, if you are correcting misleading or otherwise incorrect points, some new data may be presented.
An article review both summarizes and evaluates the article.

Step 2 Think about the organization of the review article.

Summarize the article. Focus on the important points, claims, and information.
Discuss the positive aspects of the article. Think about what the author does well, good points she makes, and insightful observations.
Identify contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the text. Determine if there is enough data or research included to support the author's claims. Find any unanswered questions left in the article.

Make note of words or issues you don't understand and questions you have.
Look up terms or concepts you are unfamiliar with, so you can fully understand the article. Read about concepts in-depth to make sure you understand their full context.

Pay careful attention to the meaning of the article. Make sure you fully understand the article. The only way to write a good article review is to understand the article.

With either method, make an outline of the main points made in the article and the supporting research or arguments. It is strictly a restatement of the main points of the article and does not include your opinions.
After putting the article in your own words, decide which parts of the article you want to discuss in your review. You can focus on the theoretical approach, the content, the presentation or interpretation of evidence, or the style. You will always discuss the main issues of the article, but you can sometimes also focus on certain aspects. This comes in handy if you want to focus the review towards the content of a course.
Review the summary outline to eliminate unnecessary items. Erase or cross out the less important arguments or supplemental information. Your revised summary can serve as the basis for the summary you provide at the beginning of your review.

Step 6 Write an outline of your evaluation.

What does the article set out to do?
What is the theoretical framework or assumptions?
Are the central concepts clearly defined?
How adequate is the evidence?
How does the article fit into the literature and field?
Does it advance the knowledge of the subject?
How clear is the author's writing? Don't: include superficial opinions or your personal reaction. Do: pay attention to your biases, so you can overcome them.

Writing the Article Review

For example, in MLA , a citation may look like: Duvall, John N. "The (Super)Marketplace of Images: Television as Unmediated Mediation in DeLillo's White Noise ." Arizona Quarterly 50.3 (1994): 127-53. Print. [10] X Trustworthy Source Purdue Online Writing Lab Trusted resource for writing and citation guidelines Go to source

For example: The article, "Condom use will increase the spread of AIDS," was written by Anthony Zimmerman, a Catholic priest.

Your introduction should only be 10-25% of your review.
End the introduction with your thesis. Your thesis should address the above issues. For example: Although the author has some good points, his article is biased and contains some misinterpretation of data from others’ analysis of the effectiveness of the condom.

Use direct quotes from the author sparingly.
Review the summary you have written. Read over your summary many times to ensure that your words are an accurate description of the author's article.

Support your critique with evidence from the article or other texts.
The summary portion is very important for your critique. You must make the author's argument clear in the summary section for your evaluation to make sense.
Remember, this is not where you say if you liked the article or not. You are assessing the significance and relevance of the article.
Use a topic sentence and supportive arguments for each opinion. For example, you might address a particular strength in the first sentence of the opinion section, followed by several sentences elaborating on the significance of the point.

This should only be about 10% of your overall essay.
For example: This critical review has evaluated the article "Condom use will increase the spread of AIDS" by Anthony Zimmerman. The arguments in the article show the presence of bias, prejudice, argumentative writing without supporting details, and misinformation. These points weaken the author’s arguments and reduce his credibility.

Make sure you have identified and discussed the 3-4 key issues in the article.

Sample Article Reviews

Expert Q&A

↑ https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/grammarpunct/proofreading/
↑ https://libguides.cmich.edu/writinghelp/articlereview
↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4548566/
↑ Jake Adams. Academic Tutor & Test Prep Specialist. Expert Interview. 24 July 2020.
↑ https://guides.library.queensu.ca/introduction-research/writing/critical
↑ https://www.iup.edu/writingcenter/writing-resources/organization-and-structure/creating-an-outline.html
↑ https://writing.umn.edu/sws/assets/pdf/quicktips/titles.pdf
↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_works_cited_periodicals.html
↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4548565/
↑ https://writingcenter.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/593/2014/06/How_to_Summarize_a_Research_Article1.pdf
↑ https://www.uis.edu/learning-hub/writing-resources/handouts/learning-hub/how-to-review-a-journal-article
↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/

About This Article

If you have to write an article review, read through the original article closely, taking notes and highlighting important sections as you read. Next, rewrite the article in your own words, either in a long paragraph or as an outline. Open your article review by citing the article, then write an introduction which states the article’s thesis. Next, summarize the article, followed by your opinion about whether the article was clear, thorough, and useful. Finish with a paragraph that summarizes the main points of the article and your opinions. To learn more about what to include in your personal critique of the article, keep reading the article! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Write a Journal Article

Writing and publishing journal articles is essential if you wish to pursue an academic career. Today, academic careers are publication-dependent; developing a high-quality publication record is a vital part of developing your academic credentials, your visibility among your discipline peers and your viability as a researcher.

This article will pinpoint the features of a journal article that are normally found in the humanities and social sciences. It will also examine some planning and writing strategies that will enable you to produce an article that is publication-ready. For those of you who prefer to learn by watching videos, we've prepared one on how to write your first journal article and you can watch it on Capstone Editing's YouTube channel .

The ‘preamble’ elements of a journal article

Title and subtitle.

The title should indicate the article’s topic or theme to readers, and a subtitle can extend or clarify the title. Many titles follow the format ‘Suggestive, Creative Title: Descriptive Subtitle’ (Hayot 2014, ch. 18); for example:

Chadwick, AM 2012, ‘Routine Magic, Mundane Ritual: Towards a Unified Notion of Depositional Practice’, Oxford Journal of Archaeology , vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 283–315.

In this type of title, the more suggestive first part of the title can indicate the author’s theoretical approach and something about how traditional (or not) this approach is. It is important that the subtitle gives readers some indication of the article’s objective or major theme.

Other titles may use a format that includes an abstract and a concrete noun:

Hansen, HL 2011, ‘ Multiperspectivism in the Novels of the Spanish Civil War’, Orbis Litterarum, vol. 66, no. 2, pp. 148–166.

This more straightforward approach contains enough information through the words chosen (‘multiperspectivism’, ‘novels’, ‘Spanish Civil War’) so that readers can immediately identify if the article is pertinent to them, in both content and theoretical approach.

Along with a title that grabs readers’ attention and indicates the article’s theme or objective, a well-written abstract is essential. The abstract is what readers and other researchers will look at first to determine if your article is worth reading. It is worth spending time on a succinct, ‘punchy’ and relevant abstract that will clarify exactly what you are arguing or proposing. Abstract writing is a particular skill that requires practice and complete familiarity with your argument and article content. You will most likely need to review and rewrite your abstract after you have finished writing the article.

Most journals will ask you to select five to seven keywords that can be used in search engines. These are the words that students, researchers and other readers will use to search for information over the internet through Google or similar resources, library websites or the journal’s own website.

Acknowledgements

You should provide a brief acknowledgement of any financial, academic or other support you have received in relation to producing your article. You can also thank the peer reviewers here (once your article has been accepted for publication).

Writing the article

Writing a journal article is not unlike writing an essay or thesis chapter. The same basic rules of academic writing apply. By planning what and how you will write, and how you will incorporate data/evidence, your article is more likely to be cohesive, well organised and well written.

Even if you are developing an article from an existing essay or thesis chapter, spending some time on planning is essential. Some authors like to begin with a ‘mind map’. A mind map contains a central theme, argument or premise. The writer will then create ‘branches’ extending from the central theme. These may be topics or subthemes that are included in the final article. If they are substantial, they may constitute a new article. Mind maps operate like brainstorming sessions, in which you allow a free flow of ideas from your mind, through your pen or keyboard to paper or screen. These ideas can then be organised into logical patterns of related subthemes and you can then begin assembling evidence (research, references and quotations) to support the arguments under each theme.

Figure 1: A simple mind map for essay writing

A plan can be as simple as a list of subheadings with notes and supporting information, from which you will construct and write the paragraphs of your article. Using the minor themes from your thesis can also enable you to develop several articles on topics you were unable to develop more fully in the thesis.

Once you have developed a detailed plan for your article, the writing can begin. A journal article is normally written for an already informed audience. While the rules of clear writing and exposition still apply, you can safely assume that people who read your article in a journal are familiar with the terminology, methodologies and theoretical positions of your discipline. This means that you can ‘jump right in’ to a topic, stating your position or argument immediately and strongly.

This guide assumes you have already completed your research and thus amassed a large number of notes, thoughts and more or less developed ideas, along with detailed and appropriate citations to support your contentions, relevant and appropriate quotations, data or other forms of evidence that you have collected, images you may wish to include, and any other material relevant to your article. This is the raw material you will, using your plan, write up into a publishable journal article. Now we will look at a few important aspects of writing that you should consider.

Grammar, spelling and punctuation

For a guideline to standard and acceptable grammar, you may like to consult resources such as the Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers , an Australian government publication that covers aspects of writing, editing and publishing in Australia. It is very important that you review whether the journal you are submitting to uses American or British spelling and punctuation conventions, as these can differ significantly. Reviewing and editing your own work to ensure grammatical consistency prior to submission is essential: this should be considered part of your writing practice and approached accordingly. Be on the lookout for instances of mixed tenses (especially the present and past tenses), clumsy sentences with too many clauses, the incorrect use of common punctuation marks such as apostrophes and commas, or the overuse of capitalisation (avoid capitalising the names of theories and job titles in particular). Ensure your spelling is consistent by using the ‘Find’ tab to search for easily misspelt words, especially regarding British/American conventions. Vary your sentence lengths and structure to maintain your readers’ interest. Some academic work falls into the trap of using sentences that are too long or complicated, or using a less-familiar or longer word when a simple one will do.

Tone and register

Tone and register refer to the style and ‘voice’ of your writing. In most academic contexts, your writing style should err on the formal side (unless you are submitting to a journal that promotes innovative or creative approaches to writing). Avoid contractions, colloquial, gender-specific (unless relevant), racist or offensive language. However, within the constraints of formal academic language, it is important that you develop your own style and ‘voice’. Read the authors that you admire the most, both for their research and for their writing. Note what you like about their writing style. While academic writing needs to communicate clearly, it can also be vibrant and elegant. In addition, it should be compelling, understandable and effective. Remember that articles are reader-centred (Soule, Whiteley and McIntosh 2007, p. 15), so your objective should always be to engage the reader with your language. As stated above, most readers of your article will be familiar with your discipline; nevertheless, it is better to avoid overloading readers with discipline-specific jargon.

The major elements of an article

Introduction.

The introduction’s importance may seem obvious, but all writers can benefit from a reminder of the importance and centrality of good introductions to an academic journal article. The introduction does just that: introduces your topic, theme or research question, outlines your general theoretical or methodological approach and places your article within the context of a larger academic debate or field. Here you can expand on your title and subtitle, making your contentions explicit and clarifying the data or evidence you have used. Some humanities or social science articles will include a brief literature review in the introduction; a social science writer may also include an explicit research aim or objective (this is less common in the humanities). As with the abstract, it is sometimes more beneficial to write the introduction after you have written the main body.

The main body is where you present, in appropriate detail, your main arguments, themes and contentions, all thoroughly grounded in evidence, close analysis and clear, compelling writing.

With both the humanities and social sciences, the paragraph is an article’s main organising principle. Each paragraph should contain one main theme and be of at least four or five sentences, and a logical flow should exist between and among your paragraphs. Humanities articles will often not use the more obvious subheadings common to the social sciences, such as ‘Data Collection’, ‘Analysis’ or ‘Results’. While humanities articles are less subject to these subheading conventions, the effective use of subheadings can clarify and identify your ideas and enable readers to navigate easily through the text (Soule, Whiteley and McIntosh 2007, p. 19). While an article should not contain the explicit signposting expected in undergraduate essays or even graduate research theses, it is still useful to use transitions and opening sentences to indicate what each paragraph’s main theme is, and how it fits into the overarching theme of your article.

By focusing on one main original idea or contention in your article and making explicit statements about your article’s contribution to the existing scholarship, you will grab the attention of journal publishers, and hopefully peer reviewers and subsequent readers. If you have information that is not directly related to your main argument but is still important, use footnotes or endnotes (depending on the journal’s own style). Use direct quotations strategically and judiciously and translate foreign-language quotations if your article is written for an English-language journal.

The conclusion is not just a summary of what has preceded it. A (good) conclusion will complete or make whole your article’s arguments and analysis by referring to what you have written. It will include a summing up of your main contention, but it will also offer and clarify to your reader a new way of looking at the theme or problem you have been discussing. As Eric Hayot notes, ‘a good ending is also a beginning’ (Hayot 2014, p. 107): good endings open new pathways for both readers and writers of academic work. The conclusion can be the most difficult section of an article to write; as such, it is likely to consume relatively more of your time than even the introduction. It is important to finish strongly; however, you should resist the temptation to make unfounded, sweeping or radical claims in your conclusion.

References and citations

It goes without saying that referencing and citations should be done thoroughly and correctly. If you are undertaking or have completed your thesis, you will be familiar with when to use citations and how to construct your reference list/bibliography. In general, it is best to be citation-rich for journal articles. Each journal will use a specific referencing style—either one of the main styles in common use (APA, Chicago, MLA) or a modified version of their own. Refer to the journal author guidelines for more information on this issue.

Other requirements

It is vital that you follow the style and referencing requirements for your chosen journal to the letter.

Remember that many journals will require you to obtain permissions for any images you may wish to use, including payment of fees to whichever institution holds the copyright.

Australian Government Printing Service 2002, Style Manual for Editors, Writers and Printers , 6th edn, Snooks & Co.
Hayot, E 2014, Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities , Columbia University Press, New York.
Soule, DPJ, Whiteley, L & McIntosh, S (eds) 2007, Writing for Scholarly Journals: Publishing in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences , eSharp, http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_41223_en.pdf

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Writing Article Summaries

Understanding Article Summaries

Common Problems in Article Summaries

Read carefully and closely, structure of the summary, writing the summary.

Sample Outlines and Paragraphs

Understanding Article Summaries

An article summary is a short, focused paper about one scholarly article that is informed by a critical reading of that article. For argumentative articles, the summary identifies, explains, and analyses the thesis and supporting arguments; for empirical articles, the summary identifies, explains, and analyses the research questions, methods, findings, and implications of the study.

Although article summaries are often short and rarely account for a large portion of your grade, they are a strong indicator of your reading and writing skills. Professors ask you to write article summaries to help you to develop essential skills in critical reading, summarizing, and clear, organized writing. Furthermore, an article summary requires you to read a scholarly article quite closely, which provides a useful introduction to the conventions of writing in your discipline (e.g. Political Studies, Biology, or Anthropology).

The most common problem that students have when writing an article summary is that they misunderstand the goal of the assignment. In an article summary, your job is to write about the article, not about the actual topic of the article. For example, if you are summarizing Smith’s article about the causes of the Bubonic plague in Europe, your summary should be about Smith’s article: What does she want to find out about the plague? What evidence does she use? What is her argument? You are not writing a paper about the actual causes of Bubonic plague in Europe.

Further, as a part of critical reading, you will often consider your own position on a topic or an argument; it is tempting to include an assessment or opinion about the thesis or findings, but this is not the goal of an article summary. Rather, you must identify, explain, and analyse the main point and how it is supported.

Your key to success in writing an article summary is your understanding of the article; therefore, it is essential to read carefully and closely. The Academic Skills Centre offers helpful instruction on the steps for critical reading: pre-reading, active and analytical reading, and reflection.

Argumentative Articles

As you read an argumentative article, consider the following questions:

What is the topic?
What is the research question? In other words, what is the author trying to find out about that topic?
How does the author position his/her article in relation to other studies of the topic?
What is the thesis or position? What are the supporting arguments?
How are supporting arguments developed? What kind of evidence is used?
What is the significance of the author’s thesis? What does it help you to understand about the topic?

Empirical Articles

As you read an empirical article, consider the following questions:

What is the research question?
What are the predictions and the rationale for these predictions?
What methods were used (participants, sampling, materials, procedure)? What were the variables and controls?
What were the main results?
Are the findings supported by previous research?
What are the limitations of the study?
What are the implications or applications of the findings?

Create a Reverse Outline

Creating a reverse outline is one way to ensure that you fully understand the article. Pre-read the article (read the abstract, introduction, and/or conclusion). Summarize the main question(s) and thesis or findings. Skim subheadings and topic sentences to understand the organization; make notes in the margins about each section. Read each paragraph within a section; make short notes about the main idea or purpose of each paragraph. This strategy will help you to see how parts of the article connect to the main idea or the whole of the article.

A summary is written in paragraph form and generally does not include subheadings. An introduction is important to clearly identify the article, the topic, the question or purpose of the article, and its thesis or findings. The body paragraphs for a summary of an argumentative article will explain how arguments and evidence support the thesis. Alternatively, the body paragraphs of an empirical article summary may explain the methods and findings, making connections to predictions. The conclusion explains the significance of the argument or implications of the findings. This structure ensures that your summary is focused and clear.

Professors will often give you a list of required topics to include in your summary and/or explain how they want you to organize your summary. Make sure you read the assignment sheet with care and adapt the sample outlines below accordingly.

One significant challenge in writing an article summary is deciding what information or examples from the article to include. Remember, article summaries are much shorter than the article itself. You do not have the space to explain every point the author makes. Instead, you will need to explain the author’s main points and find a few excellent examples that illustrate these points.

You should also keep in mind that article summaries need to be written in your own words. Scholarly writing can use complex terminology to explain complicated ideas, which makes it difficult to understand and to summarize correctly. In the face of difficult text, many students tend to use direct quotations, saving them the time and energy required to understand and reword it. However, a summary requires you to summarize, which means “to state briefly or succinctly” (Oxford English Dictionary) the main ideas presented in a text. The brevity must come from you, in your own words, which demonstrates that you understand the article.

Sample Outlines and Paragraph

Sample outline for an argumentative article summary.

General topic of article
Author’s research question or approach to the topic
Author’s thesis
Explain some key points and how they support the thesis
Provide a key example or two that the author uses as evidence to support these points
Review how the main points work together to support the thesis?
How does the author explain the significance or implications of his/her article?

Sample Outline for an Empirical Article Summary

General topic of study
Author’s research question
Variables and hypotheses
Participants
Experiment design
Materials used
Key results
Did the results support the hypotheses?
Implications or applications of the study
Major limitations of the study

Sample Paragraph

The paragraph below is an example of an introductory paragraph from a summary of an empirical article:

Tavernier and Willoughby’s (2014) study explored the relationships between university students’ sleep and their intrapersonal, interpersonal, and educational development. While the authors cited many scholars who have explored these relationships, they pointed out that most of these studies focused on unidirectional correlations over a short period of time. In contrast, Tavernier and Willoughby tested whether there was a bidirectional or unidirectional association between participants’ sleep quality and duration and several psychosocial factors including intrapersonal adjustment, friendship quality, and academic achievement. Further they conducted a longitudinal study over a period of three years in order to determine whether there were changes in the strength or direction of these associations over time. They predicted that sleep quality would correlate with measures of intrapersonal adjustment, friendship quality, and academic achievement; they further hypothesized that this correlation would be bidirectional: sleep quality would predict psychosocial measures and at the same time, psychosocial measures would predict sleep quality.

How to Write an Article Review: Tips and Examples

Did you know that article reviews are not just academic exercises but also a valuable skill in today's information age? In a world inundated with content, being able to dissect and evaluate articles critically can help you separate the wheat from the chaff. Whether you're a student aiming to excel in your coursework or a professional looking to stay well-informed, mastering the art of writing article reviews is an invaluable skill.

Short Description

In this article, our research paper writing service experts will start by unraveling the concept of article reviews and discussing the various types. You'll also gain insights into the art of formatting your review effectively. To ensure you're well-prepared, we'll take you through the pre-writing process, offering tips on setting the stage for your review. But it doesn't stop there. You'll find a practical example of an article review to help you grasp the concepts in action. To complete your journey, we'll guide you through the post-writing process, equipping you with essential proofreading techniques to ensure your work shines with clarity and precision!

What Is an Article Review: Grasping the Concept

A review article is a type of professional paper writing that demands a high level of in-depth analysis and a well-structured presentation of arguments. It is a critical, constructive evaluation of literature in a particular field through summary, classification, analysis, and comparison.

If you write a scientific review, you have to use database searches to portray the research. Your primary goal is to summarize everything and present a clear understanding of the topic you've been working on.

Writing Involves:

Summarization, classification, analysis, critiques, and comparison.
The analysis, evaluation, and comparison require the use of theories, ideas, and research relevant to the subject area of the article.
It is also worth nothing if a review does not introduce new information, but instead presents a response to another writer's work.
Check out other samples to gain a better understanding of how to review the article.

Types of Review

When it comes to article reviews, there's more than one way to approach the task. Understanding the various types of reviews is like having a versatile toolkit at your disposal. In this section, we'll walk you through the different dimensions of review types, each offering a unique perspective and purpose. Whether you're dissecting a scholarly article, critiquing a piece of literature, or evaluating a product, you'll discover the diverse landscape of article reviews and how to navigate it effectively.

Journal Article Review

Just like other types of reviews, a journal article review assesses the merits and shortcomings of a published work. To illustrate, consider a review of an academic paper on climate change, where the writer meticulously analyzes and interprets the article's significance within the context of environmental science.

Research Article Review

Distinguished by its focus on research methodologies, a research article review scrutinizes the techniques used in a study and evaluates them in light of the subsequent analysis and critique. For instance, when reviewing a research article on the effects of a new drug, the reviewer would delve into the methods employed to gather data and assess their reliability.

Science Article Review

In the realm of scientific literature, a science article review encompasses a wide array of subjects. Scientific publications often provide extensive background information, which can be instrumental in conducting a comprehensive analysis. For example, when reviewing an article about the latest breakthroughs in genetics, the reviewer may draw upon the background knowledge provided to facilitate a more in-depth evaluation of the publication.

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Formatting an Article Review

The format of the article should always adhere to the citation style required by your professor. If you're not sure, seek clarification on the preferred format and ask him to clarify several other pointers to complete the formatting of an article review adequately.

How Many Publications Should You Review?

In what format should you cite your articles (MLA, APA, ASA, Chicago, etc.)?
What length should your review be?
Should you include a summary, critique, or personal opinion in your assignment?
Do you need to call attention to a theme or central idea within the articles?
Does your instructor require background information?

When you know the answers to these questions, you may start writing your assignment. Below are examples of MLA and APA formats, as those are the two most common citation styles.

Using the APA Format

Articles appear most commonly in academic journals, newspapers, and websites. If you write an article review in the APA format, you will need to write bibliographical entries for the sources you use:

Web : Author [last name], A.A [first and middle initial]. (Year, Month, Date of Publication). Title. Retrieved from {link}
Journal : Author [last name], A.A [first and middle initial]. (Publication Year). Publication Title. Periodical Title, Volume(Issue), pp.-pp.
Newspaper : Author [last name], A.A [first and middle initial]. (Year, Month, Date of Publication). Publication Title. Magazine Title, pp. xx-xx.

Using MLA Format

Web : Last, First Middle Initial. “Publication Title.” Website Title. Website Publisher, Date Month Year Published. Web. Date Month Year Accessed.
Newspaper : Last, First M. “Publication Title.” Newspaper Title [City] Date, Month, Year Published: Page(s). Print.
Journal : Last, First M. “Publication Title.” Journal Title Series Volume. Issue (Year Published): Page(s). Database Name. Web. Date Month Year Accessed.

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The Pre-Writing Process

Facing this task for the first time can really get confusing and can leave you unsure of where to begin. To create a top-notch article review, start with a few preparatory steps. Here are the two main stages from our dissertation services to get you started:

Step 1: Define the right organization for your review. Knowing the future setup of your paper will help you define how you should read the article. Here are the steps to follow:

Summarize the article — seek out the main points, ideas, claims, and general information presented in the article.
Define the positive points — identify the strong aspects, ideas, and insightful observations the author has made.
Find the gaps —- determine whether or not the author has any contradictions, gaps, or inconsistencies in the article and evaluate whether or not he or she used a sufficient amount of arguments and information to support his or her ideas.
Identify unanswered questions — finally, identify if there are any questions left unanswered after reading the piece.

Step 2: Move on and review the article. Here is a small and simple guide to help you do it right:

Start off by looking at and assessing the title of the piece, its abstract, introductory part, headings and subheadings, opening sentences in its paragraphs, and its conclusion.
First, read only the beginning and the ending of the piece (introduction and conclusion). These are the parts where authors include all of their key arguments and points. Therefore, if you start with reading these parts, it will give you a good sense of the author's main points.
Finally, read the article fully.

These three steps make up most of the prewriting process. After you are done with them, you can move on to writing your own review—and we are going to guide you through the writing process as well.

Outline and Template

As you progress with reading your article, organize your thoughts into coherent sections in an outline. As you read, jot down important facts, contributions, or contradictions. Identify the shortcomings and strengths of your publication. Begin to map your outline accordingly.

If your professor does not want a summary section or a personal critique section, then you must alleviate those parts from your writing. Much like other assignments, an article review must contain an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Thus, you might consider dividing your outline according to these sections as well as subheadings within the body. If you find yourself troubled with the pre-writing and the brainstorming process for this assignment, seek out a sample outline.

Your custom essay must contain these constituent parts:

Pre-Title Page - Before diving into your review, start with essential details: article type, publication title, and author names with affiliations (position, department, institution, location, and email). Include corresponding author info if needed.
Running Head - In APA format, use a concise title (under 40 characters) to ensure consistent formatting.
Summary Page - Optional but useful. Summarize the article in 800 words, covering background, purpose, results, and methodology, avoiding verbatim text or references.
Title Page - Include the full title, a 250-word abstract, and 4-6 keywords for discoverability.
Introduction - Set the stage with an engaging overview of the article.
Body - Organize your analysis with headings and subheadings.
Works Cited/References - Properly cite all sources used in your review.
Optional Suggested Reading Page - If permitted, suggest further readings for in-depth exploration.
Tables and Figure Legends (if instructed by the professor) - Include visuals when requested by your professor for clarity.

Example of an Article Review

You might wonder why we've dedicated a section of this article to discuss an article review sample. Not everyone may realize it, but examining multiple well-constructed examples of review articles is a crucial step in the writing process. In the following section, our essay writing service experts will explain why.

Looking through relevant article review examples can be beneficial for you in the following ways:

To get you introduced to the key works of experts in your field.
To help you identify the key people engaged in a particular field of science.
To help you define what significant discoveries and advances were made in your field.
To help you unveil the major gaps within the existing knowledge of your field—which contributes to finding fresh solutions.
To help you find solid references and arguments for your own review.
To help you generate some ideas about any further field of research.
To help you gain a better understanding of the area and become an expert in this specific field.
To get a clear idea of how to write a good review.

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Steps for Writing an Article Review

Here is a guide with critique paper format on how to write a review paper:

Step 1: Write the Title

First of all, you need to write a title that reflects the main focus of your work. Respectively, the title can be either interrogative, descriptive, or declarative.

Step 2: Cite the Article

Next, create a proper citation for the reviewed article and input it following the title. At this step, the most important thing to keep in mind is the style of citation specified by your instructor in the requirements for the paper. For example, an article citation in the MLA style should look as follows:

Author's last and first name. "The title of the article." Journal's title and issue(publication date): page(s). Print

Abraham John. "The World of Dreams." Virginia Quarterly 60.2(1991): 125-67. Print.

Step 3: Article Identification

After your citation, you need to include the identification of your reviewed article:

Title of the article
Title of the journal
Year of publication

All of this information should be included in the first paragraph of your paper.

The report "Poverty increases school drop-outs" was written by Brian Faith – a Health officer – in 2000.

Step 4: Introduction

Your organization in an assignment like this is of the utmost importance. Before embarking on your writing process, you should outline your assignment or use an article review template to organize your thoughts coherently.

If you are wondering how to start an article review, begin with an introduction that mentions the article and your thesis for the review.
Follow up with a summary of the main points of the article.
Highlight the positive aspects and facts presented in the publication.
Critique the publication by identifying gaps, contradictions, disparities in the text, and unanswered questions.

Step 5: Summarize the Article

Make a summary of the article by revisiting what the author has written about. Note any relevant facts and findings from the article. Include the author's conclusions in this section.

Step 6: Critique It

Present the strengths and weaknesses you have found in the publication. Highlight the knowledge that the author has contributed to the field. Also, write about any gaps and/or contradictions you have found in the article. Take a standpoint of either supporting or not supporting the author's assertions, but back up your arguments with facts and relevant theories that are pertinent to that area of knowledge. Rubrics and templates can also be used to evaluate and grade the person who wrote the article.

Step 7: Craft a Conclusion

In this section, revisit the critical points of your piece, your findings in the article, and your critique. Also, write about the accuracy, validity, and relevance of the results of the article review. Present a way forward for future research in the field of study. Before submitting your article, keep these pointers in mind:

As you read the article, highlight the key points. This will help you pinpoint the article's main argument and the evidence that they used to support that argument.
While you write your review, use evidence from your sources to make a point. This is best done using direct quotations.
Select quotes and supporting evidence adequately and use direct quotations sparingly. Take time to analyze the article adequately.
Every time you reference a publication or use a direct quotation, use a parenthetical citation to avoid accidentally plagiarizing your article.
Re-read your piece a day after you finish writing it. This will help you to spot grammar mistakes and to notice any flaws in your organization.
Use a spell-checker and get a second opinion on your paper.

The Post-Writing Process: Proofread Your Work

Finally, when all of the parts of your article review are set and ready, you have one last thing to take care of — proofreading. Although students often neglect this step, proofreading is a vital part of the writing process and will help you polish your paper to ensure that there are no mistakes or inconsistencies.

To proofread your paper properly, start by reading it fully and checking the following points:

Punctuation
Other mistakes

Afterward, take a moment to check for any unnecessary information in your paper and, if found, consider removing it to streamline your content. Finally, double-check that you've covered at least 3-4 key points in your discussion.

And remember, if you ever need help with proofreading, rewriting your essay, or even want to buy essay , our friendly team is always here to assist you.

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How to Write a Policy Analysis Paper Step-by-Step

How to Write an Article Review: Template & Examples

An article review is an academic assignment that invites you to study a piece of academic research closely. Then, you should present its summary and critically evaluate it using the knowledge you’ve gained in class and during your independent study. If you get such a task at college or university, you shouldn’t confuse it with a response paper, which is a distinct assignment with other purposes (we’ll talk about it in detail below).

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In this article, prepared by Custom-Writing experts, you’ll find:

the intricacies of article review writing;
the difference between an article review and similar assignments;
a step-by-step algorithm for review composition;
a couple of samples to guide you throughout the writing process.

So, if you wish to study our article review example and discover helpful writing tips, keep reading.

❓ What Is an Article Review?

✍️ Writing Steps

📑 Article Review Format

🔗 references.

An article review is an academic paper that summarizes and critically evaluates the information presented in your selected article.

This image shows what an article review is.

The first thing you should note when approaching the task of an article review is that not every article is suitable for this assignment. Let’s have a look at the variety of articles to understand what you can choose from.

Popular Vs. Scholarly Articles

In most cases, you’ll be required to review a scholarly, peer-reviewed article – one composed in compliance with rigorous academic standards. Yet, the Web is also full of popular articles that don’t present original scientific value and shouldn’t be selected for a review.

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Not sure how to distinguish these two types? Here is a comparative table to help you out.

Article Review vs. Response Paper

Now, let’s consider the difference between an article review and a response paper:

If you’re assigned to critique a scholarly article , you will need to compose an article review .
If your subject of analysis is a popular article , you can respond to it with a well-crafted response paper .

The reason for such distinctions is the quality and structure of these two article types. Peer-reviewed, scholarly articles have clear-cut quality criteria, allowing you to conduct and present a structured assessment of the assigned material. Popular magazines have loose or non-existent quality criteria and don’t offer an opportunity for structured evaluation. So, they are only fit for a subjective response, in which you can summarize your reactions and emotions related to the reading material.

All in all, you can structure your response assignments as outlined in the tips below.

✍️ How to Write an Article Review: Step by Step

Here is a tried and tested algorithm for article review writing from our experts. We’ll consider only the critical review variety of this academic assignment. So, let’s get down to the stages you need to cover to get a stellar review.

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Read the Article

As with any reviews, reports, and critiques, you must first familiarize yourself with the assigned material. It’s impossible to review something you haven’t read, so set some time for close, careful reading of the article to identify:

Its topic.
Its type.
The author’s main points and message.
The arguments they use to prove their points.
The methodology they use to approach the subject.

In terms of research type , your article will usually belong to one of three types explained below.

Summarize the Article

Now that you’ve read the text and have a general impression of the content, it’s time to summarize it for your readers. Look into the article’s text closely to determine:

The thesis statement , or general message of the author.
Research question, purpose, and context of research.
Supporting points for the author’s assumptions and claims.
Major findings and supporting evidence.

As you study the article thoroughly, make notes on the margins or write these elements out on a sheet of paper. You can also apply a different technique: read the text section by section and formulate its gist in one phrase or sentence. Once you’re done, you’ll have a summary skeleton in front of you.

Evaluate the Article

The next step of review is content evaluation. Keep in mind that various research types will require a different set of review questions. Here is a complete list of evaluation points you can include.

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Write the Text

After completing the critical review stage, it’s time to compose your article review.

The format of this assignment is standard – you will have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The introduction should present your article and summarize its content. The body will contain a structured review according to all four dimensions covered in the previous section. The concluding part will typically recap all the main points you’ve identified during your assessment.

It is essential to note that an article review is, first of all, an academic assignment. Therefore, it should follow all rules and conventions of academic composition, such as:

No contractions . Don’t use short forms, such as “don’t,” “can’t,” “I’ll,” etc. in academic writing. You need to spell out all those words.
Formal language and style . Avoid conversational phrasing and words that you would naturally use in blog posts or informal communication. For example, don’t use words like “pretty,” “kind of,” and “like.”
Third-person narrative . Academic reviews should be written from the third-person point of view, avoiding statements like “I think,” “in my opinion,” and so on.
No conversational forms . You shouldn’t turn to your readers directly in the text by addressing them with the pronoun “you.” It’s vital to keep the narrative neutral and impersonal.
Proper abbreviation use . Consult the list of correct abbreviations , like “e.g.” or “i.e.,” for use in your academic writing. If you use informal abbreviations like “FYA” or “f.i.,” your professor will reduce the grade.
Complete sentences . Make sure your sentences contain the subject and the predicate; avoid shortened or sketch-form phrases suitable for a draft only.
No conjunctions at the beginning of a sentence . Remember the FANBOYS rule – don’t start a sentence with words like “and” or “but.” They often seem the right way to build a coherent narrative, but academic writing rules disfavor such usage.
No abbreviations or figures at the beginning of a sentence . Never start a sentence with a number — spell it out if you need to use it anyway. Besides, sentences should never begin with abbreviations like “e.g.”

Finally, a vital rule for an article review is properly formatting the citations. We’ll discuss the correct use of citation styles in the following section.

When composing an article review, keep these points in mind:

Start with a full reference to the reviewed article so the reader can locate it quickly.
Ensure correct formatting of in-text references.
Provide a complete list of used external sources on the last page of the review – your bibliographical entries .

You’ll need to understand the rules of your chosen citation style to meet all these requirements. Below, we’ll discuss the two most common referencing styles – APA and MLA.

Article Review in APA

When you need to compose an article review in the APA format , here is the general bibliographical entry format you should use for journal articles on your reference page:

Author’s last name, First initial. Middle initial. (Year of Publication). Name of the article. Name of the Journal, volume (number), pp. #-#. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy

Horigian, V. E., Schmidt, R. D., & Feaster, D. J. (2021). Loneliness, mental health, and substance use among US young adults during COVID-19. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 53 (1), pp. 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2020.1836435

Your in-text citations should follow the author-date format like this:

If you paraphrase the source and mention the author in the text: According to Horigian et al. (2021), young adults experienced increased levels of loneliness, depression, and anxiety during the pandemic.
If you paraphrase the source and don’t mention the author in the text: Young adults experienced increased levels of loneliness, depression, and anxiety during the pandemic (Horigian et al., 2021).
If you quote the source: As Horigian et al. (2021) point out, there were “elevated levels of loneliness, depression, anxiety, alcohol use, and drug use among young adults during COVID-19” (p. 6).

Note that your in-text citations should include “et al.,” as in the examples above, if your article has 3 or more authors. If you have one or two authors, your in-text citations would look like this:

One author: “According to Smith (2020), depression is…” or “Depression is … (Smith, 2020).”
Two authors: “According to Smith and Brown (2020), anxiety means…” or “Anxiety means (Smith & Brown, 2020).”

Finally, in case you have to review a book or a website article, here are the general formats for citing these source types on your APA reference list.

Article Review in MLA

If your assignment requires MLA-format referencing, here’s the general format you should use for citing journal articles on your Works Cited page:

Author’s last name, First name. “Title of an Article.” Title of the Journal , vol. #, no. #, year, pp. #-#.

Horigian, Viviana E., et al. “Loneliness, Mental Health, and Substance Use Among US Young Adults During COVID-19.” Journal of Psychoactive Drugs , vol. 53, no. 1, 2021, pp. 1-9.

In-text citations in the MLA format follow the author-page citation format and look like this:

According to Horigian et al., young adults experienced increased levels of loneliness, depression, and anxiety during the pandemic (6).
Young adults experienced increased levels of loneliness, depression, and anxiety during the pandemic (Horigian et al. 6).

Like in APA, the abbreviation “et al.” is only needed in MLA if your article has 3 or more authors.

If you need to cite a book or a website page, here are the general MLA formats for these types of sources.

✅ Article Review Template

Here is a handy, universal article review template to help you move on with any review assignment. We’ve tried to make it as generic as possible to guide you in the academic process.

📝 Article Review Examples

The theory is good, but practice is even better. Thus, we’ve created three brief examples to show you how to write an article review. You can study the full-text samples by following the links.

📃 Men, Women, & Money

This article review examines a famous piece, “Men, Women & Money – How the Sexes Differ with Their Finances,” published by Amy Livingston in 2020. The author of this article claims that men generally spend more money than women. She makes this conclusion from a close analysis of gender-specific expenditures across five main categories: food, clothing, cars, entertainment, and general spending patterns. Livingston also looks at men’s approach to saving to argue that counter to the common perception of women’s light-hearted attitude to money, men are those who spend more on average.

📃 When and Why Nationalism Beats Globalism

This is a review of Jonathan Heidt’s 2016 article titled “When and Why Nationalism Beats Globalism,” written as an advocacy of right-wing populism rising in many Western states. The author illustrates the case with the election of Donald Trump as the US President and the rise of right-wing rhetoric in many Western countries. These examples show how nationalist sentiment represents a reaction to global immigration and a failure of globalization.

📃 Sleep Deprivation

This is a review of the American Heart Association’s article titled “The Dangers of Sleep Deprivation.” It discusses how the national organization concerned with the American population’s cardiovascular health links the lack of high-quality sleep to far-reaching health consequences. The organization’s experts reveal how a consistent lack of sleep leads to Alzheimer’s disease development, obesity, type 2 diabetes, etc.

✏️ Article Review FAQ

A high-quality article review should summarize the assigned article’s content and offer data-backed reactions and evaluations of its quality in terms of the article’s purpose, methodology, and data used to argue the main points. It should be detailed, comprehensive, objective, and evidence-based.

The purpose of writing a review is to allow students to reflect on research quality and showcase their critical thinking and evaluation skills. Students should exhibit their mastery of close reading of research publications and their unbiased assessment.

The content of your article review will be the same in any format, with the only difference in the assignment’s formatting before submission. Ensure you have a separate title page made according to APA standards and cite sources using the parenthetical author-date referencing format.

You need to take a closer look at various dimensions of an assigned article to compose a valuable review. Study the author’s object of analysis, the purpose of their research, the chosen method, data, and findings. Evaluate all these dimensions critically to see whether the author has achieved the initial goals. Finally, offer improvement recommendations to add a critique aspect to your paper.

Scientific Article Review: Duke University
Book and Article Reviews: William & Mary, Writing Resources Center
Sample Format for Reviewing a Journal Article: Boonshoft School of Medicine
Research Paper Review – Structure and Format Guidelines: New Jersey Institute of Technology
Article Review: University of Waterloo
Article Review: University of South Australia
How to Write a Journal Article Review: University of Newcastle Library Guides
Writing Help: The Article Review: Central Michigan University Libraries
Write a Critical Review of a Scientific Journal Article: McLaughlin Library
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How to Cite a Journal Article | APA, MLA, & Chicago Examples

How to Cite a Journal Article | APA, MLA, & Chicago Examples

Published on March 9, 2021 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on January 17, 2024.

To cite an article from an academic journal, you need an in-text citation and a corresponding reference listing the name(s) of the author(s), the publication date, the article title and journal name, the volume and issue numbers, the page range, and the URL or DOI .

Different citation styles present this information differently. The main citation styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago style .

You can use the interactive example generator to explore the format for APA and MLA journal article citations.

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Citing an article in apa style, citing an article in mla style, citing an article in chicago style, frequently asked questions about citations.

In an APA Style journal article reference , the article title is in plain text and sentence case, while the journal name appears in italics, in title case.

The in-text citation lists up to two authors; for three or more, use “ et al. ”

When citing a journal article in print or from a database, don’t include a URL. You can still include the DOI if available.

You can also cite a journal article using our free APA Citation Generator . Search by title or DOI to automatically generate a correct citation.

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In an MLA Works Cited entry for a journal article , the article title appears in quotation marks, the name of the journal in italics—both in title case.

List up to two authors in both the in-text citation and the Works Cited entry. For three or more, use “et al.”

A DOI is always included when available; a URL appears if no DOI is available but the article was accessed online . If you accessed the article in print and no DOI is available, you can omit this part.

You can also use our free MLA Citation Generator to create your journal article citations.

Generate accurate MLA citations with Scribbr

In Chicago notes and bibliography style, you include a bibliography entry for each source, and cite them in the text using footnotes .

A bibliography entry for a journal article lists the title of the article in quotation marks and the journal name in italics—both in title case. List up to 10 authors in full; use “et al.” for 11 or more.

In the footnote, use “et al.” for four or more authors.

A DOI or URL (preferably a DOI) is included for articles consulted online; for articles consulted in print, omit this part.

Chicago also offers an alternative author-date style of citation. Examples of how to cite journal articles in this style can be found here .

The elements included in journal article citations across APA , MLA , and Chicago style are the name(s) of the author(s), the title of the article, the year of publication, the name of the journal, the volume and issue numbers, the page range of the article, and, when accessed online, the DOI or URL.

In MLA and Chicago style, you also include the specific month or season of publication alongside the year, when this information is available.

The DOI is usually clearly visible when you open a journal article on an academic database. It is often listed near the publication date, and includes “doi.org” or “DOI:”. If the database has a “cite this article” button, this should also produce a citation with the DOI included.

If you can’t find the DOI, you can search on Crossref using information like the author, the article title, and the journal name.

The abbreviation “ et al. ” (Latin for “and others”) is used to shorten citations of sources with multiple authors.

“Et al.” is used in APA in-text citations of sources with 3+ authors, e.g. (Smith et al., 2019). It is not used in APA reference entries .

Use “et al.” for 3+ authors in MLA in-text citations and Works Cited entries.

Use “et al.” for 4+ authors in a Chicago in-text citation , and for 10+ authors in a Chicago bibliography entry.

Check if your university or course guidelines specify which citation style to use. If the choice is left up to you, consider which style is most commonly used in your field.

APA Style is the most popular citation style, widely used in the social and behavioral sciences.
MLA style is the second most popular, used mainly in the humanities.
Chicago notes and bibliography style is also popular in the humanities, especially history.
Chicago author-date style tends to be used in the sciences.

Other more specialized styles exist for certain fields, such as Bluebook and OSCOLA for law.

The most important thing is to choose one style and use it consistently throughout your text.

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Caulfield, J. (2024, January 17). How to Cite a Journal Article | APA, MLA, & Chicago Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved April 2, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/citing-sources/cite-a-journal-article/

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WCCC Library: Journal Article Assignment

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The Assignment

The purpose of the journal article assignment is for you to learn how to find peer-reviewed articles and then be able to understand the articles you find.

You are specifically looking for an article that has been written about a study that has already been conducted.

When a researcher wants to conduct a formal study of something, they often have to write a report so that their work and findings become part of a larger body of information.

Think about that.

What is the point in conducting a formal study if other people in your field of work don't know about it? This is why they have to carefully write this report.

Then, to share their findings with their peers and other people (such as students) who will want to learn about their findings, a researcher will create a shorter version of their report and work to get it published in a academic, peer-reviewed journal.

These are the articles you are looking for.

The articles you use should have at least some of the following elements:

An identified purpose for the study (usually found within the first couple of pages)
Methods section (how they conducted the study)
Participants section (who were the participants)
Results section (lots of statistics)
Discussion section (what do the results mean related to the purpose of the study)
Conclusion (recommendations for future study)
A bibliography (References)

When you are writing your journal article assignment, please refer to your professor's instructions. But generally, you will be summarizing and paraphrasing the article itself, which will require APA in-text citations .

You will need to use the WCCC Library’s databases to find these articles. Here's a short video that shows you how to access and use the databases.

Example Journal Article Assignment This is an example of what your assignment should look like and what you should write about.

APA Elements

When it’s time to write your response to the assignment, you will be using APA . This means you will not only cite the article in APA, but you will also use APA formatting.

This includes:

A specific APA cover page
A “References” list with references in APA format
Times New Roman or Arial font, size 12

For this assignment, you will only have one source and that is the journal article itself. Here is information on how to cite articles from the WCCC database.

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APA Style (7th Edition) Citation Guide: Journal Articles

Introduction
Journal Articles
Magazine/Newspaper Articles
Books & Ebooks
Government & Legal Documents
Biblical Sources
Secondary Sources
Films/Videos/TV Shows
How to Cite: Other
Additional Help

Journal article from library database with doi - one author, journal article from library database with doi - multiple authors, journal article from a website - one author.

Journal Article- No DOI

Note: All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

This Microsoft support page contains instructions about how to format a hanging indent in a paper.

APA 7th. ed. Journal Article Reference Checklist

If an item has no author, start the citation with the article title.

When an article has one to twenty authors, all authors' names are cited in the References List entry. When an article has twenty-one or more authors list the first nineteen authors followed by three spaced ellipse points (. . .) , and then the last author's name. Rules are different for in-text citations; please see the examples provided.

Cite author names in the order in which they appear on the source, not in alphabetical order (the first author is usually the person who contributed the most work to the publication).

Italicize titles of journals, magazines and newspapers. Do not italicize or use quotation marks for the titles of articles.

Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of the article title. If there is a colon in the article title, also capitalize the first letter of the first word after the colon.

If an item has no date, use the short form n.d. where you would normally put the date.

Volume and Issue Numbers

Italicize volume numbers but not issue numbers.

Retrieval Dates

Most articles will not need these in the citation. Only use them for online articles from places where content may change often, like a free website or a wiki.

Page Numbers

If an article doesn't appear on continuous pages, list all the page numbers the article is on, separated by commas. For example (4, 6, 12-14)

Library Database

Do not include the name of a database for works obtained from most academic research databases (e.g. APA PsycInfo, CINAHL) because works in these resources are widely available. Exceptions are Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, ERIC, ProQuest Dissertations, and UpToDate.

Include the DOI (formatted as a URL: https://doi.org/...) if it is available. If you do not have a DOI, include a URL if the full text of the article is available online (not as part of a library database). If the full text is from a library database, do not include a DOI, URL, or database name.

In the Body of a Paper

Books, Journals, Reports, Webpages, etc.: When you refer to titles of a “stand-alone work,” as the APA calls them on their APA Style website, such as books, journals, reports, and webpages, you should italicize them. Capitalize words as you would for an article title in a reference, e.g., In the book Crying in H Mart: A memoir , author Michelle Zauner (2021) describes her biracial origin and its impact on her identity.

Article or Chapter: When you refer to the title of a part of a work, such as an article or a chapter, put quotation marks around the title and capitalize it as you would for a journal title in a reference, e.g., In the chapter “Where’s the Wine,” Zauner (2021) describes how she decided to become a musician.

The APA Sample Paper below has more information about formatting your paper.

APA 7th ed. Sample Paper

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of article: Subtitle if any. Name of Journal, Volume Number (Issue Number), first page number-last page number. https://doi.org/doi number

Smith, K. F. (2022). The public and private dialogue about the American family on television: A second look. Journal of Media Communication, 50 (4), 79-110. https://doi.org/10.1152/j.1460-2466.2000.tb02864.x

Note: The DOI number is formatted as a URL: https://doi.org/10.1152/j.1460-2466.2000.tb02864.xIf.

In-Text Paraphrase:

(Author's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Smith, 2000)

In-Text Quote:

(Author's Last Name, Year, p. Page Number)

Example: (Smith, 2000, p. 80)

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given., & Last Name of Second Author, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of article: Subtitle if any. Name of Journal, Volume Number (Issue Number), first page number-last page number. https://doi.org/doi number

Note: Separate the authors' names by putting a comma between them. For the final author listed add an ampersand (&) after the comma and before the final author's last name.

Note: In the reference list invert all authors' names; give last names and initials for only up to and including 20 authors. When a source has 21 or more authors, include the first 19 authors’ names, then three ellipses (…), and add the last author’s name. Don't include an ampersand (&) between the ellipsis and final author.

Note : For works with three or more authors, the first in-text citation is shortened to include the first author's surname followed by "et al."

Reference List Examples

Two to 20 Authors

Case, T. A., Daristotle, Y. A., Hayek, S. L., Smith, R. R., & Raash, L. I. (2011). College students' social networking experiences on Facebook. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 3 (2), 227-238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2008.12.010

21 or more authors

Kalnay, E., Kanamitsu, M., Kistler, R., Collins, W., Deaven, D., Gandin, L., Iredell, M., Saha, J., Mo, K. C., Ropelewski, C., Wang, J., Leetma, A., . . . Joseph, D. (1996). The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society , 77 (3), 437-471. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(1996)077<0437:TNYRP>2.0.CO;2

In-Text Citations

Two Authors/Editors

(Case & Daristotle, 2011)

Direct Quote: (Case & Daristotle, 2011, p. 57)

Three or more Authors/Editors

(Case et al., 2011)

Direct Quote: (Case et al., 2011, p. 57)

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of article: Subtitle if any. Name of Journal, Volume Number (Issue Number if given). URL

Flachs, A. (2010). Food for thought: The social impact of community gardens in the Greater Cleveland Area. Electronic Green Journal, 1 (30). http://escholarship.org/uc/item/6bh7j4z4

Example: (Flachs, 2010)

Example: (Flachs, 2010, Conclusion section, para. 3)

Note: In this example there were no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, in this case you can cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from. If there are no page or paragraph numbers and no marked section, leave this information out.

Journal Article - No DOI

Full-Text Available Online (Not as Part of a Library Database):

Steinberg, M. P., & Lacoe, J. (2017). What do we know about school discipline reform? Assessing the alternatives to suspensions and expulsions. Education Next, 17 (1), 44–52. https://www.educationnext.org/what-do-we-know-about-school-discipline-reform-suspensions-expulsions/

Example: (Steinberg & Lacoe, 2017)

(Author's Last Name, Year, p. Page number)

Example: (Steinberg & Lacoe, 2017, p. 47)

Full-Text Available in Library Database:

Jungers, W. L. (2010). Biomechanics: Barefoot running strikes back. Nature, 463 (2), 433-434.

Example: (Jungers, 2010)

Example: (Jungers, 2010, p. 433)

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Irv Lichtman

Example of Journal Assignment

Scientific Journal + Article

Becoming Acquainted with Psychological Research

1. What is the name of your journal?

The name of the journal I chose my journal assignment from is Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied .

2. For whom does it seem to have been written? For example, is it directed toward a special kind of psychologist? Does it include articles that would be of interest to educators or others outside the field of academic psychology? If so, list several titles.

I can see this particular article being utilized by quite a few different people. For example this article would be excellent for a driver’s education instructor. This article would even make a wonderful teaching tool for parents of young drivers in order to emphasize the importance of giving the roads and driving conditions their utmost attention. Overall I feel that this article could have advantages to every person who reads it, not only teachers or parents but everyone that drives on our streets and highways.

3. Choose a representative research article whose title interests you. Write the name of its title and briefly explain why it interests you.

The title of the article I chose to acquaint myself with is “Passenger and Cell Phone Conversations in Simulated Driving”. The reason I chose this particular article is because it hits home, it is relative to me and my family. I must confess that I am guilty of talking on the cell phone or having in depth conversations with my passengers while driving my vehicle. The times when I am not on the phone or when I am driving alone I notice other drivers talking on their cell phones and also having conversations with their passengers. Not only did this article appeal to my because of my driving habits but also because I know that society in whole participate in these behaviors as well. This article demonstrates the marked decrease in response time and concentration that is needed to truly be a safe and defensive driver on the roadways, something that I and all drivers should consider paramount for our safety and the safety of others. One of the many hats I wear is that I volunteer as a Texas State Licensed E.M.T. with a local volunteer fire department and see what really happens when that response time and concentration of drivers is interfered with. There have been scenes when thoughts of my own family flash in my mind and even though I see the ramifications of what this article covers, these habits are among the hardest to break.

4. How long is the article?

The study titled “Passenger and Cell Phone Conversations in Simulated Driving” is approximately 7 ½ pages long with an additional 1 ½ pages dedicated to references.

5. List the major sections of the article as defined by the heads.

“Passenger and Cell Phone Conversations in Simulated Driving” include the sections of:

A. Considering Distracted Driving Impairment With Greater Specificity

B. Allocation of Attention and the Distracted Driver

C. Conversing

D. Method

a. Participants

b. Stimuli and Apparatus

c. Procedure

d. Measures

e. Design

E. Results

a. Driving Performance

b. Conversation

F. Discussion

G. References

6. Does the author state the hypothesis of the research study? Write the hypothesis in the author’s words.

The author does state a hypothesis for the research study and in their words, “This study examines how conversing with passengers in a vehicle differs from conversing on a cell phone while driving”.

7. Write the hypothesis in your own words.

This study will demonstrate, by use of simulated driving, how driving acuity becomes markedly deficient when drivers utilize cell phones while driving as opposed to carrying on conversations with passengers in the same vehicle.

8. Who made up the study population?

The study population included 96 adults who ranged in age from 18 years old to 49 years old with 20 years of age being the average age. Of the participants 47 were women and 49 participants were men. All the participants fit into the profile of having normal to corrected-to-normal vision acuity, normal color vision, and had a valid driver’s license from the state of Utah.

9. Does the article contain a section on the method used in conducting the study? Describe the method.

The study population was chosen and the experiment was thoroughly explained to them and their acknowledgement was verified by a signed informed consent. The facilitators of this experiment acquired the necessary driving simulator that was manufactured by L3 Communications I-Sim. The simulator was loaded with a database consisting of a 24-mile multilane beltway to include on and off-ramps, overpasses, and two-lane traffic in both directions. A maximum speed limit of 65 miles per hour was implemented and visibility was programmed to be optimal.

The participants were familiarized with the simulator by using three 5-minute simulated driving scenarios. The scenarios included driving at night in a rural area, another situation was driving in a downtown area involving minimal navigation around various traffic barricades, and the last was daytime highway driving. After every participant was familiarized with the simulator one participant was randomly selected to drive and the other participant, bases on experimental conditions, was either the passenger or talking on the cell phone to the driver from a different location.

The participants were assigned to either speaker or listener and were asked to share a story that they had not discussed in the past. The study consisted of a single-task assignment and a dual-task assignment. The single task assignment only involved the driver driving the vehicle and the dual-task assignment involved the driver either talking on the cell phone or talking to a passenger in the same vehicle.

Several different measurements were taken of driving performance under various circumstances. The measure of operational level was based on how well the participants stayed in the center of their lane without lateral movements and various drifting. In the tactical level speed and following distances were analyzed. The strategic level involved analysis of the participant’s ability to follow instructions included in a navigation task, whether or not they were able to take the correct exits.

10. Which of the methods of scientific research described in Chapter 1 is used?

The article “Passenger and Cell Phone Conversations in Simulated Driving” was conducted using the experiment method of scientific research. The experiment method was used to establish the cause-and effect relationship between the driving conditions of using the cell phone or conversing with passengers. The independent variables in this experiment were the use of the cell phone for the driver of the vehicle and the conversations taking place while driving. The dependent variable is identified as the driving ability of the driver without the introduction of the cell phone or conversation taking place in the vehicles.

11. Is there a discussion of the significance of results?

Yes, the article did include a discussion regarding the significance of the results.

12. Summarize the significance of the results in your own words.

“Passenger and Cell Phone Conversations in Simulated Driving” pointed out that the average age of driving in the cell phone simulation was 19.6 years of age and the average in the conversation simulation was 20.1 years of age. Although the dyad differed by 1 participant, it did point out that the initial differences in driving performance could, in fact, be contributed to the differences in actual driving experience. This article also pointed out that the fact that they were actually measuring, card drift, was greater with drivers involved in cell phone conversations than with conversations with passengers in the same vehicle. They did not notice much, if any, change in the driving speed but a significant difference in the actual following distance with users of the cell phones. Perhaps this could be because the users of the cell phones know that when they are on the cell phones they need the extra distance in order to have more time to react to traffic situations. As far as navigation success goes, the drivers who carried on cell phone conversations were four times more likely to fail the task at hand compared to those in the passenger conditions. It was also uncovered that those involved with conversations with passengers in the same vehicle made more referenced to current traffic conditions and thus were more cognoscente of what was actually happening on the road.

13. What conclusions are reached in your article?

It is concluded in this article that although there were differenced in the operational, strategic and tactical levels that conversation data suggests the probability that passengers take a more active role in supporting the driver. The passengers pointed out driving situations that the driver may have missed, similar to having an extra set of eyes on the road for you. Whereas when driver’s using the hands free devices were essentially on their own when driving and also had additional disadvantages because they were less accurate in their driving acuity, navigation skills, and reaction times as far as exiting when they should have because they were distracted by the use of their cell phones.

14. What is your reaction to the research article? For example, were there sections that you found difficult to understand? Were there sections that seemed very “scientific?” Are you convinced of the conclusions? Why or why not?

Reading this article was definitely an eye opening experience, not only did it specifically point out the quantitive decline in driving acuity but it also, for me, reiterated the potential dangers that my behaviors can bring about. I feel safe in assuming that society is aware of the dangers of talking on the cell phone when driving or carrying on conversations while driving but this study gives proven results of the dangers. To have the measurements equivalent to driving intoxicated was astounding.

There were several references in the measurements section that contained quite a few different formulas that were used to compile the data. I found myself reading over that section a few times to understand exactly what and how they were measuring the data that had been gathered. It was this section that I found to be very “scientific” and the only section that I feel that the layperson may have trouble understanding. Through all the reading and information that I gathered from this article I am convinced that the conclusion reached is accurate. It not only makes sense on a personal level but with the quantitive results that were presented gives little leeway to the contrary.

15. Summarize the article in your own words. How did it benefit you and how might it benefit us if we were to read it?

“Passenger and Cell Phone Conversations in Simulated Driving” was a study that investigated the difference between talking to passengers in the same vehicle and carrying on conversations utilizing a hands free cell phone device. By utilizing a specialized driving simulator the participants were exposed to several different driving scenarios in the form of operational, tactical, and strategic levels of driving. The authors presented the information in a professional manner, taking into effect the differences between age groups and driving experiences. The authors gave enough information for the experiment to be reproduced by supplying the readers with specific information about the simulator used, the age demographic of the participants, the system used to familiarize the study group with the simulators and the different driving scenarios. The authors provided all the necessary formulas that they utilized when gathering their data and eventually reaching the measures that they arrived at.

Not only did the authors present all the information on how they conducted their research they provided concrete information on how the study group performed under each driving circumstance. They presented the information in ways that could be informative to anyone who reads the article. The article will give the readers proof that driving while on the cell phone, even a hands free unit, provides certain hazards to the driver and those on the road with them. It would be beneficial to those who read the article to modify their driving habits when it comes to conversing on the cell phones as opposed to conversing with their passengers in the same vehicle. They will see that passenger conversations aid in the process of navigating and being aware of the different driving conditions.

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 2008, Vol. 14, No. 4, 392–400

Passenger and Cell Phone Conversations in Simulated Driving

Frank A. Drews, Monisha Pasupathi, and David L. Strayer

University of Utah

This study examines how conversing with passengers in a vehicle differs from conversing on a cell phone

while driving. We compared how well drivers were able to deal with the demands of driving when

conversing on a cell phone, conversing with a passenger, and when driving without any distraction. In

the conversation conditions, participants were instructed to converse with a friend about past experiences

in which their life was threatened. The results show that the number of driving errors was highest in the

cell phone condition; in passenger conversations more references were made to traffic, and the production

rate of the driver and the complexity of speech of both interlocutors dropped in response to an increase

in the demand of the traffic. The results indicate that passenger conversations differ from cell phone

conversations because the surrounding traffic not only becomes a topic of the conversation, helping

driver and passenger to share situation awareness, but the driving condition also has a direct influence

on the complexity of the conversation, thereby mitigating the potential negative effects of a conversation

on driving.

Keywords: shared attention, driver distraction, cell phone conversation, passenger conversation

Driving is a complex perceptual and cognitive task. There is

ample evidence that driving performance is negatively affected by

simultaneously conversing on a cell phone. Previous studies found

that cell phone use impairs the driving performance of younger

(Alm & Nilsson, 1995; Briem & Hedman, 1995; Brookhuis, De

Vries, & De Waard, 1991; Brown, Tickner, & Simmonds, 1969;

Goodman et al., 1999; McKnight & McKnight, 1993; Redelmeier

& Tibshirani, 1997; Strayer, Drews, & Johnston, 2003; Strayer &

Johnston, 2001), and older drivers (Alm & Nilsson, 1995; Strayer

et al., 2003). These impairments have been studied using a wide

range of methodological paradigms including computer-based

tracking tasks (Strayer & Johnston, 2001), high-fidelity simulation

(Strayer et al., 2003), driving of vehicles on a closed circuit

(Treffner & Barrett, 2005), on-road studies (Crudall, Bains, Chapman,

& Underwood, 2005), and epidemiological studies of car

crashes (McEvoy et al., 2005; Redelmeier & Tibshirani, 1997).

The level of impairment is comparable to being intoxicated at a

blood alcohol level of .08 (Strayer, Drews, & Crouch, 2006).

Considering Distracted Driving Impairment With

Greater Specificity

To understand the implications of performing a secondary task

while driving, it is useful to apply a conceptualization of the

driving task that can guide the analysis of performance deficits. In

his task analysis of driving, Groeger (1999) described three levels

of performance (see Michon, 1979, 1985, for similar proposals).

The first level of performance is an operational or control level,

which involves elements that serve the task of keeping a vehicle on

a predetermined course. A deficit at this level is shown, for

example, in a reduction of lateral control, that is, the vehicle may

drift to the side of the road. A number of studies demonstrated that

this operational level is negatively affected by performing an

additional task like conversing on a cell phone (Alm & Nilsson,

1995; Haigney & Westerman, 2001; Stein, Parseghian, & Allen,

The second level of performance involves skills needed for

maneuvering the vehicle in traffic. This level is called tactical

behavior and examples for deficits at this level are approaching

other vehicles too closely or ignoring approaching vehicles while

turning left at an intersection. Studies that have found deficits on

this level of driving performance describe changes in speed

(Burns, Parkes, Burton, & Smith, 2002; Horberry, Anderson,

Regan, Triggs, & Brown, 2006), changes in acceleration (Strayer

& Drews, 2006), and delayed reaction times (Consiglio, Driscoll,

Witte, & Berg, 2003) when drivers are engaged in a cell phone

conversation. The characterization of driving behavior as “sluggish”

(Strayer et al., 2003) refers to both operational and tactical

levels of driving behavior with driving performance changing such

that drivers drive and accelerate slower and show longer reaction

times when braking (see Drews & Strayer, 2008; Svenson &

Patten, 2005, for reviews).

The third level involves more executive, goal-directed aspects of

driving and reflects strategic performance (Barkley, 2004). Examples

for problems at this level are failures in the execution of

navigation tasks or trip-related planning tasks. Currently, there is

only indirect evidence that deficits on this level can be observed

when drivers converse on a cell phone. In their simulator study Ma

and Kaber (2005) measured situation awareness—a precondition

Frank A. Drews, Monisha Pasupathi, and David L. Strayer, Department

of Psychology, University of Utah.

Portions of the data presented in this paper have been previously

presented at the Annual Human Factors and Ergonomics Conference and

been published in the proceedings to this conference (for further reference,

see Drews, Pasupathi, & Strayer, 2004). We thank two anonymous reviewers

for their helpful comments that significantly improved this article.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Frank A. Drews,

Department of Psychology, University of Utah, 380 South 1530 East, Room 502,

Salt Lake City, UT 84112. E-mail: [email protected]

2008, Vol. 14, No. 4, 392–400 1076-898X/08/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0013119

for strategic performance—of drivers conversing on a cell phone

while driving compared to a group using an adaptive cruise control

system. The authors found that the use of a cell phone while

driving significantly reduced driver situation awareness and significantly

increased the perceived mental workload relative to no

phone and adaptive cruise control conditions. The application of

Groeger’s (1999) framework highlights a gap of empirical work

investigating the strategic level of performance of drivers engaged

in a cell phone conversation. Thus, at this point it is unclear if the

deficits observed on the operational and tactical level also extend

to the strategic level, or if this level of performance is unaffected

by a cell phone conversation. Based on the assumptions of Michon

(1979, 1985), lower level deficits ought to affect higher level

performance, and we would expect the suggestive findings of Ma

and Kaber to be evident in a task that is more representative of

typical driving.

Allocation of Attention and the Distracted Driver

Most work on driver distraction focused on the assessment of

the impairment rather than on a delineation of the cognitive mechanisms

underlying deficits in driving performance. The small

number of studies that has focused on this theoretically important

question point to a reduction in attention directed toward the

driving task as partly responsible for the deficits. Strayer et al.

(2003) examined the hypothesis that the observed impairment

could be attributed to a withdrawal of attention from the visual

scene resulting in a form of inattention blindness (i.e., a fixated

object is not being processed resulting in either an incomplete or

no mental representation of the object). Their findings indicated

that cell phone conversations impaired both implicit and explicit

recognition memory of visual information even when participants

had fixated upon it. Strayer et al. suggested that the impairment of

driving performance resulting from cell phone conversations is

mediated, at least in part, by reduced attention to visual inputs in

the driving environment. More evidence was presented recently by

Strayer and Drews (2007) demonstrating a reduction in the amplitude

of the P300 as a result of a cell phone conversation in

response to the onset of braking lights of a car that had to be

followed. The P300 component of event-related brain potentials

(ERP) is sensitive to the attention that is allocated to a task

(Sirevaag, Kramer, Coles, & Donchin, 1989), and has been shown

to allow discrimination between levels of task difficulty, decreasing

as the task demand increases (Kramer, Sirevaag, & Braun,

1987). Finally, more evidence for deficits in allocation of attention

comes from investigations of scanning behavior of traffic scenes.

McCarley et al. (2004) showed that conversations result in higher

error rates for change detection and higher numbers of saccades to

locate a changing item. The authors also found reduced fixation

times under dual-task conditions and interpret this as evidence that

a conversation while scanning traffic scenes impacts the peripheral

guidance of attention.

To summarize, the allocation of attention to the driving task is

central to the issues related to driving performance deficits observed

in the context of cell phone use. Thus, the literature appears

to suggest that nearly any task that diverts attention away from the

driving task will cause impairment. Indeed, supporting this assertion

are epidemiological studies (see McEvoy et al., 2005; Redelmeier

& Tibshirani, 1997) that indicate that the relative risk of

being in a motor vehicle accident quadruples when a driver converses

on a cell phone (i.e., odds ratio of an accident when

conversing on a cell phone is 4.2). By contrast, other epidemiological

studies (Rueda-Domingo et al., 2004; see also Vollrath,

Meilinger & Kru¨ger, 2002) have found a strikingly different pattern

for situations in which an adult passenger is in the vehicle. In

particular, when drivers have a passenger in the vehicle, the

relative risk of a motor vehicle accident is lower than when the

driver drives by him or her self (i.e., the odds ratio of an accident

with a passenger in the vehicle is 0.7). Given that in many

instances the passenger and the driver are conversing, these findings

appear to be at odds with the suggestion that any task that

diverts attention away from driving causes impairment. What

accounts for the seemingly paradoxical finding that a conversation

on a cell phone interferes with driving, whereas having a conversation

with a passenger in the vehicle improves driving performance?

Are differences in the allocation of attention partly responsible

for these differences?

How passenger and cell phone conversations differ in their

implications for attention and driving performance is a question of

theoretical and applied importance. It is of theoretical importance

because a comparison between cell phone and passenger conversation

revolves around the similarities or differences between the

two contexts’ impact on the attentional resources of a driver. In

this paper we suggest that the different contexts affect the ability

to allocate attention to a task differently, that is, the allocation of

attention is not independent of contextual variables, even if the

task at the onset seems identical. The question is also of applied

importance because it may help to understand better what contexts

have an impact on a driver’s ability to allocate attention to the task

of driving.

From one vantage point a conversation is a conversation. Conversations

require attention from their participants for monitoring

the topic and content, coordinating turn taking, and so on (Clark,

1996). Thus, all conversations are presumably diverting attention

from a driving task and should create at least some impairment.

An alternative perspective, drawn from psycholinguistics, emphasizes

conversations as joint activities that involve shared attention

from all participants, and as dynamic activities that unfold

over time (Clark, 1996). This perspective emphasizes that participants

in a conversation move forward in the joint activity of

conversing by adding to their shared understandings of what is

being talked about. This process is called grounding (Clark &

Schaefer, 1989) and it involves establishing that all parties in a

conversation share relevant knowledge, beliefs, and assumptions.

It also includes awareness of the current context that provides

many cues that can aid in grounding, such as shared visual attention

(Richardson, Dale, & Kirkham, 2007) and shared awareness

of distractions. The critical difference between a cell phone conversation

and an in-vehicle conversation revolves around this

shared awareness of the driving context. That shared awareness

leads to the prediction that in-vehicle conversation will not have

the same detrimental impact on driving performance that cell

phone conversations have. It also opens the possibility for invehicle

conversation to have a positive impact on driving performance,

as is suggested by epidemiological data. Moreover, in

CONVERSATIONS IN SIMULATED DRIVING 393

pointing to conversation as a joint activity unfolding over time, it

suggests two nonexclusive proposals about how conversations

affect the allocation of the driver’s attention to the driving task.

One is simply that an in-vehicle passenger responds to the demands

of the driving context by reducing demand for the conversation

task (e.g., by changing the production rate—a modulation

hypothesis, see Gugerty, Rakauskas, & Brooks, 2004). The second

is that the passenger adopts the driving task as part of the overall

joint activity in which driver and passenger are mutually engaged.

In both cases, the assumption is that this is not likely or possible

for a cell phone conversational partner because they do not have

direct access to the real-time driving conditions.

Another point about this perspective on conversation bears

mention, and it is that many tasks employed to simulate conversation

in studies of cell phone use while driving suffer from serious

ecological validity concerns. Some investigators used putative

conversations in which the participants and a confederate alternately

generated a word and the other person had to generate a

word that began with the last letter of the previous spoken word

(Gugerty et al., 2004). Treffner and Barrett (2004) had participants

perform summations or categorizations. Others identified topics of

interest for the participant by questionnaire and had an experimenter

converse with the participant about such topics (Strayer et

al., 2003). These approaches are limited because they fail, to a

larger or smaller extent, to mimic the coordinated, joint activity

features of naturalistic conversations. In a meta-analysis, Horrey

and Wickens (2006) found that more naturalistic conversations

produced greater interference with driving than did more “synthetic”

information processing tasks, suggesting a greater engagement

for the former. Although not a central aim of this study, we

made a serious effort to develop a conversational task that was

truly applicable to the applied context. Following Bavelas, Coates,

and Johnson (2000), close-call stories as the topic of the conversation

were used in studying the impact of conversations on

driving. Bavelas et al. defined close-call stories as stories about

times when your life was threatened. The advantage of using such

close-call conversations is that they involve the kinds of stories

that are often told among friends and produce a conversation that

is engaging. In addition, unlike in other studies in which at least

one of the partners of the conversation was a confederate, we asked

participants to bring friends with the intention of having them

converse about previously untold close-call stories.

Few authors have studied how passenger conversations affect driving

performance. In their on road study, Crundall et al. (2005) provided

initial evidence that passenger and driver responded to changes

in the cognitive demand of driving when playing a “competitive

[word] game between driver and the partner” (Crundall et al., 2005,

p. 201) that simulated a conversation. For example, passenger

conversations were suppressed during more demanding urban

driving and there was no impact of the driving context on the

conversation during cell phone conversations. It appears as if

the cell phone task imposed a cognitive load independent of the

cognitive demand resulting from the driving conditions, making it

likely that the driver’s cognitive limits were exceeded.

Gugerty et al. (2004) investigated the impact of passenger

conversations on driving performance in a low-fidelity driving

simulator. To simulate a conversation the authors used a word

game task in which the participants took turns saying words with

the constraint that a new word had to begin with the last letter of

the word spoken by the partner. Gugerty et al. tested driving

performance by assessing the driver’s situation awareness for the

surrounding traffic but also measured performance on the verbal

task. Overall there was no evidence that passengers slowed the

verbal task more than remotely communicating participants, and in

Experiment 1 the opposite effect was found, despite the fact that

only the passengers shared visual information about the driving

conditions. Also, the verbal interaction negatively affected situation

awareness in both the passenger and the cell phone condition,

equally impacting a precursor for strategic performance.

More interesting, Amado and Ulupinar (2005) reported a negative

impact of passenger conversation on a driving surrogate: The

authors compared the impact of a hands-free cell phone conversation,

a passenger conversation, and a control condition on attention

in a peripheral detection task that simulated driving. To

simulate the cognitive demand of a conversation, the authors asked

participants questions of low or high complexity. Both simulated

conversation conditions had a similar negative impact on performance

in a peripheral detection task as compared to the control

condition. The lack of a difference between the cell phone conversation

condition and the passenger conversation condition is

notable. One potential reason for the absence of a difference is that

in this study the conversation pace was kept constant artificially

not allowing for modulation. Moreover, the perceptual detection

task is much less complex than the driving task, indicating data

limits in this study.

The limited literature on cell phone and passenger conversations

suggests that modulation (i.e., slowing) of a conversation

is possible, and may occur under natural driving conditions.

However, one of the problems of the existing studies is that the

conversations were highly scripted and often simulated only the

cognitive demand of a conversation. Driving performance

seems to be affected by passenger conversations by reduced

situation awareness and a reduction in the ability to detect

peripheral objects. It appears that there is no difference between

passenger conversations compared to remote conversations in

their negative impact on driving performance.

In the present paper we examined the impact of cell phone and

passenger conversations on driving performance, applying

Groeger’s (1999) conceptualization to guide the operationalization

of driving. Consequently, we used measures of driving performance

that reflect the operational, the tactical, and the strategic

level of driving behavior. In addition, we examined features of the

conversation that shed light on how conversations on cell phones

and conversations with a passenger differ in ways that bear on

attention allocation. We hypothesize that a passenger—provided

he or she has at least minimal driving expertise—monitors the

driving environment. Consequently, when a driver faces an increasing

demand of the driving task, both passenger and driver

may respond by reducing the cognitive demand of the conversation.

These changes can manifest themselves in switching the topic

of the conversation to the driving conditions and the surrounding

traffic (e.g., by pointing out potential hazards) that directs the

driver’s attention toward the surrounding traffic. Also, it is possible

that a reduction of the production rate of speech or its complexity

reflects a response to increases in the cognitive demand for

the driver.

In sum, the goal of this research is to increase our understanding

of how conversing on a cell phone while driving compares with

394 DREWS, PASUPATHI, AND STRAYER

conversing with a passenger while driving. This research uses

naturalistic conversations and measures driving performance at the

operational, tactical, and strategic levels, and also focuses on

measures that reflect changes in the dynamics of the conversation.

Participants

Ninety six adults were recruited in a total of 48 friend dyads and

received course credit for participation. Participants ranged in age

from 18 to 49 with 20 being the average age. Forty-seven participants

were women and 49 participants were men. All participants

had normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity, normal color

vision (Ishihara, 1993), and a valid Utah driver’s license.

Stimuli and Apparatus

A PatrolSim™ high-fidelity driving simulator, manufactured by

L3 Communications I-Sim (Salt Lake City, UT, USA) was used in

the present study (see Figure 1). The simulated vehicle is based on

the vehicle dynamics of a Crown Victoria® model with automatic

transition built by the Ford Motor Company.

A freeway road database simulated a 24-mile multilane beltway

with on- and off-ramps, overpasses, and two-lane traffic in each

direction. Participants were driving under an irregular-flow driving

condition (Drews, Strayer, Uchino, & Smith, in press). The

irregular-flow driving condition can be characterized as a situation

in which other vehicles, in compliance with traffic laws, changed

lanes and speeds. This traffic requires the participant to pay attention

to the surrounding traffic as opposed to a situation in which

the driver can minimize the attentional requirements and the cognitive

demand by driving exclusively in one lane of travel. In

addition, slow-moving vehicles were sometimes unsuccessfully

attempting to pass vehicles on the left side, significantly slowing

down the overall traffic flow. The speed limit was 65 mph.

Visibility in all scenarios was optimal.

After providing informed consent, participants were familiarized

with the driving simulator using a standardized 15-min adaptation

sequence. The adaptation sequence consisted of three 5-min

driving scenarios, one being located in a rural area at night, another

one located in a downtown area, involving some minimal navigation

around traffic barricades, and a final scenario located on a

highway with optimal driving conditions at daytime. After familiarization,

one participant of a dyad was randomly selected to drive

the vehicle, the other, based on experimental condition, was either

the passenger or talking on the cell phone to the driver from a

different location. The assignment of speaker and listener was

counterbalanced over driver and nondriving interlocutor, and the

speaker provided the close-call story. Participants were instructed

to provide a story they had not shared with the partner in the past.

In the single-task condition, the driver was instructed to drive

safely and to follow all the traffic rules. In addition, in the dualtask

condition they were instructed that their task was having a

conversation about a close-call story with their friend who was

either seated next to them as a passenger or conversing on a cell

phone. Finally, the drivers were instructed to leave the highway

once they arrived at a rest area located approximately eight miles

after the beginning of the drive. The passenger/cell phone interlocutor

was instructed to participate actively in the conversation

and told that the driver had the task of leaving the highway when

approaching a rest area. In the dual-task portion of the experiment,

half of the driving participants were either conversing on a cell

phone or talking to a passenger while driving; in the single-task

condition, participants were driving only. The order of the single

and dual-task conditions was counterbalanced and the assignment

to cell phone and in-person conversation was randomized. The

individual driving sequences (single/dual task) took about 10 min

to finish. The entire experiment took approximately 60 min to

completion.

Driving performance. Multiple measures of driving performance

were taken, distinguishing between measures dealing with

the operational level, the tactical level, and those reflecting more

strategic processes involved in driving. A measure of the operational

level was how well participants stayed in the center of the

lane without lateral movements and drifting. For this purpose, we

defined the lane center of the road and calculated the root mean

standard error (RMSE) between center and the center position of

the car. On the tactical level, we analyzed speed and following

distance. Speed was measured as the average speed of the driver

for the road segment they were driving until they reached the rest

area exit, whereas following distance was measured as the average

distance between the driver’s car and a car that was directly ahead

of them. On the strategic level of performance we were interested

in participants’ ability to follow the instruction of a navigation

task—more specifically— did they take the correct exit?

Conversation. The transcribed conversations between interlocutors

in the dual-task conditions were coded by two independent

Navigation task

passenger cell phone

number of participants succeeding

Figure 1. Frequency of successful task completion in the navigation task.

CONVERSATIONS IN SIMULATED DRIVING 395

coders. Though the instruction for participants was for one person

to tell a story about close calls, in all cases after a short time both

participants were lively engaged in the conversation. The coding of

the conversations focused on the number of references to traffic,

intercoder-reliability Pearson’s r (47) _ .92; who initiated the

reference (driver and nondriver; Cohen’s kappa(47) _ 1), and the

number of turn takes with reference to the traffic event after a

reference to traffic was made, intercoder-reliability Pearson’s

r (47) _ .98. All conversations were analyzed from transcripts of

the conversations by trained coders who were blind to the condition

under which the conversation took place.

The rationale for analyzing traffic references was that referring

to the surrounding traffic is an attempt to create shared situation

awareness and indicates support for the driving task. The number

of turn takes after a reference to traffic was made was analyzed

because it is a reflection of the willingness of both partners to

engage in a conversation about traffic rather than the close-call

story. Included in this analysis were only turn takes with statements

about the event that provoked the initial traffic reference.

A second analysis focused on the impact of the driving environment.

Because the impact on driving has been well documented

in the past (e.g., Brookhuis et al., 1991) this analysis focuses on the

impact of traffic complexity on the conversation. For this purpose

two independent coders coded the traffic as low or moderately

demanding, intercoder-reliability Cohen’s kappa(47) _ .98. Low

demanding traffic was defined as a situation in which the participant’s

vehicle was surrounded by maximally one vehicle (either in

front, behind, or on the left lane), in which a situation of moderately

demanding traffic involved more than one other vehicle in

close proximity to the participant’s vehicle. For both types of

driving situations, the speech production rate of the driver and the

interlocutor in syllables per second was analyzed. The production

rate of the driver and the passenger in this context reflects the

degree to which the cognitive demand imposed by the traffic

context has an impact on the conversation, potentially leading to

some modulation of the conversation (see Berthold, 1998; Mu¨ller,

Gro_mann-Hutter, Jameson, Rummer, & Wittig, 2001). As an

additional measure, the number of syllables per word for the driver

and the interlocutor was analyzed. The number of syllables per

word is thought to measure the complexity of an utterance

(Berthold, 1998). Production rate and complexity of utterance are

used to test the hypothesis that both conversation partners in the

passenger condition adjust their conversation in response to

changes in the cognitive demand of the traffic imposed on the

driver, reflecting implicit collaboration on the driving task (see

Crundall et al., 2005). Due to the lack of situation awareness of the

interlocutor on a cell phone, modulation is unlikely in the cell

phone condition.

The design of the study was a between-subject design with

dual-task condition (cell phone vs. passenger conversation) as a

between-subjects factor. Each participant’s driving performance

was also assessed in the single-task condition (driving only). To

control for any between-subject variability we analyzed driving

behavior using the difference scores between single- and dual-task

performance for each participant.

Driving Performance

The following analyses of driving performance include data

from 41 dyads (21 passenger conversation) due to technical problems

with data collection in the driving simulator. Counterbalancing

of the task order for both conditions was not affected by this

data loss, because these dyads had identical task sequences. All of

the following driving performance analyses that compare the cell

phone and passenger conversation use difference scores between

the single- and dual-task condition for each participant, thus reflecting

the difference in impact of the two dual-task conditions.

The use of difference scores was indicated because the initial

analyses revealed some minor differences in single-task driving

performance between groups (see Table 1). Analyses of the demographic

variables revealed that the average age of driving

participants in the cell phone condition was 19.6 years (range 18 to

23) and in the passenger condition was 20.1 years (range 18 to 26).

In the cell phone condition, 10 female and 10 male drivers participated,

whereas in the passenger conversation condition, 11 female

and 10 male drivers participated. Thus, it is possible that the initial

differences in driving performance as reported in Table 1 can be

attributed to slight differences in driving experience.

Operational level of driving performance. The first analysis

focused on the drivers’ ability to stay in the center of the lane

without drifting sideways. Focusing on the RMSE between actual

vehicle position and center of the lane, we analyzed the differences

between cell phone and passenger conversation condition using a

Means and Standard Deviations for Lane Keeping, Driving Speed, and Distance for Both

Experimental Conditions and Single and Dual Task

Passenger Cell phone

Single task Dual task Single task Dual task

M ( SD ) M ( SD ) M ( SD ) M ( SD )

Lane keeping (RMSE) 0.4 (0.8) 0.4 (1.0) 0.5 (0.5) 1.0 (0.9)

Mean speed (mph) 63.8 (4.2) 63.9 (3.8) 65.8 (3.5) 65.9 (3.7)

Mean distance (meters) 72.3 (27.4) 62.1 (21.0) 63.9 (17.8) 85.3 (47.0)

Note. RMSE _ root mean standard error; mph _ miles per hour.

396 DREWS, PASUPATHI, AND STRAYER

t test. The analysis revealed a significant difference between conditions,

t (39) _ _2.1, p _ .05, Cohen’s d _ 0.7, with drivers

showing a more pronounced tendency to drift during cell phone

conversations compared to the passenger conversation condition

(see Table 1).

Tactical level of driving performance. We used a t test identical

to the one described above to analyze the differences for

average speed. The analyses revealed no changes in driving speed,

t (39) _ .1 in both conditions (see Table 1).

The next analysis focused on the distance drivers kept between

their own vehicle and vehicles ahead of them. The t test revealed

a significant difference between the two conditions, t (39) _ 2.4,

p _ .05, Cohen’s d _ 0.8, with following distance being greater in

the cell phone condition (see Table 1).

Strategic level of driving performance: Navigation. The last

part of the analysis of driving performance focused on behavior on

the strategic level (i.e., successfully accomplishing the driving task

by exiting the highway at the rest area). Figure 2 shows the number

of participants who finished the task successfully. Analyzing task

completion for cell phone conversation and passenger conversation

condition revealed a difference between the two conditions,

_2(1, N _ 40) _ 7.9, p _ .05, w _ 0.6: drivers in the cell phone

condition were four times more likely to fail task completion than

drivers in the passenger condition.

Conversation

References to traffic and turn taking. The transcripts of the

conversations were analyzed for references to traffic and number of

turns taken following an initial traffic reference that still centered on

the traffic topic. The latter indicates the extent to which the driving

task became a conversational topic in its own right, temporarily

superseding the close-call stories. The number of traffic references

in the passenger conversation condition and the cell phone conversation

condition are shown in Table 2. Clearly, fewer references

to traffic were made in the cell phone condition, t (46) _ 3.0, p _

.01, Cohen’s d _ 0.9.

To determine who initiated the reference to traffic, we analyzed

the number of initializations made in the cell phone conversation

condition and the passenger conversing condition using t tests. The

number of references by the driver did not differ, t (46) _ 1.7, p _

.1, although there was a reliable difference in the number of

references initiated by the nondriving interlocutor, t (46) _ 2.4,

p _ .05, Cohen’s d _ 0.7; with fewer references initiated in the

cell phone condition.

The next analysis focused on the number of turns between the

interlocutors who continued conversing about traffic after an initial

reference to traffic was made. The number of turns for both

conditions is shown in Table 2. Overall more than twice as many

turns occurred in the passenger condition as compared to the cell

phone condition, t (46) _ 3.4, p _ .01, Cohen’s d _ 1.0.

Production rate and complexity of speech. The final analyses

focused on the production rate of the driver and interlocutor and

the complexity of their speech (see Table 3) as a function of the

demand of the driving conditions. Because driving condition (low

and moderate demand) is added to the analyses as independent

variable analyses of variance (ANOVA) were performed. In moderately

demanding driving conditions, the production rate of the

driver decreased when talking to a passenger but increased when

talking on a cell phone as indicated by a significant interaction

between driving condition and conversation condition, F (1, 39) _

4.3, p _ .05, partial _2 _ 0.1. No differences were observed in the

nondriving interlocutors production rates for conversation condition,

demand, and the interaction (the F values for the main effects

and the interaction were all _ .16 and effect sizes, partial _2 _

.03). Analyzing the complexity of speech indicated that both

driver, F (1, 43) _ 5.5, p _ .05, partial _2 _ 0.1 and interlocutor,

F (1, 43) _ 4.8; p _ .05; partial _2 _ 0.1, responded to an increase

in the cognitive demand of driving by reducing the number of

syllables per word. Neither the main effect of conversation condition

nor the interaction reached significance.

The present study investigated how conversing with a passenger

differs from talking on a hands-free cell phone in terms of its

impact on driving performance at the operational, tactical, and

strategic level and how the dynamics of the conversations are

affected by contextual factors elicited by the driving task.

Michon (1979, 1985) suggested that lower level deficits of driving

behavior ought to affect higher level performance. The present study

provides evidence in support of this hypothesis under dual-tasking

conditions. For the cell phone condition, the data suggest that deficits

on lower levels of driving behavior also are present (though in

different form) at higher levels. For example, drivers conversing on a

cell phone showed more lane keeping variability (operational level)

than participants conversing with a passenger.

Figure 2. Participant talking on a cell phone in the I-Sim driving

Means and Standard Deviations of References to Traffic and

Turns for Both Experimental Conditions

M ( SD ) M ( SD )

References 3.8 (2.4) 2.1 (1.6)

Turns at speech 19.2 (13.8) 8.6 (6.7)

CONVERSATIONS IN SIMULATED DRIVING 397

Similarly, on the tactical level, cell phone drivers do differ from

participants in the passenger condition on some measures (e.g.,

changes in following distance). However, no changes in driving

speed were observed in the dual-task condition, seemingly at odds

with previous findings of slower driving cell phone drivers (e.g.,

Strayer & Drews, 2007; Strayer et al., 2003). One explanation for

this discrepancy could be procedural differences, with studies

demonstrating slower driving speed using a car following paradigm

as opposed to the free driving paradigm that was used here.

On the strategic level of performance, cell phone drivers performed

poorly at the navigation task. Two nonmutually exclusive

explanations can be provided for this deficit: First, drivers conversing

on a cell phone may experience problems with keeping the

intention of exiting at the rest area in working memory, or second,

drivers may not sufficiently process information from the driving

environment (exit signs). Some support for the latter hypothesis

comes from studies demonstrating inattention blindness in cell

phone drivers (Strayer et al., 2003). The performance of participants

in the passenger conversation condition indicates that these

drivers may have paid more attention to the navigation task, partly

due to the passenger. Indeed, examination of the video taped

driving segments found several instances in which the passenger

helped the driver navigate to the rest area.

Overall, the study clearly documents that relative to a driving

only condition, cell phone use negatively impacts lane keeping,

increases the headway and leads to an impairment in a navigation

task while passenger conversations have only little effect on all of

the three measures.

Contrary to prior suggestions (e.g., Crundall et al., 2005;

Gugerty, Rando, Rakauskas, Brooks, & Olson, 2003), we did not

find evidence that in-vehicle drivers and passengers were better

able to modulate their production speed to match changes in the

complexity of the driving task. Instead, we found some evidence of

modulation of the complexity of speech, indicated by syllablesper-

word, in response to the demand of the driving task. Thus, the

present findings suggest a process of modulation, but this process

is not tied to production rate as it is in the original proposal of

Gugerty et al. (2003). Contrary to Gugerty et al. this study reports

an increase in performance on the strategic level in the passenger

condition, which should not have been observed if situation awareness

had been negatively affected in both conversation conditions.

Also, quite surprisingly drivers conversing on the cell phone

increased their production rate when talking on the cell phone,

which is contrary to the predictions of the modulation hypothesis.

More interesting, this happened even as those drivers in the passenger

condition tended to reduce their production rate.

Some of the differences in findings may be explained by important

methodological differences related to the study of conversation

behavior in the context of driving. To realistically measure

the impact of a conversation on driving performance, tasks that are

not conversation tasks but traditional information processing tasks

may miss central compensatory mechanisms of conversations, thus

underestimating a conversations complex nature. Also, the use of

low-fidelity simulations in passenger conversations may have a

significant impact on the process of grounding in a conversation,

thereby not reflecting a conversation’s context that is central for

processes of allocation of attention. One issue in naturalistic conversation

revolves around managing turn-taking—and these differential

changes in production rates for drivers, changes that

depended on the nature of the conversation—may reflect differences

in how participants attempted to manage turn-taking. Drivers

on cell phones may have attempted to dominate the conversation to

avoid having to engage in speech comprehension, whereas with

in-vehicle partners, it may be easier to relinquish control, given

that the partner can be relied on to accommodate with his or her

contributions.

The conversation data suggest that passengers take an active

role in supporting the driver as indicated by passengers more

frequently talking about the surrounding traffic. It seems likely that

a passenger supports the driver by directing attention to the surrounding

traffic when perceived necessary. As mentioned above,

this conclusion is also supported by the analysis of the video

recordings (in some cases passengers mentioned the exit sign or

pointed to the exit). Thus, the higher driving performance in the

passenger condition is due in part to the shared situation awareness

between driver and passenger due to grounding. This interpretation

is also supported by the reliable difference in traffic references

initiated by the passenger and the cell phone interlocutor.

In addition, the results provide evidence for even more subtle

support between interlocutors. In both dual-task conditions, there

is evidence that interlocutors respond to an increase in the cognitive

demand from the driving context by reducing the complexity

of their utterances. This difference seems to be driven by changes

in the complexity of utterances by the driver because the conversation

partner on the cell phone cannot be aware of changes in the

driving environment.

Means and Standard Deviations for Production and Complexity for Driver and Passenger in

Both Experimental Conditions and Low Demand and Moderate Demand Driving Scenarios

Low demand Moderate demand Low demand Moderate demand

Driver Productiona 4.1 (1.0) 3.6 (1.0) 3.8 (0.9) 4.2 (1.8)

Complexityb 1.3 (0.2) 1.1 (0.3) 1.2 (0.1) 1.0 (0.4)

Passenger Productiona 3.7 (1.6) 4.0 (1.2) 3.8 (1.4) 3.6 (0.9)

Complexityb 1.2 (0.1) 1.1 (0.3) 1.3 (0.2) 1.1 (0.4)

a Given in syllable per second. b Given in syllable per word.

398 DREWS, PASUPATHI, AND STRAYER

The results also draw an intriguing picture about the allocation

of attention under dual-tasking conditions: Two similar situations

with identical tasks and instructions lead to fundamentally different

performance outcomes indicating that contextual variables can

have a significant impact on overall performance.

The present findings are of theoretical and applied importance.

On the theoretical side they raise general questions about how

much current models of attention predict performance of dyads or

groups in complex environments with regard to the allocation of

attention (see Cooke, Salas, Cannon-Bowers, & Stout, 2000).

Models of attention traditionally focus on individuals; however,

conceptualizing shared attention is of importance for any general

theory of attention. Of more specific theoretical importance here,

is the question of the mechanisms involved in the above processes:

Does a passenger just provide cues that help to optimize the

allocation of attention or does the passenger qualitatively change

the way that a driver allocates attention, thereby creating a form of

joint or distributed attention?

On the practical side, the findings allow predictions about how

contexts can negatively affect dual-task performance. On one

hand, passengers not engaged in the driving task either because

they are not able to direct the attention of the driver toward traffic,

or do not know how to identify important events in the driving

environment (e.g., children in the vehicle) have a potentially

negative impact on driving performance. On the other hand, it is

possible that overengagement can also have a potentially negative

impact. For example a passenger who is too “supportive” by

constantly commenting and directing attention in an overcontrolling

fashion has a potentially negative impact on performance.

In conclusion, the data indicate that cell phone and passenger

conversation differ in their impact on a driver’s performance

and that these differences are apparent at the operational, tactical,

and strategic levels of performance. The difference between

these two modes of communication stems in large part

from the changes in the difference in the structure of cell phone

and passenger conversation and the degree to which the conversing

dyad shares attention.

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Received January 26, 2007

Revision received June 5, 2008

Accepted June 9, 2008 _

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Research Article

Comparing modern identification methods for wild bees: Metabarcoding and image-based morphological taxonomic assignment

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Oregon Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Bend, Oregon, United States of America

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Validation, Writing – original draft

Affiliation Fort Collins Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America

Roles Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – original draft

Affiliation Columbia Environmental Research Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America

Roles Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Upper Midwest Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Lansing, Michigan, United States of America

Affiliation California Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Sacramento, California, United States of America

Roles Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – review & editing

Roles Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Central Midwest Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Iowa City, Iowa, United States of America

Roles Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Project administration, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation New Jersey Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Lawrenceville, New Jersey, United States of America

Cassandra D. Smith,
Robert S. Cornman,
Jennifer A. Fike,
Johanna M. Kraus,
Sara J. Oyler-McCance,
Carrie E. Givens,
Michelle L. Hladik,
Mark W. Vandever,
Dana W. Kolpin,
Kelly L. Smalling

Published: April 2, 2024
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301474
Reader Comments

With the decline of bee populations worldwide, studies determining current wild bee distributions and diversity are increasingly important. Wild bee identification is often completed by experienced taxonomists or by genetic analysis. The current study was designed to compare two methods of identification including: (1) morphological identification by experienced taxonomists using images of field-collected wild bees and (2) genetic analysis of composite bee legs (multiple taxa) using metabarcoding. Bees were collected from conservation grasslands in eastern Iowa in summer 2019 and identified to the lowest taxonomic unit using both methods. Sanger sequencing of individual wild bee legs was used as a positive control for metabarcoding. Morphological identification of bees using images resulted in 36 unique taxa among 22 genera, and >80% of Bombus specimens were identified to species. Metabarcoding was limited to genus-level assignments among 18 genera but resolved some morphologically similar genera. Metabarcoding did not consistently detect all genera in the composite samples, including kleptoparasitic bees. Sanger sequencing showed similar presence or absence detection results as metabarcoding but provided species-level identifications for cryptic species (i.e., Lasioglossum ). Genus-specific detections were more frequent with morphological identification than metabarcoding, but certain genera such as Ceratina and Halictus were identified equally well with metabarcoding and morphology. Genera with proportionately less tissue in a composite sample were less likely to be detected using metabarcoding. Image-based methods were limited by image quality and visible morphological features, while genetic methods were limited by databases, primers, and amplification at target loci. This study shows how an image-based identification method compares with genetic techniques, and how in combination, the methods provide valuable genus- and species-level information for wild bees while preserving tissue for other analyses. These methods could be improved and transferred to a field setting to advance our understanding of wild bee distributions and to expedite conservation research.

Citation: Smith CD, Cornman RS, Fike JA, Kraus JM, Oyler-McCance SJ, Givens CE, et al. (2024) Comparing modern identification methods for wild bees: Metabarcoding and image-based morphological taxonomic assignment. PLoS ONE 19(4): e0301474. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301474

Editor: Mathieu Lihoreau, CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, FRANCE

Received: May 16, 2023; Accepted: March 15, 2024; Published: April 2, 2024

This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.

Data Availability: All data supporting this report are within its Supporting Information files or in public repositories. Public repositories include two U.S. Geological Survey data releases (Smith et al., 2023; Fike et al., 2023), and NCBI under BioProject PRJNA892648. Smith CD, Kraus JM, Vandever M, Smalling K. Images and Identifications of Wild Bees Collected in Eastern Iowa, 2019: U.S. Geological Survey data release. 2023; 10.5066/F72B8WXK . Fike JA, Cornman RS, Oyler-McCance SJ. Voucher and metagenetic sequencing of DNA barcodes of wild-collected bees (Apoidea) from Iowa, USA. U.S. Geological Survey data release. 2023. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA892648/ .

Funding: This research was funded by the US Geological Survey Ecosystems Mission Area Environmental Health Program ( https://www.usgs.gov/programs/environmental-health-program ). The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

Pollination of wild plants and agricultural crops is a highly valuable ecosystem service worldwide [ 1 ]. Managed pollinators (e.g., honey bees) efficiently pollinate many crop types and are adaptable to various habitats [ 2 ]. Additionally, pollination by wild bees increases some crop production [ 2 , 3 ], and wild bee diversity may provide resilience as threats to managed pollinators continue to increase [ 1 , 4 ]. Habitat loss and degradation, in addition to intensive agriculture practices such as pesticide use, stress wild bees and can cause mortality [ 5 , 6 ]. Conserving wild bee habitats in agricultural landscapes, however, can increase wild bee diversity and abundance [ 7 , 8 ].

Considering that many bee populations are in decline, monitoring their ranges and the effects of conservation practices on abundance and richness are crucial for managing their recovery [ 9 ]. Basic information about wild bee distribution is limited in many regions of the world [ 10 , 11 ] in part because of the taxonomic expertise and funding necessary for identification [ 10 ]. The traditional method of identifying wild bees requires expert taxonomists to study pinned specimens under a microscope while referencing detailed dichotomous keys [ 12 – 14 ]. For many wild bee species, identification may be based on morphological features that are difficult to discern, and the time-intensive method creates backlogs that can delay pollinator research [ 14 – 16 ]. Bee dissection may be required for identification through the traditional method [ 17 , 18 ], and the pinning and identification process results in dry specimens which are unsuitable for other purposes, such as the analysis of pesticides or microorganisms of interest.

Alternative methods for identification could expedite studies, reduce costs, maintain sample integrity, and obtain multiple types of information from a single bee specimen. Both photographic and molecular metabarcoding methods can provide low-level taxonomic information regarding wild bees in a potentially less time-intensive and less destructive manner compared to the often-preferred pinning-based approach. Photographs can be used to identify many wild bees to genera and sometimes to species level [ 14 , 19 , 20 ]. Image-based identifications are limited by factors such as image quality (e.g., color saturation), condition of bee, and visible morphological features. Additionally, the photographer must know the unique features to photograph, requiring some taxonomic expertise [ 19 ]. While collecting wild bees for scientific studies should be done thoughtfully [ 21 ], some study questions require physical samples of bee tissue, and image-based identifications can preserve specimens for those analyses.

Sequencing DNA “barcodes” (i.e., taxonomically informative genetic loci that can be amplified with a single primer set) has the potential to accurately identify bees, including cryptic species (e.g., Lasioglossum and Andrena ), quickly and inexpensively [ 15 , 22 , 23 ]. Molecular methods have been used reliably to identify honey bees since the 1990s [ 24 ]. The utility of molecular techniques for taxonomic identification, however, depends on the existence of DNA sequences from vouchered specimens to provide a reference library for comparison. While such sequences do exist in reference libraries for numerous bee species, databases remain incomplete for many North American wild bees [ 23 , 25 ]. This limitation is likely to be reduced in the future as regional studies are actively adding to and refining the Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) [ 26 ] and other repositories (e.g., GenBank) for wild bee DNA sequences [ 15 , 25 , 27 ]. Metabarcoding, which involves sequencing many independent copies of a barcode locus to identify species in a composite sample, has the potential for even faster and cheaper taxonomic characterizations. Metabarcoding will become more useful as databases are expanded [ 12 ] and primer specificity is refined. Studies with limited funding could analyze composite bee samples via DNA metabarcoding instead of genetically analyzing individual bees, depending on the bee species collected and study objectives.

Here we compared image-based bee identification (hereafter referred to as morphological identification) and metabarcoding approaches to identifying wild bee taxa while preserving the tissues for other analyses (e.g., Hladik et al. [ 28 ]), summarizing the relative strengths and weaknesses of both methods. Wild bees were collected from Iowa as part of a study designed to understand the effects of land use and pesticide exposure on bee health and diversity (see [ 28 , 29 ]). The hypotheses addressed in this study included: (1) there would be general agreement among the two identification methods, (2) the morphological identification would provide definitive information on the presence of specific taxa, and (3) the molecular data would resolve some cryptic species that were indiscernible from the images using the photographic approach. This study assessed non-traditional identification methods that make efficient use of collected bee specimens and discusses the most applicable identification method for future field studies of wild bees [ 13 ].

Materials and methods

Specimen collection.

Hectare (100 × 100 m) plots were established in 24 conservation grassland fields in eastern Iowa. Pollinators were collected from the 24 study fields over 8 consecutive days in July 2019 and again over 7 consecutive days in August 2019, resulting in 48 site visits. Sweep nets were used to collect pollinators from each quadrant (50 × 50 m) of the hectare within each field for 15 minutes (min), not including handling time, for a total of 1 hour per hectare. Floral resources and bees were targeted during the sweep-net activity. Pollinators collected with sweep nets were placed in clean plastic bags and immediately frozen. Sampling details are further described in Kraus et al. [ 29 ].

Morphological identification

Following collection, specimens remained frozen in a conventional freezer (-20°C) during processing to maintain sample integrity for companion pesticide and microbial analysis of bee tissue [ 28 ]. The bee carapace, however, was allowed to thaw slightly for 1–2 min before images were taken. Each bee was photographed from several angles using an AmScope microscope fitted with an MU1400 digital camera (20X magnification; Fig 1 ). Bee images were used for morphological identification to the lowest taxonomic unit based on keys including DiscoverLife, and an expert (S. Droege) validated each identification [ 30 , 31 ]. The intertegular distance (ITD) [ 32 ] of each bee was measured using the AmScope microscope and calibrated ruler. Bees were then categorized as large (>3 mm) or small (≤3 mm) based on measured ITDs to standardize the tissue mass of individual bees represented in a sample. Size thresholds were based on honey bees, which are generally considered medium-sized bees; three honey bee ITDs were measured in this study (average = 3.03 mm).

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301474.g001

Molecular approaches

For DNA metabarcoding, a leg from each individual bee collected at a site visit was removed. Legs of large bees and small bees from each site visit were composited separately ( Fig 1 ; n = 86 composite vials: 42 large and 44 small). Composite samples ranged from 1 to 73 bee legs (mean = 14 bee legs per composite vial), and the number of bee legs in a composite vial was determined by the number of small or large bees collected at that site visit. Honey bees ( Apis mellifera ) were easily identified morphologically and were not photographed, but Apis bees were included in analyses. Apis bees were counted and recorded from each site, and a leg was included from each Apis bee in the large vial for DNA analysis since the average of 3 honey bee ITDs was >3 mm.

To test the efficacy of the metabarcoding approach, and to act as a positive control for both methods, we also sequenced a subset of bee legs individually using standard Sanger sequencing approaches (i.e., DNA barcoding [ 33 ]). This subset of samples had been identified by image-based morphology and was used to confirm that the trained assignment algorithm used for metabarcoding had high success on local populations. These samples were also used to identify instances of morphological-genetic discordance that require further effort to resolve. For Sanger sequencing, a total of 69 bees collected from five site visits with relatively high diversity were selected. A second leg was removed from each bee and placed in an individual vial (i.e., tissue from one bee per vial) for sequencing ( Fig 1 ).

DNA was isolated from composite samples and individual bee legs using a DNeasy Blood and Tissue Kit (Qiagen), following the protocol for the purification of DNA from nails, hair, or feathers. All vials were checked to ensure the bee legs were completely submerged in the lysis buffer; more lysis buffer was added to cover the legs, if needed. Samples were then homogenized by vortexing. DNA was eluted in 120 μL Buffer AE; all samples were eluted in the same volume of Buffer AE regardless of the amount of starting tissue. Negative controls with no tissue added were included during DNA extraction to monitor for sample contamination. Samples were quantified using a Qubit Broad Range DNA Assay (Life Technologies). Using this method, DNA quantifications ranged from about 0.05 to 49.6 ng/μL.

Sanger sequencing of individual bees.

For the individual bee legs, two mtDNA regions were amplified and sequenced each using two different sets of primers. The cytochrome c oxidase I (CO1) region was assessed using the primer pairs: (1) LCO1490 and HCO2198 [ 34 ] (hereafter called “Folmer primers”), which amplify a ~658 bp region, and (2) LepF and mlCO1intBeeR [ 11 ] (hereafter called “Tang primers”), which amplify a ~319 bp region ( S1 Table ). The 16S gene was also examined using two primer pairs: (1) Ins16S_F1short and Ins16S_R1short [ 35 ] (hereafter called “Clarke primers”), which amplify a ~156 bp region, and (2) LR13943F and LR13392R [ 36 ] (hereafter called “Costa primers”), which amplify a ~550 bp region. All amplifications were performed in 25 μL reactions consisting of 2 μL of template DNA, 0.2 mM of each dNTP, 0.5 μM forward primer, 0.5 μM reverse primer, 1.25 U GoTaq Flexi DNA polymerase (Promega), 1.5 mM MgCl 2 , and 1X GoTaq Flexi Buffer (Promega). Amplification reactions began with an initial 2-min dissociation step at 94°C, followed by 35 cycles of 94°C for 1 min, 90 seconds (sec) at the locus-specific annealing temperature (42°C for Costa primers; 46°C for Folmer and Tang primers; 58°C for Clarke primers), and a 2-min extension step at 72°C. A final extension step of 72°C was performed for 10 min. To verify PCR amplification success, 5 μL of PCR product was electrophoresed through a 2% agarose gel stained with ethidium bromide and visualized under UV light. The PCR products were purified for sequencing by the addition of 5 U exonuclease I and 0.5 U shrimp alkaline phosphatase and a subsequent 37°C incubation for 30–45 min. These two enzymes were denatured by a 15 min incubation at 80°C. Sequencing was performed for both directions in 10 μL reactions consisting of 2 μL prepared template, 0.5 μM of either forward or reverse primer, and 0.5 μL BigDye v3.1 (Applied Biosystems) in 1X sequencing buffer. Sequencing reactions were cleaned following the manufacturer’s protocol for ethanol/EDTA/sodium acetate precipitation. Purified sequenced products were run on an AB3500 Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems). The resulting chromatograms were manually edited and assembled using Sequencher 5.0 (Gene Codes).

Metabarcoding composite bee samples

The four primer pairs used for Sanger sequencing were also tested for metabarcoding of the composite bee samples. Each locus was PCR-amplified in triplicate. This PCR amplified the region of interest and added the Illumina sequencing adaptors using 3 μL of composite DNA diluted to 2 ng/μL as template. This was done in 25 μL reactions with 0.5 μM forward primer+adaptor, 0.5 μM reverse primer+adaptor, 12.5 μL KAPA2G Fast HotStart ReadyMix (KAPA Biosystems), and 0.25 μL BSA (New England Biolabs). Amplification conditions for this PCR were: 95°C for 2 min, then 25 cycles of 95°C for 45 sec, 45 sec at the locus-specific annealing temperatures given above, and 72°C for 90 sec for 25 cycles, with a final 72°C extension phase for 2 min. Triplicate PCRs were pooled per primer pair. To verify amplification, 5 μL of reaction products were visualized on 2% agarose gels stained with ethidium bromide.

The four primer pairs were sequenced in two runs on a MiSeq (Illumina). The first run consisted of the Folmer and Costa primers, and the second run included the Tang and Clarke primers. For each run, equal amounts of the two loci were combined per sample, cleaned with an UltraClean 96 PCR Clean-up kit (Qiagen), and eluted in 30 μL water. Each sample was individually barcoded with Nextera XT dual-index primers (Illumina). The 50 μL dual indexing PCR consisted of 5 μL of cleaned adaptor PCR, 5 μL of Index 1, 5 μL of Index 2, 25 μL of 2xKAPA HiFi HotStart ReadyMix (KAPA Biosystems), and 10 μL PCR-grade water. Amplification conditions were as follows: 95°C for 3 min, then 8 cycles of 95°C for 30 sec, 55°C for 30 sec, and 72°C for 30 sec, with a final extension at 72°C for 5 min. The indexed PCR was cleaned with an UltraClean 96 PCR Clean-up kit (Qiagen) and eluted in 50 μL water. Samples were quantified using a Qubit Broad Range DNA Assay (Life Technologies) and pooled based on their quantification. The pooled sample was quantified using a Qubit Broad Range DNA Assay (Life Technologies) and diluted to a concentration of 2 nM. The final library preps were denatured and diluted to 4 pM, spiked with 15% PhiX control (Illumina), and sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq with either a 300-cycle paired end run (Run 1) or a 250-cycle paired end run (Run 2).

Initial evaluation of metabarcode loci.

Using bbduk ( https://jgi.doe.gov/data-and-tools/software-tools/bbtools/ ), read pairs were binned by locus by matching forward primer sequences, then trimmed of low-quality bases (Phred-scaled score less than 10) as well as sequences external to the primers (kmer size set to 11). Loci were then processed differently according to expected product size. Read pairs from the Tang primer set were merged with vsearch using a minimum overlap of 80 and a maximum difference of 7.5% in the overlap. Folmer read pairs were not merged as the expected product size was greater than the combined read length, and Costa read pairs were also left unmerged as the expected overlap was too small to reliably merge. Only the forward read was analyzed for the Clarke primer set due to short length of the expected product. Forward reads or merged sequences from each locus were then clustered at 98% using vsearch with divergence measured by edit distance (“iddef” set to 1). The size of each cluster was propagated through each vsearch step, and small clusters (less than 10 sequences) were subsequently dropped within samples to mitigate sample ‘crosstalk’ (i.e., the misassignment of reads to the wrong sample due to index read errors; see [ 37 ]). For each locus, the resulting clusters were searched against NCBI’s nucleotide (nt) database, and an initial assessment of taxonomic resolution was performed using a lowest common ancestor (LCA) approach: each cluster was assigned to the LCA in the NCBI taxonomy scheme of all taxa with alignment bit scores within 3% of the top score. A single threshold bit score of 100 was used to filter matches across all loci. For loci analyzed as read pairs, bit scores were summed across matches for each read in the pair as described in Cornman et al. [ 38 ].

Taxonomic assignment of Folmer metabarcode sequences

After the initial evaluation of metabarcoding primer sets, only the Folmer primers were selected for further analysis as the read counts and assessed taxonomic diversity at the other loci were substantially lower. This initial evaluation also revealed some potential Wolbachia contamination with the Folmer primers; therefore, the most frequently matched Wolbachia accession (JN625842.1) was used as a reference to remove clusters that aligned at 95% identity or greater. As an additional contaminant screen, any Folmer sequence that was not assigned within phylum Arthropoda by Ribosomal Database Project Classifier (RDP) [ 39 ] using the CO1v4 training set [ 40 ] at a minimum threshold of 0.8 (see below) was also excluded.

At this stage, Folmer read clustering was refined using the amplicon variant method implemented in swarm [ 41 ] in which exact low-abundance clusters are grafted to nearby exact high-abundance clusters. Chimeras were flagged using the default settings of the uchime_ref command of vsearch, with the inclusive database (described below) specified as the reference. To allow kmer-based taxonomic assignment methods such as RDP [ 39 ] and the Simple Non-Bayesian Taxonomy classifier (SINTAX) [ 42 ] to be evaluated for this locus, the representative sequence of each forward-read cluster generated by swarm was scaffolded with its reverse read using vsearch and a linker sequence of 15 N’s [ 43 ]. Raw Folmer read pairs are available from NCBI under BioProject PRJNA892648.

A custom reference database for taxonomic analysis was generated based on a checklist of regional bee species: the list of 376 bee species in Iowa was compiled using the DiscoverLife database and information from local experts with vouchered collections ( S2 Table ). Linnaean species names from the checklist were matched to the corresponding taxonomic IDs in NCBI’s taxonomy database, which can subsequently be used to select or exclude any taxonomically linked sequences in GenBank. Candidate accessions for the database were identified by initially searching the nt database with BLASTN, using default parameters but with low-complexity filtering disabled and a maximum of 25 matches reported. Matched sequences within order Hymenoptera were extracted from the nt database and subset to the coordinates reported by BLAST.

Sequences were also obtained from the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD) [ 26 ] on February 10, 2022, using Hymenoptera and United States as initial search criteria. Only CO1 sequences with taxonomies matching the expected species list were retained. Reference sequences were aligned with mafft [ 44 ] and then visually oriented and reviewed in BioEdit [ 45 ] to remove sequences external to the primers as well as references with excessive numbers of ambiguous characters; the maximum proportion of ambiguous characters after this step was 4%.

Two variations of the custom database were investigated: (1) an inclusive version that used 1,352 GenBank sequences of 115 taxa with a minimum length of 250 bases and (2) a more curated version that used 578 sequences of 81 taxa drawn from both GenBank and BOLD databases, requiring a higher length threshold of 400 bases as well as dereplication by species ( S3 Table ). Groups of reference sequences with the same taxonomic ID were dereplicated with the “derep_fulllength” command of vsearch. Three taxonomic assignment methodologies were investigated: (1) RDP [ 39 ] with the CO1v4 training of Porter and Hajibabei [ 40 ], (2) SINTAX [ 42 ] implemented in vsearch, and (3) the LCA method using the non-overlapping read method [ 38 ]. RDP and SINTAX assignment thresholds were set to 0.8. Both the inclusive and curated databases were formatted for SINTAX by extracting the NCBI taxonomic hierarchy of each accession for standard ranks (phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species). The LCA method was implemented using either the curated database or NCBI’s nt database (download date January 11, 2021), and for the latter database, with or without filtering based on the taxonomic identifiers of the regional bee species. The assigned taxon was the lowest common ancestor of accessions scoring within 3% of the best score (total number of matched bases). To be conservative, species-level assignments with an average percent identity among matching accessions less than 96% were demoted to genus, whereas genus-level assignments with an average percent identity less than 92% were demoted to family.

In total, six distinct workflows were used to generate an aggregate counts table at the genus level, which were then compared to identify the most consistent methods and taxa ( S4 Table ). The LCA method was performed using BLAST match scores derived three different ways: 1) from searching the full nt database, 2) from searching the full nt database but then subsequently filtering matches to include only accessions of taxa that were on the regional bee list described above, and 3) using only the curated database of NCBI and BOLD sequences. Three kmer-based assignment methods were used: the RDP Classifier [ 39 ] with the COIv4 training set available at https://github.com/terrimporter/CO1Classifier/releases , the SINTAX classifier [ 42 ] with the NCBI-derived 1,352-sequence database, and the SINTAX classifier with the curated 578-sequence database. For the kmer-based methods, the highest-resolution assignment scoring above 0.8 (RDP) or 0.9 (SINTAX) was chosen. Based on this comparison, we conservatively chose to generate a sample-level counts table for analysis using the LCA method with the custom regional database ( S3 Table ), as this method did not make any assignments unsupported by the majority of methods. As high-quality genetic sequences are available for most bumblebee species found in Iowa, we used explicitly phylogenetic assessments to determine if metabarcode sequences assigned to Bombus could be further binned to species post hoc.

Statistical analyses.

To determine how frequently metabarcoding and morphological identification detected specific genera, a paired sample t-test was used to compare the number of times each genus was detected in samples. A Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to test if the proportion of bee legs in a composite vial of a given genus affected whether that genus was detected with metabarcoding. Results from the two identification methods were compared to the subset of Sanger sequencing validation results. Comparisons assessed: (1) the frequency that genera were detected through the two methods and validation and (2) the number of genus-level assignments of individuals at the site visit for morphological identification and Sanger sequencing validation results. Five bees could not be morphologically separated between Heriades , Hoplitis , and Osmia , and three bees could not be separated between Epeolus and Triepeolus ; those eight bees were not included in genus-level comparisons. Bee DNA was not detected through metabarcoding in two composite vials of small legs [ 46 ] (National Center for Biotechnology Information [NCBI] BioProject: PRJNA892648); these two vials were not included in genus-level comparisons. All statistical tests were completed in Microsoft Excel and R [ 47 ].

Of the four primer pairs tested in this study, only the Folmer primers were selected for analysis because they achieved a high proportion of species assignments (80.7% compared with 28.7% with Clarke primers) and substantially higher taxonomic diversity than the other loci tested during preliminary analyses. Furthermore, Apis mellifera constituted 44.1% of all species-level reads with the Clarke primers but only 16.7% with the Folmer primers, suggesting that Folmer primers led to higher amplification of non-honey bee DNA compared with Clarke primers. Additional important considerations were the greater availability of reference sequences for cytochrome oxidase sequences than 16S sequences [ 48 ] and the availability of a pre-trained, arthropod-rich assignment method for CO1 to benchmark assignment methods [ 40 ]. All results and interpretations reported in this study are for the CO1 region using the Folmer primers.

Bees were captured during 47 of 48 site visits: 1,072 wild bees and 119 honey bees were morphologically identified and submitted for genetic analyses. Morphological identification of wild bees resulted in 22 genera and 36 unique taxa [ 31 ]. More than 80% of Bombus bees (n = 425) were identified to species by the images; the remaining 20% were either too damaged or could not be distinguished between B . pensylvanicus and B . auricomus . Eight bees were not identified to genus using morphology. Metabarcoding identification resulted in genus-level assignments for 18 genera ( S5 Table ). Amplification did not occur in two vials (1 small vial with 9 legs and 1 small vial with 8 legs); therefore, taxa were not detected using metabarcoding for those vials. Genera not identified with metabarcoding but were morphologically identified included Coelioxys , Epeolus , Hylaeus , Nomia , Peponapis , and Triepeolus . Sphecodes (n = 1) was not identified by morphology but was identified through metabarcoding. Some genera ( Hoplitis , Heriades , and Osmia ) were indistinguishable from the images alone for five bees; however, metabarcoding was able to differentiate those five bees and assign a genus, increasing genera richness at one site visit.

Numerous reference sequences were present in the reference database for Iowa Bombus species, but most taxonomic assignments were at the genus level. This indicates that the Bombus sequences detected by metabarcoding typically aligned with similar scores to multiple species. In other words, the barcode gap [ 49 ] between plausible Bombus taxa was not high enough at this locus using this method (3% LCA) to differentiate Bombus species routinely.

Morphological identifications and metabarcoding detections agreed in the number of genera and the specific genera present in 44% of the composite vials analyzed. Within the composite vials, a maximum of 6 and 9 genera were identified using DNA metabarcoding and morphological identification, respectively. Among the composite vials comprised of small legs, there were 105 instances when the morphological identification agreed with the metabarcoding identification and 55 instances when identifications misaligned (i.e., the genus was detected in only one of the two methods). There were fewer misalignments (26%) in composite vials with large legs.

Morphological identification yielded higher genera richness at 32 site visits, the same richness at 15 site visits, and never yielded fewer genera compared to the metabarcoding data ( Fig 2 and S1 Fig ). For site visit comparisons, the number of bee genera detected with the morphological method was always greater than or equal to the number of bee genera detected with metabarcoding. On average, the morphological identification method identified 1.3 more genera than metabarcoding per site visit.

Comparisons were made for 47 site visits where bees were captured. Most site visits included both a large and a small composite vial. Positive values along the x-axis indicated how many additional genera were identified using morphological identification compared to metabarcoding.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301474.g002

As expected based on these results, genera had differing detection rates using morphological identification and metabarcoding methods ( Fig 3 ). Genera-specific detections were more frequent with morphological identification than metabarcoding (t = -2.497; p = 0.02). Bombus bees were morphologically identified in 42 samples, and the genus was detected with metabarcoding in 86% of the corresponding composite vials. Lasioglossum was detected in 72% of the composite vials where Lasioglossum was morphologically identified. Andrena had the lowest percent detection with metabarcoding compared to morphological identification (19%). Other genera (including Ceratina and Halictus ) were identified with metabarcoding 100% of the time they were identified morphologically.

Bees were morphologically identified using images, and a leg from each bee was composited. Vials contained composite bee legs from one or more genera, and genera richness was assessed in each sample that had a genetic detection (n = 84).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301474.g003

As the proportion of bee legs per genus was known for each composite vial with genetic detections (n = 84 composite vials), the relationship between this measure of relative abundance in the original sample and frequency of genetic detection could be assessed. The mean proportion of legs per vial for genera that were not detected through metabarcoding was lower than the mean proportion of legs per vial for genera that were detected through metabarcoding (W = 3277; p <0.001; Fig 4 ). This indicated that genera with proportionately less tissue in a given vial were less likely to be detected through metabarcoding. On average, the genera that were detected with metabarcoding represented 41% of the bee legs in a vial. However, proportions ranged from 0.01 to 1.00 for both detections and non-detections. Apis mellifera were collected at seven site visits in July and nine site visits in August. The metabarcoding method and primer appeared to be highly sensitive to Apis DNA. The proportion of Apis legs in large vials ranged from 0.03–0.87, and the Apis genus was identified at all sites where those bees had been captured and even one additional site where Apis bees were not morphologically identified.

Box and whisker plots depict the median ( horizontal line within the box), mean (x within the box), first quartile (bottom line of box), third quartile (top line of box), minimum value (bottom whisker), and maximum value (top whisker) unless the values are outliers (greater than 1.5 times the interquartile range above the third quartile, shown as points above top whisker).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301474.g004

A maximum of 4 genera were not identified in a composite vial using metabarcoding ( S2 Fig ). One genus was not detected through metabarcoding in the large vial with 73 bee legs; this vial contained mostly Bombus legs and 3 morphologically identified genera. Conversely, 4 genera were not detected through metabarcoding in the small vial that contained 72 legs and 9 morphologically identified genera. The composite vials where >2 genera were not identified each had >20 bee legs in the sample.

There were some inconsistencies with both identification methods. For instance, in the composite vial of small legs from site visit A_582, 7 Melissodes ( M . bimaculatus [ 2 ]; M . desponsus [ 2 ]; and M . trinodis [ 3 ]) were morphologically identified, and the genus was detected through metabarcoding. However, five Melissodes ( M . bimaculatus [ 1 ]; M . desponsus [ 4 ]) were morphologically identified in the composite vial of large legs, but the genus was not detected through metabarcoding. Conversely, there were eight composite vials where metabarcoding detected a genus that was not identified using morphology.

In this study, 69 individual bee legs were analyzed with Sanger sequencing as a positive control for both morphological analysis and metabarcoding, but 3 individual legs were removed from analyses because both the morphological identification and sequence were unavailable. Of the 66 remaining legs, 46 were assigned to genus or species using the same method as for metabarcode sequences, and 4 were assigned at the family level. Amplification with the Folmer primers was not successful for the other 16 samples; therefore, a sequence could not be generated and thus no taxon assigned. Sanger sequence assignments and morphological identification had species-level agreement for 29 bees, and another 15 bees agreed at the genus level. Sanger sequences gave species-level assignments for 11 bees when morphological identification only assigned genus-level, especially for Lasioglossum ( Table 1 ). Examining results from the two genetic techniques showed that metabarcoding was generally validated by the Sanger sequencing.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301474.t001

In this study, image-based morphological identification and metabarcoding approaches were successfully used to identify wild bees collected from the field. However, most bee studies will likely rely on only one identification method (morphological or genetic sequencing), and results from this study show the strengths and weaknesses of each method for wild bees. Specifically, we found that DNA metabarcoding is quicker and often less expensive (when considering the time needed for morphological identification) than morphological identification, but additional data, such as abundance, gender, lower taxonomic resolution (in some cases), and positive identification of all taxa (i.e., even those that might not amplify), can be gained from the morphological method ( Table 2 ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301474.t002

Due to the objectives of the larger study of which this work was a part (i.e., the need to preserve the bee tissues for additional analyses; [ 28 , 29 ]), the specimens had to be frozen immediately after field collection and could not be pinned or examined under a microscope. Photographing and assigning the lowest taxonomic unit using dichotomous keys and expert advice was moderately time intensive (~4 months for this study); however, the processing steps (e.g., photographing and sorting by potential taxa) completed by an amateur taxonomist greatly reduced the amount of time needed from an expert taxonomist compared to the traditional pinning identification method. Factors including ice crystals, pollen, color saturation, magnification, and specimen damage during freezing obscured some diagnostic features, preventing identification to species in many cases. Morphological identification resulted in species-level assignments for 65% of all bees and >80% of Bombus bees. Additional information, including the intertegular distance (which is correlated to mass and foraging distance; [ 50 , 51 ]) and bee gender for sexually dimorphic species, could be obtained from the images, and the images provided a publicly available reference database [ 31 ]. Richness and abundance data from the morphological identification method can also be used to calculate diversity indices (see [ 29 ]), which would not be possible with the richness-only results from metabarcoding.

Identification through DNA metabarcoding relies on comparison to sequences in currently accessible databases [ 12 , 13 , 23 , 52 ], which is lacking for some taxa. Most sequences can currently be attributed to genus level; however, assignments will improve as additional sequences are added to public databases ( S2 Table ). The six genera of wild bees not identified with metabarcoding were uncommon and only accounted for 17 bees photographed in the study. However, Coelioxys , Epeolus , and Triepeolus genera may be disproportionately important to identify in ecological studies because they are kleptoparasitic (or brood parasitic) bees that indicate parasite-host interactions are occurring [ 53 ]. Few Epeolus (n = 3) and Coelioxys (n = 1) sequences were available in GenBank for the regional bee species of Iowa, and no sequences were available for Triepeolus , showing a bias in GenBank for more common bees. Even if high-quality sequences are available for a group of interest (e.g., Bombus ), species separation may only be attainable by targeting multiple loci [ 12 ]. Targeting sequences in bees and other hymenopterans through metabarcoding can be challenging because of their lower affinity to universal CO1 primers [ 54 ]. Future metabarcoding analyses could be improved by in silico design of primers for various subclades of bees from full mitogenomes and tested on mixtures and through the optimization of primers used to amplify the CO1 gene [ 22 ].

Of the four common primer sets tested in this study, the Folmer primers worked best for metabarcoding, resulting in many long reads that could be robustly assigned to genus. Well-performing primers, however, are only useful if amplification bias is tolerable and adequate reference sequences are available, emphasizing the value of reference collections and whole mitogenome sequencing (e.g., The Beenome100 Project) to establish primer-agnostic databases (in contrast to BOLD, for instance). Recent genomic bee studies have shown that metabarcoding composite samples can produce similar results as morphological identification [ 11 , 12 ]. Both studies used expert identification of bees using traditional methods to test the utility of metabarcoding using either 28S [ 12 ] or the entire mitochondrial genome [ 11 ]. Similar to the current study, results from composite samples provided general agreement with expert taxonomy, and both were able to assign species level identification in many cases.

An important consideration for this and future studies is that the identification methods were conservative in terms of tissue destruction and preservation, ensuring the integrity of the bee tissue for use in companion analyses (e.g., pesticide and/or microbial analyses). While these identification methods would allow multiple types of information to be collected from each bee, the bees were still sacrificed for the study. Future identification methods that do not require sacrificing the subjects may include photographing in the field [ 14 , 19 , 20 ] or bee eDNA collection in air [ 55 ], soil [ 56 ], or on flowers [ 57 ]. Our study finds that using image-based morphological identification and metabarcoding identification techniques together provide more overall information on wild bee diversity with higher degrees of confidence. These techniques can be transferred to the field by pairing camera traps and eDNA metabarcoding [ 57 ] to provide diversity data without having to capture and sacrifice wild bees. Thus, the results from this study can help inform and guide best practices for bee identification for future research.

Compared to Sanger sequencing of individual bees, using metabarcoding in composite vials of bee legs vastly reduced the number of samples to be analyzed. Some genera were not detected possibly due to primers not working well on certain species, competition with other DNA templates in the PCR, or DNA extraction issues (i.e., not enough DNA from a certain bee leg in the composite sample, insufficient homogenization of composite samples, too many bee legs in a composite sample). Results from this study indicate that the proportion of bee legs from a genus in the vial likely affected the probability of that genus being detected. DNA metabarcoding was most effective at identifying more common species that comprised 41% or more of the sample. Refinements such as lowering the number of legs in a composite sample, better composite homogenization, and obtaining vouchered reference sequences for rare species may need to be implemented to identify less common species. DNA metabarcoding was able to refine morphological identifications in several instances, especially for morphologically cryptic taxa, but metabarcoding did not always detect all the genera that were obtained through the morphological method.

Analyses of individual bee legs using Sanger sequencing further illustrate challenges of genetic taxon assignments. Amplification failed in approximately 25% of the samples, suggesting that PCR inhibition may have been important in some samples. The rigorous methodology for assigning a genetic taxon, however, confers a high degree of confidence to a final identification. Melissodes voucher sequences were sometimes downgraded to taxonomic family with Sanger sequencing ( Table 1 ), most likely because Melissodes sequences in the database were shorter than reference sequences for other taxa and, therefore, did not generate higher alignment scores. If the Sanger sequence is not assigned to a known source, it is likely that similar taxonomic errors will occur in the metabarcode data.

Future efforts could create voucher specimens by identifying the bees with the traditional morphological approach and then adding their reference sequences to genetic databases [ 25 , 27 ]. This is especially important for rare and underrepresented wild bee species. Our results have shown that analyses of individual bee legs can provide species-level information and may be the best approach when studying morphologically indiscernible genera such as Lasioglossum . Analyses of individual bees provided some species-level assignments but, similar to the metabarcoding, Sanger sequencing was limited by the sequences available in the database and general primer and amplification variability. An upper threshold for the number of bee legs (either large or small) that should be included in a composite sample may be around 20 ( S2 Fig ), but it is currently unclear if there is a threshold regarding the number of genera that can consistently be identified in a composite sample. It can be surmised from the results in this study that a lower proportion of material in a vial may result in reduced genetic detections.

Processing steps before, during, and after genetic analyses may be refined to yield greater genus-level detections using molecular techniques. Because of the sensitivity of the metabarcoding method to Apis mellifera and the potential effects of interference, removing Apis bees from composite vials may increase the detections of wild bee genera. Similarly, removing other easily identifiable genera (such as Bombus ) may yield greater detection of morphologically cryptic species using composite genetic analyses. During analyses, there may be specific primers [ 22 , 58 ], amplification methodology, and loci [ 12 ] that can be used to target genera of interest. In this study, small clusters of less than 10 sequences were censored as a conservative threshold for removing potential crosstalk contamination. There were five instances when sequence counts were 10 or slightly greater for genera such as Lasioglossum and Agapostemon . However, sequence counts were generally high for genera including Augochlora , Ceratina , and Bombus . Censoring steps may need to be adjusted to allow low counts for rare bee genera, although it is unclear how to best model crosstalk rates empirically [ 37 ].

The methods that were tested in this study show great promise in identification of wild bees without relying on substantial time investments from taxonomic experts, which can delay study results. The choice of identification method will likely be related to study objectives, budget, and focal general. Morphological identification with images is particularly helpful in situations where the specimen must be preserved for other analyses (e.g., pesticides; [ 28 , 59 ]) and when accurate abundance or gender information are required. The morphological method was able to identify most bees to species level, yet the uncertainty surrounding these taxonomic assessments could not be quantified. The metabarcoding approach is faster and inexpensive with high confidence in detections, yet metabarcoding lacked the ability to make species-level determinations with confidence and sometimes missed species that were likely present. Additional refinement of metabarcoding methods (e.g., optimized methods for DNA extraction of composite samples and library preparation) would likely overcome some of these obstacles, as will the continual addition of new sequences from voucher specimens to public DNA sequence repositories. Importantly, these methods complimented each other, showing general agreement of identification to genus for most samples, further highlighting the utility of both approaches.

Supporting information

S1 fig. the difference in the number of bee genera detected with two identification methods (image-based morphological identification and dna metabarcoding) in composite vials from site visits in july ("j") and august ("a")..

Site visits without bars show that the number of bee genera detected with the two identification methods was the same. Positive values along the x-axis indicate more genera were detected by morphological identification than metabarcoding. Data were used to create Fig 2 .

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301474.s001

S2 Fig. Comparing the number of wild bee genera not detected through metabarcoding to the number of bee legs in the composite sample.

Composite samples included tissue from multiple taxa. Composite samples either contained legs from large bees (intertegular distance >3 mm) or small bees (intertegular distance ≤3 mm).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301474.s002

S1 Table. Primer pairs tested on samples of wild bee DNA.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301474.s003

S2 Table. List of regional bee species for eastern Iowa, USA.

The comprehensive list of possible species was developed by combining species included in the geographic region in DiscoverLife (DL) with species identified by local experts (LE: Steve Hendrix [University of Iowa] and Mary Harris [Iowa State University]); some species were listed by both DL and LE. The list likely excludes species in eastern Iowa and includes species not found in eastern Iowa. A curated database of sequences was used for this study, and the "Counts" column shows the number of sequences from each species present in the curated database.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301474.s004

S3 Table. Curated database used for taxonomic assignment of cytochrome c oxidase I (CO1) metabarcode sequences, in FASTA format.

Reference headers include the source accession from which the sequence was extracted and the taxonomy of the sequence according to the NCBI Taxonomy resource. The headers are formatted for compatibility with the program Sintax. The curated database was generated from both GenBank and Barcodes of Life databases, with a threshold of 400 bases.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301474.s005

S4 Table. Aggregate sequence counts for bee genera from six workflows.

Some workflows were restricted by the regional bee list while others were unrestricted. The full nucleotide (nt) database was searched, and then matches were "filtered" to only include accessions of taxa included on the regional bee list. Two custom databases were assessed: 1) an inclusive version generated from GenBank with a minimum length of 250 bases and 2) a curated version that was generated from both GenBank and Barcodes of Life databases, with a threshold of 400 bases and dereplicated within species. The final counts table used in this study was derived from the lowest common ancestor (LCA) method with the curated database. The RDP Classifier (Wang et al., 2007) is a Bayesian kmer-based classifier that requires prior training, for which the CO1 v.5 database of Porter and Hajibabaei (2018) was used. SINTAX (Edgar, 2016) is an alternative kmer-based classifier that does not require an external training set.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301474.s006

S5 Table. Final counts table of individual metabarcode sequences that are attributed to each detected bee genus within each vial.

All clusters with the same taxonomic assignment were summed within samples to generate the counts table. Vial codes include the month the bees were collected (July [J] or August [A]), a three-digit identifier for the collection site, and whether the vial contained legs from small (S) or large (L) bees.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0301474.s007

Acknowledgments

Data supporting this report can be found in two U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data releases [ 31 , 46 ]. This research was supported by the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area Environmental Health Program. The authors would like to thank Sam Droege (USGS) for his taxonomic expertise and Dr. Ai Wen with the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) for her assistance. This study had a large field component and was only possible with the help of the UNI graduate students (Kate Madsen, Alec MacDonald, MJ Lashbrook, Corinne Meyers, Alyssa Burgert) and USGS Central Midwest Water Science Center staff (Jared Weber, Emmy Bristow, Shelby Sterner, Morgan Spring). We appreciate Steve Hendrix (University of Iowa) and Mary Harris (Iowa State University) for providing information about local bee taxa. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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A Study on the Weapon–Target Assignment Problem Considering Heading Error

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Published: 27 March 2024

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Ji-Eun Kim 1 ,
Chang-Hun Lee 2 &
Mun Yong Yi ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1784-8983 1

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The focus of this study is to investigate the assignment of weapons to multiple targets in a scenario, specifically when an air defense system is confronted with numerous targets, such as low-altitude rockets or groups of drones. The accuracy of weapons in destroying these targets depends heavily on the correct alignment of the launchers with the targets, which can be affected by errors in launcher orientation. Therefore, in solving weapon–target assignment (WTA) problems, it is crucial to account for the heading errors caused by the launcher’s orientation angle. To address this issue, the use of a rotation strategy to align the orientation angle with the target’s approach direction can significantly improve the probability of kill (PK) against the target. However, its unitary implementation has limitations, which may result in missed engagements if there is insufficient time to rotate to the desired orientation angle. Thus, as a remedy, we propose a new WTA method that combines rotation and rotation fix strategy, improving the weakness of losing the opportunity of engagement due to rotation time and heading errors. The efficacy of this approach is evaluated through numerical simulations.

Fast and Simple Method for Weapon Target Assignment in Air Defense Command and Control System

Bi-objective dynamic weapon-target assignment problem with stability measure

Ahmet Silav, Esra Karasakal & Orhan Karasakal

Weapon-Target Assignment and Firing Scheduling for Rapid Engagement with Heterogeneous Interceptors

Hyeon-Woo Park & Han-Lim Choi

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

1 Introduction

Over the past few decades, weapon–target assignment (WTA) has been considered a crucial procedure for providing autonomous decision support in air defense systems [ 1 , 2 ]. The WTA involves determining which interceptors to use and when to launch them to counter identified threats. The WTA problem has been proven to be NP-complete, according to references [ 3 , 4 ]. Consequently, many previous research efforts have focused on tackling the computational complexity of the general WTA problem. Various search methods have been developed over the last few decades, including Lagrangian relaxation [ 5 ], exact and heuristic approaches [ 6 , 7 ], and meta-heuristic algorithms like ant colony optimization [ 8 ], particle swarm optimization [ 9 ], genetic algorithm [ 10 , 11 ], permutation and tabu search [ 12 , 13 ], variable neighborhood search [ 14 ], harmony search [ 15 ], hybrid discrete gray wolf optimization [ 16 ], and greedy maximization algorithm [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ].

The primary objective of WTA, as highlighted in the references [ 21 , 22 , 23 ], is to minimize the potential damage to friendly assets and increase the survivability of identified threat targets. The optimization model for the WTA problem focuses on a single goal, which is to minimize the survival probability of the targets. Moreover, there are additional objectives that can be considered, including optimizing resource usage, minimizing target flight duration, and refining the fire doctrine in defense site zones [ 24 , 25 ]. To address the multi-objective WTA problem, various methods are employed, such as rule-based heuristics, goal programming, and evolutionary algorithms [ 24 , 26 , 27 , 28 ].

There are two main categories of the WTA problem: static WTA (SWTA) and dynamic WTA (DWTA) [ 29 ]. The former, SWTA, assumes that time is not a factor, and therefore subsequent engagements are not taken into consideration. Moreover, it is typically assumed that all weapons have an equal probability of success when targeting each type of enemy. The latter, DWTA, on the other hand, takes into account the available time windows during which targets can be engaged. This approach, proposed by Leboucher et al. [ 30 ], involves calculating the time to impact for each target and identifying the earliest moment at which each weapon can intercept the target. Xin et al. [ 31 ] have proposed a model that allows for variable probabilities of success for each weapon against each target and across different time periods. Khosla [ 32 ] has formulated a mixed integer program to address some of the key considerations in the WTA problem, including the inclusion of additional time constraints such as reload time.

Recent research has highlighted the need for more realistic WTA engagement scenarios [ 30 , 33 , 34 , 35 ], leading to the development of new models that reflect the characteristics of both the interceptors and targets in specific scenarios [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. Cho and Choi [ 18 ] have proposed a time-based WTA problem that considers the interceptor’s firing time in relation to the target’s incoming direction and provides a time-dependent reward for determining the interceptor and its firing time. Leboucher and colleagues [ 30 ] have proposed a two-step approach for solving dynamic WTA problems, where the selection of weapon types and specific weapons occurs in the first step, followed by the determination of a sequence of firing times in the second step. Uhm and Lee [ 41 ] have also proposed a two-step algorithm that uses a time-based probability of success, which is a convex function of the firing time. Bogdanowicz and colleagues [ 37 , 38 ] have developed a novel method for the WTA problem based on the assumption of a fixed probability of success for a given time of engagement. Guo and colleagues [ 39 ] and Na and Lee [ 40 ] have considered factors that can affect the probability of success in a realistic engagement scenario, such as the time-to-go, line-of-sight, and miss distance between the target and interceptor. By incorporating these factors into the problem formulation, the engagement performance of the WTA problem can be improved in a real environment.

In recent years, area targets, such as drone swarms and low-altitude rockets, have emerged as significant threats, leading to an increased demand for air defense systems to counter them [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 ]. Such air defense systems require a large number of interceptors during the engagement, each of which is typically developed using low-cost and small-sized components. Thus, these interceptors have lower maneuverability than other types of interceptors, which can lead to the varying probability of kill (PK) depending on the relative engagement geometry between the target and launcher (i.e., the heading errors between the launcher’s orientation angle and the interceptor’s flight direction). Additionally, Guo et al. [ 39 ] have pointed out that initial heading errors can negatively affect the entire course of action. To overcome this limitation of interceptor countering area targets, WTA methods should consider the degradation of PK due to heading errors. Kim and colleagues [ 46 ] have addressed the aforementioned concerns by developing a model that considers the variation in PK as a function of changes in heading errors. They compared the performance of two strategies: the rotation-fixed (RF) strategy and the rotation (R) strategy, which differ in how they manage the launcher’s orientation angle relative to the target’s approach angle. The RF strategy fixes the orientation angle at a specific value for all engagements, while the R strategy rotates the launcher’s orientation angle to align with the target’s approach angle. The authors analyzed the trade-off between reaction time and PK degradation for each strategy. To achieve a more effective balance between PK degradation and reaction time, they extended the strategies to the clustering-based WTA (CWTA) method, where targets are clustered using a representative point that can potentially be intercepted for each target. The initial orientation angle of each launcher is then determined based on the centroid of each cluster relative to each launcher.

However, the previous study was limited because it used a single strategy, either R or RF, for all engagements without the flexibility to adjust to different engagement situations. More specifically, when the two strategies are properly mixed and used, more optimal results can be obtained by the trade-off between reaction time and PK degradation, depending on engagement situations. Based on this rationale, this study aims to propose a mixed version of R and RF strategies that allows for the selection of either R or RF strategies for each engagement based on the launcher’s orientation angle. This mixed strategy approach provides greater flexibility, allowing for the decision to maintain the current orientation angle or rotate it to some extent when using the R strategy for a particular engagement. Unlike the previous study, where the optimal orientation angle for each engagement was predetermined under the R strategy, the proposed method permits variations in the orientation angle for each engagement. Additionally, the clustering approach from the previous study can still be applied in the mixed version to further reduce the rotation angle. In this study, numerical simulations are performed to investigate the performance of the proposed method. The results will show that the proposed method (i.e., the mixed version of R and RF) is superior to using only R or RF strategies. The main contribution of this study is to establish a new WTA method for the rotation-mixed (M) strategy, which considers the launcher’s orientation angle as a decision variable for each engagement, unlike the prior R and RF strategies. The key feature of the proposed method lies in its simplicity and superiority, suitable for the interception of area targets.

The structure of the paper is as follows: In Sect. 2 , the formulation of the WTA problems is presented, taking into account the mixed version of R and RF strategies. Section 3 describes the proposed WTA algorithm. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through numerical simulations in Sect. 4 . Finally, Sect. 6 summarizes the findings and draws conclusions.

2 PK Modeling

The main goal of WTA problems is to achieve the highest possible expected PK for all targets that have been identified. Therefore, when defining the objective function for WTA problems, the focus should be on maximizing the overall PK against targets that pose a threat and are being countered by interceptors. In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) engagement scenario is considered. However, the PK value is determined based on the $X_I-Y_I$ planar engagement geometry between the launcher and the target, as illustrated in Fig. 1 . This rationale stems from the similarity in the impact of PK value fluctuations resulting from vertical engagement geometry on both R strategy and RF strategy. In contrast, the variations in PK attributed to horizontal engagement geometry significantly influence both R strategy and RF strategy.

Planar engagement geometry

The PK value is calculated using the three geometric parameters. The first parameter, denoted as $a^{\textrm{HE}}_{t,w,s}$ , refers to the heading errors between the predicted intercept point (PIP) $X^{\textrm{pip}}_{t,w,s}$ of the target t at a specific time slot s and the launcher w located at $X_{w}$ . The second parameter, denoted as $a^{M}_{t,w,s}$ , represents the predicted intercept angle between the moving direction $M_{t,w,s}$ of the target at the time of interception and the approaching direction $H_{t,w,s}$ of the interceptor. Finally, the third parameter is the relative distance $r_{t,w,s}$ calculated based on the positions of the target and launcher.

More specifically, the heading error is defined as the angle between $O_{w}$ , which denotes the orientation angle of the launcher w , and $H_{t,w,s}$ , which indicates the heading angle toward the PIP of the target t , given by:

The PK variation according to a relative distance and heading error, b expected target’s leading angle and heading error

In this context, the PIP refers to the expected location of the interception between the target t and the interceptor launched from the launcher w at a specific time s . In order to compute the PIP, it is essential to ensure that the flight time for the target to reach the PIP is equal to the flight time of the assigned interceptor to reach the PIP, starting from the moment of firing. The predicted intercept angle $a^{M}_{t,w,s}$ can be determined by calculating the angle between the approaching angle of the target $M_{t,w,s}$ and the opposite angle of the interceptor’s flight direction $-H_{t,w,s}$ as follows:

The Euclidean distance between a launcher position $X_{w}$ and a particular PIP $X^{\textrm{pip}}_{t,w,s}$ is established as the relative distance between the two points. This relative distance is calculated as follows:

The computation of the expected PK $P_{t,w,s}$ involves the multiplication of three separate Gaussian functions, denoted as G , which depend on the geometric parameters $a^{\textrm{HE}}_{t,w,s}$ , $a^{M}_{t,w,s}$ , and $r_{t,w,s}$ as follows:

The Gaussian function used in this study is given by

The first term on the right-hand side of Eq. ( 4 ) describes how the PK varies as a result of changes in heading errors. This variation is modeled using a Gaussian function, where $\mu ^{a_{\textrm{HE}}}$ represents the mean and $\sigma ^{a_{\textrm{HE}}}$ represents the standard deviation. An increase in heading errors can cause a degradation in the PK, as it requires more maneuverability to intercept the target. The second term in Eq. ( 4 ) represents the PK variation as a function of the expected angle difference between the approach direction of the interceptor and the velocity direction of the target. The mean is represented by $\mu ^{a_{M}}$ , while the standard deviation is denoted by $\sigma ^{a_{M}}$ . In Eq. ( 4 ), the third term expresses the PK variation due to changes in relative distance, where $\mu ^{r}$ represents the mean and $\sigma ^{r}$ represents the standard deviation. The Gaussian functions for each term have a value ranging from 0 to 1. Accordingly, the overall PK $P_{t,w,s}$ also has a value ranging from 0 to 1.

Figure 2 illustrates the PK model used in the study, where the design parameters for heading errors, relative distance, and the expected target’s leading angle are specified. The values chosen for the parameters are $\mu ^{a^{\textrm{HE}}}=0\;\deg $ , $\sigma ^{a^{\textrm{HE}}}=20\;\deg $ , $\mu ^{r}=20\;\textrm{km}$ , $\sigma ^{r}=10\;\textrm{km}$ , $r^{\max }=35\;\textrm{km}$ , $r^{\min }=5\;\textrm{km}$ , $\mu ^{a^{M}}=0\;\deg $ , and $\sigma ^{a^{M}}=20\;\deg $ , respectively. The PK variation patterns shown in Fig. 2 are adjusted by manipulating a two-factor pair: the expected target’s leading angle versus heading error and relative distance versus heading error. This study presents two figures to illustrate this manipulation. In Fig. 2 a, the PK variation is based on changes in relative distance and heading error, while the PK induced by only an expected target’s leading angle is kept constant at 1. The engagement region is limited to $r_{t,w,s} > r^{\min }$ and $r_{t,w,s} < r^{\max }$ in Fig. 2 (a). The PK reaches its maximum at $r_{t,w,s}=\mu ^{r}$ and $a^{\textrm{HE}}_{t,w,s}=\mu ^{a^{\textrm{HE}}}$ , and decreases as the relative distance deviates from $\mu ^{r}$ and heading error deviates from $\mu ^{a^{\textrm{HE}}}$ . In Fig. 2 b, the PK induced by only a relative distance is fixed at 1, while the PK variation based on changes in the expected target’s leading angle and heading error is shown. The parameter $\sigma $ (i.e., $\sigma ^{r}$ , $\sigma ^{a^{\textrm{HE}}}$ , and $\sigma ^{a^{M}}$ ) governs the rate at which the PK decreases. As the value of $\sigma ^{a^{\textrm{HE}}}$ increases, the decreasing rate of the PK due to heading error decreases. When $\sigma ^{a^{\textrm{HE}}}\rightarrow \infty $ , the effect of PK variation due to heading errors is diminished in the model. The parameter $\sigma $ is highly related to the interceptor’s maneuverability, and it is meaningful to examine how the PK variation changes with alterations to $\sigma ^{a^{\textrm{HE}}}$ .

In the comprehensive design of a fire control system, the development of a weapon–target assignment algorithm operates under the premise that a PK model is available. This PK model can either stem from a distinct computation process or be a streamlined version that captures the core attributes of the complete PK model [ 18 , 47 ]. Subsequently, the accurate PK model is determined and integrated with the weapon–target assignment algorithm. In general, the discrepancy in the PK modeling would lead to a decline in the performance of the weapon–target assignment algorithm. Therefore, an exhaustive and quantitative analysis, including sensitivity assessments, becomes imperative. However, this study focuses on the development of the weapon–target assignment algorithm itself. Thus, it is assumed that the consideration of a streamlined PK model that encapsulates the fundamental features of the accurate PK model is sufficient for achieving this purpose in practice, as in the previous studies [ 18 , 47 ].

As shown in Eqs. ( 4 ) and ( 5 ), we employ scaled Gaussian functions with uniform weighting factors to establish the PK model. This choice stems from the fact that constant scale factors within the PK model have no impact on the optimization outcomes when the objective function aims to maximize the aggregate PK value.

3 Problem Formulation

This section describes the formulations of the WTA problem for three strategies: RF, R, and M strategies, using the mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) framework. The formulation proposed by Kim and colleagues focuses on RF strategy and R strategy separately (i.e., unitary strategy), and it cannot be applied by combining RF and R [ 46 ]. A new formulation for the mixed version of the R and RF strategy is proposed in this chapter. It is worth noting that the main difference between the M strategy and the unitary strategies (R and RF) is whether the decision of a launcher’s orientation angle for each engagement is considered as a decision variable.

3.1 Formulation of Unitary Strategy

The WTA problems can be expressed by defining decision variables and constraints, as well as an objective function that takes into account the degradation of PK resulting from changes in heading errors. The constraints in this problem involve the rotation of the orientation angle of a launcher, and the choice between using the R strategy or the RF strategy depends on whether these constraints are taken into account. Under the RF strategy, the orientation angle of each launcher is fixed during engagement to reduce the delay in firing an interceptor against a target. On the other hand, the R strategy involves aligning the orientation angle of each launcher with the heading angle towards the PIP of a target in order to eliminate the heading errors. Thus, the RF strategy has a short reaction time, so it can engage a large number of targets in a given time, but the PK for each engagement is reduced. The R strategy has a relatively large reaction time, so the number of targets that can be engaged in a given time is reduced, but the PK for each engagement is high.

3.1.1 Decision Variable

The primary determinant in the WTA problem is whether a particular launcher w ’s firing time slot s is designated for a specific target t , which serves as the key variable to be decided. This research defines a decision variable, denoted as $\ominus _{t,w,s}$ , for unitary strategies. The variable $\ominus _{t,w,s}$ represents the assignment of a launcher w against a target t at firing time slot s . The variable $\ominus _{t,w,s}$ is 1 if the launcher w is assigned to the target t at time slot s , otherwise 0.

3.1.2 Objective Function

In this context, the objective function is chosen to reflect the PK function that takes into account the factors of heading errors, relative distance, and the expected target’s leading angle, as previously mentioned. The ultimate goal of the WTA problem considered in this study is to maximize the total PK value of all identified targets as follows:

where the function $p\left( r_{t,w,s}, a^{\textrm{HE}}_{t,w,s}, a^{M}_{t,w,s}\right) $ indicates the probability of successful destruction of target t by the interceptor launched from launcher w .

3.1.3 Practical Constraints for General WTA Problems

Due to the limited availability of interceptors and a limited time window of opportunity to use them against targets, there are restrictions on assigning launchers to targets. In addition, the system has inherent limitations, including the time required for the launcher to prepare for firing an interceptor and the need to stabilize vibrations resulting from the launch. These conditions and limitations are considered as constraints. One of the primary constraints is that each launcher can only fire one interceptor at a time, which means that each designated time slot for a launcher should be assigned to a specific target. This limitation can be expressed as follows:

In this study, it is assumed that the number of interceptors assigned to each launcher is predetermined without considering the reloading process. Furthermore, as the firing process continues, the number of interceptors available for each launcher decreases, which means that the constraint related to the number of available interceptors should be considered in the WTA problem formulation. Accordingly, the limitation pertaining to the overall number of interceptors available for each launcher can be expressed as follows:

where the variable $n^{st}_{w}$ represents the highest possible quantity of usable interceptors for a launcher denoted by w . “st” of $n^{st}_{w}$ is an abbreviation for “stock”. Additionally, it is necessary to set a limit on the number of interceptors that can be assigned to a single target. This restriction is in place to avoid wastage of interceptors due to redundant allocations to a single target. This limitation on the total number of interceptors that can be assigned to a target is expressed as follows:

where the variable $n^{\textrm{as}}_{t}$ represents the upper limit on the number of interceptors assigned to the target t . “as” of $n^{\textrm{as}}_{t}$ is an abbreviation for “assign”.

In addition to these constraints, real-world engagement systems have additional practical constraints that should be considered. For example, there is a delay between receiving a firing command and the actual firing of the interceptor. A certain amount of time is also required for the launcher to stabilize after each firing. As a result, the constraints related to the time required for the firing process and the delay between subsequent firings can be formulated as follows:

where the parameter $\tau ^{d}$ stands for the time required between successive firing processes of a launcher. If a weapon w is assigned to target $t_{1}$ at time slot $s_{1}$ , then the value of $\ominus _{t_{1},w,s_{1}}$ is set to 1; otherwise, it is set to 0. Similarly, if a weapon w is assigned to target $t_{2}$ at time slot $s_{2}$ , then the value of $\ominus _{t_{2},w,s_{2}}$ is set to 1; otherwise, it is set to 0. This constraint ensures that $\ominus _{t_{1},w,s_{1}}$ and $\ominus _{t_{2},w,s_{2}}$ cannot both be 1 at the same time, preventing any additional assignment from being made within the time required for the launch procedure.

Moreover, the available firing time slot for a launcher-target pair is determined by the flight time required to reach the PIP, which should be within the interceptor’s maneuverability range. Thus, the feasible firing time slot is defined as the time slot corresponding to the PIP within the engagement region, as given by the following constraint.

where the parameter $L_{t,w}$ represents the collection of launch time slots associated with the region within which an interceptor fired from the launcher w can reach and intercept the target t . Therefore, any time slots of the launcher w , not included in $L_{t,w}$ , are unavailable for deployment against the target t .

3.1.4 Additional Constraints for Rotation Strategy

If a WTA problem for the R strategy is considered, it is essential to also take into account time limitations. These include the time needed to rotate an orientation angle of a launcher and the time required to align the launcher and interceptors after the rotation. To calculate the time needed to rotate the launcher’s orientation angle, the required rotation angle and the launcher’s rotational velocity should be considered. The necessary rotation angle for the launcher between two consecutive engagements can be determined using the following equation:

where the variable $H_{t_{1},w,s_{1}}$ refers to the orientation angle that the launcher w needs to be directed towards the PIP of a specific target $t_{1}$ at a particular time slot $s_{1}$ . Similarly, the variable $H_{t_{2},w,s_{2}}$ represents the orientation angle required for the same launcher w to point towards the PIP of another target $t_{2}$ at a different time slot $s_{2}$ . By assuming that the launcher’s rotation speed is constant, we can determine the time required to adjust the orientation angle of the launcher as follows:

where the parameter $v^{\textrm{rot}}$ represents the angular velocity required to rotate the orientation angle of a launcher, and the variable $a^{\textrm{rot}}_{w,t{1},s_{1},t_{2},s_{2}}$ represents the extent of the angle that needs to be rotated by the launcher. Additionally, after rotating the orientation angle of a launcher, time to realign internal devices of a launcher is required for the stable fire of the next interceptor. Based on this parameter, the constraint for the required time to rotate the launcher’s orientation angle and stabilize the launcher after rotating can be written as:

where the variable $\tau ^{\textrm{rot}}_{w,t_{1},s_{1},t_{2},s_{2}}$ denotes the time that the launcher takes to rotate its orientation from the angle $s_1$ at time $t_1$ to the angle $s_2$ at time $t_2$ . The parameter $\tau ^{\textrm{align}}$ is a fixed time period required for the launcher to stabilize its orientation following a rotation. In addition, there is a requirement to restrict the range of rotation. To enforce this limitation, the condition that the launcher’s rotation should not exceed the designated angle of rotation can be expressed as follows:

where the variable $a^{\textrm{ini}}_{w}$ represents the initial orientation angle of launcher w , and the parameter $a^{\max }$ denotes the maximum allowable range of rotation for the launcher relative to its initial orientation angle.

3.2 Formulation of Mixed Strategy

If a single strategy of either R strategy or RF strategy is applied consistently throughout all engagements, it can impose limitations on its effectiveness. The R strategy aims to eliminate heading errors but incurs a time penalty due to rotation. This approach can yield the maximum predicted PK for each engagement, but it also poses a risk of missing engagement opportunities due to the time lost during rotation. On the other hand, the RF strategy eliminates time loss caused by rotation, but it may result in lower PK due to heading errors. Although this approach may not achieve the maximum predicted PK for all engagements, it eliminates the risk of missed opportunities due to time loss. Moreover, using a single strategy does not resolve the two essential limitations present in both R and RF strategies: the inability to identify the appropriate strategy and select the orientation angle against a target for each engagement.

Consequently, this research paper investigates a new WTA strategy by combining R and RF strategies with orientation angle determination for each engagement. The R strategy determines a rotation angle that aligns with the PIP and only attempts engagement if there is enough time to rotate to the objective angle. However, if there is not enough time, the system may not attempt engagement. To address missed opportunities, incorporating flexibility into the system to engage while maintaining the current angle or rotating within a limited angle range, given the time constraints, could be beneficial. Conversely, the RF strategy maintains a constant orientation angle for all engagements. This implies that even if there is enough time to rotate, the system is unable to choose an alternative to rotate the angle to reduce potential PK loss. In such situations, having flexibility in the system to decide on rotating the angle within specified time constraints could potentially prevent PK loss in some engagements.

To decide whether and how much to rotate the launcher’s orientation angle for each engagement, the decision variable should be changed from $\ominus _{t,w,s}$ to $\ominus _{t,w,s,o}$ . However, this modification increases the search space from three to four dimensions, adding the orientation angle as a new variable alongside target, weapon, and time slots. This expansion in search space may result in longer search times and larger input data sizes, making it impractical for real-world air defense systems. To address this issue, we propose a two-level hierarchical formulation of the WTA problem that restricts the increase in search space for a decision variable. Previous studies, including those by Leboucher and colleagues [ 30 ] and Uhm and Lee [ 41 ], have also used a two-level hierarchical structure to solve the WTA problem, particularly when considering PKs that change over time. During the first level of the WTA model, pairs of targets and launchers are chosen while considering time constraints such as firing time windows. The reason why time constraints should be considered in the first level is to prevent the possibility of not being able to engage at the second level due to time constraints such as firing time window and successive launching delay. To account for these constraints, the decision variable $\ominus _{t,w,s}$ is used. During the second level process, the firing time slot and orientation angle are established for the targets assigned to each launcher. A new decision variable, $\zeta _{t,s,o}$ , is introduced in the second level to facilitate this process. The decision variable $\zeta _{t,s,o}$ represents the assignment of time slot s of a certain launcher against a target t at an orientation angle o , and $\zeta _{t,s,o}$ is 1 if time slot s of a certain launcher against a target t at an orientation angle o ; otherwise 0. The determination of firing time and orientation angle for targets is carried out on a per-launcher basis, meaning that it is performed independently for each launcher. The following formulation is established to address the problem of determining the appropriate firing time and orientation angle for targets assigned to a specific launcher.

The objective function in this context is to obtain the maximum overall PK against assigned targets, similar to that of the first level.

where the variable $a^{\textrm{HE}}_{t,s,o}$ represents the difference between the orientation angle o of a launcher during the firing time slot s and the approach angle of target t . The variable $a^{M}_{t,s,o}$ denotes the leading angle of the target. The function $p\left( r_{t,s,o}, a^{\textrm{HE}}_{t,s,o}, a^{M}_{t,s,o}\right) $ denotes the expected probability of effectively destroying the target t by the interceptor launched during the time slot s with the orientation angle o . It is important to define and take into account limitations related to time, such as the time period for firing and the need to adjust the orientation angle of a launcher. These restrictions should be incorporated into the decision variable $\zeta _{t,s,o}$ . The constraint specifying that each designated time slot of a launcher can only be assigned to a single target is written as:

where the notation $\ominus _{t,s,o}$ indicates whether a particular time slot s and orientation angle o have been assigned to a target t . The feasible firing time window for each target is determined as the time slot that corresponds to the PIP within the engagement region, as specified by:

where the parameter $L_{t}$ represents the set of firing time slots associated with the region in which an interceptor can reach and intercept target t . Thus, any time slots that are not included in $L_{t}$ are not applicable for deploying against target t . The constraint for successive launches should consider the time required for firing, the time needed to rotate the orientation angle of a launcher, and the assignment of the launcher and interceptors. It can be expressed as:

where the set T represents the assigned targets for a launcher. If the orientation angles $o_{1}$ and $o_{2}$ are identical, the RF strategy is chosen. Conversely, if the orientation angles $o_{1}$ and $o_{2}$ are different, the R strategy is chosen. The limitation of the range of rotation can be expressed as follows:

Here, the variable $a^{\textrm{ini}}$ represents the initial orientation angle of a launcher, and the parameter $a^{\max }$ represents the maximum allowable range of rotation for the launcher relative to its initial orientation angle as described before.

The flow of WTA under unitary strategies

This section delves into two WTA methods: the first one is the unitary strategies developed by Kim et al. (referred to as [ 46 ]), while the second one is a WTA method that combines the R and RF strategies proposed in this study.

The WTA under RF strategy a first engagement, b second engagement, c third engagement

The WTA under R strategy a first engagement, b second engagement, c third engagement

4.1 WTA Under Unitary Strategy

Kim et al. (referenced as [ 46 ]) introduced the RF strategy and R strategy for WTA methods, which utilize the Greedy Maximization (GM) algorithm for efficiency in terms of computation time and performance [ 48 , 49 ]. In the case of WTAs utilizing unitary strategies, a selection and exclusion loop framework is employed, as illustrated in Fig. 3 . The set of candidates ( V ) comprises all possible combinations of targets, weapons, and time slots. During the selection process, a candidate ( $\ominus ^{*}$ ) is chosen from the candidate set, which maximizes the gain in the candidate set excluding the selection set ( P ) and the exclusion set ( Q ). Once selected, this candidate is added to the selection set. Any candidate that violates constraints due to the inclusion of the new candidate is placed into the exclusion set. This process of selecting and excluding candidates continues until the candidate set (excluding the selection set and the exclusion set) is empty or no further gain can be achieved. In the exclusion phase, the constraints for the stock of selected launchers and the maximum number of interceptors ( $n_{t}^{\textrm{as}}$ ) for a target within a specific time interval for successive launches are taken into account. Additionally, for the R strategy, the time interval between successive launches includes the time ( $\tau ^{\textrm{rot}} + \tau ^{\textrm{align}}$ ) required for rotating the orientation angle of a launcher along with the time interval ( $\tau ^{d}$ ).

Figures 4 and 5 depict sequential engagement strategies used by WTA. Figure 4 employs the RF strategy, which maintains the launcher’s orientation angle at an initial angle of $a_{\textrm{ini}}$ . To achieve the desired probability of interception and avoid degradation of the PK caused by heading errors, the guided interceptor should have sufficient maneuverability to approach the PIP. The engagement region depicted in Fig. 4 represents the area where the probability of interception satisfies or exceeds a reference value, and the firing window is a constraint that ensures interception occurs within this region. In the case of the RF strategy, where the initial orientation angle is maintained, a significant loss of PK can occur when targets approach from a completely different orientation compared to the initial angle. To mitigate this PK loss, Kim et al. [ 46 ] adjust the initial orientation angle to align with the direction of the target. This adjustment aims to reduce the PK loss, but not necessarily eliminate it entirely.

4.2 WTA Under Mixed Strategy

The flow of CWTA under M strategy

The WTA under the combination of R and RF strategy a first engagement, b second engagement, and c third engagement

The proposed WTA method has been extended to a mixed strategy of RF and R in order to improve upon the unitary strategies of the previous WTA methods. Figure 6 provides an illustration of the process flow for the WTA method under the mixed strategy. This method utilizes the target–launcher assignment results obtained from the WTA method under RF strategy while also implementing an additional procedure in step 1 to determine the initial orientation angle of the launcher based on the target distribution. This step helps to reduce the difference between the launcher’s orientation angle and the target’s approaching angle. In step 2, targets are assigned to each launcher, taking into account time constraints such as the restricted firing time window and delay for successive launches. In step 3, the time slot and orientation angle are determined for each assigned target on an individual launcher basis using the newly proposed Algorithm 1, which builds on the problem formulation presented in Sect. 3 . The constraints relating to the firing window and the time required to rotate the launcher’s orientation angle are inspected to select a feasible solution that satisfies the time limitation. The process of examining these constraints is described in Algorithm 2 in detail.

Sequential engagements from the WTA method under the mixed strategy are illustrated in Fig. 7 . The first engagement is carried out using the RF strategy, which maintains the launcher’s initial orientation angle (i.e., $a^{\textrm{ini}}$ ). The second engagement is also accomplished using the RF strategy, but a slight loss in PK occurs due to heading errors. The proposed WTA method is capable of selecting R and RF strategies for each engagement. If the R strategy is selected, the extent of rotation is determined to align completely with the PIP or a certain proper angle. The third engagement is computed using the R strategy, but the orientation angle of the launcher rotates close to the completely aligned angle with the PIP. As a result, there is also a slight loss in PK, but the amount of PK loss is less than that of maintaining the initial orientation angle.

The trajectory demonstration of a scenario 1, b scenario 2

Algorithm 1 outlines the process of determining the appropriate pairs of target, orientation angle, and firing time slot using the greedy maximization assignment algorithm. The algorithm follows a selection and exclusion framework and selects a new solution candidate that achieves the maximum marginal gain $\bigtriangleup f\left( \ominus | P_{w} \right) $ as shown in (lines 14–18). Feasible pairs within the time slot and target set are considered as long as they are not apart from the limit angle of $a^{\max }$ (lines 2–13). The algorithm also takes into account constraints for the firing time window and rotation angle limit. The exclusion process described in Algorithm 2 ensures that there is no duplicated assignment of each time slot (lines 20–26) and considers the time delay $\tau ^{d}$ of successive launch, based on the determined strategy of R and RF (lines 2–19). In the RF strategy, only the delay time for the firing process and stabilization of vibration after launch are considered (lines 7–9), while in the R strategy, the time delay for rotating the orientation angle $\tau ^{\textrm{rot}}_{o,o^{*}}$ and time for alignment $\tau ^{\textrm{align}}$ after rotation are also considered along with the delay time for firing (lines 11–13).

5 Simulations

This section examines the simulation results of some scenarios using four different methods, and their performance is evaluated based on the indicators recommended by Kim et al. [ 46 ]. These indicators include overall PK ( $PK^{overall}$ ), PK loss ( $PK^{loss}$ ), time loss due to rotation, and missed opportunities for engagement ( $E^{loss}$ ). Table 1 presents a summary of the four distinct methods: WTA-RF, WTA-R, CWTA-RF, and the proposed CWTA-M. The WTA-RF is a conventional method that does not take heading error into account. The WTA-R method applies the R strategy to nullify heading error. The CWTA-RF method follows the RF strategy but initializes the orientation angle based on the target population. Lastly, the CWTA-M proposed in this paper applies both R and RF strategies depending on the situation.

During the simulation, we investigated defense scenarios against a considerable number of targets concentrated in a confined area, specifically low-altitude rocket threats in 3D space. These multiple targets, representing low-altitude rocket threats, were assumed to follow a ballistic trajectory with speeds ranging from 400 to 500 m/s during their descent phase. Additionally, we considered a situation where there are six enemy launchers, and each launcher sequentially fired 18–45 rocket threats. The minimum firing interval in this simulation was set to 0.5 s. To determine the ground target points for the low-altitude rocket threats, we employed Monte Carlo simulations to randomly select locations within a small region of approximately 9 to 12 km $^2$ . The trajectories of the enemies are illustrated in Fig. 8 a, b. In Fig. 8 a, the enemy launchers are evenly distributed at regular intervals. In contrast, the scenario depicted in Fig. 8 b involves enemy launchers divided into two groups, attacking a specific region within the defense area. The experiment used parameters that reflect realistic weapon systems, with a defense system’s engagement region limited between $4\;\textrm{km}$ and $12\;\textrm{km}$ . The experiment assumed two scenarios, each with 6 launchers and up to 270 targets. The time delay between the launching of each interceptor was set to 0.5 seconds, with an average speed of $400\;\mathrm{m/s}$ assumed for the interceptor. The launcher’s alignment time after launch, rotational speed, and maximum rotation limit were set to $\tau ^{\textrm{align}} = 1.5$ seconds, $v^{\textrm{rot}} = 15$ degrees per second, and $a^{\max } = 60$ degree, respectively. The experiment evaluated the effectiveness of the engagement using a randomly selected chance factor from the PK model. It is presumed that the defensive system’s area of operation for which an interceptor can intercept a target is limited by a maximum radius of $12\;\textrm{km}$ and a minimum radius of $4\;\textrm{km}$ . The mean and standard deviation of the engagement range were set to $\mu ^{r}=\left( r^{\max }+r^{\min }\right) /2$ and $\sigma ^{r} = 4\;\textrm{km}$ , respectively.

The result of simulation for scenario 1 according to the number of target increase a the overall PK, b the loss of PK, c the loss of time for rotation, and d the loss of engagement opportunity

The result of simulation for scenario 1 according to the standard deviation $\sigma ^{a_{\textrm{HE}}}$ of heading error increase a the overall PK, b the loss of PK, c the loss of time for rotation, and d the loss of engagement opportunity

The result of simulation for scenario 2 according to the number of target increase, a the overall PK, b the loss of PK, c the loss of time for rotation, and d the loss of engagement opportunity

The result of simulation for scenario 2 according to the standard deviation $\sigma ^{a_{\textrm{HE}}}$ of heading error increase a the overall PK, b the loss of PK, c the loss of time for rotation, and d the loss of engagement opportunity

The results of the simulation in Fig. 9 exhibit an increase in the number of targets in scenario 1. It is evident that WTA-R is inferior to WTA-RF since the latter nullifies the heading error by rotating the orientation angle of a launcher to the PIP direction. Additionally, CWTA-RF surpasses WTA-RF by reducing the heading error by adjusting the initial orientation angle to the region where PIP is formed. However, there are limitations to both WTA-R and CWTA-RF. While WTA-R improves the vulnerability of WTA-RF, it cannot engage certain targets due to the time required for rotating the orientation angles of launchers. Similarly, CWTA-RF cannot use the rotation strategy, even if there is time to apply it for some targets. To address these limitations, CWTA-M combines both R and RF strategies, resulting in the reduction of missed targets compared to WTA-R, as shown in Fig. 9 d. Additionally, CWTA-M further alleviates PK gradation by heading errors compared to CWTA-RF by applying the R strategy for some engagements, as shown in Fig. 9 b. Figure 9 c demonstrates that CWTA-M reduces the rotation time of launchers compared to WTA-R by applying the RF strategy together with the R strategy. Overall, the simulation results reveal that CWTA-M shows the most dominant performance by overcoming the limitations of both WTA-R and CWTA-RF. In Fig. 10 , the simulation results for scenario 1 display a comparison of the performance of the four methods according to the variable $\sigma ^{{a_{\textrm{HE}}}}$ , which determines the ratio of PK degradation by heading errors in relation to the interceptor’s characteristics.

As shown in Fig. 11 a, CWTA-M outperforms WTA-R and CWTA-RF in scenario 2 simulations. Figure 11 b indicates that CWTA-M mitigates PK degradation due to heading errors compared to CWTA-RF. Additionally, Fig. 11 d shows that CWTA-M has fewer missed targets than CWTA-R. In Fig. 11 c, there is no significant difference in the time required for rotation. However, the results presented in Fig. 11 b, d suggest that the total amount of rotation is not a crucial factor. Instead, the reduction of missed targets and PK degradation due to heading errors can be achieved by selecting an appropriate rotation strategy for each target, determining when and at what angle to rotate. Figure 12 depicts the simulation results for the increasing values of $\sigma ^{{a_{\textrm{HE}}}}$ in scenario 2. The trend of the results is similar to that observed in scenario 1. With an increase in $\sigma ^{{a_{\textrm{HE}}}}$ , the PK degradation ratio decreases due to heading errors. Therefore, if $\sigma ^{{a_{\textrm{HE}}}}$ increases, the results of the four methods become similar. In this study, our focus is on cases where the impact of heading error on PK degradation is significant. Accordingly, the performance of CWTA-M dominates in situations where $\sigma ^{{a_{\textrm{HE}}}}$ is less than 10. Similarly, as illustrated in Fig. 12 b, d, it is evident that CWTA-M is superior in terms of the number of targets engaged in PK loss caused by heading errors.

To summarize, the R strategy is effective in mitigating PK loss caused by heading errors and improving engagement success rates. However, its unitary implementation has limitations, as it only determines the rotation angle towards the PIP direction, which may result in missed engagements if there is insufficient time to rotate to the objective orientation angle. In such cases, alternative strategies like the RF strategy or determining a rotation angle within the available time constraints could increase engagement success rates. By allowing for the selection of R and RF strategies and determining the rotation angle for each engagement, the limitation of the unitary R strategy was overcome, and the CWTA-M outperformed WTA under the unitary strategy, as demonstrated in the simulation results.

6 Conclusions

The proposed WTA algorithms aim to improve the defense against multiple targets in narrow areas, which is a challenging task due to the limited maneuverability of interceptors. The use of a rotation strategy to align the orientation angle with the target’s approach direction can significantly improve the PK against the target. However, the unitary implementation of the WTA algorithm with a rotation strategy only aligns the orientation angle toward the PIP direction, which may result in missed engagements if there is insufficient time to rotate to the objective orientation angle. To overcome this limitation, the study proposes a mixed version of the strategy that allows for the selection of R and RF strategies and the determination of the rotation angle for each engagement. This approach can reduce PK degradation and reaction time, leading to better performance against multiple targets. The proposed approach involves the inclusion of a step to determine the rotation angle to determine the R and RF strategy, alongside making modifications to the WTA formulation. Numerical simulations were then conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of these methods. Results from the simulations indicate that the proposed methods outperformed the unitary strategy when faced with multiple targets. One of the main advantages of the proposed algorithms is their ability to overcome PK degradation caused by heading errors while also achieving high performance and efficient use of resources through the flexible application of the R and RF strategy to manage the trade-off between PK degradation and reaction time.

In future research, it would be beneficial to identify additional factors and challenges that could be taken into account during a WTA process to aid decision-making for defending against area targets. Such considerations may include avoiding interference between interceptors, accounting for misidentification between debris and actual targets due to collisions, and expanding sensor–weapon–target assignment problems for cooperative engagements. Additionally, WTA simulations should be conducted using various types of area targets and interceptors, along with more realistic and diverse scenarios that incorporate target attack patterns.

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Kim, JE., Lee, CH. & Yi, M.Y. A Study on the Weapon–Target Assignment Problem Considering Heading Error. Int. J. Aeronaut. Space Sci. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42405-024-00717-5

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The long struggle to free Evan Gershkovich from a Moscow prison

By Lesley Stahl

Updated on: March 24, 2024 / 11:02 AM EDT / CBS News

On March 29, 2023, Evan Gershkovich was on assignment in Russia when he was arrested by security forces and accused of being a spy , a charge vigorously denied by Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal, and the U.S. government.

Look around the Wall Street Journal offices in Manhattan, and you'll see Gershkovich, the hostage, everywhere – on buttons, cards, shirts, and screens that stop you in your tracks.

Emma Tucker, the Journal's editor-in-chief, said that – unlike the Iran hostage situation, when the U.S. government told families to avoid publicity and let the government quietly negotiate – her instinct was to draw attention to Gershkovich's detainment. "Because it was so clearly outrageous," she said. "He was accredited. He was doing his job. He had done nothing wrong. My sense of justice was offended by what had happened."

Gershkovich was the first reporter to be taken into custody like this since the Cold War.

When asked why him, Tucker replied, "It's very hard to know. Is it because he works for the Wall Street Journal, which is a recognizable, famous American title? Is it because he's of Russian heritage? I wish I knew."

What is known is that Gershkovich is being held in a Stalin-era prison in Moscow. His pre-trial detention has been extended several times. Court appearances have been few but jarring.

"It was horrible," Tucker said, of seeing Gershkovich in court. "There's something so dehumanizing about those glass cages. I was surprised at the shock I felt at seeing it. So, goodness only knows what his parents felt when they saw it. So yes, it was a shock. At the same time, he was standing tall. He looked defiant. He smiled. So, mixed emotions."

In her apartment, where her younger brother would crash on the couch, Danielle Gershkovich said his calling was never in question. "I think he was born to be a journalist," she said. "He, I think, had always been seeking a life of adventure. And his travel, his writing. Working at the Wall Street Journal as a Russia correspondent was his absolute dream job."

Children of Soviet emigres who spoke Russian at home, Danielle and Evan have always been close. Hearing that he was in custody was shattering.

"I got a call from my mom," she said. "And it's just, my stomach fell out, you know? Your heart stops. It's so hard to believe that something like that is actually real. And I remember my mom and I discussing the morning after: 'Is that really Evan, that photo that came out?' We didn't want to admit for a moment that that was him."

Stahl asked, "Did you think [detention] was a possibility? Russia a year ago had already become dangerous. Other news organizations were pulling reporters out."

"I would say my whole family was nervous," Danielle replied. "He would always remind us, he's an accredited journalist."

And, therefore, (supposedly) safe. "It's very unprecedented," Danielle said.

Of course, what was unprecedented has become almost routine under Russian President Vladimir Putin. Gershkovich is the latest American pawn on Putin's geopolitical chessboard against the West.

Marine veteran Paul Whelan has been jailed in Russia for five years; Russian-American ballerina Ksenia Karelina was arrested in January, accused of treason for helping Ukraine; and basketball star Brittney Griner , imprisoned for nine months on drug charges, was finally freed in an exchange for a notorious arms dealer known as the "Merchant of Death."

Former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, who fled Russia in 2013, is one of Putin's most fervent critics. When asked if he fears for his life, he replied, "Would it help?"

Kasparov was recently named by the Kremlin to its registry of people it considers to be terrorists and extremists . He calls it "a badge of honor."

Stahl asked, "Putin just gets stronger and stronger, it seems, rather than the other way, which you predicted once that he would be on the downswing?"

"Putin's strength is very much result of [the West's] weakness," Kasparov replied. "Any sign of indecisiveness, any sign of hesitation feeds Putin with power. Because [he'll say], 'Ha, ha, yes, I can do this, I can do that. Nothing will happen.'"

He believes there is no chance that Gershkovich would be acquitted of charges. "Putin treats Gershkovich as money or weapons," he said. "This is one of the tools of him staying in power. So, he'll be negotiating."

WEB EXTRA: Garry Kasparov on how Western indecisiveness emboldens Putin (YouTube Video)

Putin himself has made that clear. He said he was open to a prisoner swap involving Gershkovich, Whelan, and a deal for opposition leader Alexey Navalny right before he died in a Russian prison last month .

Arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter in Russia likely "approved at the highest levels," ex-U.S. ambassador says
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich's latest appeal denied by Russia court
Russian court extends Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich's detention by 3 months

Roger Carstens, the U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, said, "What I can tell you is that the United States has been negotiating with the Russians." He did not deny that a swap was in the works, and it fell apart when Navalny died. "We had a strong offer that went at the end of last year," Carstens said. "The Russians rejected it. I was rather disappointed, but it might not have been entirely a huge surprise. But our goal now is to keep working with partners, allies, and to find that combination that's going to allow us to solve it."

Stahl asked, "How many Americans are being held hostage in the world?"

"My numbers at one point were over 50," said Carstens. "They're now down in-between 20 and 30. We always hesitate to give out an exact number for various reasons. In the last three years, the Biden-Harris administration has brought back 46 Americans that were wrongfully detained or held hostage. It's a team effort; it's members of U.S. government, members on Capitol Hill, non-profits, NGOs, allies, partners, and even members of the media that all seem to work together to bring those people home."

Carstens reiterated that Evan Gershkovich has never worked for the U.S. government. "He's not a spy; he's a journalist," he said. "And journalism should not be a crime."

Gershkovich spends 23 hours a day in his cell. Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Emma Tucker says he's allowed to send and receive letters, as long as they're in Russian. She described Gershkovich as "a resilient character. He's an extrovert, he's a people person."

And his health? "I think his health is okay; his mom looks very closely whenever there are shots of him [on TV]," Tucker said. "I think there's limits to how much exercise he can do. I can only imagine what the food is like. But he's meditating. He's practicing and getting ever better at Russian. He's reading in Russian."

And he even managed, from prison, to deliver something very special to his sister, Danielle: Flowers, which arrived for International Women's Day on March 8. "He's always thinking about us, and finding ways to make us smile," Danielle said.

Stahl said, "From the minute I walked in here, your eyes keep watering. It's hard for you to talk about, or not? Maybe it helps you?"

"Maybe it's that bittersweet moment where I'm looking at his photos," Danielle said. "I wish I didn't have to do this, but talking about my brother is always … it makes me smile. I miss him so much."

For more info:

Evan Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal

Story produced by Gabriel Falcon. Editor: Ed Givnish.

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Journal Article Review. Just like other types of reviews, a journal article review assesses the merits and shortcomings of a published work. ... Much like other assignments, an article review must contain an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Thus, you might consider dividing your outline according to these sections as well as subheadings ...
Journal Article
A journal article is considered a piece of research that has been published in a peer-reviewed academic or scientific journal. The first step in publishing an article is submitting it to a journal ...
How to Write an Article Review: Template & Examples
Article Review vs. Response Paper . Now, let's consider the difference between an article review and a response paper: If you're assigned to critique a scholarly article, you will need to compose an article review.; If your subject of analysis is a popular article, you can respond to it with a well-crafted response paper.; The reason for such distinctions is the quality and structure of ...
PDF PSYC 363: Journal Article Analysis
For the Journal Article Analysis assignment, you will find two (2) peer-reviewed journal articles (follow the instructions on the Find Articles page) and . s. ummarize, s. elect, analyze, and cite. them. You will use these to develop your research question and build your arguments for your Literature Review or the Discussion section of your Lab ...
How to Cite a Journal Article
A bibliography entry for a journal article lists the title of the article in quotation marks and the journal name in italics—both in title case. List up to 10 authors in full; use "et al." for 11 or more. In the footnote, use "et al." for four or more authors. Chicago format. Author last name, First name.
Journal Article Assignment
When you are writing your journal article assignment, please refer to your professor's instructions. But generally, you will be summarizing and paraphrasing the article itself, which will require APA in-text citations. You will need to use the WCCC Library's databases to find these articles. Here's a short video that shows you how to access ...
APA Style (7th Edition) Citation Guide: Journal Articles
When a source has 21 or more authors, include the first 19 authors' names, then three ellipses (…), and add the last author's name. Don't include an ampersand (&) between the ellipsis and final author. Note: For works with three or more authors, the first in-text citation is shortened to include the first author's surname followed by "et al."
Example of Journal Assignment
Scientific Journal + Article. Becoming Acquainted with Psychological Research. 1. What is the name of your journal? The name of the journal I chose my journal assignment from is Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied.. 2.
Prompt: A Journal of Academic Writing Assignments
We publish assignments directed at both undergraduate and graduate students from all academic disciplines. Prompt is an open-access journal, with all articles freely available to all readers. Browse our current issue below, and explore past issues in "Archives." Click "About" for more information about our journal, including information for ...
Basic Journal Assignment Example
Here is an example of a basic journal assignment: Short writing assignments for a personal journal will be required for all readings. Additional assignments will be given frequently in class and for homework throughout the semester. In addition, it must be kept up to date. You may be asked to read journal entries for the class.
UNIT 4 ASSIGNMENT (docx)
UNIT 4 ASSIGNMENT Topic: Covid-19 Source 1: "COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy and Effectiveness: A Review of the Evidence." (2022). New England Journal of Medicine, 386(2), 206-220. Summary: This article, in the New England Journal of Medicine provides a comprehensive review of the evidence of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and effectiveness. It discusses the types of vaccines available, including ...
Comparing modern identification methods for wild bees: Metabarcoding
With the decline of bee populations worldwide, studies determining current wild bee distributions and diversity are increasingly important. Wild bee identification is often completed by experienced taxonomists or by genetic analysis. The current study was designed to compare two methods of identification including: (1) morphological identification by experienced taxonomists using images of ...
A Study on the Weapon-Target Assignment Problem ...
The focus of this study is to investigate the assignment of weapons to multiple targets in a scenario, specifically when an air defense system is confronted with numerous targets, such as low-altitude rockets or groups of drones. The accuracy of weapons in destroying these targets depends heavily on the correct alignment of the launchers with the targets, which can be affected by errors in ...
The long struggle to free Evan Gershkovich from a Moscow prison
Last March 29, the Wall Street Journal reporter was on assignment in Russia when he was arrested by security forces and accused of being a spy, a charge vigorously denied by Gershkovich, the paper ...

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How to Review a Journal Article

Questions to Consider

Evaluating Purpose and Argument

Evaluating the Presentation/Organization of Information

Evaluating Methods

Evaluating Data

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

Definition and Introduction

Benefits of Journal Article Analysis Assignments

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Common Assignments: Journal Entries

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How to write a journal article

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The ‘preamble’ elements of a journal article

Acknowledgements

Writing the article

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Tone and register

The major elements of an article

References and citations

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