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

What Is An Article Summary?

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 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 main points of the text 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.

Steps In Writing A Summary Of An Article

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

Here are the key steps to writing a top-notch summary with ease:

1. Read the article closes with an eye on its main focus;
2. Make notes as you read to save yourself some time;
3. Identify the key ideas or questions of the text;
4. Keep an eye on the text’s key arguments or methods (depending on the type of article you are reading);
5. Make a list of questions that you have to answer in your paper;
6. Make an outline;
7. Write your summary;
8. 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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Structure Of An Article Summary

In order to write a good summary, you have to follow a clear and appropriate structure. As a rule, such work is given in a 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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Sample Structure For A Summary Of An Argumentative Article:

1. Intro:
   1. Providing general info about the article including its topic, the main question or describing the author’s individual approach to the topic;
2. Statement of the author’s thesis:
3. Key points:
   1. Provide and clarify the key ideas that the author presents in the support of his thesis;
   2. Share a few examples that the author has used;
4. Make a conclusion:
   1. Discuss how the given ideas and examples support the thesis;
   2. Discuss how the author explains the relevance and significance of his work;

Sample Structure For A Summary Of An Empirical Article:

1. Intro:
   1. Tell the readers about the topic of a study;
   2. State the main research question;
   3. Clarify the given hypotheses and variables;
2. Methods:
   1. Describe the design of any experiments;
   2. Indicate what materials were used;
   3. Tell about participants;
3. Findings:
   1. Describe the obtained results and discuss whether they support the hypotheses or not;
4. Conclusion:
   1. Tell about the applications or implications of a particular study;
   2. Highlight the main limitations of this study;

Article Summary Examples