Wikipedia:Peer review/Elmer Ernest Southard/archive1

Elmer Ernest Southard

I've listed this article for peer review because… I'm hoping to take this through an FA nomination soon, but I have very little FA experience. After a GOCE request, I was surprised at the number of syntax issues that were identified, but I was glad to have them addressed. I'm interested in any feedback that will improve the article.

Thanks, EricEnfermero (Talk) 01:36, 19 June 2015 (UTC)

This looks pretty good at first pass. Enjoyable prose. My comments are below. --Animalparty! (talk) 06:13, 10 August 2015 (UTC)

• For convenience to readers, I would recommend replacing <ref>Gay, p. 15.</ref> with {{Sfn}} or similar template, which puts a hyperlink between the footnote and the full citation.
• Frederick Parker Gay is introduced only as "biographer", but later appears as a close confidant. I think few extra words would help clarify this relationship e.g. "Frederick Parker Gay", longtime colleague/friend of Southard and his posthumous biographer", especially since the biography is cited throughout.
• He was influenced academically by a paternal aunt, a Greek scholar who had graduated from Oberlin College, and a cousin was a prominent attorney in Bath, England. Did his cousin influence him academically as well (in which case it should read "by... a cousin who was a"), or did he simply have a cousin who was an attorney (in which case the "who" would be left out, and the sentence should be rewritten for clarity.
• Soon after receiving his medical degree, Southard studied briefly in Germany... How brief is briefly? A semester? A month?
• The content about his medical degree is split into two paragraphs interrupted by chess. It would improve flow if "He received his medical degree in 1901" was closely followed by what he did afterwards.
• Southard was a past president... Dates?
• Although physiological theories of "autointoxication" were explored in U.S. psychiatry before 1940, Southard had long ago rejected them. This reads a bit confusing. "Autointoxication" needs some clarification, as it is new to the reader, and the hops from 1940 (after Southard's death) to "long ago" (from Southard's perspective) are confusing. Perhaps "long ago" could be replaced with a more specific date, as even wording like "much earlier" is vague (earlier than what?)
• Southard saw an overlap of organic and functional conditions What does this actually mean?
• ...out of Southard's hands... Somewhat of an imprecise WP:IDIOM
• In a note,... To whom? When? Is it even necessary to mention the note or could it simply be stated that he had planned several works?
• Serious attention to Southard's findings did not reemerge in the medical literature until the 1990s, and changes in diagnostic criteria complicate the application of Southard's findings to modern schizophrenic patients. The conjunction ("and") linking these two clauses is awkward. Perhaps "but", and/or more elucidation of Southard's views in modern contexts. In any case, this sentence migh fit better at the end of the paragraph, progressing from "shortly before his death" to after his death.
• In 1931, Canavan identified a neurodegenerative disorder which became known as Canavan disease. Is this relevant to Southard's biography?
• The 2nd external link (Southard Clinic, Massachusetts Mental Health Center is dead, as are a few reference links (Checklinks tool)
• Ref 27 and 42 appear to be the same, although it might be helpful to indicate who is being cited, since the source contains both the 1919 Southard lecture and a 2007 introduction by Noll.
• Also, Emil Kraepelin is listed in the infobox as an influence, but is never mentioned in text.
  • Thanks so much for your peer review. I have addressed a number of these and I will address the rest over the next few days. I learned something useful about reviewing as well. I know I've seen green text before, but I was not familiar with the Xt template. Thanks again! EricEnfermero (Talk) 03:41, 11 August 2015 (UTC)

Comments from RO

Lead

• After briefly studying in Germany

Did he earn a degree there, on fail to complete a program?

Early life

• Boston Latin School, where his father, aunt and headmaster Arthur Irving Fiske sparked a lifelong interest in language and the meaning of words.

Did his father and aunt teach there, or were they students?

• Despite a tall, solid build

How tall was he?

• Southard received his medical degree in 1901

From Harvard I presume?

Appointments

• undergoing aggressive surgery and recovering over several months.

What's an aggressive surgery?

• Southard coined the word "cacogenics" for the study of racial decline.[20]

Racial decline? This would benefit from some expansion.

Professional contributions

• His neuropathological perspective was eclipsed after his death by the "mind twist" hypothesis

It's odd to state this before stating that he died.

• Southard said that this process

Avoid constructions like, "Southard said". Stated, believed, taught, theorized are all better choices.

• At the end of the war, Southard returned to Boston State Hospital and it was reorganized.

This modifier is confused, because there are apparently two subjects in the second clause.

Influence

• a tempting job offer

"tempting" is too informal.

• Southard also mentored Karl Menninger

Did he mentor Canavan, because you didn't say that?

Personal life

• mental-hygiene lecturer

What's a mental-hygiene lecturer?

• Southard was described in his New York Times obituary

Again, it's odd to talk of his obituary before discussion of his death.

Death

• following the postmortem dissections of Southard's brain and those of his parents

This comes out of nowhere, because we know nothing of his parent's deaths.

Conclusion

This is a nice piece overall. My biggest concerns are with the narrative, which is not as chronological as I would expect with a biography. I don't think you have to be slavishly chronologic, but I think the article would benefit from a clear dissection of things that happened before he died and things that happened after. My other major concern is that you seem to paint a picture that he wasn't the best student or scholar, but he earned so many of these accolades that it's confusing. Did he get his act together after the bad grades in med school, or did he achieve these successes despite a lackluster academic career? Keep up the great work! RO^(talk) 19:53, 28 August 2015 (UTC)