To avoid plagiarism and demonstrate comprehension of the content, it is vital to paraphrase the author’s views accurately.ĭo not copy and paste any portion of the article, not even one or two sentences.

Now that you understand the article’s essential themes, you must restate them in your own words. Are there any significant restrictions?.

What are the consequences of the findings?.What is the research question’s general answer?.What were the most significant discoveries?.What methods were used to collect and analyze data?.What research problem or question was addressed?.In a scientific publication, there are a few straightforward questions you can ask to determine the essential points in each section: Your objective is to extract the main points, leaving any background material or other information. Remember that a summary does not require paraphrasing each paragraph of the text. What information is necessary for the reader to comprehend the general argument or conclusion of the article? Now is the time to look through each section and identify its most salient features. Step 3: Figure out what each section’s main points are. If several paragraphs are about the same or similar things, you can group them into sections. Then you can quickly see what each section of the article is about. Try writing a word or phrase in the margin next to each paragraph that describes what it is about. But most articles and essays are made up of many more minor points or themes. There may not be clear divisions between sections in other kinds of articles. These sections usually include an introduction, methods, results, and discussion. If the text is a scientific paper that follows a standard empirical structure, it is probably already divided into clear sections. Step 2: Split the text into parts.īreak the text into smaller parts to make it easier to read and understand. Skim the article again to make sure you understand the main points and reread any essential passages or hard to understand. Look over the article quickly to get an idea of what it’s about and how it’s put together.Ĭarefully read the article, underlining essential parts and making notes as you go. It’s often best to read something in three steps: You should read the article more than once to understand it fully. Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash Four Steps To Write a Good Summary: First, read the text. In any case, summarizing is to give your reader a clear understanding of the source. Add in-text citations and make sure you’re using the right style.Do you remember something important wrong, or have you forgotten it? Does your summary sound a lot like the original? Then you should explain how those ideas support or contradict your own. Just use your notes to tell someone else what the main ideas of the original author were.Think about how the ideas from the source relate to the argument(s) you are making in your paper. Write down what you think the main idea and supporting points should be in your summary.Carefully read the passage to get a complete picture of what it means.Choose a short passage (one to four sentences) that backs up a point you made in your paper.You should write the summary in your own words as much as possible. Don’t take phrases and words from the passage. Write down essential ideas in the passage before writing the summary. Don’t use quotes, metaphors, similes, and other figurative languages. If you think an example is significant, it might be added to the summary.ĥ. Most of the time, it’s easy to do without examples and illustrations. In summary, you can’t repeat the same ideas over and over.Ĥ. The author may have used different words to say the same thing in the passage to make it stand out.

Since you already know what the passage is about, it should be easy to figure out what is essential and what isn’t.Īnything that has nothing to do with the main idea is unimportant and shouldn’t be included in the summary.ģ. Reread the passage and try to understand every sentence as much as possible.The title should say in a few words what the main idea is.Key ways to summarize a passage effectively Examine the provided passage to find out:

Summarize this passage