Summarising involves condensing the source material into a shorter form. This may involve giving an overview of a book chapter or journal article. 

• Read and think – what is this telling me – (in the fewest possible words)?

Summarising is: 

• A brief ‘easy to read’ version of a longer piece of writing.
• Contains the main points written in your own words.
• A citation is still required.

The video below covers some points to remember when summarising information. 

Paraphrasing involves putting an idea/small section of a source into your own words, but keeping the meaning the same. A citation is still required - author’s surname, date of publication and page number if available. 

Paraphrasing means changing more than a few words of the text. It involves changing the structure. This may involve reading the text a few times then putting it away before rewriting it, including synonyms when you need another, similar word. The Manchester Academic Phrasebank may help with this, as it includes generic sentence starters and information to aid comparison and giving examples without repetition. 

Discover more about paraphrasing by watching the video below:

Watch the video below and click the link to learn more about the Manchester Academic Phrasebank and explore it. 

Test your paraphrasing knowledge by reading the passage below and the two examples of paraphrasing below it. Which paragraph do you think is the most effective? Why do you think that? Click on the paragraph that is most effective. You can then explore the Thinglink below the quiz to explore some elements of effective paraphrasing.

Explore the paraphrasing examples, with hints and tips in the Thinglink below. Can you think of a way to improve the paraphrasing examples?