Assignment # 1: Summary of A Science Journal Article

Your first writing assignment, summarizing a science journal article, is a challenging one, more so than you may expect. Be sure to carefully study the materials for this assignment in your Experimental Biology Laboratory Manual. The Writing staff at LARC, UCI’s Learning and Academic Resource Center, offers the following suggestions to help you succeed in your first assignment.

(1)  Pick an article that you clearly understand.  As explained in the Experimental Biology Laboratory Manual, your first assignment is to "locate a recent (last three months) primary research report in one of the [listed] journals and write a summary of the article" (69). According to the grading criteria, your paper should “demonstrate a clear understanding of the original paper and its implications” (71).

Therefore, you need to take the time to carefully review a number of papers to select one that you are confident that you understand and can clearly explain to your academic audience. If you have difficulty understanding the article, you will have difficulty summarizing it accurately, concisely, coherently, and completely (four major criteria for writing a successful summary).

The section "Reading and Analyzing a Journal Article" in your Manual will help you maximize your analysis and comprehension of the article.

(2) In the first paragraph of your summary, clearly state the purpose of the authors' research . To determine what that purpose is, consider that research typically builds on past research, addressing issues and questions other researchers have addressed. In effect, the authors of your article may be contributing to a "conversation" already under way in regard to the research topic.

So, one question to ask about the article you pick is what is the issue, question, or problem that the authors addressed?  What did they want to accomplish or find out?  Were they presenting a new perspective or hypothesis on an issue? Were they testing a preexisting hypothesis, or developing a better model for investigating a problem?

Understanding the context of the authors' project helps you understand the purpose of the research they report in their article.

(3) Focus and organize your summary by following the four-part format of the typical research article: introduction, methods and materials, results, and discussion. Think of each section as responding to a specific question and ask these questions of the article you have chosen:

Responding to these questions in this order will help you write an accurate, concise,  coherent, and complete summary. For further guidance in the specifics of your summary, be sure to read the section "Writing a Summary" in your Manual.

(4) Plan wisely. You must have realistic expectations about the time you will need to succeed in this assignment. Break the project down into steps. You need to read a number of articles, find a suitable one, read it carefully several times to identify its key features, write a first draft, and revise it at least once, probably twice or more.

Also recommended is scheduling a conference with a LARC writing specialist, who can go over your draft and recommend improvements. Schedule your LARC appointment in advance by calling 824-6451. For a final revision, follow the suggestions in Pechenik, "Becoming a Good Editor."

In short, writing a successful summary will require you to manage your time intelligently. There are no short cuts to a well-written paper.

Contributed by LARC Writing Specialist, James Culhane