How to Write a Summary | 5 Steps & Real Examples - Scribbr

When to summarize · Read the text · Break the text down into sections · Identify the key points in each section · Write the summary · Check the ... Havealanguageexpertimproveyourwriting Proofreading&Editing Checkyourpaperforplagiarismin10minutes Dothecheck GenerateyourAPAcitationsforfree! 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APACitationGenerator HowtoWriteaSummary|5Steps&RealExamples Publishedon November23,2020 by ShonaMcCombes. Summarizingmeansgivingaconciseoverviewofatext’smainpointsinyourownwords.Asummaryisalwaysmuchshorterthantheoriginaltext. Writingasummarydoesnotinvolvecritiquingoranalyzingthesource—youshouldsimplyprovideaclear,objective,accurateaccountofthemostimportantinformationandideas,withoutcopyinganytextfromtheoriginalandwithoutmissinganyofthekeypoints. TableofcontentsWhentosummarizeReadthetextBreakthetextdownintosectionsIdentifythekeypointsineachsectionWritethesummaryCheckthesummaryagainstthearticleFrequentlyaskedquestionsaboutsummarizing Whentosummarize Therearemanysituationsinwhichyoumighthavetosummarizeanarticleorothersource: Asastand-aloneassignmenttoshowyou’veunderstoodthematerial. Tokeepnotesthatwillhelpyourememberwhatyou’veread. Togiveanoverviewofotherresearchers’workinaliteraturereview. Whenyou’rewritinganacademictextlikeanessay,researchpaper,ordissertation,you’llengagewithotherresearchers’workinavarietyofways.Sometimesyoumightuseabriefquotetosupportyourpoint;sometimesyoumightparaphraseafewsentencesorparagraphs. Butit’softenappropriatetosummarizeawholearticleorchapterifitisespeciallyrelevanttoyourownresearch,ortoprovideanoverviewofasourcebeforeyouanalyzeorcritiqueit. Inanycase,thegoalofsummarizingistogiveyourreaderaclearunderstandingoftheoriginalsource.Followthe4stepsoutlinebelowtowriteagoodsummary. Step1:Readthetext Youshouldreadthearticlemorethanoncetomakesureyou’vethoroughlyunderstoodit.It’softeneffectivetoreadinthreestages: Scanthearticlequicklytogetasenseofitstopicandoverallshape. Readthearticlecarefully,highlightingimportantpointsandtakingnotesasyouread. Skimthearticleagaintoconfirmyou’veunderstoodthekeypoints,andre-readanyparticularlyimportantordifficultpassages. Therearesomeeasytricksyoucanusetoidentifythekeypointsasyouread: Startbyreadingtheabstract—thisalreadycontainstheauthor’sownsummaryoftheirwork,andittellsyouwhattoexpectfromthearticle. Payattentiontoheadingsandsubheadings—theseshouldgiveyouagoodsenseofwhateachpartisabout. Readtheintroductionandtheconclusiontogetherandcomparethem:whatdidtheauthorsetouttodo,andwhatwastheoutcome? Whatisyourplagiarismscore? Compareyourpaperwithover60billionwebpagesand30millionpublications. Bestplagiarismcheckerof2021 Plagiarismreport&percentage Largestplagiarismdatabase ScribbrPlagiarismChecker Step2:Breakthetextdownintosections Tomakethetextmoremanageableandunderstanditssub-points,breakitdownintosmallerparts. Ifthetextisascientificpaperthatfollowsastandardempiricalstructure,itisprobablyalreadyorganizedintoclearlymarkedsections,usuallyincludinganintroduction,methods,results,anddiscussion. Othertypesofarticlesmaynotbeexplicitlydividedintosections.Butmostarticlesandessayswillbestructuredaroundaseriesofsub-pointsorthemes. Trywritingawordorphraseinthemarginnexttoeachparagraphthatdescribestheparagraph’scontent.Thenyoucanseeataglancewhateachpartofthearticlefocuseson.Ifseveralparagraphscoversimilarorrelatedtopics,youmaygroupthemtogetherinsections. Step3:Identifythekeypointsineachsection Nowit’stimegothrougheachpartandpickoutitsmostimportantpoints.Whatdoesyourreaderneedtoknowtounderstandtheoverallargumentorconclusionofthearticle? Keepinmindthatasummarydoesnotinvolveparaphrasingeverysingleparagraphofthearticle.Yourgoalistoextracttheessentialpoints,leavingoutanythingthatcanbeconsideredbackgroundinformationorsupplementarydetail. Inascientificarticle,therearesomeeasyquestionsyoucanasktoidentifythekeypointsineachpart: Introduction Whatresearchquestionorproblemwasaddressed? Arethereanyhypothesesformulated? Methods Whattypeofresearchwasdone? Howwasdatacollectedandanalyzed? Results Whatwerethemostimportantfindings? Werethehypothesessupported? Discussion/conclusion Whatistheoverallanswertotheresearchquestion? Howdoestheauthorexplaintheseresults? Whataretheimplicationsoftheresults? Arethereanyimportantlimitations? Arethereanykeyrecommendations? Ifthearticletakesadifferentform,youmighthavetothinkmorecarefullyaboutwhatpointsaremostimportantforthereadertounderstanditsargument. Inthiscase,payparticularattentiontothethesisstatement—thecentralclaimthattheauthorwantsustoaccept,whichusuallyappearsintheintroduction—andthetopicsentencesthatsignalthemainideaofeachparagraph. Step4:Writethesummary Nowthatyouknowthekeypointsthatthearticleaimstocommunicate,youneedtoputtheminyourownwords. Toavoidplagiarismandshowyou’veunderstoodthearticle,it’sessentialtoproperlyparaphrasetheauthor’sideas.Donotcopyandpastepartsofthearticle,notevenjustasentenceortwo. Thebestwaytodothisistoputthearticleasideandwriteoutyourownunderstandingoftheauthor’skeypoints. Let’stakealookatanexample.Below,wesummarizethisarticle,whichscientificallyinvestigatestheoldsaying“anappleadaykeepsthedoctoraway.” ExampleofafullarticlesummaryDavisetal.(2015)setouttoempiricallytestthepopularsaying“anappleadaykeepsthedoctoraway.”Applesareoftenusedtorepresentahealthylifestyle,andresearchhasshowntheirnutritionalpropertiescouldbebeneficialforvariousaspectsofhealth.Theauthors’uniqueapproachistotakethesayingliterallyandask:dopeoplewhoeatapplesusehealthcareserviceslessfrequently?Ifthereisindeedsucharelationship,theysuggest,promotingappleconsumptioncouldhelpreducehealthcarecosts. Thestudyusedpubliclyavailablecross-sectionaldatafromtheNationalHealthandNutritionExaminationSurvey.Participantswerecategorizedaseitherappleeatersornon-appleeatersbasedontheirself-reportedappleconsumptioninanaverage24-hourperiod.Theywerealsocategorizedaseitheravoidingornotavoidingtheuseofhealthcareservicesinthepastyear.Thedatawasstatisticallyanalyzedtotestwhethertherewasanassociationbetweenappleconsumptionandseveraldependentvariables:physicianvisits,hospitalstays,useofmentalhealthservices,anduseofprescriptionmedication. Althoughappleeaterswereslightlymorelikelytohaveavoidedphysicianvisits,thisrelationshipwasnotstatisticallysignificantafteradjustingforvariousrelevantfactors.Noassociationwasfoundbetweenappleconsumptionandhospitalstaysormentalhealthserviceuse.However,appleeaterswerefoundtobeslightlymorelikelytohaveavoidedusingprescriptionmedication.Basedontheseresults,theauthorsconcludethatanappleadaydoesnotkeepthedoctoraway,butitmaykeepthepharmacistaway.Theysuggestthatthisfindingcouldhaveimplicationsforreducinghealthcarecosts,consideringthehighannualcostsofprescriptionmedicationandtheinexpensivenessofapples. However,theauthorsalsonoteseverallimitationsofthestudy:mostimportantly,thatappleeatersarelikelytodifferfromnon-appleeatersinwaysthatmayhaveconfoundedtheresults(forexample,appleeatersmaybemorelikelytobehealth-conscious).Toestablishanycausalrelationshipbetweenappleconsumptionandavoidanceofmedication,theyrecommendexperimentalresearch. Clicktoexpand Anarticlesummaryliketheabovewouldbeappropriateforastand-alonesummaryassignment.However,oftentimes,you’llwanttogiveanevenmoreconcisesummaryofanarticle. Forexample,inaliteraturerevieworresearchpaper,youmaywanttobrieflysummarizethisstudyaspartofawiderdiscussionofvarioussources.Inthiscase,wecanboiloursummarydownevenfurthertoincludeonlythemostrelevantinformation. ExampleofaconcisearticlesummaryUsingnationalsurveydata,Davisetal.(2015)testedtheassertionthat“anappleadaykeepsthedoctoraway”anddidnotfindstatisticallysignificantevidenceinsupportofthishypothesis.Whilepeoplewhoconsumedappleswereslightlylesslikelytouseprescriptionmedications,thestudywasunabletodemonstrateacausalrelationshipbetweenthesevariables. Whensummarizingaspartofalargertext,it’sessentialtoproperlycitethesourceofthesummary.Theexactformatforcitingdependsonyourcitationstyle,butitusuallyincludesanin-textcitationandafullreferenceattheendofyourpaper. YoucaneasilycreateyourcitationsandreferencesinAPAorMLAusingourfreeCitationGenerators. APACitationGeneratorMLACitationGenerator Step5:Checkthesummaryagainstthearticle Finally,readthroughthearticleoncemoretoensurethat: You’veaccuratelyrepresentedtheauthor’swork Youhaven’tmissedanyessentialinformation Thephrasingisnottoosimilartoanysentencesintheoriginal. Ifyou’resummarizinglotsofarticlesaspartofyourownwork,it’softenagoodideatouseaplagiarismcheckertodouble-checkthatyourtextiscompletelyoriginalandproperlycited.Justbesuretouseonethat’ssafeandreliable. PlagiarismCheckercomparison Frequentlyaskedquestionsaboutsummarizing Whatisasummary? Asummaryisashortoverviewofthemainpointsofanarticleorothersource,writtenentirelyinyourownwords. Howlongisasummary? Asummaryisalwaysmuchshorterthantheoriginaltext.Thelengthofasummarycanrangefromjustafewsentencestoseveralparagraphs;itdependsonthelengthofthearticleyou’resummarizing,andonthepurposeofthesummary. HowcanIsummarizeasourcewithoutplagiarizing? Toavoidplagiarismwhensummarizinganarticleorothersource,followthesetworules: Writethesummaryentirelyinyourownwordsbyparaphrasingtheauthor’sideas. Citethesourcewithanin-textcitationandafullreferencesoyourreadercaneasilyfindtheoriginaltext. Isthisarticlehelpful? 1329 335 6 Youhavealreadyvoted.Thanks:-) Yourvoteissaved:-) Processingyourvote... ShonaMcCombes Shonahasabachelor'sandtwomaster'sdegrees,soshe'sanexpertatwritingagreatthesis.Shehasalsoworkedasaneditorandteacher,workingwithstudentsatalldifferentlevelstoimprovetheiracademicwriting. Otherstudentsalsoliked Howtoparaphrasesources Paraphrasingmeansputtingapassageoftextinyourownwordswithoutchangingitsmeaning.Whenyouparaphrase,alwayscitethesource. 2061 Howtoquoteinacademicwriting Whenyouquoteasource,youhavetointoducethequote,enclosethequoteinquotationmarks,andcorrectlycitetheoriginalauthor(s). 235 In-textcitationinAPA,MLA,andChicago In-textcitationsareusedtorefertosourcesinthebodyofyourpaper.Eachcitationstylehasdifferentrulesforin-textcitation. 183 6comments BillyChrisMukeshimana January19,2022at2:47PM DearShonacanIuseyourcontenttoteachmyhighschoolstudents? Reply JackCaulfield(ScribbrTeam) January20,2022at10:40AM HiBilly, Yes,it'sfinetouseScribbr'sarticlesandotherresourcesinyourclasses,aslongasyoucreditus.Gladyoufindthearticleuseful! Reply SuttonSeth November23,2021at12:33PM howdoyouparaphrase Reply JuliaMerkus(ScribbrTeam) November23,2021at6:12PM Thankyouforyourcomment!I'dliketoreferyoutothisarticleaboutparaphrasingyoursources.Thearticlealsocontainsahelpfulvideoandsomeexamples. Reply StephenDwyer June28,2021at10:53AM DearShona, MayIusesomeofthecontentinyourarticletoteachmystudentsaboutsummarizing?YouhavepresentedanexcellentarticleandIwouldliketousetheexamplesummary... Kindestregards, Stephen Reply JackCaulfield(ScribbrTeam) June28,2021at5:41PM HiStephen, YoucanalwaysfeelfreetouseScribbrcontentinyourteaching.JustmakesuretocreditScribbr.Gladyou'refindingthematerialhelpful! Reply Stillhavequestions? Pleaseverifyyouarehuman! Pleaseclickthecheckboxonthelefttoverifythatyouareanotabot. Addcomment ScribbrAPACitationChecker AninnovativenewtoolthatchecksyourAPAcitationswithAIsoftware.Saygoodbyetoinaccuratecitations! Learnmore