What is a Critique: Types of Critiques and How to Write it (with Examples)

Table of Contents

A critique is a formal evaluation by an individual about a body of work. This formal analysis is the author’s personal opinion, whether positive or negative, about different aspects of the work. The body of work being critiqued could be a research article, a book, a concept, a video, movie, etc. Critiques typically highlight the main ideas, and strengths and weaknesses of a body of work from the author’s perspective and should not be considered a generic view.

A critique is different from a summary, review, and analysis, because the critique expresses the author’s opinions and could be subjective while the other three mostly summarize the main ideas included in the body of work. In research, a critique is very helpful, especially in case of unpublished works because a critical analysis or a peer review of a research article can help researchers modify their article based on the suggestions given, which could increase their chances of being accepted by journals.

This article will help you understand the meaning, importance, and different types of critiques.

What is a Critique?

Since the word “critique” is very similar to the word “criticize,” at first glance, readers may interpret it to mean giving only negative comments. However, the word actually means to critically analyze a body of work by evaluating its main ideas and identifying its strengths and weaknesses.

Critiques usually include the following elements:¹

Title of the work and name(s) of the author or creator
Description of the work, which includes the objective and the context or main concepts covered
Detailed analysis of the structure, function, and content of the work, including both strengths and weaknesses
Explanation of the work’s significance and implications
References

The following table describes the various elements of a research critique and the type of information that should be included.²

Elements of a research critique	Information to include
Identifying information	Is the article published? If yes, where and when? Who wrote the article? What were the objective(s) and study type?
Research design and methodology	How does the method contribute to existing research in the field? Is the method realistic and feasible? How does the method address questions of validity? How does the researcher overcome the limitations of the method?
Interpretation of findings	Did the researcher find any relationship between the variables under study? How generalizable are the findings? Can the findings be applied to other scenarios?
Writing quality, style, and organization of information	Is the information presented logically, maintaining a defined structure? Are there any gaps in the description? Does the author have any biases?
Value of the study	Is the research problem significant? Does the research make contributions to the advancement of research in that field?

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Types of Critiques

Critiques can be of various types, as described below.¹

Academic critiques

Usually, students are the authors of academic critiques. They may be asked to write a critique paper on some work related to their course of study. If students evaluate works of other students, then such evaluations are called peer reviews. Academic critiques by students are important because they show instructors that students can understand ideas, arrive at their own conclusions, and develop new directions for discussion. Academic critiquing can also demonstrate that you have a strong background knowledge on the topic in order to provide feedback on another person’s work.

Reviews of published works

These reviews can be for books, films, scholarly articles, etc. and may be written for publishers, newspapers, or may be assigned as a part of your thesis.

Feedback on manuscripts or works-in-progress

This type of critique is usually called a peer review when experts in the field critique a research article that is yet to be published. This critique helps determine whether an article will be accepted for publication or not.

How to Write a Critique (Step-by-Step Process)

Here are the basic steps that you could follow for writing a critique:¹^,³

1. Determine the objective and the criteria for analysis: Before starting to write a critique, identify your objective and criteria, which can help you structure your critique effectively. Assessment rubrics may be available that could help you evaluate the work appropriately.

2. Study the body of work: Before you start writing, you should study in detail the work that you will be critiquing. This could involve watching films or videos or reading a work-in-progress article or a published book to get a better understanding of the work. Some questions to consider while reading or watching include:

What is the nature of the work being evaluated?
Who is the target audience?
What are the objectives and context of the work?
For written material, is the content well structured?
What are some strengths and weaknesses of the work?
How does the work help improve the learning about the specific subject?

3. Do your research: While evaluating your work, you may need to conduct some secondary research on your own to understand the subject better or to corroborate facts and also to learn about previous related work that has been created on the subject.

4. Format your critique: Ensure that you format your written evaluation and structure it in such a way that the reader understands your perspective clearly. Use plain language and quote excerpts from the work that you’re critiquing to help readers understand better.

5. Write introductory and body paragraphs, and a conclusion: Some elements such as an introduction and conclusion are essential to provide the context and to summarize your evaluation for easy reference. It also helps organize your ideas and structure your critique.

In a critique, it is important to state your praise, criticisms, suggestions, etc., as politely as possible, but with some assertiveness to reinforce the importance of your critical analysis.

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Offering praise and criticism

Hedging is a process that can help you state your praises and criticisms with different levels of strength based on the argument. The following grammatical structures could be used for hedging:

Using modal verbs such as could, can, may, might, etc. can help soften your argument. Consider these two sentences as an example of a critique:
- This text is inappropriate for graduate students who are new to the field.
- This text may be inappropriate for graduate students who are new to the field.

Using qualifying adjectives and adverbs, such as possibly, likely, somewhat, etc., helps in stating your opinions in less absolute terms and introduce some probability to your claims. However, using too many such words may render the argument as being too weak. Consider the following sentences:
- Readers will find the theoretical model difficult to understand.
- Some readers will find the theoretical model difficult to understand.
- Some readers will probably find the theoretical model somewhat difficult to understand completely.

Using tentative verbs, such as seems, indicates, suggests, etc., also helps soften an argument. For instance:
- This omission shows that the authors are not aware of the current literature.
- This omission indicates that the authors are not aware of the current literature.
- This omission seems to suggest that the authors are not aware of the current literature.

Offering suggestions

The language you can use to offer suggestions depends on whether the work you’re critiquing is published or unpublished. For unpublished works, the researcher could use your suggestions to improve or restructure the specific sections.

For unpublished works, you could use language such as: The tables would be clearer if the authors highlighted the results.
In case of published works, the sentence could be rephrased as: The tables would have been clearer if the authors had highlighted the results.

A critique is thus a critical analysis of a body of work and evaluates the work’s main ideas and discusses the strengths and weaknesses from the author’s perspective. Critiques are instrumental in research because, in case of unpublished works, the suggestions given can help improve the article and increase its chances of acceptance for publication by journals.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a critique paper?

A critique paper is an evaluation or a critical analysis of a published or unpublished body of work, highlighting its context and strengths and weaknesses and how the content could be improved, if required. Critiques can be written for books, journal articles, videos, etc.

What is the purpose of a critique?

A critique helps provide constructive feedback to the original content creators to help them improve their work and gain different perspectives. For example, for an unpublished journal article, a critique or peer review can help the authors add different data or information to their paper and modify the structure, possibly increasing their chances of acceptance for publishing.

What should an article critique include?

An article critique should include an introduction to the original work explaining its context, body paragraphs outlining the main points, a detailed critical assessment discussing the strengths and weaknesses, and a conclusion summarizing your overall assessment.

What are the differences between a critique, review, summary, and analysis?

The following table highlights few important differences between a critique, summary, review, and analysis.4

	Critique	Summary	Review	Analysis
Definition	Detailed examination of an article to assess its strengths and weaknesses	Brief representation of an article’s main ideas and findings	Subjective assessment of a work	Study of the underlying mechanisms, themes, and implications of an article
Objective	To evaluate the quality, credibility, and validity of the article, and answer the question, “How well does the author accomplish their goals?”	To provide a condensed version of the article, including the main points and findings but not evaluating the quality	To subjectively evaluate the article by providing the reviewer's opinion, analysis, and recommendations, aiming to guide readers or consumers	To provide a deeper understanding of the work
Uses	Academia, professional use	News articles, executive summaries, abstracts	Literature, film, and product evaluations	Literary criticism, social sciences, and academic research
Approach	Analyze the article in detail by studying the methodology, structure, and overall effectiveness in conveying its message	Highlight the essential elements of the article, typically by paraphrasing or quoting key passages	Share your personal opinions about the article	Critically examine the article's content and structure, and uncover the author's intentions, context, and the overall significance of the work

What tone or style should a critique have?

A critique should use formal language and should be objective and respectful. The critique should be well structured to ensure clarity and usefulness to the reader. The strengths and weaknesses should be mentioned professionally.

How long should a critique be?

The length of a critique would typically depend on the instructions given by the institution or publisher and could be either short (one page) or long (3-4 pages). Thus, a critique is important to understand a body of work from different perspectives. These critiques should be considered as a guide to improve the original work. We hope this article has helped you understand the importance of a critique and how to write it effectively for clear and transparent communication.

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References

1. How to write a critique (with types and an example). Indeed. Updated July 25, 2025. Accessed November 13, 2025. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-a-critique

2. Critique/review of research article. University of Calgary. Accessed November 14, 2025. https://www.ucalgary.ca/live-uc-ucalgary-site/sites/default/files/teams/9/critique-or-reviews-of-research-articles-academic-genre.pdf

3. Writing critiques. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Accessed November 16, 2025. https://writingcenter.unc.edu/esl/resources/writing-critiques/

4. Differences between a critique, summary, review, and analysis: Mastering the article evaluation process. Published November 7, 2023. Accessed November 17, 2025. https://apaxresearchers.com/differences-between-a-critique-summary-review-and-analysis-mastering-the-article-evaluation-process#:~:text=Critique:%20A%20critique%20focuses%20on,an%20evaluation%20of%20its%20quality