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Summarizing a journal article involves providing a focused overview of a research study published in a peer-reviewed, scholarly source. A journal article summary offers readers a brief descriptive commentary, providing insight into the article's focus. Writing and summarizing a journal article is a common task for college students and research assistants alike. With some practice, you can effectively read the article with an eye for summary, plan a successful summary, and complete it.
Steps
Reading Article
Review the abstract. Abstracts are concise paragraphs authored by the article's writer to encapsulate research articles. They are typically found in most academic journals and are usually no longer than 100-200 words. The abstract delivers a brief synopsis of the journal article's content, providing key highlights of the research study.
- The purpose of an abstract is to enable researchers to quickly peruse a journal and determine if specific research articles are relevant to their work. For instance, if you're gathering research on immune system responses in rodents, within 100 words you'll discern whether the research is within your domain and whether the findings align with or diverge from your own.
- Keep in mind that an abstract and an article summary are distinct entities; thus, a summary that closely resembles the abstract is inadequate. An abstract is highly condensed and cannot furnish the same level of detail regarding the research and its conclusions as a summary can.
Grasp the research context. Ensure you understand what the authors will discuss, why the research matters, whether the article responds to another on the topic, etc. This guides you in analyzing arguments, quotes, and data for your summary.
Head straight to the conclusion. Skip ahead to grasp where the research ends and understand the direction of complex outlines and arguments. Understanding the conclusions first makes comprehending the information easier.
Pinpoint the main argument or position. To avoid rereading, ensure you get the main idea right away. Take notes and highlight main ideas.
- Focus on the opening paragraphs, where the author lays out main ideas. Identify the thesis and main argument the authors are proving.
- Highlight or rewrite the main argument to stay focused and see how it connects with the rest of the article.
- In humanities, articulating a clear thesis can be challenging. Try to understand the author's ideas and their analysis.
- Analyze the author's tone and keywords to understand their message.
Review the argument. Continue reading through segments, highlighting main points. Focus on key concepts, connecting them to the main idea.
- Focus on subsection titles indicating steps in the research study.
- Remember, it's not always necessary to read word-for-word; focus on the main idea.
Take active notes. Actively read, circling or highlighting each section, especially sub-section titles.
- Segments usually include introduction, methodology, results, conclusion, and references.
Planning Draft
Begin with a concise research description. Quickly jot down the academic journey of the article, outlining steps from start to conclusion, including methodology and study form. Avoid excessive detail; that's reserved for the summary.
- When starting, unleash your thoughts freely to uncover main points for summarization.
Determine crucial article aspects. Identify main supporting ideas or sections, which may require deeper exploration beyond subheadings. Include major points backing the author's argument in the summary.
- In scientific writing, summarize research hypotheses and procedures clearly, along with basic data interpretation.
- In humanities, summarize fundamental assumptions, the author's school of thought, examples, and presented ideas.
Highlight essential vocabulary for the summary. Ensure all key article keywords are incorporated, understanding complex terms fully for reader comprehension.
- Include and discuss any author-coined words or terms in your summary.
Keep it succinct. Summaries need not match article length. Provide a condensed, standalone research description, aiding primary research collectors or future reference.
- Generally, aim for one paragraph per main point, totaling 500-1000 words for most academic articles. Summarize each journal article portion with several short paragraphs.
Writing Summary
Avoid personal pronouns (I, you, us, we, our, your, my).
Maintain an objective tone. Provide an overview without critiquing the article.
Begin with defining the research question. Start from the article's introduction, where authors discuss research focus and objectives. Summarize the main argument authors aim to prove.
- In scientific articles, the introduction sets background and research question, crucial for your summary.
Summarize the authors' methodology. Describe research tools and methods used. Simplify testing procedures to address the research question.
- Including processed data is sufficient; raw data details are unnecessary in the summary.
Outline the results. Emphasize what the authors achieved and if they met their research objectives. Summarize the conclusions drawn and the research's implications.
- Ensure your summary includes the research question, conclusions/results, and how they were achieved.
Establish connections between main ideas. Unpack the authors' arguments and explain them in your own words. Clarify relationships among presented ideas, especially in humanities articles.
- Providing pedestrian summaries can aid understanding of dense arguments.
Avoid personal conclusions. Keep summaries objective without offering personal interpretations unless required. Focus on summarizing authors' points rather than adding personal insights.
- Keep the summary free from personal biases and opinions.
Avoid direct quotations. Focus on paraphrasing article ideas instead of directly quoting text. Maintain the original meaning and content while summarizing.
Use present tense. Maintain present tense throughout the summary when discussing scholarly articles. Ensure consistent grammatical structure.
Review your draft. Effective writing requires revision. Ensure your writing aligns with the journal article's context and supports its focus. A well-summarized article offers readers a concise review, aiding their search for specific information on a topic.
- Vary your verbs to maintain reader engagement. Repetitive language can bore readers, so strive for efficient word choices.
Sample Summaries
Sample Professional Journal Article Summary
Sample Scientific Journal Article Summary
Sample Educational Journal Article Summary
