Article Summary Guidelines

A detailed, technical summary of a scholarly article written by an expert in your field of study. You will choose and research your own article based on research methods discussed in class. Articles cannot be portions of textbooks, book reviews, or editorials. Any article under ten pages in length will be considered questionable, though it is acknowledged that some very good articles may be under ten pages. Articles are also expected to be published within the last ten years. Use your discretion or check with the instructor.

Requirements

• Synopses must be written coherently in such a manner as to prove the article has been synthesized. In short, article information needs to be detailed, but still written from the student point of view. A structural paraphrase is not permitted and will be penalized.
• Sources must be presented in APA format, CSE, MLA or approved format.
• There is no specific page expectation or limit, though to be as thorough and specific, most summaries should strive to be 2-3 pages.
• Students are encouraged to use bullets or layout aids to make their documents easy to read and understand. However, any graphics taken directly from the article must be cited and cannot be used as “filler.”
• A copy of the article MUST be submitted with the final copy of the summary. Submission may be a printed copy or an electronic copy. If submitting a printed copy, it may have margin notes and note taking is encouraged. Hyperlinks are not acceptable submissions. Articles must be downloadable files.

Evaluation

The grading rubrics for the assignment are viewable before submission and are also summed up here. However, I highly recommend reviewing the rubrics thoroughly before submitting your final draft. Problematic areas where points were deducted will be listed both on the rubric and within your assignment.

• Content / Organization (40 of 100) points: clear and appropriate organization; informative introduction; conclusion documents the importance of the summarized research; purpose of article is clear; all and only relevant information; detailed analysis addressing specific issues – detailed and specific; critical evaluation of source; written in student’s own, individual voice; article is synthesized; research is documented
• Audience (20 of 100 points): appropriate explanation of key concepts; written for scholarly, yet general expertise (not too much jargon, yet not overly explained); Professional tone and quality; proper level of formality; follows a clear and appropriate format, clear section headers, layout/design of document make it easy and accessible for reader
• Grammar / Mechanics (20 of 100 points): No errors of agreement, tense, number, pronouns; no sentence fragments, run-on sentences, choppy constructions; logical sentence organizations and transitions; parallel structure; paragraph breaks; variety in sentence structure; proper word usage; exact word usage; correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization.
• Article (20 of 100 points): Copy of article provided with summary; article is appropriately rigorous; article is scholarly; article is relatively new (within the last 10 years)