Thi s handout is not int ended t o repla ce i nstruct or’s di rection s. I f the d irec tions d iffer f rom those o f your instruc tor,
ple ase do as your ins tructor asks.
JOURNAL ARTICLE SUMMARY GUIDE
THIS DOCUM ENT IS INTE NDED TO AID STUDENTS WRIT ING SUM MARIES OF PEER -REVI EWED STUDIE S IN THE SOCIAL
SCIENCES. IT M AY N OT WORK WELL F OR L ITER ATURE R EVIE WS, META-AN ALYSES, OR STUDI ES IN O THER FIELDS .
Su mm ar ie s, li ke a bstr ac ts , foll ow t he str uc tu re o f th e or ig in al a rt ic le : Intr od uc tion ( an d Back gr ou nd ),
Met ho ds , Re su lt s, an d Di scus si on . Th ey f requ en tl y re qu ir e an A PA c it at ion. Su mm arie s ge nera ll y do n ot
mak e use o f direc t quote s.
DI R ECTI O N S: To c ompo se y ou r su mm ar y, f ol lo w pr ompt s 1- 6.
Use t he q ue st ions af te r ea ch p ro mpt t o gu ide y ou r writi ng .
T O SUMMA RIZE TH E I NTRODUCTI ON & BACKGROUND SECT ION
1. Sta te t he r es ea rch qu es tion .
To do t hi s, a sk & ans we r: W ha t we re t he r es ea rche rs t ryin g to disc ov er or u nd erst an d?
2. Not e wh y th e re searc he r thou gh t th e t op ic was wo rt h in ve st igat in g.
To d o this, a sk & an sw er : Why wa s th e r es ea rch n ec es sary ? Wh y is t he r es ear ch r el ev ant
at t hi s ti me ? Wh at g ap i n kno wl ed ge o r un de rs tand in g we re t he r esea rc he rs try in g to
fi ll ?
3. Sta te t he h yp ot hesis o r hypot he se s tes te d if g iv en .
To d o this, a sk & an sw er : What r es ul t(s) d id the re searc he rs an ti ci pate o r ex pect ?
TO SUMMARIZ E THE M ETHOD S SECTION
4. Des cr ib e th e me th ods us ed to te st the h yp othes is o r to se ek an an swer t o th e re searc h qu esti on .
To d o this, a sk & an sw er : What d id t he r es ea rcher s do to te st the hy po thes is o r to t ry t o
fi nd t he a ns we r to th e re sear ch q ue stio n? C ONSID ER THE P OI NT S BE LO W
a. Dis cu ss the p ar tici pa nt s an d wh at t hey ex pe rien ce d.
To d o this, a sk & an sw er : Who w er e th e pa rt icip an ts o r wh o wa s en ro ll ed in t he stu dy ?
Ho w we re th e pa rt icip an ts sel ec te d? W hat di d the pa rt ic ipa nt s ex peri en ce ( tr eat me nt ,
co nd it io ns, in te rven ti on , etc. )? W ha t were t he m ajor s te ps o r th e proce d ure of t he
ex pe ri ment /s tu dy ?
b. St at e wh at in fo rm atio n wa s ga th er ed an d ho w th at in fo rm at ion wa s co llec te d.
To d o this, a sk & a ns we r: Wha t da ta or in fo rmat io n was re co rd ed or c ol lect ed ? What
mat eria l s (e.g . su rv eys, i n terv i ews) an d/ or app ar at us es ( E. G. c ompu te rs ) wer e us ed t o
co ll ec t th e da ta ?
c. Ind ic at e ho w th e col le ct ed da ta was an al yzed .
To d o this, a sk & an sw er : What m et hod of a na lysi s wa s use d to d et er mi ne wh et he r th e
re su lt s wer e si gn ific an t?
