Scribd
Upload
39 views

Summarising and Paraphrasing

This document provides guidance on summarizing and paraphrasing texts for academic writing. It defines a summary as a shortened version of a longer text that changes the original wording. To write a summary, one should extract the main points without including unnecessary details or verbatim quotes. Proper paraphrasing requires changing the text into one's own words while maintaining the original meaning. The document offers tips for paraphrasing such as substituting synonyms, altering word classes, and rearranging sentence structure. Summarizing texts involves highlighting important parts, taking notes, and writing a condensed version without directly copying from the original source. Attribution of sources is still required when paraphrasing to avoid plagiarism.

Uploaded by

Kuan Chun
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
39 views

Summarising and Paraphrasing

This document provides guidance on summarizing and paraphrasing texts for academic writing. It defines a summary as a shortened version of a longer text that changes the original wording. To write a summary, one should extract the main points without including unnecessary details or verbatim quotes. Proper paraphrasing requires changing the text into one's own words while maintaining the original meaning. The document offers tips for paraphrasing such as substituting synonyms, altering word classes, and rearranging sentence structure. Summarizing texts involves highlighting important parts, taking notes, and writing a condensed version without directly copying from the original source. Attribution of sources is still required when paraphrasing to avoid plagiarism.

Uploaded by

Kuan Chun
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 10

Summarising and paraphrasing

WHAT IS A SUMMARY?

• A summary is a shortened, CHANGED version of a longer


text.
• Usually, you will need to write an abstract of your research
• An abstract is a summary of an article or research paper
• Sometimes you need to extract the main points of a text or
lecture and write about them
• Sometimes you need to include a paraphrased summary of
other research in your own papers
• Summarising and paraphrasing are important skills often
used when researching, gathering or presenting information.
FEATURES OF A SUMMARY

It should not contain unnecessary detail or be written like an essay.


• It should not use the same words as the original text.
• It should focus on the points you want to extract.
• Paraphrasing is used when writing a summary.
• Paraphrasing changes a text into your own words.
• Paraphrasing and summarizing are necessary to
avoid plagiarism
TIPS FOR PARAPHRASING

• Write down the points you want to summarise


• Underline words that are the same as those in the
original text
• Establish what its word class is: noun, verb, adjective,
adverb etc
• Look for synonyms for the words
• Substitute the synonym for the original word in the same
form as the original word
PARAPHRASING CONT’D

Or
• Change the word class into another form:
• Make a noun into a verb, or vice versa
• Make an adjective into a noun, or vice versa
• Adjust the sentence structure to use the new form.
EXAMPLES

• We walked to raise money for charity


• The charity walk raised funds
• Ford became the world’s dominant car company
• The world automotive industry was led by Ford
• The first example uses nominalisation (when we
change verbs into nouns)
• The second example uses the Passive Voice verb form,
and changes nouns into adjectives and verbs.
EXAMPLES CONT’D

• Another option: change the word order of the original


sentences (while using synonyms and other devices)
• There has been much discussion about how tadpoles manage
to appear in puddles after rainfall (Smith & Jones, 2011)
Becomes:
• According to Smith & Jones (2011), the appearance of
tadpoles in residual surface rainwater has been the cause of
much debate.

• Notice how the order of the sentence has been


reversed.
PARAPHRASING PROPERLY

• In academic writing never use someone else’s ideas without


giving the source (attribution)
• Paraphrasing what someone has written must be in your own
words.
• Only technical/specialist terms may be left unchanged (e.g.
tadpoles).
• Summarise, paraphrase and condense lists as well
HINTS FOR SUMMARISING TEXTS

Step 1:
Highlight important sentences in the text.
Step 2
Write notes, use keywords
Step 3
Write the summary from notes (not original).
Step 4
Refer back to original to verify information
TIPS FOR SUMMARISING

• Topic sentences provide a quick outline of the main idea(s)


presented in a paragraph as well as an introduction.

• When summarising a chapter or article, the introduction


and conclusion should provide a good overview of the
content.

• Make sure you remember to quote your sources even when


you are paraphrasing (except for Abstracts).

• Only summarise passages you need for your own paper.


Don’t include irrelevant information

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy