Good summarizing skills are essential for success in writing, and are crucial in preparing to write research papers

and essays. You need these skills because summarizing is efficient and it helps you distinguish between more and less important material.

The secret to writing a good and concise summary is to first outline the article or paper you are interested in summarizing.

Read the article carefully and look for the main point.

Make a list of the most important points in the article.

Break down each important point into smaller ideas.

Finally break each smaller idea into examples. You do not have to use examples, depending on the size of your summary.

Remember - you cannot summarize material until you understand it fully, and you cannot write a successful paper until you summarize your research material. There are no shortcuts on the way to success.