1. How to Summarize an Article
Research Skills
How to Summarize an Article

2. The Main Idea Read the passage carefully to determine the main idea
In one sentence, what is the author saying?
Or, briefly, what is the author’s position on the topic?
Don’t forget to name the author and the title of the article and the year published in your topic sentence (APA style)
Example: Mark Keast says in his article, “Addressing the Elephant” (2007) that the NHL uses fighting as a major marketing tool to attract young people to its game.

3. Supporting Details
Now, carefully select the most important details from the article that help to argue the author’s main idea
Choose several points (or examples or statistics) the author is offering as proof
Leave out parts of the article that are not absolutely essential to the author’s argument

4. Be concise Don’t ramble on
Rather, choose 3-4 specific points that author is making to prove his/her position
If the author gives several examples, you may choose to focus on one or group the examples together

5. Writing Style Write your summary smoothly
Rewrite the author’s words in your own words (when not quoting directly)
Use connecting words in your paragraph to move from one point to the next
Examples:
also, next, in addition, as well, further, and

6. Using Direct Quotations
If you want to use a sentence or phrase from the text that expresses a point strongly, indicate this using direct quotations
Example: Morrison (2007) starts off by saying that a discussion should be had about the issue of fighting, but the result is clearly going to be that “it’s the cheap shots and sucker punches that should be addressed, not the fighting” (para. 1). (use paragraph number if no page number is present)
If the paragraph is referring to several authors, cite the source right after the quotation or summary of the argument

7. Paragraph Transitions
Start a new paragraph for each article review
Use transition or connecting words to move from one paragraph to the next
If the author in the next article to be discussed agrees with the previous author, use words such as:
Similarly, likewise, further, another author…
Like Mark Keast, Morrison, in the article, “Taking Fighting out of Hockey would be wrong,” believes that fighting is an essential part of hockey.
If the author in the next article disagrees with the previous author, use connecting words such as:
In contrast, however, on the other hand, although, nevertheless

8. Author’s Views only
Remember to include only the author’s views when summarizing an article, even if you disagree
Save your own opinion for the “Analysis and Conclusion” section of this paper