How to Write a Summary of an Article

When to Summarize an Article

Writing is never an easy feat. It can be especially difficult if you have to condense someone else's words and make them into your own summary. Whether showing your understanding of something you read for a homework assignment or helping someone else understand an article in a condensed form, there are many reasons why you might need to summarize an article.

Here are some other instances you may need to summarize an article:

• To show how an author's ideas support your argument
• To argue against the author's ideas
• To condense a lot of information into a small space
• To increase your understanding of an article

What Is a Summary?

Excellent summaries are easy to read and explain all of the main points in the original article. Important points to remember:

• The main idea of the article is conveyed clearly and concisely
• The summary is written in the unique style of the writer
• The summary is much shorter than the original document
• The summary explains all of the important notions and arguments
• The summary condenses a lot of information into a small space

How Do You Summarize an Article?

Summarizing an article can be boiled down to three simple steps.

1. Identify the main idea or topic
2. Identify important arguments
3. Use these to write the summary

Below shows you how to do this step-by-step.

1. Identify the Main Idea or Topic

The aim of an article is to convey a certain idea or topic through arguments and evidence.

In a summary, you want to identify the main idea of the article and put this information into your own words. To do this, you must be willing to read the article several times. On the first reading, try to gain a general notion of what the article is trying to say. Once you've done this write down your initial impression. This is most likely the thesis, or main idea, of the article. Also, be sure to include the author's first and last name and the title of the article in your notation for later reference.

Example: In the article "Why Two Best Friends Doesn't Work," author Cassandra Grimes argues that most teenage girls can't get along in groups of more than two.

When trying to identify the central idea, you should ask yourself, "Why was this essay written and published?" Clues to help determine this include the following.

How to Identify the Main Idea of an Article

1. Gather information from the title.
2. Identify the place it was published, as this can help you determine the intended audience.
3. Determine the date of publication.
4. Determine the type of essay. (Is it expository, argumentative, literary, scholarly?)
5. Take note of the tone of the piece.
6. Identify certain notions or arguments that seem to be repeated throughout.

Applying these methods of identification, let's take a look at the article "Bypass Cure" by James Johnson. We can assume the subject of the article from the title. Upon further examination, it becomes clear that the author is arguing that new research suggests the best cure for diabetes is the surgical solution of a gastric bypass.

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Example: "Bypass Cure" by James Johnson records a recent discovery by researchers that people who have bypass surgery for weight control are also instantly cured of diabetes. Since rising diabetic rates and obesity has become a worldwide concern, the article provides a startling but controversial potential solution.

Now that we have identified the main idea of the article, we can move on to finding the key arguments.

2. Identify Important Arguments

At this point, you should read the article again. This time, read more carefully to see the supporting arguments, the reasons the author gives for the main point. Here are some tips on how to find these:

How to Identify Important Arguments in an Article

1. Read on a paper copy or use a computer program that lets you make annotations.
2. Underline the topic sentence of each paragraph. (If no one sentence tells the main concept, then write a summary of the main point in the margin.)
3. Write that sentence in your own words on the side of the page or on another piece of paper.
4. When you finish the article, read all the topic sentences you marked or wrote down.
5. In your own words, rewrite those main ideas.
6. Use complete sentences with good transition words.
7. Be sure you don't use the same words, phrases, or sentence structure as the original.
8. You may find you need to leave out some of the unimportant details.
9. Your summary should be as short and concise as possible.

In short, you want to boil the article down to its main, supporting arguments. Let everything else fall away, and what you are left with is an argument or an opinion, and the arguments that support it.

3. Write Your Summary

Your summary should start with the author’s name and the title of the work. Here are several ways to do this correctly:

Introduction Sentence Examples for an Article Summary

In "Cats Don't Dance," John Wood explains ...

John Wood, in "Cats Don't Dance," explains ...

According to John Wood in "Cats Don't Dance" ...

As John Wood vividly elucidates in his ironic story "Cats Don't Dance" ...

John Wood claims in his ironic story "Cats Don't Dance" that ...

Combine the thesis of the article with the title and author into your first sentence of the summary. Reference the following sentence as an example.

In "Cats Don't Dance," John Wood explains that in spite of the fact that cats are popular pets who seem to like us, felines are not really good at any activities that require cooperation with someone else, whether that is dancing or sharing.

If possible, your first sentence should summarize the article. The rest of your summary should cover some of the central concepts used to support the thesis. Be sure to restate these ideas in your own words, and to make your summary as short and concise as possible. Condense sentences and leave out unimportant details and examples. Stick to the important points.

How to Quote the Author of an Article

When you refer to the author for the first time, you always use their full name. When you refer to the author after that, you always use their last name. The following examples show how to use the author's name in an article summary after you have already introduced them.

Johnson comments ...

According to Wood's perspective ...

As Jones implies in the story about ...

Toller criticizes...

In conclusion, Kessler elaborates about ...

You don't need to use an author's title (Dr., Professor, or Mr. and Mrs.), but it does help to add their credentials to show they are an authoritative source. The sentences below show ways to do this.

In "Global Warming isn't Real," Steven Collins, a professor at the University of Michigan, claims that ...

New York Times critic Johann Bachman argues in "Global Warming is the Next Best Thing for the Earth" that ...

If you are discussing the ideas of the author, you always need to make it clear that you are reciting their ideas, not your own.

How to Introduce the Ideas of the Author in an Article Summary

• Use author tags
• Use mentions of "the article" or "the text"
• Add the page number that the information is found on in parenthesis at the end of the sentence

Using Author Tags

In writing your summary, you need to clearly state the name of the author and the name of the article, essay, book, or other source. The sentence below is a great example of how to do this.

According to Mary Johnson in her essay, "Cats Make Good Pets," the feline domestic companion is far superior to the canine one.

You also need to continue to make it clear to the reader when you are talking about the author's ideas. To do this, use "author tags," which are either the last name of the author or a pronoun (he or she) to show you are still discussing that person's ideas.

Also, try to make use of different verbs and adverbs. Your choice of author tag verbs and adverbs can contribute to the way you analyze the article. Certain words will create a specific tone. See the tables for a selection of different word choices.

List of Author Tags