In regards to the article by Payne (1991), there are no images, tables, or figures used. It is merely a collection of letters to the editor, and therefore, the content is not scholarly at all. Although some information presented in the articles is worth reading, the credibility of the content cannot be guaranteed.
On the same note, the reader cannot be very sure about whether the scope of each letter is reliable. It is also pertinent to note that the letters are contained in a medical journal, and therefore, their contents must have been approved before being compiled. Hence, the letters are relevant in the journal collection.
There are no sources behind the text contained in the journals even though a formal writing style has been adopted by each author of the letters. Also, the credentials of the individual authors have not been indicated in the journal collection. The date of this journal article has been indicated. As can be seen, it is an old journal collection that should perhaps not be used for a current research study.
In the second article by Sedgh et al. (2012), a quantitative research study has been carried out to determine the negative physical and psychological effects of abortion. Real data was gathered from the field as participants were taken through an experimental session.
There is a lot of credibility on the figures and statistical data presented in the article because an empirical study was carried out. Moreover, there are several references used in the research article to back up or support the ideas presented in the paper.
In terms of accuracy, the information presented in the article is indeed accurate and trustworthy bearing in mind that it comprises of ideas obtained from both the past and recent studies on abortion. It is also interesting to note that all the sources used behind the text are scholarly. Most of them are either peer-reviewed articles or academic books with authentic publishers. Hence, there is no doubt that the information presented in the article is accurate.
Another outstanding feature of the second article is that the date of publication has been indicated. It is a recent research study that is suitable for compiling other pieces of research work.
The scope of this article is indeed relevant as per the topic indicated in the journal. All the details explored in the article are within both the thesis statement and statement of the problem indicated in the research article. The given tables, graphs, and figures also add authenticity to the information offered in the entire research article.
In other words, adequate support has been given to the ideas presented in the article. Also, the credentials of the authors have been pointed out at the introductory section of the article, and as such, it is possible for the reader to quickly identify the authors in terms of their various areas of professions.
If I were to conduct a research study on this subject area, I would opt to use the Sedgh et al. (2012) article due to several reasons.
To begin with, the data presented in the article is within the scope of the study and also relevant. Secondly, all the references used have been obtained from scholarly sources. This implies that there are no false facts or information provided in the article. Also, the article is still up to date compared to the other one written over 20 years ago.
References
Payne, O. (1991). Abortion. Journal of the National Medical Association, 83(2), 117- 118.
Sedgh, G., Singh, S., Shah, I. H., Åhman, E., Henshaw, S. K.. & Bankole, A. (2012). Induced abortion: Incidence and trends worldwide from 1995 to 2008. The Lancet, 379 (9816), 625–632.