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How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

Published on November 23, 2020 by Shona McCombes . Revised on May 31, 2023.

Summarizing , or writing a summary, means giving a concise overview of a text’s main points in your own words. A summary is always much shorter than the original text.

There are five key steps that can help you to write a summary:

Read the text
Break it down into sections
Identify the key points in each section
Write the summary
Check the summary against the article

Writing a summary does not involve critiquing or evaluating the source . You should simply provide an accurate account of the most important information and ideas (without copying any text from the original).

When to write a summary, step 1: read the text, step 2: break the text down into sections, step 3: identify the key points in each section, step 4: write the summary, step 5: check the summary against the article, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about summarizing.

There are many situations in which you might have to summarize an article or other source:

As a stand-alone assignment to show you’ve understood the material
To keep notes that will help you remember what you’ve read
To give an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review

When you’re writing an academic text like an essay , research paper , or dissertation , you’ll integrate sources in a variety of ways. You might use a brief quote to support your point, or paraphrase a few sentences or paragraphs.

But it’s often appropriate to summarize a whole article or chapter if it is especially relevant to your own research, or to provide an overview of a source before you analyze or critique it.

In any case, the goal of summarizing is to give your reader a clear understanding of the original source. Follow the five steps outlined below to write a good summary.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

You should read the article more than once to make sure you’ve thoroughly understood it. It’s often effective to read in three stages:

Scan the article quickly to get a sense of its topic and overall shape.
Read the article carefully, highlighting important points and taking notes as you read.
Skim the article again to confirm you’ve understood the key points, and reread any particularly important or difficult passages.

There are some tricks you can use to identify the key points as you read:

Start by reading the abstract . This already contains the author’s own summary of their work, and it tells you what to expect from the article.
Pay attention to headings and subheadings . These should give you a good sense of what each part is about.
Read the introduction and the conclusion together and compare them: What did the author set out to do, and what was the outcome?

To make the text more manageable and understand its sub-points, break it down into smaller sections.

If the text is a scientific paper that follows a standard empirical structure, it is probably already organized into clearly marked sections, usually including an introduction , methods , results , and discussion .

Other types of articles may not be explicitly divided into sections. But most articles and essays will be structured around a series of sub-points or themes.

Now it’s time go through each section and pick out its most important points. What does your reader need to know to understand the overall argument or conclusion of the article?

Keep in mind that a summary does not involve paraphrasing every single paragraph of the article. Your goal is to extract the essential points, leaving out anything that can be considered background information or supplementary detail.

In a scientific article, there are some easy questions you can ask to identify the key points in each part.

If the article takes a different form, you might have to think more carefully about what points are most important for the reader to understand its argument.

In that case, pay particular attention to the thesis statement —the central claim that the author wants us to accept, which usually appears in the introduction—and the topic sentences that signal the main idea of each paragraph.

Now that you know the key points that the article aims to communicate, you need to put them in your own words.

To avoid plagiarism and show you’ve understood the article, it’s essential to properly paraphrase the author’s ideas. Do not copy and paste parts of the article, not even just a sentence or two.

The best way to do this is to put the article aside and write out your own understanding of the author’s key points.

Examples of article summaries

Let’s take a look at an example. Below, we summarize this article , which scientifically investigates the old saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

Davis et al. (2015) set out to empirically test the popular saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Apples are often used to represent a healthy lifestyle, and research has shown their nutritional properties could be beneficial for various aspects of health. The authors’ unique approach is to take the saying literally and ask: do people who eat apples use healthcare services less frequently? If there is indeed such a relationship, they suggest, promoting apple consumption could help reduce healthcare costs.

The study used publicly available cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants were categorized as either apple eaters or non-apple eaters based on their self-reported apple consumption in an average 24-hour period. They were also categorized as either avoiding or not avoiding the use of healthcare services in the past year. The data was statistically analyzed to test whether there was an association between apple consumption and several dependent variables: physician visits, hospital stays, use of mental health services, and use of prescription medication.

Although apple eaters were slightly more likely to have avoided physician visits, this relationship was not statistically significant after adjusting for various relevant factors. No association was found between apple consumption and hospital stays or mental health service use. However, apple eaters were found to be slightly more likely to have avoided using prescription medication. Based on these results, the authors conclude that an apple a day does not keep the doctor away, but it may keep the pharmacist away. They suggest that this finding could have implications for reducing healthcare costs, considering the high annual costs of prescription medication and the inexpensiveness of apples.

However, the authors also note several limitations of the study: most importantly, that apple eaters are likely to differ from non-apple eaters in ways that may have confounded the results (for example, apple eaters may be more likely to be health-conscious). To establish any causal relationship between apple consumption and avoidance of medication, they recommend experimental research.

An article summary like the above would be appropriate for a stand-alone summary assignment. However, you’ll often want to give an even more concise summary of an article.

For example, in a literature review or meta analysis you may want to briefly summarize this study as part of a wider discussion of various sources. In this case, we can boil our summary down even further to include only the most relevant information.

Using national survey data, Davis et al. (2015) tested the assertion that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” and did not find statistically significant evidence to support this hypothesis. While people who consumed apples were slightly less likely to use prescription medications, the study was unable to demonstrate a causal relationship between these variables.

Citing the source you’re summarizing

When including a summary as part of a larger text, it’s essential to properly cite the source you’re summarizing. The exact format depends on your citation style , but it usually includes an in-text citation and a full reference at the end of your paper.

You can easily create your citations and references in APA or MLA using our free citation generators.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

Finally, read through the article once more to ensure that:

You’ve accurately represented the author’s work
You haven’t missed any essential information
The phrasing is not too similar to any sentences in the original.

If you’re summarizing many articles as part of your own work, it may be a good idea to use a plagiarism checker to double-check that your text is completely original and properly cited. Just be sure to use one that’s safe and reliable.

If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , citation , and plagiarism , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

ChatGPT vs human editor
ChatGPT citations
Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
Using ChatGPT for your studies
What is ChatGPT?
Chicago style
Paraphrasing

Plagiarism

Types of plagiarism
Self-plagiarism
Avoiding plagiarism
Academic integrity
Consequences of plagiarism
Common knowledge

A summary is a short overview of the main points of an article or other source, written entirely in your own words. Want to make your life super easy? Try our free text summarizer today!

A summary is always much shorter than the original text. The length of a summary can range from just a few sentences to several paragraphs; it depends on the length of the article you’re summarizing, and on the purpose of the summary.

You might have to write a summary of a source:

As a stand-alone assignment to prove you understand the material
For your own use, to keep notes on your reading
To provide an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review
In a paper , to summarize or introduce a relevant study

To avoid plagiarism when summarizing an article or other source, follow these two rules:

Write the summary entirely in your own words by paraphrasing the author’s ideas.
Cite the source with an in-text citation and a full reference so your reader can easily find the original text.

An abstract concisely explains all the key points of an academic text such as a thesis , dissertation or journal article. It should summarize the whole text, not just introduce it.

An abstract is a type of summary , but summaries are also written elsewhere in academic writing . For example, you might summarize a source in a paper , in a literature review , or as a standalone assignment.

All can be done within seconds with our free text summarizer .

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, May 31). How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved November 18, 2023, from https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/how-to-summarize/

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How to Write Article Summaries, Reviews & Critiques

Writing an article summary.

Writing an article REVIEW
Writing an article CRITIQUE
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When writing a summary, the goal is to compose a concise and objective overview of the original article. The summary should focus only on the article's main ideas and important details that support those ideas.

Guidelines for summarizing an article:

State the main ideas.
Identify the most important details that support the main ideas.
Summarize in your own words.
Do not copy phrases or sentences unless they are being used as direct quotations.
Express the underlying meaning of the article, but do not critique or analyze.
The summary should be about one third the length of the original article.

Your summary should include:

Give an overview of the article, including the title and the name of the author.
Provide a thesis statement that states the main idea of the article.
Use the body paragraphs to explain the supporting ideas of your thesis statement.
One-paragraph summary - one sentence per supporting detail, providing 1-2 examples for each.
Multi-paragraph summary - one paragraph per supporting detail, providing 2-3 examples for each.
Start each paragraph with a topic sentence.
Use transitional words and phrases to connect ideas.
Summarize your thesis statement and the underlying meaning of the article.

Adapted from "Guidelines for Using In-Text Citations in a Summary (or Research Paper)" by Christine Bauer-Ramazani, 2020

Additional Resources

All links open in a new window.

How to Write a Summary - Guide & Examples (from Scribbr.com)

Writing a Summary (from The University of Arizona Global Campus Writing Center)

Next: Writing an article REVIEW >>
Last Updated: Aug 16, 2023 11:47 AM
URL: https://libguides.randolph.edu/summaries

what is the advice to write a summary the article mentions

How To Write a Summary of an Article - Guide & Examples

Learn how to summarize an article, where to start, what to include, and how to keep it short and interesting through this practical guideline.

Ivana Vidakovic

Jan 24, 2023

How To Write a Summary of an Article - Guide & Examples

Why Do We Need to Summarize Articles?

When you need to convey the gist of a lengthy article to someone who still needs to read it, a summary is your best bet.

It allows readers to get the brief of an article quickly without having to read it cover to cover. Your readers can easily remember and retain the main points of an article if they are correctly summarized.

What's more, article summaries are a time-saving technique that can be used when:

✅ Writing the last part of an article .

✅ Writing a review of a book .

✅ When getting ready for a presentation in class .

✅ When conducting research for a project .

✅ When getting ready for an interview .

✅ When preparing for a test .

✅ When writing a blog post .

✅ When making a report for a customer .

✅ When writing news summaries for a website .

✅ If you are writing a speech .

Now that you know where to use it, let’s learn how to write a summary of an article in 5 simple steps. .

You’ll be surprised when you discover that you were probably unconsciously using all these techniques already.

How To Write a Summary of an Article In 5 Steps

1. read the article.

The first step in writing a summary of an article is, of course, to read the article carefully.

Even though this step might seem obvious, you might be surprised by how many people think a quick overview is all they need to understand a concept fully.

That may be true, but if you want people to take your summary seriously, take the time to read the article carefully and pay attention to the main points, its details, and the structure of the tex t.

That way, you can ensure you're covering the essentials of the article, which serve as your summary's backbone.

2. Identify The Main Ideas of The Article

Let’s not beat around the bush: a quick glance at the article's outlines will reveal its central arguments .

Outlines of articles emphasize everything of utmost importance for the subject at hand.

However, if the article doesn’t have outlines, you can extract the main ideas by looking for the topic sentence in each paragraph.

the-main-ideas-of-the-article-writing-a-summary

3. Write Your Understanding of The Topic

The third step in writing a summary of an article is to write its main points in your own words .

The question you should ask yourself when you write an article's summary is this:

🎯 What are the most important points that your readers should remember?

At this point, you are free to use more than just a simple statement.

Think about the big picture and focus on conveying the general impression of the argument.

Your summary argument can be more convincing by including specifics directly connected to the main idea.

4. Define Your Thesis Statement

Now that you've laid out your arguments, what do you think of your findings as a whole?

The summary boils down to your assessment.

🎯 What is the bottom line message you are trying to convey?

Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet for putting your ideas into words, therefore we are limited in the advice we can provide you.

Just be yourself when you write it — your audience will enjoy the authenticity and originality that comes from your voice .

If a reader doesn't care about what he just read, that's the worst possible reaction, right?

Thus, whether they agree or disagree, you've accomplished your goal as a writer if your audience is engaged with your content.

5. Rewrite The Summary

Once you've completed the four steps outlined above, you have your first draft of the summary, which needs additional tweaking to make it coherent and effective.

To successfully summarize an article, you will need to rewrite it (either the entire output or just fragments of it) to strengthen your context .

You can get the most out of your sentences by using a rewriting technique that primarily focuses on shifting the working order and experimenting with synonyms.

The following are the essential components of powerful sentences:

🎯 They are clear and easy to read .

🎯 They maintain a consistent and logical line of thought .

🎯 They are engaging .

Moreover, there are two additional factors that necessitate rewriting the original article summary draft:

📍To make sure we are not repeating ourselves .

📍To avoid plagiarism .

Ok, you’re all set. Now we should test what you’ve learned from the example.

A Summary of An Article From The Example

Reading instructions is one thing, but doing what you read is entirely different.

I'll demonstrate 4 writing strategies that can help you quickly and effectively summarize any piece of writing by applying them to the same section of the article.

Here is the piece I’ll be using in the following text:

Additionally, you'll learn how to use AI-enabled tools to produce summary output even more quickly.

Let's start!

1. Summarizing Technique

The art of summarizing allows you to condense a lengthy piece of writing down to its essentials.

Simplifying a text means getting rid of all the fluff and focusing on the core concepts while ignoring the supporting details.

To be effective at summarizing, it's crucial that the summary maintain the same tone and point of view as the original text.

Summarizing Output Example

Tools, such as the TextCortex add-on , can help you quickly and effortlessly summarize large portions of text.

Just highlight your text , and from the rewriting menu that appears at the bottom, hit the “ Summarize ” button.

You can use TextCortex within 30+ online platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Docs, Hemingway, Notion etc.

This means you don’t have to switch between the tabs to tweak your text — leverage AI writing assistance within your chosen platform's textbox.

2. Rewriting Technique

The rewriting method allows you to alter a sentence's form without changing its meaning.

You can rewrite sentences to make them more understandable, shorter, or engaging.

Rewriting techniques can also make your sentence sound more interesting or sophisticated by switching out a few words for synonyms..

Rewriting Output Example

The TextCortex add-on, also offers the “ Rewriting ” feature in its arsenal.

Again, highlight the sentences or paragraphs in bulk, and choose the option from the rewriting menu.

From this point, you can either copy and paste the output, or click on it to apply changes.

If you are not satisfied with the quality of your output, just click on “ Load more ” to get additional suggestions.

3. Changing the Tone of Voice Technique

One way to change the narrative and style of your writing is by adjusting the tone of voice .

This writing technique requires a writer to experiment with various sentence structures.

In other words, changing the writer's tone of voice allows you to set the mood and evoke a certain reaction from the audience.

Encouraging Tone of Voice Output Example

You guessed it right.

The TextCortex add-on also provides you with the “ Tone ” feature that enables you to switch between different narrative styles such as “encouraging”, “casual”, “decisive”, and so on.

You can access this feature either from the rewriting menu or by hitting the purple bubble that prompts the creator suite with 60+ AI templates to choose from.

4. Proofreading

The final version of your summary must endure at least one additional writing technique: proofreading .

You can use it to find and fix typos and other mistakes in grammar, punctuation, spelling, style, and capitalization.

A proofreading technique ensures a clear, concise, and accurate summary as a result.

The " Text-to-speech " feature is a great way to check your work for errors when using the TextCortex add-on.

There aren't enough ways to describe how tedious it is to spot your own mistakes in writing. With this feature, you can have AI read your content aloud, allowing you to gauge its overall impact and spot errors with greater precision.

The " Text-to-speech " function can be activated by selecting the text you wish be read aloud and then selecting the appropriate option from the rewriting menu.

After a short wait, the " play " button will become available, and you can press it to hear the final version of your content.

What Is The Easiest Way To Summarize An Article?

Congratulations! You have successfully completed a brief course on how to write a summary of an article.

As for the question on what is the easiest way to summarize an article, my answer is clear — utilize AI writing tools to do that for you.

There comes a point in every creative person's life when inspiration dries up, and a deadline looms without mercy.

A smart move to get the ball rolling again and avoid the torture of writer's block is to invest in software that can cut down on your writing time while providing a significant breakthrough in your writing.

With the TextCortex add-on , you can accomplish all that and even more:

👍Rewrite original sentences without changing the meaning.

👍Expand the sentences to add more details in your paragraphs.

👍Summarize the original text for a brief output.

👍 Change the tone of voice to play with different narratives.

👍 Autocomplete your sentences from random thoughts.

👍 Generate long-form posts from a 5-word concept.

👍 Transform bullets into emails .

The TextCortex tool is easily accessible, enabling you to use its features on more than 30 widely used platforms.

Furthermore, its 60+ AI templates will help you write various content forms like a pro.

Interested in boosting your writing skills for free?

Get your TextCortex free account today to claim your 10 free daily creations and explore a different side of AI-writing power.

What are The 3 Elements of The Summary?

1. Introduction — A quick overview of the article's main points.

2. Body — A detailed description of the main ideas (including evidence and arguments).

3. Conclusion — An overall evaluation of the provided solutions.

How Many Paragraphs Are In The Summary?

How many paragraphs an article summary has will depend on how long the article is and what the purpose of the summary is.

In general, a summary will have between 1 and 4 paragraphs .

However, if the article is very long, it may need more than 4 paragraphs.

Keep Learning

6 Effective Tricks To Rewrite Content And Improve Its Quality

Paraphrasing Vs. Summarizing: The Difference And Best Examples

6 Techniques To Change Tone In Writing Easily

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How To Write A Summary Of An Article: Guidlines, Structure, Examples

29 Dec 2021

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What is an article summary, steps in writing a summary of an article, here are the key steps to writing a top-notch summary with ease:, structure of an article summary, sample structure for a summary of an argumentative article:, sample structure for a summary of an empirical article:, article summary examples.

Almost every student feels confused when he faces this task for the first time which is why it is important to clarify the definition of an article summary before we go on to the main steps in article review writing .

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An article summary is a brief paper that focuses on a specific scientific article. While it usually has the same structure and goal there may be certain differences in its content depending on the type of work you are summarizing. For example, if you are working on an argumentative piece, your paper has to detect, clarify, and analyze the given thesis and all arguments provided in its support. However, the requirements are different for an empirical article. In the case of an empirical article, you will have to do the same steps, but your main focus will be not the thesis and arguments but rather the research methods, main questions, and findings.

Why is it a responsible task? Although this paper is so short that it rarely significantly influences your academic performance, it is still an important part of your education as it is a clear indicator of a student’s reading and writing skills. This kind of task is given to students in order to help them improve critical thinking skills , as well as learn how to read and analyze a text, how to read while focusing on the main points, and how to clearly organize your ideas in a short paper.

Why do you need to write it, and what is its purpose? Writing a summary of an article as a part of an educational program at a college or university may have three key goals:

To present a large volume of information in a clear and concise manner;
To provide arguments against the article author’s opinion;
To use the scientific article as a resource that supports your ideas and arguments in another work;

This task can be assigned to students or research assistants. However, its purpose is usually the same. This paper’s main goal is to provide a comprehensive yet brief descriptive comment on a particular article, telling your readers about the author’s main focus in his work and the key points of it.

If you want to summarize an article effectively, it is important to do your college essays in a relevant way and include new information to make the summary more comprehensive. First, read the article carefully, noting the text's main points and any new facts that you may find useful for your paper. Summarize the main points in your own words, elucidating any new concepts or information that may not have been included in the original article. To create a meaningful summary, be sure to include all of the essential information from the article while also adding your own insights and opinions.

Create a summary of your text

When you understand the meaning and goals of this task, it is just time to learn the most efficient ways to cope with it. How to write a summary of an article? It is easier than you think before you get to it!

Read the article closes with an eye on its main focus;
Make notes as you read to save yourself some time;
Identify the key ideas or questions of the text;
Keep an eye on the text’s key arguments or methods (depending on the type of article you are reading);
Make a list of questions that you have to answer in your paper;
Make an outline;
Write your summary;
Review and edit your paper before submitting it.

What if you can’t handle it? Do not worry if you still have no idea how to summarize an article! Often, if you do not get how to handle this task, it is just enough to find a clear and quality article summary example to see how it should look. However, even if this does not help much, there is one more solution that can save you frustration – you can take advantage of using an blog article writing service from our website and get the paper you need fast and with no effort! This way, you will surely receive a high grade and save lots of time.

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In order to write a good summary, you have to follow a clear and appropriate structure. As a rule, such work is given in paragraph form. Therefore, they usually do not require including subheadings. Also, it is important to keep each section of your work brief, straight to the point, and clear – there is no need for making smooth transitions between your paper’s sections, just keep in mind that it is a concise and focused scientific paper. Below you can find an example of a good structure.

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Providing general info about the article, including its topic, the main question, or describing the author’s individual approach to the topic;
Statement of the author’s thesis:
Provide and clarify the key ideas that the author presents in support of his thesis;
Share a few examples that the author has used;
Discuss how the given ideas and examples support the thesis;
Discuss how the author explains the relevance and significance of his work;
Tell the readers about the topic of a study;
State the main research question;
Clarify the given hypotheses and variables;
Describe the design of any experiments;
Indicate what materials were used;
Tell about participants;
Describe the obtained results and discuss whether they support the hypotheses or not;
Tell about the applications or implications of a particular study;
Highlight the main limitations of this study;

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How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

Published on 25 September 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 12 May 2023.

Summarising , or writing a summary, means giving a concise overview of a text’s main points in your own words. A summary is always much shorter than the original text.

There are five key steps that can help you to write a summary:

Read the text
Break it down into sections
Identify the key points in each section
Write the summary
Check the summary against the article

Writing a summary does not involve critiquing or analysing the source. You should simply provide an accurate account of the most important information and ideas (without copying any text from the original).

There are many situations in which you might have to summarise an article or other source:

As a stand-alone assignment to show you’ve understood the material
To keep notes that will help you remember what you’ve read
To give an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review

But it’s often appropriate to summarize a whole article or chapter if it is especially relevant to your own research, or to provide an overview of a source before you analyse or critique it.

In any case, the goal of summarising is to give your reader a clear understanding of the original source. Follow the five steps outlined below to write a good summary.

You should read the article more than once to make sure you’ve thoroughly understood it. It’s often effective to read in three stages:

Scan the article quickly to get a sense of its topic and overall shape.
Read the article carefully, highlighting important points and taking notes as you read.
Skim the article again to confirm you’ve understood the key points, and reread any particularly important or difficult passages.

There are some tricks you can use to identify the key points as you read:

Start by reading the abstract . This already contains the author’s own summary of their work, and it tells you what to expect from the article.
Pay attention to headings and subheadings . These should give you a good sense of what each part is about.
Read the introduction and the conclusion together and compare them: What did the author set out to do, and what was the outcome?

To make the text more manageable and understand its sub-points, break it down into smaller sections.

If the text is a scientific paper that follows a standard empirical structure, it is probably already organised into clearly marked sections, usually including an introduction, methods, results, and discussion.

Other types of articles may not be explicitly divided into sections. But most articles and essays will be structured around a series of sub-points or themes.

Now it’s time go through each section and pick out its most important points. What does your reader need to know to understand the overall argument or conclusion of the article?

In a scientific article, there are some easy questions you can ask to identify the key points in each part.

If the article takes a different form, you might have to think more carefully about what points are most important for the reader to understand its argument.

Now that you know the key points that the article aims to communicate, you need to put them in your own words.

The best way to do this is to put the article aside and write out your own understanding of the author’s key points.

Examples of article summaries

Let’s take a look at an example. Below, we summarise this article , which scientifically investigates the old saying ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’.

An article summary like the above would be appropriate for a stand-alone summary assignment. However, you’ll often want to give an even more concise summary of an article.

For example, in a literature review or research paper, you may want to briefly summarize this study as part of a wider discussion of various sources. In this case, we can boil our summary down even further to include only the most relevant information.

Citing the source you’re summarizing

You can easily create your citations and references in APA or MLA using our free citation generators.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

Finally, read through the article once more to ensure that:

You’ve accurately represented the author’s work
You haven’t missed any essential information
The phrasing is not too similar to any sentences in the original.

If you’re summarising many articles as part of your own work, it may be a good idea to use a plagiarism checker to double-check that your text is completely original and properly cited. Just be sure to use one that’s safe and reliable.

A summary is a short overview of the main points of an article or other source, written entirely in your own words.

Save yourself some time with the free summariser.

With the summariser tool you can easily adjust the length of your summary.

You might have to write a summary of a source:

As a stand-alone assignment to prove you understand the material
For your own use, to keep notes on your reading
To provide an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review
In a paper , to summarise or introduce a relevant study

To avoid plagiarism when summarising an article or other source, follow these two rules:

Write the summary entirely in your own words by paraphrasing the author’s ideas.
Reference the source with an in-text citation and a full reference so your reader can easily find the original text.

An abstract concisely explains all the key points of an academic text such as a thesis , dissertation or journal article. It should summarise the whole text, not just introduce it.

An abstract is a type of summary , but summaries are also written elsewhere in academic writing . For example, you might summarise a source in a paper , in a literature review , or as a standalone assignment.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, May 12). How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 14 November 2023, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/working-sources/how-to-write-a-summary/

Is this article helpful?

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Other students also liked, how to paraphrase | step-by-step guide & examples, how to quote | citing quotes in harvard & apa, apa referencing (7th ed.) quick guide | in-text citations & references.

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Writing Article Summaries

Understanding Article Summaries

Common Problems in Article Summaries

Read carefully and closely, structure of the summary, writing the summary.

Sample Outlines and Paragraphs

Understanding Article Summaries

An article summary is a short, focused paper about one scholarly article that is informed by a critical reading of that article. For argumentative articles, the summary identifies, explains, and analyses the thesis and supporting arguments; for empirical articles, the summary identifies, explains, and analyses the research questions, methods, findings, and implications of the study.

Although article summaries are often short and rarely account for a large portion of your grade, they are a strong indicator of your reading and writing skills. Professors ask you to write article summaries to help you to develop essential skills in critical reading, summarizing, and clear, organized writing. Furthermore, an article summary requires you to read a scholarly article quite closely, which provides a useful introduction to the conventions of writing in your discipline (e.g. Political Studies, Biology, or Anthropology).

The most common problem that students have when writing an article summary is that they misunderstand the goal of the assignment. In an article summary, your job is to write about the article, not about the actual topic of the article. For example, if you are summarizing Smith’s article about the causes of the Bubonic plague in Europe, your summary should be about Smith’s article: What does she want to find out about the plague? What evidence does she use? What is her argument? You are not writing a paper about the actual causes of Bubonic plague in Europe.

Further, as a part of critical reading, you will often consider your own position on a topic or an argument; it is tempting to include an assessment or opinion about the thesis or findings, but this is not the goal of an article summary. Rather, you must identify, explain, and analyse the main point and how it is supported.

Your key to success in writing an article summary is your understanding of the article; therefore, it is essential to read carefully and closely. The Academic Skills Centre offers helpful instruction on the steps for critical reading: pre-reading, active and analytical reading, and reflection.

Argumentative Articles

As you read an argumentative article, consider the following questions:

What is the topic?
What is the research question? In other words, what is the author trying to find out about that topic?
How does the author position his/her article in relation to other studies of the topic?
What is the thesis or position? What are the supporting arguments?
How are supporting arguments developed? What kind of evidence is used?
What is the significance of the author’s thesis? What does it help you to understand about the topic?

Empirical Articles

As you read an empirical article, consider the following questions:

What is the research question?
What are the predictions and the rationale for these predictions?
What methods were used (participants, sampling, materials, procedure)? What were the variables and controls?
What were the main results?
Are the findings supported by previous research?
What are the limitations of the study?
What are the implications or applications of the findings?

Create a Reverse Outline

Creating a reverse outline is one way to ensure that you fully understand the article. Pre-read the article (read the abstract, introduction, and/or conclusion). Summarize the main question(s) and thesis or findings. Skim subheadings and topic sentences to understand the organization; make notes in the margins about each section. Read each paragraph within a section; make short notes about the main idea or purpose of each paragraph. This strategy will help you to see how parts of the article connect to the main idea or the whole of the article.

A summary is written in paragraph form and generally does not include subheadings. An introduction is important to clearly identify the article, the topic, the question or purpose of the article, and its thesis or findings. The body paragraphs for a summary of an argumentative article will explain how arguments and evidence support the thesis. Alternatively, the body paragraphs of an empirical article summary may explain the methods and findings, making connections to predictions. The conclusion explains the significance of the argument or implications of the findings. This structure ensures that your summary is focused and clear.

Professors will often give you a list of required topics to include in your summary and/or explain how they want you to organize your summary. Make sure you read the assignment sheet with care and adapt the sample outlines below accordingly.

One significant challenge in writing an article summary is deciding what information or examples from the article to include. Remember, article summaries are much shorter than the article itself. You do not have the space to explain every point the author makes. Instead, you will need to explain the author’s main points and find a few excellent examples that illustrate these points.

You should also keep in mind that article summaries need to be written in your own words. Scholarly writing can use complex terminology to explain complicated ideas, which makes it difficult to understand and to summarize correctly. In the face of difficult text, many students tend to use direct quotations, saving them the time and energy required to understand and reword it. However, a summary requires you to summarize, which means “to state briefly or succinctly” (Oxford English Dictionary) the main ideas presented in a text. The brevity must come from you, in your own words, which demonstrates that you understand the article.

Sample Outlines and Paragraph

Sample outline for an argumentative article summary.

General topic of article
Author’s research question or approach to the topic
Author’s thesis
Explain some key points and how they support the thesis
Provide a key example or two that the author uses as evidence to support these points
Review how the main points work together to support the thesis?
How does the author explain the significance or implications of his/her article?

Sample Outline for an Empirical Article Summary

General topic of study
Author’s research question
Variables and hypotheses
Participants
Experiment design
Materials used
Key results
Did the results support the hypotheses?
Implications or applications of the study
Major limitations of the study

Sample Paragraph

The paragraph below is an example of an introductory paragraph from a summary of an empirical article:

Tavernier and Willoughby’s (2014) study explored the relationships between university students’ sleep and their intrapersonal, interpersonal, and educational development. While the authors cited many scholars who have explored these relationships, they pointed out that most of these studies focused on unidirectional correlations over a short period of time. In contrast, Tavernier and Willoughby tested whether there was a bidirectional or unidirectional association between participants’ sleep quality and duration and several psychosocial factors including intrapersonal adjustment, friendship quality, and academic achievement. Further they conducted a longitudinal study over a period of three years in order to determine whether there were changes in the strength or direction of these associations over time. They predicted that sleep quality would correlate with measures of intrapersonal adjustment, friendship quality, and academic achievement; they further hypothesized that this correlation would be bidirectional: sleep quality would predict psychosocial measures and at the same time, psychosocial measures would predict sleep quality.

Scholarly Articles

Scholarly article sections
What is peer review?
Reading scholarly articles practice
Handouts: Reading & Evaluating
How do I summarize a scholarly article?
How do I find scholarly articles?
Wrapping up scholarly articles

One strategy is to write down a quick summary of your understanding of the article right after you read it. This could be on a sticky note or in an email draft or a Word document, depending on what works best for you. Try writing down, in your own words:

What problem the researcher was approaching
What they did to study the problem
What they found

This might look something like:

[Researchers] studied [topic] by [method] and found that [results]. Limitations included [limitations of study]. The authors suggest future research on [questions raised].

Dwyer et. al studied how college students' perceive pizza delivery. They surveyed local pizzerias to determine the amount of pizza delivered to a large public university in the United States over an entire academic year and found that most of the orders were large (for campus events), indicating a decline in student excitement about pizza. Dwyer et. al did not gain any data directly from students, which is recommended for further research.

You might also want to include:

An important quote if necessary (including page numbers)
A short reflection of how this source fits in with your topic and your other sources (does it present a new or conflicting point of view? etc.)
A short reflection of how you might use it in your work (as background info, etc.)
A short evaluation (is the author credible? etc.)
The citation/reference

These notes are sometimes called " synthesis notes ." You can repeat this process with each source, and even build out an " annotated bibliography " if that works for you.

Consider reaching out to the SLCC Student Reading & Writing Center for more assistance.

License information

<< Previous: Handouts: Reading & Evaluating
Next: How do I find scholarly articles? >>
Last Updated: Jul 26, 2023 11:01 AM
URL: https://libguides.slcc.edu/scholarlyarticles

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Grammar Guide

How to Write a Summary (Examples Included)

Ashley Shaw

Have you ever recommended a book to someone and given them a quick overview? Then you’ve created a summary before!

Summarizing is a common part of everyday communication. It feels easy when you’re recounting what happened on your favorite show, but what do you do when the information gets a little more complex?

Written summaries come with their own set of challenges. You might ask yourself:

What details are unnecessary?
How do you put this in your own words without changing the meaning?
How close can you get to the original without plagiarizing it?
How long should it be?

The answers to these questions depend on the type of summary you are doing and why you are doing it.

A summary in an academic setting is different to a professional summary—and both of those are very different to summarizing a funny story you want to tell your friends.

One thing they all have in common is that you need to relay information in the clearest way possible to help your reader understand. We’ll look at some different forms of summary, and give you some tips on each.

Let’s get started!

What Is a Summary?

How do you write a summary, how do you write an academic summary, what are the four types of academic summaries, how do i write a professional summary, writing or telling a summary in personal situations, summarizing summaries.

A summary is a shorter version of a larger work. Summaries are used at some level in almost every writing task, from formal documents to personal messages.

When you write a summary, you have an audience that doesn’t know every single thing you know.

When you want them to understand your argument, topic, or stance, you may need to explain some things to catch them up.

Instead of having them read the article or hear every single detail of the story or event, you instead give them a brief overview of what they need to know.

Academic, professional, and personal summaries each require you to consider different things, but there are some key rules they all have in common.

Let’s go over a few general guides to writing a summary first.

A summary should be shorter than the original

1. A summary should always be shorter than the original work, usually considerably.

Even if your summary is the length of a full paper, you are likely summarizing a book or other significantly longer work.

2. A summary should tell the reader the highlights of what they need to know without giving them unnecessary details.

3. It should also include enough details to give a clear and honest picture.

For example, if you summarize an article that says “ The Office is the greatest television show of all time,” but don’t mention that they are specifically referring to sitcoms, then you changed the meaning of the article. That’s a problem! Similarly, if you write a summary of your job history and say you volunteered at a hospital for the last three years, but you don’t add that you only went twice in that time, it becomes a little dishonest.

4. Summaries shouldn’t contain personal opinion.

While in the longer work you are creating you might use opinion, within the summary itself, you should avoid all personal opinion. A summary is different than a review. In this moment, you aren’t saying what you think of the work you are summarizing, you are just giving your audience enough information to know what the work says or did.

Now that we have a good idea of what summaries are in general, let’s talk about some specific types of summary you will likely have to do at some point in your writing life.

An academic summary is one you will create for a class or in other academic writing. The exact elements you will need to include depend on the assignment itself.

However, when you’re asked for an academic summary, this usually this means one of five things, all of which are pretty similar:

You need to do a presentation in which you talk about an article, book, or report.
You write a summary paper in which the entire paper is a summary of a specific work.
You summarize a class discussion, lesson, or reading in the form of personal notes or a discussion board post.
You do something like an annotated bibliography where you write short summaries of multiple works in preparation of a longer assignment.
You write quick summaries within the body of another assignment . For example, in an argumentative essay, you will likely need to have short summaries of the sources you use to explain their argument before getting into how the source helps you prove your point.

Regardless of what type of summary you are doing, though, there are a few steps you should always follow:

Skim the work you are summarizing before you read it. Notice what stands out to you.
Next, read it in depth . Do the same things stand out?
Put the full text away and write in a few sentences what the main idea or point was.
Go back and compare to make sure you didn’t forget anything.
Expand on this to write and then edit your summary.

Each type of academic summary requires slightly different things. Let’s get down to details.

How Do I Write a Summary Paper?

Sometimes teachers assign something called a summary paper . In this, the entire thing is a summary of one article, book, story, or report.

To understand how to write this paper, let’s talk a little bit about the purpose of such an assignment.

A summary paper is usually given to help a teacher see how well a student understands a reading assignment, but also to help the student digest the reading. Sometimes, it can be difficult to understand things we read right away.

However, a good way to process the information is to put it in our own words. That is the point of a summary paper.

A summary paper is:

A way to explain in our own words what happened in a paper, book, etc.
A time to think about what was important in the paper, etc.
A time to think about the meaning and purpose behind the paper, etc.

Here are some things that a summary paper is not:

A review. Your thoughts and opinions on the thing you are summarizing don’t need to be here unless otherwise specified.
A comparison. A comparison paper has a lot of summary in it, but it is different than a summary paper. In this, you are just saying what happened, but you aren’t saying places it could have been done differently.
A paraphrase (though you might have a little paraphrasing in there). In the section on using summary in longer papers, I talk more about the difference between summaries, paraphrases, and quotes.

Because a summary paper is usually longer than other forms of summary, you will be able to chose more detail. However, it still needs to focus on the important events. Summary papers are usually shorter papers.

Let’s say you are writing a 3–4 page summary. You are likely summarizing a full book or an article or short story, which will be much longer than 3–4 pages.

Imagine that you are the author of the work, and your editor comes to you and says they love what you wrote, but they need it to be 3–4 pages instead.

How would you tell that story (argument, idea, etc.) in that length without losing the heart or intent behind it? That is what belongs in a summary paper.

How Do I Write Useful Academic Notes?

Sometimes, you need to write a summary for yourself in the form of notes or for your classmates in the form of a discussion post.

You might not think you need a specific approach for this. After all, only you are going to see it.

However, summarizing for yourself can sometimes be the most difficult type of summary. If you try to write down everything your teacher says, your hand will cramp and you’ll likely miss a lot.

Yet, transcribing doesn’t work because studies show that writing things down (not typing them) actually helps you remember them better.

So how do you find the balance between summarizing the lessons without leaving out important points?

There are some tips for this:

If your professor writes it on the board, it is probably important.
What points do your textbooks include when summarizing information? Use these as a guide.
Write the highlight of every X amount of time, with X being the time you can go without missing anything or getting tired. This could be one point per minute, or three per five minutes, etc.

How Do I Create an Annotated Biography?

An annotated bibliography requires a very specific style of writing. Often, you will write these before a longer research paper . They will ask you to find a certain amount of articles and write a short annotation for each of them.

While an annotation is more than just a summary, it usually starts with a summary of the work. This will be about 2–3 sentences long. Because you don’t have a lot of room, you really have to think about what the most important thing the work says is.

This will basically ask you to explain the point of the article in these couple of sentences, so you should focus on the main point when expressing it.

Here is an example of a summary section within an annotation about this post:

“In this post, the author explains how to write a summary in different types of settings. She walks through academic, professional, and personal summaries. Ultimately, she claims that summaries should be short explanations that get the audience caught up on the topic without leaving out details that would change the meaning.”

Can I Write a Summary Within an Essay?

Perhaps the most common type of summary you will ever do is a short summary within a longer paper.

For example, if you have to write an argumentative essay, you will likely need to use sources to help support your argument.

However, there is a good chance that your readers won’t have read those same sources.

So, you need to give them enough detail to understand your topic without spending too much time explaining and not enough making your argument.

While this depends on exactly how you are using summary in your paper, often, a good amount of summary is the same amount you would put in an annotation.

Just a few sentences will allow the reader to get an idea of the work before moving on to specific parts of it that might help your argument.

What’s the Difference Between Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Using Quotes?

One important thing to recognize when using summaries in academic settings is that summaries are different than paraphrases or quotes.

A summary is broader and more general. A paraphrase, on the other hand, puts specific parts into your own words. A quote uses the exact words of the original. All of them, however, need to be cited.

Let’s look at an example:

Take these words by Thomas J. Watson:

”Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t as all. You can be discouraged by failure—or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember, that’s where you will find success.”

Let’s say I was told to write a summary, a paraphrase, and a quote about this statement. This is what it might look like:

Summary: Thomas J. Watson said that the key to success is actually to fail more often. (This is broad and doesn’t go into details about what he says, but it still gives him credit.)

Paraphrase: Thomas J. Watson, on asking if people would like his formula for success, said that the secret was to fail twice as much. He claimed that when you decide to learn from your mistakes instead of being disappointed by them, and when you start making a lot of them, you will actually find more success. (This includes most of the details, but it is in my own words, while still crediting the source.)

Quote: Thomas J. Watson said, ”Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure—or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember, that’s where you will find success.” (This is the exact words of the original with quotation marks and credit given.)

A summary versus a paraphrase versus a quote

Avoiding Plagiarism

One of the hardest parts about summarizing someone else’s writing is avoiding plagiarism .

That’s why I have a few rules/tips for you when summarizing anything:

1. Always cite.

If you are talking about someone else’s work in any means, cite your source. If you are summarizing the entire work, all you probably need to do (depending on style guidelines) is say the author’s name. However, if you are summarizing a specific chapter or section, you should state that specifically. Finally, you should make sure to include it in your Work Cited or Reference page.

2. Change the wording.

Sometimes when people are summarizing or paraphrasing a work, they get too close to the original, and actually use the exact words. Unless you use quotation marks, this is plagiarism. However, a good way to avoid this is to hide the article while you are summarizing it. If you don’t have it in front of you, you are less likely to accidentally use the exact words. (However, after you are done, double check that you didn’t miss anything important or give wrong details.)

3. Use a plagiarism checker.

Of course, when you are writing any summary, especially academic summaries, it can be easy to cross the line into plagiarism. If this is a place where you struggle, then ProWritingAid can help.

Just use our Plagiarism Report . It’ll highlight any unoriginal text in your document so you can make sure you are citing everything correctly and summarizing in your own words.

Find out more about ProWritingAid plagiarism bundles.

Along with academic summaries, you might sometimes need to write professional summaries. Often, this means writing a summary about yourself that shows why you are qualified for a position or organization.

In this section, let’s talk about two types of professional summaries: a LinkedIn summary and a summary section within a resume.

How Do I Write My LinkedIn Bio?

LinkedIn is all about professional networking. It offers you a chance to share a brief glimpse of your professional qualifications in a paragraph or two.

This can then be sent to professional connections, or even found by them without you having to reach out. This can help you get a job or build your network.

Your summary is one of the first things a future employer might see about you, and how you write yours can make you stand out from the competition.

Here are some tips on writing a LinkedIn summary :

Before you write it, think about what you want it to do . If you are looking for a job, what kind of job? What have you done in your past that would stand out to someone hiring for that position? That is what you will want to focus on in your summary.
Be professional . Unlike many social media platforms, LinkedIn has a reputation for being more formal. Your summary should reflect that to some extent.
Use keywords . Your summary is searchable, so using keywords that a recruiter might be searching for can help them find you.
Focus on the start . LinkedIn shows the first 300 characters automatically, and then offers the viewer a chance to read more. Make that start so good that everyone wants to keep reading.
Focus on accomplishments . Think of your life like a series of albums, and this is your speciality “Greatest Hits” album. What “songs” are you putting on it?

How Do I Summarize My Experience on a Resume?

Writing a professional summary for a resume is different than any other type of summary that you may have to do.

Recruiters go through a lot of resumes every day. They don’t have time to spend ages reading yours, which means you have to wow them quickly.

To do that, you might include a section at the top of your resume that acts almost as an elevator pitch: That one thing you might say to a recruiter to get them to want to talk to you if you only had a 30-second elevator ride.

Treat your resume summary as an elevator pitch

If you don’t have a lot of experience, though, you might want to skip this section entirely and focus on playing up the experience you do have.

Outside of academic and personal summaries, you use summary a lot in your day-to-day life.

Whether it is telling a good piece of trivia you just learned or a funny story that happened to you, or even setting the stage in creative writing, you summarize all the time.

How you use summary can be an important consideration in whether people want to read your work (or listen to you talk).

Here are some things to think about when telling a story:

Pick interesting details . Too many and your point will be lost. Not enough, and you didn’t paint the scene or give them a complete idea about what happened.
Play into the emotions . When telling a story, you want more information than the bare minimum. You want your reader to get the emotion of the story. That requires a little bit more work to accomplish.
Focus. A summary of one story can lead to another can lead to another. Think about storytellers that you know that go off on a tangent. They never seem to finish one story without telling 100 others!

To wrap up (and to demonstrate everything I just talked about), let’s summarize this post into its most essential parts:

A summary is a great way to quickly give your audience the information they need to understand the topic you are discussing without having to know every detail.

How you write a summary is different depending on what type of summary you are doing:

An academic summary usually gets to the heart of an article, book, or journal, and it should highlight the main points in your own words. How long it should be depends on the type of assignment it is.
A professional summary highlights you and your professional, academic, and volunteer history. It shows people in your professional network who you are and why they should hire you, work with you, use your talents, etc.

Being able to tell a good story is another form of summary. You want to tell engaging anecdotes and facts without boring your listeners. This is a skill that is developed over time.

Take your writing to the next level:

20 Editing Tips from Professional Writers

Whether you are writing a novel, essay, article, or email, good writing is an essential part of communicating your ideas., this guide contains the 20 most important writing tips and techniques from a wide range of professional writers..

Be confident about grammar

Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

Ashley Shaw is a former editor and marketer/current PhD student and teacher. When she isn't studying con artists for her dissertation, she's thinking of new ways to help college students better understand and love the writing process. You can follow her on Twitter, or, if you prefer animal accounts, follow her rabbits, Audrey Hopbun and Fredra StaHare, on Instagram.

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How to Summarize an Article

Last Updated: February 23, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Richard Perkins and by wikiHow staff writer, Danielle Blinka, MA, MPA . Richard Perkins is a Writing Coach, Academic English Coordinator, and the Founder of PLC Learning Center. With over 24 years of education experience, he gives teachers tools to teach writing to students and works with elementary to university level students to become proficient, confident writers. Richard is a fellow at the National Writing Project. As a teacher leader and consultant at California State University Long Beach's Global Education Project, Mr. Perkins creates and presents teacher workshops that integrate the U.N.'s 17 Sustainable Development Goals in the K-12 curriculum. He holds a BA in Communications and TV from The University of Southern California and an MEd from California State University Dominguez Hills. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 732,889 times.

You might summarize an article as part of an assignment or to better understand the author’s ideas. An article summary provides an overview of the author’s thesis, purpose, and main ideas. Before you start your summary, read the article several times and make notes in the margins. Then, write a first draft that summarizes the article effectively. Finally, get feedback on your article and make revisions to finalize it.

Reading the Article

If you have any questions, ask your instructor to get clarification.

Step 2 Scan the article to identify the main points.

Highlight or underline the thesis, research question, or purpose.
Mark the supporting points.
Highlight the section headings.
Note the method of study, if there is one.
Highlight the findings, conclusions, or results.

Step 3 Read the article 2-3 times to ensure you understand it.

If possible, read it aloud to help you process the information.
Reading the article several times will help you get a better understanding of the ideas. It’s difficult to fully understand an article on a first reading.

It’s okay to write short phrases and fragments rather than full sentences.

Tip: Making notes in your own words will help you avoid plagiarism once you sit down to write your summary.

Step 5 Write 1-sentence summaries of each section of the article.

You might write, “Lopez asserts that homework helps students retain more knowledge based on exam scores and self-reporting.”

Drafting a Summary

Step 1 Begin the introduction with an overview of the author and the article.

You might say, “Inez Lopez is a former high school educator who now teaches curriculum planning as a researching professor. Her article entitled “Homework Smarts: Why Kids Need Homework” discusses why students benefit from regular homework assignments. Lopez also differentiates between effective homework and busywork, which helps educators change their lessons for the better.”

Step 2 End the introduction with your thesis about the article’s main ideas.

For instance, you’d write, “Lopez argues homework is necessary to support in-class instruction because students retain more information, the class covers more curriculum, and students get more one-on-one attention in class.”

Step 3 Summarize each main point in a sentence for a short summary.

A short summary is 1 page or shorter. For a short summary, you’ll write either 1 long paragraph or an introduction, a body paragraph, and a conclusion.
Write, “According to Lopez, students who complete homework assignments for their core classes perform better academically.”

Tip: Summaries are usually about 1/3 of the length of the original article. You’ll only write a short summary if your original article was no longer than 3 pages long.

Step 4 Discuss each point in a body paragraph for a longer summary.

If your summary is longer than 1 page, it’s considered a longer summary.
You might write, “In her study, Lopez compared 2 different classrooms at the same high school, one that had homework and one that didn’t. Lopez asserts that students who completed homework assignments performed better academically.”

Step 5 Provide 2-3 supporting examples for each of the main points.

You might write, “To support her claims, Lopez explains that students who did their homework scored 40% higher on exams, participated in class at a higher rate than students who weren’t assigned homework, and completed academic units 30% faster than classes that didn’t do homework.”

Step 6 Explain the research methods if the author used any.

For instance, you’d write, “In her research, Lopez studied two classes at the same high school. Both classes had a similar demographic and socioeconomic makeup and were provided the same academic supports. The control classroom did not receive homework, while the experimental classroom did. Lopez tracked the students’ homework completion rate, assignment scores, class participation, and progress through the curricula. Additionally, she conducted short student surveys after each exam.”

Step 7 Describe the results and conclusions if the article is about research.

You could write, “Lopez collected data such as student scores, number of incidences of class participation, and rate of lesson progression. Additionally, she asked students to rate their confidence, understanding of the material, and readiness to move on to the next unit on a survey after each exam. Based on her data, Lopez concluded that students progress as much as 30% faster if they complete daily homework assignments. To improve academic performance, Lopez recommends that teachers in core subjects assign homework every night.”

Step 8 Conclude your summary by restating the thesis and its significance.

Write something like, “According to Lopez, students are able to retain information and progress rapidly if they’re required to do homework. Her work provides teachers with a tool to promote academic success and advice on how to use homework effectively to help students.”

Making Your Summary Effective

Step 1 Make sure your summary is about 1/3 of the length of the article.

Your summary doesn’t need to be exact in length. As long as it’s about 1/3 of the article’s length, it should be sufficient.

Variation: If your assignment sheet lists a different length, always do as your instructor asks. For instance, your instructor might give you a word count goal of 1,500 words. If this is the case, follow their instructions.

Step 2 Use author tags to attribute the ideas to the original author.

You’d write, "Lopez believes," "Lopez finds that," and "Lopez argues." It’s also okay to use pronouns. You might write, “She goes on to say,” “She further asserts,” or “She refutes this idea.”

Step 3 Avoid using direct quotations because they aren’t in your words.

Warning: Copying phrases or sentences from the original article is plagiarism. If you’re summarizing the article as part of an assignment, you will likely lose credit if you don’t restate the ideas in your own words.

Finalizing Your Summary

Step 1 Ask someone to read your paper and provide feedback.

For instance, ask your classmate, a writing tutor, or your teacher to give you feedback.

Step 2 Compare your summary to the assignment requirements.

You may want to do several rounds of revisions depending on the purpose of your assignment. If you’re writing this summary for a grade, make sure your final product is your best work.

Step 4 Proofread your summary to make sure it’s free of errors.

Ask someone else to proofread your paper for you if you can. Then, make changes if they spot any errors.

Step 5 Check the summary against the article to make sure it’s accurate.

Don’t include any of your own ideas, analysis, or opinions in a summary. Focus solely on the original author’s ideas.

Expert Q&A

Make sure you follow all of your instructor’s directions so you get full credit. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

Make sure you put all of the author’s ideas in your own words so you don’t accidentally plagiarize. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1

Sample Summaries

↑ https://libguides.randolph.edu/summaries
↑ Richard Perkins. Writing Coach & Academic English Coordinator. Expert Interview. 1 September 2021.
↑ https://www.kibin.com/essay-writing-blog/how-to-summarize-an-article-the-smart-way/
↑ https://www.trentu.ca/academicskills/how-guides/how-write-university/how-approach-any-assignment/writing-article-summaries
↑ https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/introduction-structure/
↑ https://otis.libguides.com/mla_citations/in-text
↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/revising-drafts/
↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/the_writing_process/proofreading/steps_for_revising.html

About This Article

To summarize an article, start by introducing the article title and the author’s full name so the reader knows what you’re referring to. Then, give a brief overview and explanation of the topic of the article, which will either be the author’s argument or the main premise of their research. Next, outline the points they use to back up their research, but avoid direct quotations to keep your summary brief. Finally, state the author’s conclusions before going back to make sure everything you stated in your summary matches up with the original article. For tips on how to use author tags to avoid plagiarizing in a summary, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Write a Summary of an Article in 5 Easy Steps

When you’re summarizing, you’re simply trying to express something in fewer words. I’m Tutor Phil, and in this tutorial, I’ll show you how to summarize an article, step by step.

Without further ado, here are your…

Five Steps to Writing a Great Article Summary

Step 1. Identify your summary goal

This is a crucial step because you want to know where you’re headed before you begin the journey.

Here are three questions you should get clear answers to before you start working on your summary:

How many words or paragraphs should the summary contain?
Can or should I use quotations?
Do I have any other specific requirements from my instructor?

Answering these three questions will give you a very good idea of the end result, and that is very helpful.

Here are two examples of different requirements:

The article is three magazine pages long, and you must summarize it in a three paragraph essay
The article is only about 600 words long, and you should summarize it in 150-200 words

Do you see how these two outcomes are different? You’ll see exactly what I mean as we summarize an article together in a second.

But just note that in the first example you’ll write a lot more than in the second one. This may also mean that you are allowed to use a quotation or two. The second example is probably too short to use quotations.

Having clarity of the outcome will make your job writing the summary a lot easier.

Step 2. Read the article, summarizing each paragraph

This step allows you to deal with the article one paragraph at a time instead of trying to swallow it whole. You don’t even have to do multiple readings. Just make sure that each of your paragraph summaries is accurate.

Here is how you do it. As you read each paragraph, your task is twofold:

What or who is this paragraph about?

What about it (or what about this person)?
Write down the answer in one or two complete sentences.

Note that if your summary goal is to write three or more paragraphs, then you should probably write more than two sentences per summarized paragraph in the second step here.

If, on the other hand, your goal is one paragraph total, then one or two sentences per paragraph summary should do the job. This is why it is important for you to get totally clear on how many words you want in your final summary.

When you’re doing this procedure for each paragraph, you’re creating a list of short paragraph summaries that together will eventually summarize the entire article.

Also, by the time you’re done reading the article this way, you will have a pretty good idea of its overall message.

Let’s read and summarize an article. First, let’s set a goal of writing one paragraph of about 150-200 words. This means we shouldn’t use direct quotations. And we have no other requirements. Great.

Note that if you are writing a summary that has to contain more than one paragraph, refer to my tutorial on how to write body paragraphs . Then simply take what you’ve learned here about summarizing and apply it to each paragraph in a longer summary.

Let’s continue. We need an article to summarize, and here it is below. Let’s read it, summarizing each paragraph.

Sample Article to Summarize

Do Parents Know Best When It Comes to Career Choice?

Paragraph 1

Growing up, like most of his peers, Ahmad worshipped his parents. And wonderful, loving parents they were. They provided him with the best education they could buy and lavished love and attention on their only son. As he was growing into an educated, responsible adult, they insisted that he go into the medical profession, in spite of his expressed desire of becoming a teacher. Today, Ahmad is a doctor at the NYU hospital and earns a bountiful living. The only problem is that he’s not happy. His childhood dream of becoming a teacher did not materialize and became a source of a nagging sense of a lack of fulfillment.

Summary of paragraph 1

Questions and answers:

– This paragraph is about Ahmad.

What about Ahmad?

– His parents insisted that he enter the medical profession. He is a successful doctor, but he is unhappy and wishes he were a teacher.

Let’s put this together into one or two complete sentences. As we do, we should also change some of the words to make sure we don’t sound as if we’re just repeating stuff. Let’s do it:

Ahmad’s parents steered him into the medical field, against his wishes. As a result, he is a successful doctor, but his unfulfilled dream of becoming a teacher haunts him.

Note how we used the phrase “ steered into the medical field ” to replace the phrase “ insisted that he go into the medical profession .”

We want to use our own words and shorten the content at the same time.

Paragraph 2

A recent Gallup poll revealed that 85% of workers worldwide are unhappy or downright miserable at their jobs. A study published in the International Journal of Advanced Research in 2019 found that parents exert a significant influence on their children’s career choices, especially in some cultures and parts of the world. Could there be a correlation? A cursory look at the issue can be revealing. Children tend to regard their parents as gods, capable of everything except error. This misconception eventually wanes, but the process can take years or even decades. But can parents really provide great career advice or direction, given their high authority in the eyes of their children? Most parents, studies show, never bother to uncover their children’s talents, strengths, and weaknesses. They generally either do not care about or fail to understand the importance of matching the child’s inborn potential with a career choice.

– This paragraph is about widespread job dissatisfaction.

– It is also about parents as bad career advisors.

What about these concepts?

– Job dissatisfaction rates are appalling. One possible cause is parental pressure. But parents don’t make good career advisors because they almost never bother to explore their child’s inborn potential.

Let’s put this together into one or two complete sentences:

Job dissatisfaction rates are appalling, and one possible cause is parental pressure. While children tend to deem their parents ultimate authorities on everything, they should take parental advice about choosing a profession with a grain of salt. Parents often do not bother to evaluate their children’s inborn talents, strengths, and weaknesses.

Okay, we have three sentences here, but that’s okay. We can trim down the final result, if necessary. Let’s keep going.

Paragraph 3

Furthermore, parents are often motivated by factors other than their child’s sense of fulfillment. Psychologists claim that parents are often unconsciously guided by their own self-interest or by a false sense of security. They want the best for the future of the family as whole, and that is often associated with a high status. In other words, it may be more important for the parents that their child make them a proud member of a community by gaining a high post or a lucrative salary. They may also consider some careers more stable and safe. This notion persists in parents in spite of overwhelming evidence that the stability of a career is highly dependent on the employee’s satisfaction with the career choice. Those who feel miserable at the job sooner or later find a way to escape it and end up taking a pay cut in return for higher job satisfaction.

– This paragraph is about more reasons why parents should not guide their children’s careers.

What about these reasons?

– Parents often make bad career counselors because they are driven by selfish yet unconscious motivations. Their desire for status and security backfires when their children change careers and take a pay cut to gain higher job satisfaction.

Parents often act out of selfish yet unconscious motivations. Their desire for status and security backfires when their children change careers and take a pay cut to gain more job satisfaction.

Paragraph 4

Despite the sad statistics, not all parental career guidance is bad. Stacey is a highly paid educator who loves her job. Her parents took care to learn as much as possible about her as she was growing up and were able to guide her to an ideal career. She is now a professor of music at a university. She gets to perform and teach her beloved musical instrument – the violin. Contrary to what many may think, Stacey’s parents are not musicians, and she did not follow in their footsteps. They are psychologists, and that explains a lot. Stacey is lucky, but not many people can boast parents who understand the importance of exploring the child’s inner world or care to uncover the child’s potential. Most parents simply don’t know.

– This paragraph is mostly about Stacey.

What about Stacey?

– She is an example of when parental career advice works out well. However, most people can’t expect to turn out like she did.

Sometimes parental career advice works, and Stacey is a great example. She’s an accomplished musician and educator and loves her work life. Unfortunately, most people cannot expect a similar outcome.

We have three sentences again. But that’s fine. Sometimes a paragraph contains more than two distinct ideas. Just write them down in a concise form. Keep moving forward.

Paragraph 5

In a world where parents make such incompetent career advisors, young adults can and should consult with professionals with regards to their future. Career counselors and coaches can help a young person navigate the muddy waters of vocational decision-making. By taking into account such considerations as personality type, passion, a gravitation towards a subject, and strengths and weaknesses, among other factors, these professionals can guide a young person towards a career that is likely to be rewarding and fulfilling. Ironically, a good income and job security are likely to follow, as well.

– This paragraph is about an alternative approach to making career choices.

What about it?

– Using the services of career counselors and coaches is a much better way to decide on a career. There is an irony in this, too.

Using the services of career counselors and coaches is a much better way to decide on a career. Ironically, this can increase the chances of higher pay and better job security.

Awesome! We’re ready for the next step.

Step 3. Put the paragraph summaries together

At this point, you’ll have a list of paragraph summaries. They make the bulk of your final summary paragraph, though they need some work.

In this step, type all these short paragraph summaries together into a word processor, one after another. When you’re done, you’ll have a raw summary ready to be organized.

And let’s do it. We’ll simply copy all of the sentences we just wrote and paste them in sequence into one paragraph.

Raw Article Summary

This raw summary is 172 words long, which is perfectly within our goal. So, we have the amount of material we need. Now, we need to take the next step.

Step 4. Organize the raw summary from general to specific

Here is something that is very important to understand about essay writing in general. An argumentative essay should proceed from general to specific.

The truth is, however, that most articles you will summarize do not necessarily follow this rule. This means that you can find a specific statement, then a general one, then back to specific, and then to something irrelevant, and so on.

In other words, articles are not always examples of great academic writing. This is why the value of your summary is not only to provide a shorter version of an article but also to help the reader understand it.

To make the article easier to comprehend, your task is to arrange your summary from general to specific. This means the following:

State the summarized main point (thesis) in the very beginning
Provide the summaries of the supporting points immediately after the thesis
Provide summaries of examples last

A thesis is the main point of an article. It is the most general statement found in it. So state it upfront. No need for an introduction because including one would take away from your summary’s conciseness.

The supporting points are the next most general statements. These are the other big ideas in the article, besides the main point.

And examples are the most specific bits of content. They serve to illustrate the main and supporting points. That’s why they should be included after the big ideas, not before.

In this step, we’ll simply arrange the statements we have in the order of general to specific. We won’t do any other editing here because that comes in the next step.

Let’s do it. And here’s our resulting paragraph.

Article Summary – Arranged from General to Specific

If you read this organized summary, you’ll notice how it flows much better than the raw version. That’s because the thoughts are arranged in a logical manner.

For example, we moved the example of Ahmad from the beginning of the article to the end of the section about parental pressure in career planning. That’s where this example really belongs.

You see, if the author begins an article with an example, the reader doesn’t have a frame of reference because she doesn’t know what this is an example of.

We correct this by organizing the summary from general to specific. But we have one final step to take to polish the summary and make sure it flows smoothly from beginning to end.

Step 5. Make the final tweaks

In this step, you want to make some final edits and make this summary exemplary. To do that, execute the following potential tweaks:

If needed, add the main point as one sentence in the beginning.

Authors of articles don’t necessarily include one perfect statement that would summarize the entire article perfectly.

After organizing your article summary from general to specific, you may (or may not) notice that your most general statement still does not include the whole main idea of the article. If that’s the case, then put one together and state it as the first sentence of the summary.

Importantly, in most cases, you should include a statement that introduces the author of the article and possibly the article title. The title can be shortened.

Here is the phrase template you can use:

“In his article on X, [Author’s Name] (year of publication) argues that…”

Simply begin your summary with this statement, substituting the subject, the name of the author, and the year of publication. You may tweak this format depending on the citation style you use.

You’ll see the example of this in the final version of the summary.

Make sure sentences transition well from one to the next.

Remember, at this stage, you just have a sequence of sentences that you spliced together in the previous steps. Now, you need to make sure that the entire article summary reads smoothly.

This means that you may need to tweak parts of some of the sentences to ensure nice transitions.

Proofread – remove any errors or typos.

Finally, make sure that the article summary contains no grammatical errors and no typos. And when you’re done – you’re done!

And let’s do it. Let’s make these final tweaks to our sample summary.

Article Summary – Final Version

In his article on parental career advice, Thompson (2019) argues that career choice is an important decision that is best made with professional rather than parental guidance. While children tend to deem their parents as ultimate authorities on everything, they should take parental advice about choosing a profession with a grain of salt. Parents often do not bother to evaluate their children’s inborn talents, strengths, and weaknesses. And their advice is often self-serving, albeit unconsciously. The result is appalling rates of job dissatisfaction. Ahmad is a perfect example. He is a well-paid doctor who would rather be a teacher and enjoy his work. That said, when parents do pay attention, they can guide their child well, as Stacey’s example shows. She is an accomplished violinist and teacher who was guided by her psychologist parents and could not be happier as a professional. However, most children cannot boast parents who are psychologists, and uninformed parents will make mistakes with regards to their children’s future. Therefore, it is better for young adults to consult with a professional in early adulthood to determine the most fulfilling career course, ironically increasing the chances of higher pay and better job security.

Note the following facts about this final, tweaked version:

It opens with a sentence that mentions the source (subject, author, and year).
The first sentence also summarizes the entire point of the article.
The sequence of sentences flows smoothly.
We moved some parts around a little for better logical connections.
We made more changes in wording and phrasing to make it even more concise and non-repetitive.

And there you have it – a five-step approach to summarizing an article. The next resource I would recommend for you is my tutorial on how to use transitions , since it’s a topic of its own.

Hope this was helpful!

Tutor Phil is an e-learning professional who helps adult learners finish their degrees by teaching them academic writing skills.

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How to Write a Summary for an Article

When you first start marketing with articles, you may have thought that your article submission just involved your title, the body, and perhaps the resource box. After inputting your content into some online submission forms, though, you saw that there are actually several additional fields to fill in that you had not thought about before.

General information

The article summary field (also known as the “short description” of the article) is one such field. How can you create a summary that draws readers to your content? Does what you put there even matter? That’s what we’ll cover in this article.
If you look at any article directory, you’ll notice that in addition to pages where the full articles are published, there are also summary pages where the titles and short descriptions of the articles appear. This is the page that a reader would see before seeing your full article.
First, the reader sees the summary page on the article directory, and he reads over the titles and short descriptions. From that information, he decides which articles to read.
That gives you an idea of how important the article summary can be based on the information you put in that field on the article submission form; you can sway a reader to read your article over someone else’s on the same or similar topic. The article summary can influence how many people read your article, and consequently how many people find your website through your article.
Before looking at your full article, the reader has two places where he can gather information about what your article is about. The first place is the title–if the title hooks the reader’s attention, then he will look at your article summary.
The article summary gives the reader a preview of what the article is about. Some people only use the introductory paragraph of their article as the summary. This effectiveness of your article depends on how your introductory paragraph is written. You may find it more useful to pick and choose sentences from your article that capture key points. Then you can string those sentences together in a coherent way to give a bird’s eye view of your article. Another option is to write your short description from scratch.

Finished papers

Customer reviews

Here are some tips for doing that:

This short description field is usually about 450 characters long (characters, not words!). It offers more space that the title to tell what your content is about, so take advantage of that.
Be sure to write in complete sentences. More people will be reading your article summary than your article, so you need to be as professional in that field as you were in writing your article. If your short description just says “Article about Golden Retrievers,” then it won’t be as effective as it could be.
Elaborate on the information that the title provides. You may see some short descriptions that are just a restating of the title, which is not very helpful. You have more space in the short description field for a reason–you’re supposed to give a more elaborate summary of what your content is about.
Tell the reader what your content teaches. People are looking for information when they read your piece, so if you specifically detail the basic things that it teaches you’ll attract more readers.
Resist the urge to put your name or link to your website in the short description. Some publishers will automatically decline your article if you do so because it appears promotional. Your name will appear in your resource box (if you put it there), and most directories also list your name in the byline of the article. The only place that should link to your website is your resource box.

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How to Write a Summary of an Article

Posted On: Mon Sep 26 2022
Posted By: Rajendra Joshi

When writing an article, a lot of facts and information are included. Often, this volume of information needs to be compressed to make the content more understandable.

Essentially, a summary helps assess whether an article satisfies the standards for the topic, whether it was constructed with all the nuances of the subject, whether it can lead to a conclusion, and so on.

An article summary is a brief, well-written document that summarizes a single academic article and is informed by a close reading of that piece. The thesis and supporting arguments are identified, explained, and analyzed in summaries of argumentative papers; the research questions, methods, findings, and implications of the study are identified, explained, and analyzed in summaries of empirical publications.

Article summaries are a good gauge of your reading and writing abilities, even if they are frequently brief and don't make up a significant percentage of your grade. Your professors may assign you to summarize articles to help you hone essential reading, translating, and writing abilities.

Additionally, reading an academic piece closely for an article summary gives you a helpful introduction to the writing patterns in your field (e.g., Political Studies, Biology, or Anthropology).

It might be challenging to decide precisely what information is significant enough to add to an article summary, even though making one may seem basic and straightforward. In addition, there are many more factors to consider than just restating the facts.

But don't worry; you'll find thorough guidelines on how to write a summary of an article in this post.

What exactly is a summary, and why is it important?

It's critical to remember that summaries are an effective way to evaluate your reading and writing abilities. Simply put, a summary is a concise description of the content of an article written solely in your own words.

Generally, a summary should be about one-third the length of the original and still include all of the most crucial details.

There are many advantages to summarizing an article, and it's crucial to concentrate most of the information inside. This can be useful for the writer since it helps identify the primary ideas and essential facts. It can offer a diversity of viewpoints that boost comprehension and throw light on the subject while effectively conveying the article's main ideas.

Additionally, since they won't have to read through numerous pages of content to grasp what your thesis statement was about, it might make articles easier for readers to comprehend.

Steps for Writing Effective Summary of an Article

Understanding that article summaries must demonstrate your ability to read and evaluate material is the first step in learning how to write one.

Try to read the article at least twice.

You should first read the essay in its whole to fully understand the arguments and the subject matter. Don't make notes at this point; instead, focus solely on reading the article. Strong reading skills are essential in this situation.

You have to read the article you wish to summarize. However, you should first skim the content before reading it in its entirety. Highlight a few of the article's key points. Make sure you describe your thesis and all of your supporting arguments. Understand the topic.

Understand and State the core concept of the article

After attentively reading the text, you can determine its central concept and subject. Once you've skimmed, read the article to find more precise information and understand the core concept of the article. You should reread any sections that stand out as being particularly significant or challenging and note any information you should include in your summary.

Start taking notes

When summarizing the article, be sure to include the essential keywords. After determining the main point, start noting the supporting facts, focus on the main ideas, and think about what else might be relevant or significant for the summary in the rest of the piece. It's also a good idea to emphasize certain words or phrases in the text.

Adequately summarize each section of the article.

You can notice that the content is divided into many sections as you read it. Before moving on to the next section's summary, take the time to summarize each of the preceding paragraphs.

As you summarize, remember that you should attempt to convey as much information as possible about the subject via paraphrasing rather than directly copying the text. By doing this, you may be sure that you are properly citing the article's original author while avoiding plagiarism.

Write it down in your own words.

Start by putting it in your own words; unless they are exact quotations, stay away from reusing phrases and sentences from the article. Try to express the material in your own words as you read the article and make notes of specific details. Likewise, don't simply rearrange or replace a few words.

What you read should be written using wholly new material. To avoid plagiarism, it's crucial to use your own words whenever possible. Plagiarism is unacceptable. Direct duplicating another person's work without giving them credit is considered plagiarism.

Maintain the structure or Format of the Summary

A summary must have an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion that totals no more than one-third the length of the original article.

Introduction: Your introduction should have a hook that piques the reader's interest. The title of the piece, a general overview of the subject, and, ideally, a thesis statement that encapsulates the substance of the writing and identifies the themes you will elaborate on are all included in the introduction.
Body Paragraphs: A separate paragraph should be used for each supporting statement. Each body paragraph should discuss, explain, or summarize the supporting points. Be sure to discuss the reasons behind each conclusion and the supporting evidence used to support it.
Conclusion: To begin your decision, restate the topic sentence or thesis statement from your introduction, being sure to use different wording. Using this section, you can more effectively convey the article's main ideas and supporting evidence—a summary of any new problems, difficulties, or ramifications the piece raises.

Breaking Down your Summary

The first thing you want to do in your summary is connected your essay and the article you’re summarizing. You can accomplish this by mentioning the article's topic and outlining how it supports your writing or is similar to your essay.

Following this, you can include the information from the article that backs up the allegation. Try to highlight all of the article's essential ideas, but only those that also apply to your essay.

The article's findings should be included in your summary as the last step. Once complete, continue writing your resume by describing how this conclusion impacts your job.

Essential things to keep in mind

Try to keep in mind that the reader is reading a summary of your work that is drawn from a separate source as you continue to write it. To emphasize that these aren't your own words, you can refer to the author and use phrases like "the author believed this" or "The author concluded..."

Making direct quotations is another thing to avoid. Your own words should be used in the summary. Except in cases where you cannot paraphrase the work in any other way, you should never use quotes in summary.

Writing a Summary of an Article: Challenges

Choosing what details or examples to include from the article poses a considerable challenge when writing an article summary. Do not forget that article summaries are much shorter than the original articles.
You lack the room to address every issue the author raises. The author's key points should be explained, with a few strong examples supporting them.
Remember that you must write article summaries in your own words as well. Scholarly writing frequently uses specialized terminology to clarify complex concepts, making it challenging to comprehend and accurately summarize.
Many students tend to employ direct quotations when dealing with challenging content, sparing them the time and effort needed to comprehend and rephrase it. But for a summary, you must sum up—which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as "to state briefly or succinctly"—the key points made throughout the book.
You must be concise in your own words, showing that you comprehend the article.

Common Problems in Article Summaries

When writing an article summary, students' most frequent issue is that they don't comprehend the assignment's purpose. You are responsible for writing about the article in outline rather than the article's actual subject matter.
Additionally, when reading critically, you will frequently consider your perspective on a subject or an argument;.
At the same time, it may be tempting to express your opinion on the article's thesis or conclusions, but the purpose of an article summary is different. Instead, you must recognize, describe, and evaluate the fundamental argument and how it is supported.

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Content Creation

How To Write A Headline: 10 Tips For Getting It Right

A compelling headline is critical in driving traffic to your site. Learn why headlines matter, mistakes to avoid, and 10 tips to get them right.

As digital marketers and brands everywhere struggle for user attention online, the headline is perhaps one of the most important tools at our disposal.

And though crafting a perfect headline might sound easy, there are many considerations that go into getting it right.

To help your content creation , we’ll uncover the secrets of writing headlines that people actually want to click – and that will drive traffic to your content.

We’ll look at the significance of the headline and some common mistakes people make before diving into 10 tips for writing headlines that deliver.

Let’s get started.

How Important Is The Headline?

In the world of content marketing , the headline reigns supreme.

Your headline is the first point of interaction a reader has with your piece of content, and it often determines whether or not someone decides to click through and learn more, or to continue scrolling and potentially never think of your brand again.

Content marketing is more competitive than ever.

Users are producing 70 million new posts per month on WordPress alone – and with so many brands and individuals creating so much content, it’s a struggle to even get your headlines in front of people.

But once they see it, it’s imperative that your headline compels them to engage further.

That means knowing how to craft a strong headline, which is easier said than done. Consider that 90.63% of content gets no traffic from Google – and that can be at least partially attributed to poor headlines.

A good headline will make you stand out from the crowd, increase your chances of drawing in more readers, and ultimately lead to more customers.

In an ideal world, you want to attract readers while offering value, accurately representing your content, and aligning with search intent.

By putting readers first and keeping SEO best practices top-of-mind, you can strike the right balance.

Let’s dive into a few specific reasons why the headline is so important.

First Impressions Are Key

As we discussed above, the headline is the first thing a reader sees, and it lets them know what they can expect from you.

According to Copyblogger, on average, eight out of 10 people will read a headline, while only two out of 10 will then go on to read the content.

You’ve got one shot to make an impression, so you’d better get it right.

SEO Significance

Search is the single largest online traffic source, and this makes it an incredibly powerful tool for reaching new audiences.

A well-optimized headline can help search engines like Google understand what your content is about and help it gain higher rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs), boosting your visibility with searchers.

Social Media Engagement

While newer than search, social media is an important mechanism for driving traffic to your content.

By writing solid headlines that pique people’s attention and drive engagement, your content will see more clicks and more shares, driving earned engagements.

Building A Positive Brand Reputation

Strong headlines don’t just create a positive impression with users; they can, over time, positively impact your brand’s reputation.

If readers know they can come to you for quality headlines that grab their attention and accurately represent the content they’re going to read, they will naturally develop trust and admiration for your brand.

Should You Write A Headline For Search Engines Or Users?

Ah, the age-old question: Should you cater your headlines primarily to search algorithms, or living, breathing humans?

The answer, of course, is a bit of both. In writing a strong headline, finding a balance between user-friendliness and SEO is crucial.

Let’s explore a few reasons why this matters:

Focus On The User

When writing a headline, you should be prioritizing the users who will make up your audience. After all, the headline’s primary goal is to capture people’s attention, and encourage them to read more.

And people are more likely to engage with content that aligns with their needs, interests, and emotions.

If it doesn’t resonate with them, they won’t click through – and your efforts will be for naught.

SEO Considerations

On the other hand, if your headline isn’t search engine friendly, the chances of it being seen are diminished.

That’s why SEO is so important; it helps ensure that users will actually get the chance to discover your content when they’re searching.

Optimizing your headline and including relevant keywords can help you gain visibility in the SERPs, leading to more clicks.

Natural Language And Intent

With developments in technology and the rise of AI , search engines have become extremely good at understanding user intent.

Today, sites like Google are able to decipher the context and quality of content without relying on exact keyword matches.

Because of this and how search algorithms have evolved, writing for users first is often the best way to write for search engines.

Google Discover

Google Discover , which is a section of Google Search that shows users recommended content based on their interests and activity, is becoming a much more prominent source of traffic.

As with other places online, headlines are the first thing users will see on Google Discover – so it’s all about making the most of your brief opportunity.

By crafting engaging headlines that are clear, concise, and timely, you could turn Google Discover into a significant traffic source for your business.

Should The H1 Headline Be The Same As The Meta Title?

One common question people ask when crafting headlines is whether the H1 headline and meta title should be the same.

For context: Your H1 headline is the on-page title that people will see when they click through to your content, and the meta title is what appears on the SERPs when somebody conducts a search.

And while it’s not necessary for your H1 headline and meta title to be the same, you should always remember to aim for consistency.

In a perfect world, your meta title and H1 are as similar as possible, so that you provide a consistent user experience – and readers know exactly what they’re getting into.

However, if you need to tweak either one slightly – perhaps optimizing the meta title with additional keywords, or changing your H1 headline to better suit the flow of your content – you should feel free to do so.

Just make sure both are clear and relevant to your content, and when the user clicks through from the meta title, they land on the content they expect to find.

The safest strategy is to keep them similar, but make slight differences where needed to optimize for each channel.

Common Headline Mistakes To Avoid

Before looking at tips for creating powerful headlines, let’s look at some common mistakes you should strive to avoid.

Clickbait Headlines

Popular on social media, clickbait headlines are designed to elicit curiosity and provoke users into clicking.

They often use outrageous premises in order to target people’s curiosity or promise to reveal something shocking and never-before-seen.

Some examples of what a clickbait headline might look like:

“Woman Grows Tree Inside Her Kitchen – The Result? Jaw-Dropping!”
“10 Insane Urban Garden Secrets Big Plant Stores Hide From You!”
“Why Every City Gardener Is Rushing To Get This Mystery Plant!”

While these might be good at encouraging people to click, they typically misrepresent the actual content and don’t deliver authentic value.

In this way, clickbait can really hurt your credibility over the long term, disappoint your users, and erode trust in your brand.

Keyword Stuffing

We know it’s important to include relevant keywords in your headline so that they can rank higher on search engines – but there’s such a thing as going too far.

Throwing as many keywords as you can into a headline is known as keyword stuffing, and it can deter users and even be penalized by search engines.

Some examples of what a keyword-stuffed headline might look like:

“Rooftop Garden Guide: Rooftop Plants, Rooftop Designs, And Rooftop Ideas!
“Urban Garden Tips: Best Urban Plants For Urban Spaces In Urban Areas!”

Prioritizing search engine ranking over the user experience might sound like a good idea, but search engines are smart enough to notice – and it could do long-term damage to your brand and rankings .

Confusing Or Complex Language

You want your headlines to be easily understandable by your target audience and the general reader – and that means making your language straightforward and accessible.

Unless you’re specifically creating content only for a niche audience of experts and aren’t interested in reaching a broader group of readers, we would not recommend using words and phrases or terminology that is unfamiliar to the average person.

Here are some examples of headlines that use confusing jargon:

“Synthesizing Biophilic Paradigms For Metropolis Greenification.”
“An Examination Of Mesofauna Interactions In High-Rise Agroforestry.”

Punctuation And Grammar Errors

This perhaps goes without saying, but do your best to ensure your headline includes correct punctuation and grammar.

It’s totally normal (and okay!) to make mistakes, but we recommend double-checking for any errors before publishing your headline, as they can hurt your credibility and lead readers to doubt your expertise.

Here’s an example of headlines that feature noticeable errors:

“Your doing it wrong: Plants not to put in City Gardens!”
“Plants; the best ones, for balconies and rooftops!”

10 Tips For Writing Headlines That Deliver

Now, it’s time to dive into some tips for creating headlines that people will want to click on.

1. Keep It Short & Sweet

As internet users, we know all too well that most readers are simply skimming through content at a glance.

Between short attention spans and limited space to play (in areas like search results and social feeds), overly long headlines are not the way to go – they’re often either ignored or cut off.

For this reason, it’s imperative that you keep your headlines concise and to the point. As a best practice, we recommend trying to keep your headlines somewhere between 50 and 60 characters so they’re not cut short.

So, instead of this:

“Check Out Our Comprehensive Guide To Understanding All The Intricacies Of Modern Home Gardening Techniques In Urban Environments.”

You want something more like this:

“Master Modern Urban Gardening With Our Essential Guide.”

2. Consider The Nuances Of Your Audience

Not all audiences are created equal or have the same preferences.

It’s important to cater your headline to the specific audience you’re trying to reach, and align with their cultural touchpoints. This might change based on your audience’s geography, demographics, interest areas, or more.

For example, while you might want to emphasize subtlety and sophistication for a UK audience, you might leverage bolder, more flamboyant headlines to reach an American readership.

Here are some examples of how that might look in practice:

U.S. Audience : “10 Game-Changing Tips To Turn Your Home Into A Plant Oasis”
UK Audience : “10 Proven Strategies For Masterful Urban Gardening.”

3. Address A Pain Point Or Need

What drives you, as a reader, to click on a headline and read more?

I’m willing to bet that you’re more likely to take the time to engage with content if it speaks to a problem you’re facing, a question you might have, or a specific need you’re experiencing.

Powerful headlines are those which identify something your target audience is interested in, and then position your content as a solution or pathway to that interest.

An example of what that might look like:

‘”Struggling With City Air? Try These 5 Air-Purifying Plants!”

4. Remember The 5Ws

You might already know about the 5Ws, which are a well-known principle among writers and journalists.

The idea is that when writing something, you should include the 5Ws – who, what, when, where, and why – as early as possible, to provide people with the necessary information.

When creating headlines for digital marketing and social media, we don’t often have much space. So, you might want to focus on the most critical three: who, what, and why.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to include specific words for each of these. It simply means making it clear who your content is for, what the premise of your content is, and why they should engage with it.

An example of a headline that considers the 5Ws:

“What To Grow & When: LA’s Urban Garden Must-Haves.”

5. Use The 4 U’s Framework

The “4 U’s” is another useful technique to help you craft great headlines. The idea is that every headline you create should incorporate these 4 U’s:

Urgent: Your headline should convey a sense of immediacy, and encourage readers to act ASAP.
Unique: Your headline should convey that your content is different from other pieces of content.
Useful: The headline should make it clear that your content will offer value to the reader.
Ultra-specific: The reader should be able to understand exactly what they’ll find in the content.

It isn’t always possible to incorporate all four of these elements in one short headline, so a best practice is to strive to include at least two of them. This will make the headline much stronger than it would be otherwise.

Here are some examples of what this looks like:

Useful & Ultra-specifi c : “10 Vegetables You Can Harvest In Just 30 Days In City Spaces.”
Urgent & Useful : “Start Today: 5 Quick Steps For Urban Gardening Success!”

6. Try Numbered Lists

Ever noticed how many listicles there are floating around the internet? Feel like you’re seeing a lot of numbered headlines lately? It’s true – and for good reason.

Research from Buffer and CoSchedule found that list posts are the most highly shared kind of headlines on social media.

Why? They’re easily skimmable; they carry the promise of quick tips and pointers; and they leave a little bit of room for curiosity – what could those 10 tips be?!

Utilizing numbered lists is a great way to reach today’s busy internet users and let them know exactly what you’re going to provide for them.

And here’s a hot tip: According to BuzzSumo, the most engaging number to use in a list post headline is 10 , followed by five and 15.

Here are two examples of strong numbered list headlines:

“10 Essential Tools Every City Gardener Needs Today”
“5 Surprising Benefits Of Modern Rooftop Gardens”

7. Tap Into Your Reader’s Emotions

Just like the best content appeals to the emotions of its readers , the same is true for headlines.

A headline that makes you laugh, touches your heart, surprises you, or piques your curiosity can help encourage you to take action and learn more.

Our emotions propel us to action in all areas of our life, and they’re a useful tool for content marketers.

So, keep these ideas top of mind as you craft your headlines. How can you elicit an emotional response from people quickly – whether that’s empathy, shock, or even anger?

Some examples:

“Garden Therapy: 6 Plants To Boost Mental Well-Being”
“Lost A Plant Friend? 5 Tips To Ensure The Next One Thrives”

8. Leverage Power Words

Using powerful adjectives and verbs can go a long way in encouraging people to click your headlines.

Descriptive and powerful words can help connect with people’s emotions and create a sense of urgency to take action – important things we have already touched on.

Examples of impactful words are terms like “essential,” “must-have,” “secret,” “surprising,” and so on.

You want to focus on getting people excited about your content and making them feel like they’re missing out on something big if they don’t click through.

Here are some examples:

“5 Critical Mistakes Every New City Gardener Must Avoid”
“10 Insider Tips To Help You Revitalize Your Urban Garden”

9. Ask Questions

The question is another tried-and-true technique for compelling headlines. Why?

Well, think about it. When you’re confronted with a question, the first thing you do is consider what the answer might be. By asking a question in your headline, you’re inviting readers to think about something and creating an incentive for them to find the answer.

You’re also making it clear that they will find the answer – or at least an exploration of the topic – within your content.

The other great thing about questions is that they allow you to tap into trending conversations, giving you an edge of timeliness and zeroing in on what your audience cares about right now.

Here are two examples:

“Why Are Urban Gardens The Future Of City Living?”
“Are Rooftop Gardens Truly The Solution To Urban Heat?”

10. Test And Analyze

Don’t forget to regularly A/B test your headlines to stay on top of which approaches, phrases, terms, and tactics are resonating best with your audience.

This will help you optimize them over time so that you can ensure you’re getting the most juice from the squeeze.

Writing a great headline is no easy feat.

It’s a delicate balancing act that requires a good grasp of the data, intimate knowledge of your audience, an awareness of cultural nuances, and a lot of creativity.

Next time you’re crafting a headline, try leveraging some of the information we’ve shared above. This should help you reach readers where they are, and start driving more traffic to your content!

More resources:

How To Write Great SEO Titles
Title Tag Optimization: A Complete How-To Guide
Perfectly Optimized Content From Start To Finish

Featured Image: Gustavo Frazao/Shutterstock

Writer, digital marketer, and content strategist. Annabelle has 8+ years of experience in social marketing, copywriting, and storytelling for best-in-class ...

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How to Write a Resume Summary [+ Examples]

A resume summary briefly explains who you are professionally. It can help recruiters or hiring managers quickly understand your experience and skills.

[Featured image] A woman, wearing a long-sleeved blue dress shirt, smiles while writing her resume summary on her laptop.

A resume summary delivers a concise story about your experience near the top of your resume. It's intended to help grab a recruiter's or hiring manager's attention and help them understand who you are as a candidate and what you have to offer.

Depending on your professional experience and career goals, a resume summary is only sometimes necessary, but adding one to your application materials may be beneficial. In this article, we’ll cover when to use a resume summary, what it should typically include, and examples you can follow to craft your own.

Resume summaries: Key facts

Strong resume summaries tell a story, synthesising in narrative form the experience and skills you detail elsewhere using bullet points. Generally, it’s a good idea to include information about your:

Experience: Lead with your most recent job title and summarise your years of experience.

Impact: Include any significant accomplishments and achievements, especially if you can quantify them.

Skills: Detail any important workplace and technical skills related to the job you are applying for.

Senior project manager with eight years of experience successfully leading large teams and identifying opportunities to reduce overhead and cost.

Licensed microbiology technologist with over five years of experience working at a major hospital lab.

A successful certified financial planner with six years of experience consulting clients, determining their long-term goals, and developing tailored plans to achieve results.

Creative social media manager with four years of experience overseeing all major channels for a fintech start-up. Trained in Hootsuite, Buffer, and Google Trends.

When should you use a resume summary?

There is no strict rule about when to use a resume summary. Generally, it’s more common to include one when you’ve amassed some professional experience, say around three years, because it can help you outline the prominent theme of your career.

You can also use a resume summary when you’ve held different jobs and want to connect those various choices to a more significant career path.

If you’re looking for your first job or are a recent graduate, it may be preferable to use a resume objective, which includes a summary but also outlines explicitly what you want to find in your next role.

Resume summary vs resume objective: What's the difference?

A resume summary is a synopsis of your career trajectory and accomplishments. A resume objective includes that information but states your more immediate career goals.

How long should a resume summary be?

The length of your resume summary will depend on the experience you have to convey and the page length you must work with. If you have just started your job search and have minimal experience, keep your resume to one page with a summary. But in general, a resume should be one or two pages, and a summary should be around two to five sentences.

Let’s look at two different examples in terms of length:

Creative UX designer newly graduated. Skilled in app and website development, including user research, wireframe and site map design, and A/B testing.

Creative UX designer with 10 years of experience managing web-based projects, specifically apps and websites. Skilled in undertaking user research to understand user flow and end-user, creating wireframes and site maps to understand best practices, and conducting user tests, including A/B testing, to identify issues before launch. Organised and detail-oriented individual with experience working remotely.

Where should a summary go on your resume?

A summary appears on top of your resume, usually underneath the contact information you include as part of your header. It’s important to keep a summary as close to the top as possible because it sets the stage for following information and can help a recruiter get a better sense of your experience immediately.

Resume summary tips

Use the following tips to craft an impactful summary that highlights your candidacy.

1. Align your summary with a company’s ideal candidate.

Review job descriptions and note any language used to describe a company’s ideal candidate, especially regarding their responsibilities. If you have experience handling those tasks, highlight them in your summary. For example, if a company wants a candidate who can 'identify new tools to streamline processes', talk about your experience tackling that problem in the past.

2. Highlight technical and workplace skills.

You’ll also want to peruse job descriptions and note any required workplace and technical skills so that you can address them in your summary. Technical skills are your expertise in working with specific tools or performing specific tasks related to a job. Workplace skills typically refer to the general skills you develop through work that make you a strong employee, such as communication, collaboration, and problem-solving.

3. Find adjectives to sell your skills.

A summary takes up valuable space on a resume, so choose your words carefully. You can find ways to add adjectives that qualify your experience and training. For example, instead of saying 'Project manager with X years of experience', you can describe yourself more specifically, saying, 'Versatile project manager with X years of experience'.

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Strengthen your credentials and qualifications by earning a Professional Certificate from industry leaders like Google, Meta, and IBM. Learn about growing areas like Project Management , UX Design , Data Science , Marketing Analytics , and Sales while developing job-ready skills for each type of profession. Plus, when you complete a Professional Certificate, you can add that detail to your resume summary.

This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

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Copilot for Microsoft 365

Microsoft Copilot combines the power of large language models (LLMs) with your organization’s data – all in the flow of work – to turn your words into one of the most powerful productivity tools on the planet. It works alongside popular Microsoft 365 Apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and more. Copilot provides real-time intelligent assistance, enabling users to enhance their creativity, productivity, and skills.

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Copilot is designed to benefit everyone in an organization. From leaders to IT professional managers, Copilot offers features that streamline tasks, automate workflows, and enhance collaboration. Its adaptability means that it can be customized to meet the unique needs of any organization. The ability to extend its capabilities through plugins makes it a continually evolving asset that can adapt to the ever-changing landscape of business needs.

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Additional resources.

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, believes that the advent of next-generation AI will revolutionize our work methods and usher in a new era of productivity growth. Microsoft 365 Copilot, is a tool that embodies this vision. It aims to enhance efficiency, foster innovation, and boost productivity within an organization. To understand the vision for Microsoft 365 Copilot business, we recommend starting with Satya Nadella’s announcement .

In addition, we have curated a selection of additional resources to assist users in discovering and implementing this game changing advancements in technology.

We are entering a new era of AI, one that is fundamentally changing how we relate to and benefit from technology. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, believes that the advent of next-generation AI will revolutionize our work methods and usher in a new era of productivity growth.

Microsoft 365 Copilot is a tool that embodies this vision. It aims to enhance efficiency, foster innovation, and boost productivity within an organization. To understand the vision for Microsoft 365 Copilot business, we recommend starting with Satya Nadella’s announcement .

In addition, we have curated a selection of additional resources to assist business leaders in discovering and implementing this game changing advancements in technology.

Driving adoption of Microsoft Copilot is both unique and just like the adoption of any technology. It is a human centric action, an ongoing user and stakeholder engagement process. We have modified the standard Microsoft 365 Adoption Framework for this project and included it below and in the full adoption kit. This is a starting point and can be customized to fit your organization’s methods for sharing new service with your team.

Additionally, utilize Microsoft 365 technology to drive the adoption by using our Center of Excellence (CoE) best practices to build your own community of practice for training, questions, support, and information improves the velocity of delivering user satisfaction.

We are entering a new era of AI, one that is fundamentally changing how we relate to and benefit from technology. IT Professionals and admins play a critical role in an organization’s ability to prepare for and leverage the power of AI.

Check out our admin documentation to find the most up-to-date information on technical requirements, policies, enabling users, and reporting.

In addition, here are several other resources that have been specifically selected to help IT Pros and admins start this exciting journey.

For developers, Microsoft 365 Copilot isn’t just a tool for personal productivity; it’s a platform that can be extended and customized to fit specific organizational needs. The ability to develop plugins for Copilot opens up a world of possibilities for enhancing its functionality. Whether it’s integrating with third-party services, automating complex workflows, or adding new features, developers have the freedom to tailor Copilot to better serve their teams and clients. This extensibility makes Copilot not just a tool, but a versatile framework that can evolve with the changing demands of modern software development.

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Bing chat enterprise and copilot pricing, transform sales with microsoft sales copilot, start using bing chat enterprise today, introducing copilot in microsoft stream, explore what’s possible with copilot.

Inviting Copilot into your day accelerates your ability to improve your productivity, create compelling content and unleash your creativity. Don’t just take our word for it. View our content below to understand the Art of the Possible.

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Prompts are how you ask Microsoft 365 Copilot to do something for you — like creating, summarizing, editing, or transforming. Think about prompting like having a conversation, using plain but clear language and providing context like you would with an assistant.

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Writing prompts is how you ask Copilot to do things on your behalf. Our Copilot Lab experience will help you to find your Power Prompts – those phrases you share with Copilot that accelerate your productivity, freeing you from day to day tasks like summarizing meetings and helping you to prepare for your next important meeting.

Try these featured prompts

Remember to include specifics like a person’s name or a topic:

What's new?

Catch up on messages.

Summarize Teams messages from this week about topic

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Provide a detailed summary of my recent emails about topic

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Draft an email with notes and action from meeting

What did they say?

What did person say about topic

Where was I mentioned?

Summarize emails where I was mentioned recently. Make it details, highlighting the sender and categorizing by topic

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Copilot for your team

Copilot for your team is a powerful tool that helps you collaborate more effectively with your colleagues. Copilot works seamlessly with Microsoft 365 and other popular apps, so you can access your files and data easily. With Copilot, you can save time, improve quality, and boost productivity across your entire team.

Draft an email with notes and action items from meeting

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Create an FAQ based on file

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Propose a new introduction to file

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List ideas for a fun remote team building event

Suggest 10 compelling taglines based on file

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Write an email to my team about our top priorities for next quarter from file

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Join our community to ask questions in our forums and to connect with other community members. Watch this space for our future community calls to meet others using Microsoft 365 Copilot, as well as on-demand training, both of which will be coming soon. We can’t wait to hear what you are doing with Copilot alongside you in your day.

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How To Write A Summary Of An Article?
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Summary Writing

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How to Write a Summary
Step 1: Read the text Step 2: Break the text down into sections Step 3: Identify the key points in each section Step 4: Write the summary Step 5: Check the summary against the article Other interesting articles Frequently asked questions about summarizing When to write a summary
How to Write Article Summaries, Reviews & Critiques
Guidelines for summarizing an article: State the main ideas. Identify the most important details that support the main ideas. Summarize in your own words. Do not copy phrases or sentences unless they are being used as direct quotations. Express the underlying meaning of the article, but do not critique or analyze.
How To Write a Summary of an Article
> Blogging > How To Write a Summary of an Article - Guide & Examples Have you ever considered why article summaries yield so much attention online? It would be demoralizing to pour a great deal of effort and enthusiasm into an article only to have it end in a banal, trite manner. It's like a well-made film with a vague ending.
How To Write A Summary Of An Article?
An article summary is a brief paper that focuses on a specific scientific article. While it usually has the same structure and goal there may be certain differences in its content depending on the type of work you are summarizing.
How to Write a Summary of an Article
1. Identify the Main Idea or Topic The aim of an article is to convey a certain idea or topic through arguments and evidence. In a summary, you want to identify the main idea of the article and put this information into your own words. To do this, you must be willing to read the article several times.
How to Write a Summary: 4 Tips for Writing a Good Summary
1. Find the main idea. A useful summary distills the source material down to its most important point to inform the reader. Pick the major point you want to communicate to the reader, and use your limited sentences wisely to convey it. Take down a few notes to help outline your thoughts in an organized manner.
PDF How to Summarize a Research Article
purpose of the summary is to take notes to later remind yourself about the article you may want to write a longer summary. However, if the purpose of summarizing the article is to include it in a paper you are writing, the summary should focus on how the articles relates specifically to your paper. Reading the Article Allow enough time. Before ...
How to Write a Summary
Step 1: Read the text You should read the article more than once to make sure you've thoroughly understood it. It's often effective to read in three stages: Scan the article quickly to get a sense of its topic and overall shape.
Writing Article Summaries
Pre-read the article (read the abstract, introduction, and/or conclusion). Summarize the main question (s) and thesis or findings. Skim subheadings and topic sentences to understand the organization; make notes in the margins about each section. Read each paragraph within a section; make short notes about the main idea or purpose of each paragraph.
Writing an Article Summary
An article summary is a concise overview of a particular text that captures the original text's main idea and salient supporting details. It should provide enough detail so the reader can ...
Scholarly Articles
One strategy is to write down a quick summary of your understanding of the article right after you read it. This could be on a sticky note or in an email draft or a Word document, depending on what works best for you. Try writing down, in your own words: What problem the researcher was approaching What they did to study the problem What they found
How to Write a Summary: The Complete Guide
1. A summary should always be shorter than the original work, usually considerably. Even if your summary is the length of a full paper, you are likely summarizing a book or other significantly longer work.
How to Write a Summary of an Article
How to Write a Summary of an Article Udemy Editor Share this article When you're writing your own article, an essay, or even a school paper, you will probably be faced with writing a summary of an article. Creating a summary of an article means quickly telling the reader what the article is about.
How to Summarize an Article (with Pictures)
1 Review your assignment sheet to understand the expectations. Read the assignment sheet twice to make sure you understand the assignment requirements. Highlight the expectations and what you need to do to get full credit. As you complete your assignment, make sure that you do everything your instructor asks. [1]
How To Write a Summary: 5 Easy Steps
1. Read and take notes. First things first: Read or watch the original work you'll be summarizing. While you do, take brief pauses and explain to yourself what you just read or watched. As the main ideas start becoming clear to you, take notes. This will make the writing process easier. 2.
How to Write a Summary of an Article in 5 Easy Steps
Having clarity of the outcome will make your job writing the summary a lot easier. Step 2. Read the article, summarizing each paragraph. This step allows you to deal with the article one paragraph at a time instead of trying to swallow it whole. You don't even have to do multiple readings.
How to Write a Summary (With Tips and Examples of Summaries)
Exploring summary examples can also give you insights into what yours can contain. For example, if you want to summarize a journal article for peer review, you might start by reviewing similar summary examples. How to write a summary. Here's a seven-step process you can follow to write an explanatory summary: 1. Review the work content carefully
How to Write a Summary for an Article
First, the reader sees the summary page on the article directory, and he reads over the titles and short descriptions. From that information, he decides which articles to read. That gives you an idea of how important the article summary can be based on the information you put in that field on the article submission form; you can sway a reader ...
Research Paper Summary: How to Write a Summary of a Research ...
A summary must be coherent and cogent and should make sense as a stand-alone piece of writing. It is typically 5% to 10% of the length of the original paper; however, the length depends on the length and complexity of the article and the purpose of the summary. Accordingly, a summary can be several paragraphs or pages, a single paragraph, or ...
How to Write a Summary of an Article
When summarizing the article, be sure to include the essential keywords. After determining the main point, start noting the supporting facts, focus on the main ideas, and think about what else might be relevant or significant for the summary in the rest of the piece. It's also a good idea to emphasize certain words or phrases in the text.
How to Write a Summary of a Journal Article in 4 Steps
Find an article. Read the article. Gather information. Write the summary. Online research has become an essential step for any kind of writing. John Schnobrich/Unsplash. 1. Find an Article. There are many places that have journal articles, but sometimes it's hard to know if they are credible.
How to summarize an article. Have you ever had to write a summary of
In order to write a summary of an article, it is important to first understand the main idea of the piece. To do this, one must read the article and take note of the key points.
How to Write a Summary of an Article: 7 Tips to Master This Important Skill
1. Close Reading of the Original Article The first thing you need to do is read the article carefully. You should know what its thesis statement is and what evidence it uses to support that idea. These key points are essential to conveying the main ideas and important details in your overall summary.
How To Write A Headline: 10 Tips For Getting It Right
7. Tap Into Your Reader's Emotions. Just like the best content appeals to the emotions of its readers, the same is true for headlines. A headline that makes you laugh, touches your heart ...
How to Write a Resume Summary [+ Examples]
If you have experience handling those tasks, highlight them in your summary. For example, if a company wants a candidate who can 'identify new tools to streamline processes', talk about your experience tackling that problem in the past. 2. Highlight technical and workplace skills. You'll also want to peruse job descriptions and note any ...
What is a summary? What is the advice to write a summary the article
Respuesta: -A summary is a record in a reader's own words that gives the main points of a piece of writing such as a newspaper article, the chapter of a book, or even a whole book. It is also possible to summarize something that you have heard, such as a lecture, or something that you have seen and heard, such as a movie
How To Use ChatGPT To Write Your Résumé, With 3 Step-By-Step ...
Feed the bot some details on the size and scope of your role, and provide a prompt like this: "Using the data and numbers provided, create three to five concise bullet points for my roles at ...
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How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

Table of contents

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Examples of article summaries

Citing the source you’re summarizing

Cite this Scribbr article

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Shona McCombes

How to Write Article Summaries, Reviews & Critiques

How To Write a Summary of an Article - Guide & Examples

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Why Do We Need to Summarize Articles?

How To Write a Summary of an Article In 5 Steps

2. Identify The Main Ideas of The Article

3. Write Your Understanding of The Topic

4. Define Your Thesis Statement

5. Rewrite The Summary

A Summary of An Article From The Example

1. Summarizing Technique

Summarizing Output Example

2. Rewriting Technique

Rewriting Output Example

3. Changing the Tone of Voice Technique

Encouraging Tone of Voice Output Example

4. Proofreading

What Is The Easiest Way To Summarize An Article?

What are The 3 Elements of The Summary?

How Many Paragraphs Are In The Summary?

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How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

Table of contents

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