How To Summarise

1. Core Principles of Summarising

  • Definition: Condensing a longer source text down to its fundamental ideas, main arguments, and conclusions using your own words.

  • Purpose:

    • Retain essential knowledge efficiently.

    • Verify active comprehension of complex material.

    • Integrate source evidence into essays without over-quoting.

  • Distinction from Paraphrasing:

    • Paraphrasing restates a specific passage in similar detail and length.

    • Summarising dramatically reduces the overall text to only major claims and findings.

2. Systematic 5-Step Process

  1. Active Reading and Skimming

    • Skim the text first to grasp structure, headings, abstract, and conclusion.

    • Read carefully on the second pass to pinpoint the overarching thesis statement.

  2. Isolating Main Arguments

    • Focus on topic sentences (typically the first or second sentence of paragraphs).

    • Answer the essential questions: Who, What, Why, How, and So What?

    • Ignore trivial details, anecdotes, tangents, and excessive numerical examples.

  3. Drafting from Memory (Own Words)

    • Set the source text aside when writing the initial draft.

    • Write directly from your conceptual understanding to prevent accidental plagiarism or copy-pasting.

  4. Integrating Attribution

    • Use objective reporting signal phrases (e.g., The study demonstrates…, The author contends that…).

    • Accurately reflect the source author's original intent and tone.

  5. Comparing and Trimming

    • Cross-check against the original source to ensure factual fidelity without introducing personal opinions.

    • Eliminate redundant modifiers and filler phrases to achieve concise brevity.

3. Essential Rules and Quality Checks

  • Brevity: Aim for approximately 10%10% to 25%25% of the original word count, depending on the assignment requirements.

  • Objectivity: Do not critique, evaluate, or append personal views inside the summary itself.

  • Independent Cohesion: The final summary must read smoothly and make sense on its own to someone who has never read the original text.

  • Avoid Patchwriting: Restructuring a sentence by merely swapping in synonyms while maintaining the exact sentence syntax still constitutes plagiarism.

4. Common Pitfalls to Avoid

  • Including Minor Examples: Elaborate case studies or illustrative scenarios should be omitted.

  • Distorting Arguments: Taking strong claims out of context can invert or exaggerate the author's meaning.

  • Over-Quoting: A proper summary relies on synthesized paraphrasing; reserve direct quotes exclusively for irreplaceable phrasing.