ACADEMIC SUMMARY

An academic summary is a concise representation of an academic text. The

summary’s purpose is to enable the reader to determine, in a limited amount of
time, if and why a paper, chapter or book is worth reading.
An academic summary is different from an abstract. An abstract is a brief
representation of the main results and conclusions of the study. An academic
summary characteristically shows the (argumentation) structure of the text; the
skeleton of the argument skeleton.
The summary should be a flowing text, written in your own words. This means that
copying exact phrases from the original text is not permitted. Moreover, the text
should be written in well-formulated Dutch or English, and intelligible to an
audience that is not acquainted with the original text.

PURPOSE OF AN ACADEMIC SUMMARY

Students are expected to be able to quickly penetrate the structure and core ideas of
a text, and to reproduce them concisely in their own words. One way of doing this
is writing a summary.
Summarising is pausing in order to get ahead. The purpose of the summary
determines at which places to halt and what to see there. Students usually
summarise texts to help them pass an exam. In such cases, a summary prepares the
student for possible exam questions. However, a summary can have other functions
as well: students may be asked to summarise a text in preparation of a critical
discussion during a tutorial. Students could also summarise part of a text because
they want to use certain data while writing an essay or thesis.
In short, a summary can serve three functions:

 Explaining a text: intended to explore the text type, the main themes, and the
theoretical framework; focuses on the general content (annotated bibliography).
 Replacing a text: extracts the most important (sub)themes of a text based on a
well-considered selection (extract, exam preparation, reading report)
 Discussing a text: a critical report with an substantiated final conclusion (review,
essay, final paper, preparation for a group discussion)
 The purpose for which you are examining a text or the aim of a summary can be
different for each course. So, make sure you take a thorough look at the assignment
before you start reading or summarizing.

HOW TO WRITE AN ACADEMIC SUMMARY

Selecting information for the summary can be difficult, yet it is very important.
Certain aspects play an important role here:

 The general purpose for writing the summary, or the academic audience the
target readers – scholarly readers – for whom the summary is written.
 Other researchers or readers should be able to reconstruct the general idea
described in the investigation, using the information provided in the summary.
This means that all information essential for this study should be discussed.
 The information must be presented as described in the original article. This
means that you are not allowed to present the information according to your own
interpretation unless the assignment/course instructor tells you to do so.
 A recurring problem is that in a scientific text discussion and conclusion may be
intertwined. The discussion found in the original text has to be excluded from
your summary.

FORM AND CONTENT OF AN ACADEMIC SUMMARY

The format of an academic summary is nearly always the same. If you have a valid
reason, you can deviate from the original order in which the information is
presented by the author. A summary of a research report must contain the
following information:

 Research question/problem statement

 Motivation/relevance
 Theoretical framework
 Method
 Results/arguments
 Conclusion

The various components of a summary must be clearly recognisable. These will be

discussed below.
Research question/Problem statement

 A well-written summary contains a clear research question or problem statement

that will be answered or argued in the text by the author. What exactly is being
examined? What is the specific issue the author wants to give insight in? On the
basis of which specific case did he or she do that?

Motivation/relevance

 In this section of the summary you will answer the question why this
investigation has been conducted. The research question or the definition of the
problem statement is connected to an issue that is of importance to the author,
either in a social or academic context. What is the author’s motivation? What
lacuna is the research text trying to fill?

Theoretical framework

 Subsequently, you should clarify within what framework the investigation has
been conducted. From which theoretical perspective has the author approached
the issue? Which scientific theories or models does the author use as starting
point to describe, analyse, interpret and explain the issue?

Method

 In this section you will explain how the investigation has been carried out. Only
state the outlines; there is no need to explain in full detail. Deliver a concise
description of how the investigation has been generated, analysed and interpreted
by means of a scientifically proven method. Keep to the most important aspects,
 such as the structure of the most important data and the method used in the
analysis.

Results/Arguments

 In this section you should process the outcome of the investigation. Do not
mention all findings in the summary; narrow it down to the most important
findings or arguments relevant for answering the research question or supporting
the main thesis. Any unexpected outcomes are to be mentioned as well.

Conclusion

 The research question has to be answered in this part of the academic summary.
You are not allowed to submit any new information.

Your own opinion (optional)

 Sometimes, depending on the assignment or the purpose of the summary, it can

be useful to provide your own opinion on the text/quality of the investigation.
Was it carried out in a way you agree with? Does the author use valid arguments?
Make sure to provide your own opinion in a separate paragraph; the summary
itself has to be objective.

LANGUAGE, STYLE AND SPELLING OF AN ACADEMIC SUMMARY

Word choice, sentence structure, and style are of great importance when writing a
summary of a scientific article. As a general rule, the text should be easy to read
and understand. Moreover, your usage should match your
scholarly/intended/involved readers. Naturally, you should not use inappropriate or
vernacular language. It is also important to use proper academic style, which
means that the summary must be objective. Formulations must be accurate, so
vague terminology such as ‘all sorts’, ‘some’ and ‘a few’ are best avoided. Your
text cannot contain any spelling errors, and the grammar must be adequate. Also,
be consistent in the use of grammatical tense.