Do you ever find yourself writing a summary for an article and then think, “How on earth am I going to put this into a bibliography?” Well, you’re in luck because we’re going to tell you exactly how to do it.
Firstly, you need to find the right citation. After you’ve found it, all you need to do is paste it into the text where you need it to appear. Sounds easy, right? Unfortunately, doing this could take a little bit of work. That’s why we’ve gone ahead and curated this list of the most useful online citation generators. Even if you’re a pro, doing some research before the publication date is essential so that you get the most appropriate references and so that your supervisor doesn’t kill you over something so basic. Let’s get to the good stuff.
Cite Keywords & Phrases
One of the things that could trip you up is keywords and phrases. You wouldn’t necessarily want to put the same keywords in your summary as you used in the article itself, as that could make it seem like you’re just copying and pasting. Instead, you could list a few of the most important keywords and phrases within the article and how they’re used.
For example, you might want to cite ‘data-driven decision-making’ in your summary because it was used multiple times throughout the article. If you’re using a citation generator, you can enter these keywords and phrases into the box at the top of the page. Doing this will pull up a list of suggested citations that are high-quality and relevant to what you’re writing.
Cite the Article
If your professor or supervisor has asked you to write a summary of an article, then you most probably have to cite it. You need to find a citation that’s appropriate for the information you’re providing. Using an article citation is pretty self-explanatory – it tells the reader about a single piece of work. You want to make sure that you use the same wording and style as the article itself.
The best thing about citing articles is that you don’t need to look for a free online tool to do it. All you need is a computer and a working Internet connection.
So, how do you find an appropriate citation? This is where things can get a little bit tricky. You need to find a publication that’s relevant to your research and that has a similar style to your own work. When you’ve found it, simply paste the URL into your bibliography.
Doing this will give you the option to create a bibliography that’s similar to the one you created for the article. Don’t worry, this isn’t something that’s going to take you much time at all. It’s pretty straightforward.
Cite Other Studies
If your professor asked you to write a summary of an article, but didn’t provide any specific references or sources, then you might end up in a bit of a pickle. You need to find an appropriate study to cite in order to complete your summary. This might be a little bit more difficult than finding an article to summarize, as you don’t know where to start. Believe it or not, even highly-specialized academics can end up with this problem. If you’re stuck, then you can always ask your professor for help.
What you need to keep in mind is that you need to find an appropriate study for your summary. There are three main things to keep in mind when looking for other studies that could be used in your summary.
- Is it relevant to my topic?
- Is it a good quality study?
- Does it have the same author as my article?
Each one of these questions is important, so you want to make sure that you answer them before you find a suitable study to cite. If you don’t know how to answer any of these questions, then there’s no way you’re going to end up with an appropriate citation.
Avoid Plagiarism
You might be tempted to just copy and paste the text of the original article into your summary but, don’t do this. Instead, you should try and find the original source of the information. Sometimes, there can be a lot of material that goes into creating an academic paper, so it’s essential that you don’t copy and paste large portions of other people’s work. Doing this could land you in big trouble. Even if you’re not thinking about plagiarism, you’re probably going to trip over it during your summary writing process. So, instead of risking it, find the original source and use the information there.
If you’re using an article citation, then you don’t need to worry about referencing the source material directly within your own work. However, if you’re writing your own essay, then you will need to reference back to the original article at least once. For a history paper, this might be a good idea to make sure that you’re not misrepresenting any facts or figures. History is full of unreliable sources, so it’s essential that you do your research when writing about the past. This means that you should reference back to the primary sources whenever possible. It’s also essential that you don’t take any information that isn’t directly related to your own paper. For example, if you’re writing a paper about Abraham Lincoln, then you should make sure that none of the information you’re using about him is related to some other study or article. Lincoln’s life and work is incredibly complex, so making sure that you’re not accidentally plagiarizing is almost impossible. When writing about historical figures, you have to be extra careful about how you attribute the material you’re using. You should also make sure that the sources you’re using are reputable.
Use High-Quality Sources
There’s no way around it – a lot of academic papers are just plain boring to read. If you want to write a good summary, then you need to change the way you normally read and approach academic papers. You need to find sources that are interesting and well-written. If you notice, a lot of journals are very repetitive and easy to ignore. Finding a unique article that’s well-written is easier said than done, but it’s something that you must commit to if you want to produce a good-quality paper. You can’t just pick up any old journal and start writing. Instead, you need to look for a specific journal that’s relevant to your topic. Most academic journals have a digital archive that you can access. Check the publication date and make sure that it’s not too far back. Also, make sure that the journal is still published and has an online archive – it’s a pain to search for an academic journal that’s out of print or no longer has a digital archive.
Keep to a Single Subject
An individual topic can span many different areas. For example, psychology is a huge subject that covers a lot of different topics. However, if you’re only going to focus on one aspect of psychology – like attachment theory for example – then make sure that your summary is only about that one subject. This will make it much easier for your readers to follow along. If they’re reading about a wide variety of topics that are all mixed together, then it will be difficult for them to follow what you’re saying. Keep your summary focused – use subheadings to break up large blocks of text.
Create a Summary that’s Interesting
You want to read an academic paper and get all the information in a summary without having to read the whole thing. This is where many students fail. They’ll try and summarize a 250-page dissertation in a 100-page paper. The result is usually awful. The information is often hard to follow and it doesn’t make the paper – or the summary – very interesting. Instead, take your time and create a really good summary. This means doing some research and finding a good balance between the amount of content and how much you actually need to say. This is a lot more work than just copying and pasting from an article. Don’t be afraid to take your time and craft a good summary. In the end, it’ll make your paper much more interesting and easier to follow.