What is a summary?
A summary is a shortened restatement of a longer passage’s ideas. It should be phrased in your own words and properly cited, both in-text and at the end of an essay, journal, or other written work. Summary differs from paraphrase because it takes a long excerpt from a source and restates it in far fewer words. (A paraphrase, on the other hand, is often roughly the same length as the source passage.) There is no limit to the length of a summary, but we recommend summarizing a short article in no longer than a paragraph or two.
When should I summarize?
As often as possible, especially in APA. APA format is more focused on ideas in general, so unless the source has phrased their ideas in an especially unique or beautiful way, a direct quote won’t be necessary. In MLA, direct quotes (word-for-word material, with quotation marks around it) are more common. If you are writing a Critical or Literary Analysis essay, direct quotes are recommended to show exactly how the author writes. However, most other general research projects will rely heavily on summary/paraphrase . . . as well as on your analysis of the source materials! Clarify the kind of writing you are doing here.
How do I summarize?
The process might vary for each writer, but we recommend these common steps when summarizing:
- Read the source material very carefully, making sure you fully understand the content. Look up terms or other words you don’t understand to gain clarity.
- Underline the main ideas. Which ideas are essential to understanding the source?
- Translate detailed passages into broad ideas. When looking at a paragraph full of facts and details, ask yourself, what one key point does this evidence support?
- Always rephrase in your own words. Every part of your summary should be fully restated in language that sounds like you – not like the source’s author.
- Re-read the source material to make sure you’ve captured its meaning. Have you included all the main ideas? Does your meaning still match the original?
- Cite the summary in-text. APA: (Jones, 2017). MLA: (Jones,85). *For more on citation, visit the Shapiro Library’s Guide
Original:
“Color (color) blindness (color vision deficiency, or CVD) affects approximately 1 in 12 men (8%) and 1 in 200 women in the world. In Britain, this means that there are approximately 2.7 million color blind people (about 4.5% of the entire population), most of whom are male” (“Colour Blindness,” n.d.).
Summary:
The organization Color Blind Awareness of Britain explains that men are more than sixteen times more likely to suffer from Color Blindness than women (“Color Blindness,” n.d.).
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