What is the difference between paraphrasing & summarizing

Differences between paraphrasing & summarizing

Definition and Purpose

Paraphrasing involves rewriting someone else’s ideas or a specific text in your own words while maintaining the original meaning and often keeping a similar length to the source material. The primary purpose of paraphrasing is to use another person’s ideas in your work without resorting to a direct quotation, thereby showing your understanding of the source while integrating it smoothly into your own narrative.

Summarizing, on the other hand, is the process of distilling a longer piece of text down to its essential points, significantly reducing its length. The goal of summarizing is to provide a broad overview of the source material, capturing only the main ideas in a concise manner, which helps in clarifying the overall theme or argument of the text for the reader.

Detail and Length

The level of detail and the length of the text are key differences between paraphrasing and summarizing. Paraphrasing retains a level of detail similar to the original text, and the paraphrased passage is typically about the same length or slightly shorter than the source. This approach is suitable when specific details or points from the source are necessary to understand the reader in the context of your work.

In contrast, summarizing significantly reduces the length of the original text, focusing only on the central themes or main ideas. This makes summaries particularly useful for giving an overview of long texts, such as books, articles, or comprehensive reports, where only the core message is needed.

Usage in Academic Writing

Both paraphrasing and summarizing are crucial skills in academic writing. They help one effectively incorporate the ideas of others into one’s work. Paraphrasing is often preferred when specific evidence or a detailed understanding of the source is required to support one’s argument without overusing direct quotes, which can clutter the text and disrupt the flow of the narrative.

Summarizing is a time-saving and efficient strategy when referring to broader concepts or discussing a source’s general scope. It’s particularly useful during literature reviews or when providing background information where detailed support is unnecessary. Allowing you to succinctly conveys the essence of a sourcerelieves you from overwhelming your readers with unnecessary details while still ensuring they grasp the relevance of the referenced works.

In summary, choosing between paraphrasing and summarizing depends mainly on the writer’s intent, the importance of the details in the source material, and how they wish to integrate this information into their own writing.

How to paraphrase in a few steps

Paraphrasing refers to rewriting content in our own words while keeping the original meaning. Here are some steps and tips for effective paraphrasing:

Reading & Understanding the content

Ensure you fully understand the meaning of the text while identifying the essential concepts.

Taking Notes

Write the main ideas without looking at the original text.

Using Synonyms

This step involves replacing words with relevant synonyms; keeping some technical words that can’t be replaced is essential.

Changing Sentence Structure

Alter the sentence structure, such as changing active to passive voice or shortening long sentences.

Rephrasing Concepts

Explain the concepts differently, using your own words and style.

Comparing with the original content

Ensure your paraphrased version accurately reflects the original meaning and is not too similar.

Cite the Source

It’s essential to credit the source even when paraphrased.

Examples:

• The original text:

Students frequently overuse direct quotations in taking notes, and as a result, they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as a directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed., 1976, pp. 46-47.

• The paraphrased text:

In research papers, students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note-taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47).

Here are some tips to paraphrase:

• Avoid Plagiarism: Don’t copy the text verbatim without quotation marks and proper attribution.
• Maintain Original Meaning: Ensure the paraphrased text conveys the same message as the original.
• Use a Different Structure: Change the information order and rephrase sentences.
• Simplify the Language: Use more straightforward language to make the text more understandable, if appropriate.

Common paraphrasing mistakes

• Not changing enough to avoid plagiarism

One of the most complex parts of paraphrasing a sentence is changing enough to avoid copying and not lose the original meaning. This can be a tricky balancing act, especially if you have to keep some of the wording.

• Distorting the meaning

Likewise, changing the words and sentence structure can accidentally change the meaning. That’s fine if you want to write an original sentence, but if you’re trying to convey someone else’s idea, it’s best to rewrite and adequately describe it.

Review your paraphrase to confirm that all the words are correctly used and placed in the correct order for your intended meaning. If unsure, you can ask someone to read the passage to see how they interpret it.

• Forgetting the citation

Some people think that if you put an idea into your own words, you don’t need to cite where it came from—but that’s not true. Even if the wording is your own, the ideas are not. That means you need a citation.

If you have many paraphrased sentences from the exact location in a source, you need only one citation at the end of the passage. Otherwise, you need a citation for each paraphrased sentence from another source in your writing, without exception.

How to summarize in a few steps

Focusing on the main ideas

Read through the entire piece you want to summarize and identify the most important concepts and themes. Ignore minor details and examples. Focus on capturing the essence of the critical ideas.

If it’s an article or book, read introductions, headings, and conclusions to understand the central themes. As you read, ask yourself, “What is the author trying to convey here?” to determine what’s most significant.

Keeping it short and straightforward

A summary should be considerably shorter than the original work. Aim for about 1/3 of the length or less. Be concise by eliminating unnecessary words and rephrasing ideas efficiently. Use sentence fragments and bulleted lists when possible.

Maintaining objectivity

Summarize the work factually without putting your own personal spin or opinions on the information. Report the key ideas in an impartial, balanced manner. Do not make judgments about the quality or accuracy of the content.

Using a summarizing tool

As AI continues gaining popularity, leveraging dedicated to benefit from their advantage is essential.

Among these tools lies Wiseone, an innovative AI tool that transforms how we read and search for information online. 

Wiseone’s “Summarize” feature allows you to understand the main points of an article or a PDF document efficiently without the need to read the entire piece by generating thorough summaries with key takeaways. 

Wiseone’s summarize feature

Don’ts of paragraph summarization

Similarly, keep these in mind as things to avoid:

• Plagiarizing the original paragraph. It’s perfectly fine to include direct quotes, but if you do, cite them properly. However, most of the summary should be in your own words.
• Paraphrasing rather than summarizing. Here’s a way to think of the difference: a summary is a “highlight reel,” and paraphrasing condenses the entire paragraph.
• Omitting key information. When summarizing a paragraph, you might need to mention information from its preceding or following paragraphs, or even other sections from the original work, to give the reader appropriate context for the other information included in the summary.