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How much you say in answer to any one question will probably be determined by your purpose and the reason that article is valuable.

Steps for writing a summary:

  • Writing a summary begins with annotating the original article. After you've skimmed the article quickly to get the main idea of the paper, read to find the answers to the Twelve Essential Questions for Summarizing an Article. Highlight the answers in the text or make notes in the margin of the text.
  • Without directly quoting the article, write a sentence that tells why the article is valuable or noteworthy. Then write answers to the key questions without worrying at all about the kind of sentences you write. Just get the answers down.
  • Go back and wordsmith the answers (rewrite them with a more polished, precise style). Divide the summary into paragraphs that have one topic and point per paragraph. Whenever you change topics or say something substantially new or different about a current topic, create a new paragraph.
  • Polish the sentences to eliminate unnecessary words. At the same time, put in extra transitional words. Summaries, because of their brevity, have to have more "pointers" such as "first," "second," "in contrast," and "however" to connect the content.

Sample of using the 12 essential questions to generate a summary

Jagdt, Bjorn, Warncke, K. Auer, H., and Rudiger, H. Sleep deprivation does not induce sister chromatid exchange in humans. Mutation Research 361 (1996): 11-15.

What was the topic of the article? Validity of sister chromatid exchange (SCE) for measuring genotoxic exposures.
What was the purpose of the research? What question, problem, or issue did the article address in relation to the topic? The research was conducted to determine whether results of a preliminary study by Bamezai and Kumar could be verified. In the preliminary study, dramatic increases of SCE were reported after sleep deprivation,
How was the problem/question/issue defined? Whether there were significant deviations between the SCE rates of workers who were sleep deprived and normal sleep.
Were any assumptions unusual or questionable? Previous genotoxic exposures would not have elevated the mean baseline of persons in the studies.
Why is the question, problem, or issue important? Widely used procedures might give faulty results and misjudge genotoxic exposures in the workplace.
What work has been done or what situation exists that motivated the research? Unusual results after sleep deprivation suggested that SCE levels might be confounded when occupational medicine studies involved night shift workers.
What experimental design was used? Comparison of 20 persons’ SCE levels during control and experimental periods under different sleep behaviors.
What methods were used? Individual baseline of SCE was estimated by the mean of the SCE per metaphase of two subsequent days (control period) and compared to that of a test period two weeks later, plus questionnaires about sleep and dietary habits.
What were the results? The rates were slightly different, but the differences were not statistically significant.
How were the results interpreted? The study did not verify the results of the earlier study. Differences in conditions of cell cultures might explain the outcomes.
What did the researcher conclude? The effect of sleep deprivation on SCE, if there is one, would be in the range of normal day-to-day variance, and does not have to be taken into account when SCE is used for genotoxic monitoring at workplaces.
Why were YOU reading this paper?Reason article is valuable/noteworthy The article by Bjorn and others confirms that using sister chromatid exchange to measure genotoxic exposures in the workplace produces reliable results for men and women who work night shifts as well as for ordinary daytime workers.

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Source:  OpenStax, Becoming a professional scholar. OpenStax CNX. Aug 03, 2009 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col10871/1.2
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