A summary begins with an introductory sentence that states the text’s title, author and main point of the text as you see it. A summary is written in your own words. A summary contains only the ideas of the original text. Do not insert any of your own opinions, interpretations, deductions or comments into a summary.

Often have a formal appearance with tables, graphs, and diagrams. Always have an abstract or summary paragraph above the text; may have sections decribing methodology. Articles are written by an authority or expert in the field. The language includes specialized terms and the jargon of the discipline.

Books, conference publications, and academic journal articles, regardless of whether they are print-based or electronic, are common types of scholarly materials, which share the following characteristics: The authors are scholars or researchers with known affiliations and educational/research credentials.

An academic summary is a concise representation of an academic text. The summary’s purpose is to enable the reader to determine, in a limited amount of time, if and why a paper, chapter or book is worth reading. This means that copying exact phrases from the original text is not permitted.

In the first sentence, identify the author, the title of the work, and the thesis statement. Write in paragraph form with clear transitions between major points….Reading for a Summary:

1. The thesis or overall main idea.
2. The sections into which the paper is divided.
3. The support used to back up the author’s key points.

A good academic summary succeeds when it does the following: It identifies the author and the source (book or article). It gives credit to the author throughout. To make it clear that the ideas presented are the author’s and not your own, you should frequently use signals like “[The author] also states that . . . .”

Characteristics of Scholarly Sources

• Have a serious appearance.
• The words “Journal,” “Transactions,” “Proceedings,” or “Quarterly,” may appear in the title.
• Written for professors, students or researchers.
• Signed by the authors.
• Articles are reviewed by a board of experts or “peer reviewers.”

Scholarly sources are written by academics and other experts and contribute to knowledge in a particular field by sharing new research findings, theories, analyses, insights, news, or summaries of current knowledge.

Scholarly writing includes careful citation of sources and the presence of a bibliography or reference list. The writing is informed by and shows engagement with the larger body of literature on the topic at hand, and all assertions are supported by relevant sources.