The following template is designed to be flexible and can be used for quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research articles. The time spent summarizing your articles now pays dividends later, as you will be able to find relevant articles more quickly in the future and you will be able to refer to your summary as your primary source of the article's key points.
Download: Template_Summary of Research Article_fillable.pdf
Note: Although you are able to type directly into the fields of this PDF in Canvas, Canvas will not save that information. You must download this template every time you start a new summary.
Download and rename
As soon as you download the template, rename it based on a consistent naming convention. (For tips on how to name your files visit: Introduction - Summarizing Research Articles.) You must make a new copy of this template every time you start a new summary.
Complete each section
When filling out the template, try to fill out each box. The more you fill out now, the less you have to go back and try to recall or reread.
Link to a quick reference
It may also be helpful to create a separate spreadsheet or document with the author(s), article title, and one or two key points from the article. That spreadsheet then becomes your Table of Contents to all of your summaries and articles so that you can locate them more efficiently.
Create a consistent filing system
You can store articles and summary on paper or electronically; be sure to save both using a consistent file nomenclature (see: Storage options).