Questions to Ask After Reading an Article
For students, teachers and any careful reader who has just finished a news story, an opinion piece or a journal article and wants to know what to make of it. The questions run in the order the thinking goes: what the piece claims, what evidence backs it, who wrote it and why, what it leaves out and how it frames the rest, how it sits beside other sources, and what you now think or would do with it. Each has a note on what a solid answer sounds like, what a worrying one sounds like, or what to do next.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The claim
What is the article's main claim, in one sentence of your own?
Why ask it
A good answer is a sentence someone could disagree with, such as "the new bus lanes made commutes shorter." If all you can produce is a topic ("it is about buses"), you have the subject and not the point, so reread the headline, the first two paragraphs and the last one.
Without looking back, can you say who did what, when and where, and why it matters?
Why ask it
Give yourself thirty seconds, out loud or on paper. Whichever of the five comes up blank is the paragraph to reread. If the blank is why it matters, check whether the article ever said, because some stories report an event and leave its significance to the reader.
Is this a news report, an opinion piece, an analysis or a research article, and how can you tell?
Why ask it
Look for a label near the headline, a first-person voice or a methods section. Each kind owes the reader something different: a report owes sourcing, an opinion owes an argument and a study owes a method, so settle this before you judge the piece by the wrong standard.
Does the headline promise more than the article delivers?
Why ask it
Compare the verbs. If the headline says "causes" and the text says "is linked to," trust the text, and keep in mind that a headline is often written by an editor and not by the reporter. A wide gap is a reason to read that outlet's other headlines with care.
Which sentences are reported facts, and which are the writer's judgment?
Why ask it
Mark three of each. A fact is something a second person could check, while a judgment tends to arrive in words like "troubling," "merely" or "long overdue." In an opinion piece the mix is expected and the job is to see which facts the opinion stands on, but a news story where you cannot pull the two apart deserves a second source.
What question was the article trying to answer, and did it answer it?
Why ask it
In a journal article the question usually sits at the end of the introduction, and the discussion should return to it. Be wary of a piece that opens on one question ("is the program working?") and closes having answered an easier one ("do participants like it?").
Who are the people or groups in the piece, and what does each of them want?
Why ask it
List them down the margin: the agency, the company, the residents, the researcher. Once each has a want written beside it, the quotes read differently, because you can see who is describing events and who is making a case.
Which key terms does the argument depend on, and did the article say what it means by them?
Why ask it
"Affordable," "screen time" and "violent crime" can each be drawn wide or narrow, and the conclusion moves with the line. A careful piece tells you where it drew it. When it does not, write down the two most likely meanings and check whether the claim survives both.
Evidence
What evidence does the writer give for the main claim, and what kind is each piece?
Why ask it
Sort it into numbers, documents, named witnesses, expert opinion and single stories. A solid answer names items ("the city's ridership count, two drivers, one transit professor"). "There were lots of quotes" means going back to list them.
Who is quoted or cited, and how would each of them know?
Why ask it
An eyewitness, an official reading a statement and a specialist commenting from a distance know different things. The worrying pattern is a strong claim resting on "critics say" or "sources familiar with the matter," with no one named and no reason given for the anonymity.
For each number, what is it a share of, and what is it being compared with?
Why ask it
A risk that "doubles" may have gone from one in a million to two, and a record budget may be smaller per person than last year's. If the article gives only a percentage or only a raw count, the missing half is the first thing to look up.
Can you follow a link or citation back to the original, and does it say what the article says it does?
Why ask it
Choose the one claim that matters most and click through. The report, court filing or study often carries a caveat that was dropped in the retelling. A link that only leads to another article making the same claim has not shown you anything yet.
Does the article say one thing caused another, and what else could explain the pattern?
Why ask it
"Linked to," "associated with" and "followed" are not "because of." Name one rival explanation, such as something else that changed during those months or a third factor behind both, and see whether the writer dealt with it or stepped around it.
If the piece opens with one person's story, how typical is that person?
Why ask it
Reporters choose an opening case because it is vivid, and vivid cases tend to sit nearer the edge than the middle. Look further down for the sentence that says how many people are in the same position. If that sentence never comes, the story is an illustration and tells you nothing about scale.
If it reports a study, who or what was studied, how many, and for how long?
Why ask it
A dozen volunteers over a weekend and several thousand people followed for years support very different headlines, and so do mice and humans. Go to the methods section for this, not the abstract, then ask whether the group studied resembles the people the conclusion is being applied to.
What do the authors themselves say their findings cannot show?
Why ask it
Research papers usually keep a limitations paragraph near the end of the discussion, and good news reports carry sentences such as "it is not yet clear whether." Finding these is reassuring. An article about uncertain things that admits no uncertainty is the one to slow down on.
Which claim does the argument lean on hardest, with the least support behind it?
Why ask it
There is nearly always one: a prediction, a motive assigned to someone, a "this will lead to." Naming it lets you accept the rest of the article without swallowing that part too, and it is usually the best thing to raise in a class discussion.
Source
Who wrote this, and what puts them in a position to know about it?
Why ask it
Search the byline. A reporter who has covered the beat for years, a researcher in that field and a columnist writing outside their own area each earn a different kind of trust. A missing byline is normal on a wire report or an editorial, but on an unfamiliar site it leaves you nobody to look up, so look up the outlet instead.
Who published it, and how does that outlet pay its bills?
Why ask it
Read the About page until you know whether the money comes from subscribers, advertisers, donors, a parent company or a group with a cause. That will not tell you whether this piece is right. It tells you which stories the outlet has reason to run and which it has reason to leave alone.
What was the writer trying to do: inform, persuade, sell or entertain?
Why ask it
Check the ending, where purpose tends to show: a call to act, a product link, a punchline or simply the last fact. Persuasion is fair when it is labeled as opinion. The answer to worry about is "sell" on a page dressed as news, so look near the headline for a label such as "sponsored," "paid post" or "partner content." Each outlet words it differently.
When was it published, and what has happened since?
Why ask it
Find the date and any "updated" line before anything else, because old articles get passed around as if they were new. A breaking story is a first account written fast, so if it is more than a few days old, search for the follow-up before you rely on its details.
Who is the article written for, and what gives that away?
Why ask it
Vocabulary, what gets explained and what gets skipped, and the examples chosen all point at an intended reader. A trade publication for landlords and a tenants' newsletter can both be accurate about the same rent law and still leave you with opposite impressions.
Does the writer, the publisher or anyone quoted gain if you believe it?
Why ask it
Look for a disclosure line, an affiliate link, a study paid for by the maker of the product, or an expert who sells the remedy being discussed. A declared interest is a point in the piece's favor, since you were told. An interest you found on your own that nobody mentioned counts against it.
If it is a journal article, where did it appear and was it reviewed by other researchers first?
Why ask it
A preprint has not yet been through that review, and the page hosting it normally says so. Review catches some problems and misses others, so treat it as a floor and not as a promise. Which journals are taken seriously differs by field, so ask your instructor or a librarian how to tell in yours.
Has the article been corrected, and does the outlet show its corrections?
Why ask it
Scroll to the bottom for a correction note. One there is a better sign than it looks, because it means someone checked and the outlet said so in public. Worry more about a site with no corrections anywhere and no way to report an error.
Gaps and framing
Whose voice is missing from the article?
Why ask it
Think of who is affected and check whether they speak: the tenants in a housing story, the students in a school one, the company being accused. A line saying someone "did not respond to a request for comment" shows the reporter tried. No such line and no such voice is a gap to note.
What does the argument take for granted without arguing for it?
Why ask it
Find the sentence that has to be true for the conclusion to follow and that the writer never defends, such as "growth is the goal" or "parents know best." You may well share the assumption. The point is to see it, because a reader who does not share it will find the whole piece unconvincing, and you should be able to say why.
What is the strongest objection to the main claim, and did the article take it on?
Why ask it
A strong opinion piece states the other side in a form its holders would sign, then answers it. Be suspicious when the only opponent on the page is a foolish one, or when the objection that occurred to you in the second paragraph is never mentioned.
What did you still want to know at the end that the article could have told you?
Why ask it
Cost, a date, how many, what happens next, who decides. Write the question down and judge whether the gap looks like a deadline, a word limit or a choice. The ones that look like a choice are worth chasing in another source.
What happened before this story started?
Why ask it
News arrives in the middle of things: a strike, a lawsuit or a vote usually has years behind it. If the article gives the history one sentence, look for an explainer or a timeline before forming a view, because who looks reasonable often depends on where you start the clock.
Which photo, chart or pull quote shaped your impression, and does the text back it up?
Why ask it
Read the caption and the chart's axes. A vertical axis that starts well above zero makes a small change look steep, and a stock photo can suggest a scene the reporter never saw. Where the picture is stronger than the paragraph beside it, go with the paragraph.
Does the piece present two sides as evenly matched, and does the evidence say they are?
Why ask it
Quoting one person for and one against is a habit of fair reporting, but it can make a lopsided question look like a toss-up, and it can hide a third or fourth position. Compare how much evidence the article reports behind each side, not how many paragraphs each one got.
Which words did the writer pick where a plainer one was available?
Why ask it
"Slashed" for "cut," "admitted" for "said," "scheme" for "plan." Put the flat word back and see whether the sentence still bothers you. If it does not, the feeling came from the vocabulary and not from anything that was reported.
How would the same facts read if someone on the other side had written them up?
Why ask it
Try rewriting the first paragraph from that seat. What moves to the top, what drops to the bottom and what gets a different verb shows you the framing choices in the original. If nothing would change, the piece is about as neutral as writing gets.
Other sources
What do two or three other outlets say about the same event or finding?
Why ask it
Open new tabs and search for the event itself, not the headline's wording. Agreement on the basic facts among outlets that rarely agree is strong support. A claim only one site carries is not false on that account, but for now it is unconfirmed and should be described that way.
Does it match what your textbook, your class notes or an earlier reading said on the subject?
Why ask it
Set the two side by side and find the sentence where they part. A clash does not show which one is wrong: a textbook can trail behind events, and a news story can run ahead of the evidence. Note the date on each and take the disagreement to your teacher or a librarian.
Where the accounts differ, is it over the facts or over what to emphasize?
Why ask it
Put two versions side by side and underline what appears in only one. Different numbers or a different order of events mean someone is wrong and you need a third source. Different emphasis is ordinary, and reading both gets you closer to the whole picture than either does alone.
Did the story begin somewhere else, and did it change on the way here?
Why ask it
Search a distinctive phrase from it in quotation marks. Many outlets rerun a single wire report or rework one press release, so ten matching articles can amount to one source. Read the earliest version you can find and note what later copies added, sharpened or lost.
Is this a single finding, or does it fit with what earlier work found?
Why ask it
Phrases like "the first study to show" or "overturns what we thought" are exciting and are also a reason to wait. Look for a review article, or the lines in the paper's introduction that sum up previous results. One result standing against many may turn out right, but it has not earned a change of mind yet.
What do people who work in the field say about it?
Why ask it
For research, look for comment from scientists who were not involved, which careful coverage usually includes. For a news event, see what reporters who specialize in the subject wrote. Doubt from people with no stake in the result is a signal to hold your own conclusion loosely.
What do other sources say about the writer or the outlet itself?
Why ask it
A site's About page is its own best account of itself, so leave the site and search its name. You want to know who runs it, whether it has a record of corrections or retractions, and whether other outlets cite it. A minute of this can tell you more than a long look at how professional the page seems.
Your take
Do you agree with the article in whole, in part or not at all, and what is your reason?
Why ask it
"In part" is usually the honest answer, and the useful work is saying which part. A good reason points at something in the piece. "It just makes sense" and "I don't buy it" are the same weak answer in two moods.
What in the article surprised you, and what had you assumed instead?
Why ask it
Write the old assumption down next to the line that upset it. Sometimes you have simply learned something. Sometimes the surprising line is the weakest one in the piece, which makes it the first to run through the Evidence questions before you repeat it to anyone.
What did you think about this subject before you read it, and has that moved?
Why ask it
Write the before and the after in a line each. No movement is fine if the evidence was thin. No movement after strong evidence, or a complete reversal after one article, both call for a second look at how you read it.
How did the article make you feel, and did the feeling make you check less?
Why ask it
Anger, alarm and the pleasure of being right can make sharing feel urgent and checking feel unnecessary. If the piece left you with a strong one, find the paragraph that caused it and take that paragraph back through the Evidence questions before you pass the article on.
Is this solid enough to share, to cite in a paper or to act on?
Why ask it
Those are three different bars. Passing it to a friend with "interesting, not sure" asks little, citing it asks that you traced the claim, and acting on it asks most. For anything touching health, money or the law, treat the article as a list of things to ask a qualified person and not as the answer.
Would this work differently where you live, study or work?
Why ask it
A story about school funding, rent rules, a medical guideline or workplace rights may describe one country, state or employer and not yours. Before you apply it, ask a local source how it works there: the district office, the provider, the HR department or the agency's own site.
In an essay or discussion, would you use this as a fact, as an example or as a view to argue with?
Why ask it
A news report can supply a fact, a feature can supply a case, and an opinion piece gives you a position to weigh, quoted as that writer's view. Deciding the role first keeps you from citing a columnist's judgment as if it were a finding. Ask your instructor what counts as an acceptable source for the assignment.
What one question would you put to the writer?
Why ask it
Phrase it as you would in a letter to the editor: specific, answerable and about the piece. "Why did you not speak to any of the drivers?" is the right size. In a class, collecting everyone's question on the board shows quickly where the article left the room unsatisfied.
What will you read, look up or do next because of this article?
Why ask it
Name one thing and keep it small: the original report, a term you did not know, the other side's best piece. "Nothing" is a fair answer for a routine story. For one you plan to write about, the next step is how a single reading turns into research.
A month from now, what from this article will still be worth knowing?
Why ask it
Most news ages fast, and the part that lasts is usually a fact, a name or a way of looking at the issue. Write that one thing at the top of your notes. If you cannot find anything, the piece may have been about the day and not about the subject.
Getting from a finished article to a view you can defend
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you start on the questions
Read it twice, for two different things
The first pass is for what the article says, start to finish, with no stopping. The second is with a pen: underline the main claim, put a mark beside each piece of evidence and a question mark wherever you hesitated. The questions on this page go much faster against a marked copy than against memory.
Match the questions to the kind of article
A news story is tested mostly under Evidence and Source: who knows this, and how. An opinion piece is tested under Gaps and framing, because its facts may be fine while its assumptions and its choice of words carry the argument. A journal article needs the study questions under Evidence and the comparison with earlier work under Other sources.
Choose six, not all of them
For a short piece or a ten-minute discussion, take one question from each group. For an article you plan to cite or act on, work a whole group through, starting with whichever one you would least like to answer.
Write the answers down
A sentence per question is enough. An answer that felt clear in your head and falls apart on paper has shown you where your reading was thinner than you thought, and the written version is what you will want when the essay or the argument comes round.
Using the list with a class or a group
Split the groups across one article
Give every table the same article and a different group of questions: one table on the claim, one on evidence, one on the source and so on. Each reports back in two minutes. The class hears the article taken apart six ways, and the tables tend to disagree in places worth staying on.
Pair two pieces on the same event
Set a news report beside an opinion column, or two outlets' reports of one event, and run the Other sources questions on both. Framing is much easier to see by contrast than by staring at a single text.
A one-page written response
Ask for five short parts: the main claim in a sentence, the two strongest pieces of evidence, one thing left out, one other source and what it added, and the student's own position with a reason. The shape follows the groups on this page and is quick to grade, because each part is either there or not.
With younger readers
Keep to four: what is it saying, who wrote it, how do they know, and what do you think. Use a short article on something the class already cares about, and let "I am not sure yet" stand as a full answer as long as the student can say what would settle it.
When the article is a research paper
Read it out of order
Read the abstract, jump to the discussion or conclusion, then go back for the methods and the figures. Knowing where the paper ends up makes the middle easier to judge, and it keeps you from spending all your attention on the literature review.
Check the abstract against the body
An abstract has room for the result and little room for the conditions on it. After reading the methods and the limitations, reread the abstract and note anything that now sounds stronger than the paper supports.
Read the paper behind the news story
If you came to the research through press coverage, compare the two. Note what the journalist added, such as advice or a prediction, and what was lost, such as the size of the effect or who was studied. The question about following a citation back to the original is the one to start with.
Ask how your field does it
What counts as a strong design, a respected journal or a large enough sample differs between history, psychology and engineering. Your instructor or a subject librarian can tell you what readers in your field look at first, and that is a better guide than any general checklist.
Where article analysis goes wrong
Doubting everything equally
Deciding that all media is biased and nothing can be known is not careful reading. It is a way of skipping the work. The aim of the questions is to sort: this part is well supported, this part is one person's view, this part I could not confirm.
Judging by the outlet alone
A reliable outlet can run a weak story, and an outlet you distrust can get one right. Let the source set how much checking you do, then let the evidence in the piece decide.
Checking only what you dislike
It is easy to verify the articles that annoy you and wave through the ones that agree with you. Once in a while, run the full Evidence group on a piece you enjoyed. It is the fairest test of whether you are analyzing or only defending.
Stopping at the summary
Saying accurately what an article says is the first step, and many responses end there. The value, in a class and in an argument with a friend, is in the next two moves: how well the piece supports what it says, and what you make of it.