What is a good summary?

Let us see what experts have to say…

In terms of content, a summary should:

• show sound understanding of the relevant paper

• clearly state the paper’s main argument
• avoid over-generalising or making sweeping statements
• make clear how each part of the paper is related to the main argument
• reflect the paper’s balance of ideas
• retain the paper’s original emphasis
• distinguish the paper’s main ideas from its details.

In terms of communication, a summary should:

• be well structured, opening with a clear statement of the main idea

• express ideas clearly, using precise and concise language
• avoid simply copying or paraphrasing
• use tenses consistently and appropriately
• avoid colloquial or overly idiomatic language
• use non-gender specific language.

In terms of reporting, a summary should:

• cite the paper correctly on the title page

• refer to the paper’s author(s) explicitly by page reference
• use direct quotes only for usages peculiar to the paper
• conform to the word limit.

(Source: Crawford Academic and Research Skills Advisors (n.d.), Academic and Research Skills

Handbook, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University)