The critical assessment should include four components and follow the required format (2-3 pages, double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman, one-inch margin, page numbered, reference list and endnote will not count toward page length, as a Word document). The evaluation rubric for the critical assessment is detailed in Appendix A.
i. Bibliographical citation: see “Citation Standards”.
ii. Synthesis of the major points of the article: synthetically summarize research questions/puzzles, claims/arguments, the evidence supporting the claims/arguments, and conclusions.
iii. A nutshell statement: summarize in one sentence what this article/excerpt is about.
iv. Critical evaluation of the article: focusing on this article, questions you should discuss include, but are not limited to: why and how the inquiry into these questions is important to the research on and practice of public administration, what are the strengths and weaknesses of this work, how this work connects to the main/required reading, and what are substantive reasons (e.g., related to the article’s argumentation, evidence, data, etc) to recommend this work to your colleagues and/or what are reasons not to recommend it.