Peer-reviewed articles are valuable sources of scholarly information. They provide quality, objective, and accurate information on various topics. This is achieved by subjecting the articles to rigorous scrutiny by peer researchers, hence the name peer-reviewed. Though there are variations in how research articles are formatted, there are standardised elements that appear in every article irrespective of the format. A peer-reviewed article must on the minimum have a title, details of the author(s), an abstract, an introduction, a literature review section, a methodology section, a results section, a discussion and conclusion section, footnotes or in-text references, and a list of references or bibliography. This paper analyses the extent to which three selected journal articles conform to these elements. The selected articles relate to the subject of total quality management (TQM). Oschman, J. (2017). The role of strategic planning in implementing a total quality management framework: An empirical review. Quality Management Journal, 24(2), 41-53.

Title

A peer-reviewed article should have a title. The title is indeed the most visible element in the first page of the article. It offers a basic summary or overview of the central theme in the article. A good title should give an idea of the main topic, the variables the article focuses on, as well as the relationship between the variables (Paltridge, 2017). The title of the first article selected is: “The role of strategic planning in implementing a total quality management framework: An empirical review.” The title of the article is clearly visible. It quickly informs the reader that TQM is the main idea under investigation, and suggests a relationship between TQM and strategic planning.

Author Details

Details of the author(s) help readers confirm the credibility of the author, especially in terms of research experience and knowledge of the subject matter (Richler & Gauthier, 2017). Author details include not only the names of the author(s), but also their contact, academic credentials, and institutional affiliation. The article is authored by Jacobus Johannes Oschman, who is affiliated to the University of South Africa. In the last page of the article, the biography of the author is presented. The author is a professor in the field of operations management, and boasts 30 years of experience in TQM research and practice. Contact details of the author are also provided. The details provided indicate that the author is credible and extensively knowledgeable on the subject matter.

Abstract

The abstract offers a short (often one paragraph), comprehensive summary of the article’s contents. A good abstract should give the reader a quick overview of the article even without reading the rest of the content (Richler & Gauthier, 2017). The abstract should capture the background of the topic, the purpose of the study, the methodology used, participants and setting, findings, conclusions derived, and implications of the study. Though there is no section labelled “Abstract” in Oschman’s (2017) article, a summary is offered as the first paragraph of the article. The summary clearly states the purpose of the study (examine the role of strategic planning in TQM implementation), methodology used (survey), participants and setting (managers in eight South African...

It provides a background of the problem and its significance, objectives or hypotheses of the study, a brief description of the research design, the theoretical and practical significance of the study, as well as the organisation of the article (Paltridge, 2017). Oschman’s (2017) article has all the crucial aspects of an introduction. The introduction effectively introduces the reader to the topic and evidently mentions gaps in literature and the purpose of the study.
Literature Review

Literature review is basically a summary of theory as well as other researchers’ findings on the topic under investigation. A good literature review not only summarises, but also synthesizes literature (Robson, Pitt & West, 2015). It provides a critical examination of the literature, clearly identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the literature. The literature review section also identifies gaps in literature and states how the present article seeks to fill the gaps. Some articles have a separate literature review section, while others incorporate it in the introduction. In Oschman’s (2017) article, the literature review section stands on its own. The section is well organised, clearly and critically summarising theory and extant literature on TQM. The section ends by stating how the study intends to demonstrate the link between TQM and strategic planning.

Methodology

The methodology section describes and justifies the processes and procedures employed in conducting the study. Major aspects included in the methodology section include target population, sampling process, materials used, as well as data collection and analysis procedures (Robson, Pitt & West, 2015). All these facets are unambiguously described in Oschman’s (2017) article.

Results and Analysis

The findings of the study are summarized and presented in the results and analysis section. How the results are presented usually depends on the nature of the study. The techniques used range from tables and figures to descriptive statements and statistical analyses (Paltridge, 2017). Oschman’s (2017) study was quantitative in nature. Accordingly, quantitative techniques (e.g. graphs, frequencies, percentages, and tables) have been used to present the findings of the study. Compared to most articles, however, the results section presents both the findings of the study and interpretation.

Discussion and Conclusion

The discussion section interprets the findings of the study with respect to the objectives or hypotheses of the study as well as existing literature (Richler & Gauthier, 2017). The major focus of this section is to discuss the contribution of the study to existing knowledge, limitations of the study, as well as its implications on practice, research, and policy. In Oschman’s (2017) article, there is no separate section for discussion – findings are discussed in the results section. Instead, there is a conclusion section, which summarises the findings of the study, their strengths and limitations, and their relevance for theory, research, and practice.

Footnotes/In-text