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Biology

Explore the field of biology and get help on general biology assignments

Brainstorm Your Research

Reading Scholarly Articles

Summarize in 5 Steps

  1. Read the source.​

  • Skim it.​

  • Go back and read it again.​

  • You may need to read it several times.​

  1. Break it into logical sections. What parts go together?​

  2. Identify the main ideas or key points of each section.​

  • Try highlighting or marking the key points in Word or on a print copy

  • Write the source's main ideas / key points in your own words.​

  1. Write the source's main ideas / key points in your own words.​

  2. Check your summary against the original source.​

  • Did you capture the main ideas?​

  • Did you leave anything out you should include?​

  • Did you put in extra details that can be removed?

 

Remember the 5 Rs of Summarizing

Use these 5 Rs to help you summarize.

Reduce - Shorten the text to include only the key points

Reject - Leave out details and description; a summary is just the highlights

Reword - Use your own words

Reproduce - Make sure your summary accurately represents the text

Repackage - Put the summary into the correct format for your assignment

The videos and activities below will give you other techniques to try, as well as some practice.