Checklist: Guidelines for Summarizing

CHECKLIST

Guidelines for Summarizing

  • Include just enough information to recount the main points you want to cite. A summary is usually far shorter than the original.
  • Use your own words. If you include any language from the original, enclose it in quotation marks.
  • Record the author’s name, the shortened title, and the page number(s) on which the original material appeared. For sources without page numbers, record the paragraph, screen, or other section number(s), if any.
  • Make sure you have a corresponding working-bibliography entry with complete source information. (14b)
  • Label the note with a subject heading, and identify it as a summary.