EBP

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:

· Introduction

· 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.

· Body Paragraphs

· Use the body paragraphs to explain the supporting ideas of your thesis statement.

· The number of paragraphs will depend on the length of the original article. 

· 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.

· Concluding Paragraph

· 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

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

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

Before writing the summary:

1. For a text,  read, mark, and  annotate the original.  (For a lecture, work with the notes you took.)

· highlight the topic sentence

· highlight key points/key words/phrases

· highlight the concluding sentence

· outline each paragraph in the margin

2. Take notes on the following:

· the source (author--first/last name, title, date of publication, volume number, place of publication, publisher, URL, etc.)

· the main idea of the original (paraphrased)

· the major supporting points (in outline form)

· major supporting explanations (e.g. reasons/causes or effects)

Writing your summary--Steps:

3. Organize your notes into an outline which includes main ideas and supporting points  but no examples or details (dates, numbers, statistics).

4. Write an introductory paragraph that begins with  a frame, including an  in-text citation of the source and the author as well as a  reporting verb to introduce the main idea.  The reporting verb is generally in present tense.

5. At the end of your summary, double-space and write a  reference for the in-text citation (see #8 below), following APA guidelines.

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

7. 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 .

      8. The paper, excluding the title page and reference page, should be 2-5 pages. APA 7th version

      9. Key points of a scientific article

 

Introduction	· What  research question  or problem was addressed? · Are any hypotheses formulated?
Methods	· What type of research was done? · How were data collected and analyzed?
Results	· What were the most important findings? · Were the  hypotheses  supported?
Discussion/conclusion	· What is the overall answer to the research question? · How does the author explain these results? · What are the implications of the results? · Are there any important limitations? · Are there any key recommendations?

Parameter.	Excellent 18-20	Very good 16-18	Good 14-16	Fair 12-14	Comments
1. Review contains information from introduction, methods, results, and discussion 20%
2. Review has readable content and covers the purposes of the article/study. 20%
3. Review reflects an understanding of the topic and makes it clear to the reader. 20%
4. Review covers all aspects of the article/study 20%
5. Review complies with the APA rules (eg. spelling, Referencing, etc). 20%