Summary Writing Guide

Dear Students,

Please refer to the following guidelines for writing academic summaries

1. Read the article. Re-read the article. Underline important ideas and circle key terms. Find the main point of the article. Divide the article into sections or stages of thought, and label each section or stage of thought in the margins.
2. Write brief summaries of each stage of thought. Use a separate piece of paper for this step. This should be a brief outline of the article. 
3. Write the main point of the article in your own words. This should be a sentence that expresses the central idea of the article.
4. Write your rough draft of the summary.

NOTE: Include all the important ideas.

1. Use the author's key words.
2. Follow the original organization where possible. 
3. Include any important details. 
4. Include any important conclusions.

Only include the information your reader needs. Unless the examples in the article are essential, do not include them in your summary.

1. State the main point first.
2. Use a simpler language than the author of the original article uses. 
3. Do not write a summary your readers cannot understand.
4. Make the summary clear and understandable to someone who has not read the original article.
5. Your summary should stand on its own.
6. Add no new data and none of your own ideas.

Here is an easy way to begin a summary: In "[name of article]" [author] states . . . . [State the main point of the article first.] For example: In "Computer Chess"* Hans Berliner states that the CYBER 170 series computer can perform well in a chess tournament.

So when you write a summary:

1. State the main point first.
2. Emphasize the main stages of though. 
3. Paraphrase whenever possible.
4. State the article’s conclusion. 
5. Keep the summary short: 3 to 7 sentences is great.