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How To Summarise A Journal Article

This document provides guidance on summarizing a journal article in 3 steps: 1) Introduce the study background and purpose, 2) Explain the research objectives, questions, and hypotheses, 3) Describe the methodology and major findings. It recommends focusing on the important information, condensing it concisely, and paraphrasing rather than quoting. The summary should give readers a brief yet comprehensive overview of the research.

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67 views2 pages

How To Summarise A Journal Article

This document provides guidance on summarizing a journal article in 3 steps: 1) Introduce the study background and purpose, 2) Explain the research objectives, questions, and hypotheses, 3) Describe the methodology and major findings. It recommends focusing on the important information, condensing it concisely, and paraphrasing rather than quoting. The summary should give readers a brief yet comprehensive overview of the research.

Uploaded by

thandi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How to summarise a journal article:

➢ Introduction
Give a brief introduction to give the necessary background to the study and topic and state its
purpose (in your own words). Communicate why the study was conducted; provide a brief
outline of what the study was about.

➢ Research Gap, questions and hypothesis statements


Explain the research objectives, questions and state the hypothesis statements.

➢ Procedures/ Methods
In your own words, describe the specifics of what this study involved. Discuss the methodology
of the research project. Who were the subjects/participants? What sampling methods were
used? How was the population/ elements of the study grouped? What variables were being
measured? What was being compared (if any – generally applicable for comparative studies)?

➢ Findings
In your own words, discuss the major findings and results. How useful or significant is this (what
did the author(s) say about it?); Communicate whether the results support the hypotheses.

➢ Conclusions
In your own words, summarize the researchers’ conclusions. What was the major outcome of
the study? What were the major implications/ applications and limitation of the study?

➢ Personal comments
Give your reaction to the study. Such as: What did you learn from the study? How might the
results be applied to marketing and business practice? What impact would the results have in
the future of marketing/business practice? Describe the benefits/negatives that can accrue from
being exposed to the results of this research project.
Tips when summarising a research article
1. Like an abstract in a published research article, the purpose of an article summary is to give the
reader a brief overview of the study. To write a good summary, identify what information is
important and condense that information for your reader. The better you understand a subject,
the easier it is to explain it thoroughly and briefly.
2. For the first draft, focus on content, not length (it will probably be too long). Condense later as
needed. Try writing about the hypotheses, methods and results first, then about the
introduction and discussion last. If you have trouble on one section, leave it for a while and try
another.
3. Stay focused on the research question, be concise, and avoid generalities.
4. Edit for style. Write to an intelligent, interested, naive, and slightly lazy audience (e.g., yourself,
your classmates). Expect your readers to be interested, but don't make them struggle to
understand you. Include all the important details; don't assume that they are already
understood.
5. Rely primarily on paraphrasing, not direct quotes. Direct quotes are seldom used in scientific
writing. Instead, paraphrase what you have read. To give due credit for information that you
paraphrase, cite the author's last name and the year of the study (Jones, 2012).
6. Re-read what you have written. Ask others to read it to catch things that you’ve missed.

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