Writing

Summarizing a source

Watch the video, read the short explanation, then practice checking summaries.

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In short

A summary is the main point of a longer source in far fewer words. Summarize when you need the big picture and the details do not matter to your audience. A good summary:

Is much shorter than the source: a sentence or two for an article.
Keeps the source’s main point and emphasis.
Is not a play-by-play of the source in its own order.
Adds no opinions. If you want to evaluate the source, do it in a separate sentence.
Is cited, like everything else, with the author and year.

Review: Check the summary

Read each example and decide what is wrong. Then click to check. The sources are made up.

Example 1: A play-by-play

Source: Alvarez (2021) followed 60 first-year teachers for a year. Teachers who met weekly with a mentor reported less stress and were more likely to stay in teaching.

Needs a fix First, Alvarez (2021) described the 60 teachers. Next, the study tracked the weekly meetings. Then it described stress and who stayed in teaching.

Click to reveal the fix

Better version Alvarez (2021) found that first-year teachers who met weekly with a mentor felt less stress and were more likely to stay in teaching.

What changed: The first version retells the source in its order and never says what the study found. The better version gives the main point in one sentence.

Example 2: An opinion is mixed in

Source: Kim (2020) reported that students who tutored classmates gained as much as the students they tutored.

Needs a fix Kim’s (2020) article on peer tutoring was boring, but I think it is right that tutors gain as much as the students they help.

Click to reveal the fix

Better version Kim (2020) reported that students who tutored classmates gained as much as the students they tutored. This supports using peer tutoring in our classrooms.

What changed: A summary keeps the source’s point, not your opinion. The better version summarizes first, then evaluates in a separate sentence.

Example 3: Too many details

Source: Rao (2020) surveyed 800 families in 12 districts about after-school programs. Cost and transportation were the biggest barriers. Programs that offered free bus service had 30% higher enrollment.

Needs a fix Rao (2020) surveyed 800 families in 12 districts about after-school programs and found that cost and transportation were the biggest barriers, and that programs that offered free bus service had 30% higher enrollment.

Click to reveal the fix

Better version Rao (2020) found that cost and transportation keep families out of after-school programs, and that free transportation raised enrollment.

What changed: The first version is almost as long as the source because it keeps the numbers and the method. A summary drops the details on purpose and keeps the main point.