Why Paraphrasing vs Summarising Matters: A Complete Guide for Students

 The hardest thing with academic writing is how to be original when employing research. Students are supposed to have ideas of books, journals or articles but not to reproduce them directly which can be sometimes difficult. The question that many students ask themselves is on how to deal with this situation. Two key methods may aid the use of paraphrasing and summarising. Knowing the difference between Paraphrasing vs Summarising is essential in writing clear, original and plagiarism free assignments.

In paraphrasing, you say the same thing in your own words whereas in summarising, you convey the main idea in a brief form without altering its meaning. These methods enable you to convey information in a more natural way as opposed to the overuse of direct quotations. Nevertheless, there are still a number of students who are left perplexed about the use of paraphrasing vs summarising in their assignments and when to use each. We shall discuss these two concepts, their differences and their significance to the university students in this Locus Assignment blog.

What is Paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is the process of putting ideas of some other person down in your own words without altering the meaning. It shows the level of your knowledge about the subject and it enables you to communicate information in a more personalised and natural manner.

The level of detail in paraphrasing is the same as in the original text. There are all the main ideas, explanations, and concepts, only they are described in a different manner. This helps it to be handy in explaining theories, research results or elaborate arguments in assignments. The paraphrased version is more or less the same length, but it may be a few lines shorter or longer depending on the manner of paraphrasing. This is a guarantee that not only will your writing be accurate but also it would demonstrate your skills in restating information.

To illustrate, in a sentence that says that students find it difficult to write academic papers because of not being clear, a paraphrased version would state the same but with different words without altering the meaning.

Paraphrasing may appear easy until you sit down to paraphrase complicated concepts. Unsure about whether you are doing it right, you may need to seek online assignment help. You may submit your assignment request with Locus Assignments and leave it to professionals to do what is right.

What is Summarising?

Summarising is the art of distilling a certain piece of work in order to capture the major ideas and eliminate the irrelevant information. It assists in the presentation of information in a concise and more understandable manner, particularly, long texts.

Summarising does not involve paraphrasing; it only highlights the main points. It lacks elaborations, illustrations, and redundancy. This can help it to be applied in overviews, writing of introductions or presenting the main findings of a topic. Summarising helps in reducing the content to its core message and saves time, both to the reader and the writer.

An example is a very long paragraph about the various reasons that lead to stress among students can be condensed into a short sentence that only brings out the major causes, e.g. academic stress, time.

Difficulty in reducing the length of long content without its meaning? There the majority of the students are stalled. Rather than worrying about each line, you can fill in a brief form at Locus Assignments and receive specific and succinct academic assistance at the time that you most require it.

The difference between paraphrasing and summarising: the main points.

Learning the difference between Paraphrasing and Summarising is critical in applying them properly in academic writing. Paraphrasing does not alter the original meaning or the level of detail, but it alters the wording and sentence composition. It tends to be of similar length, and is normally employed in body paragraphs where explanations are to be given in more detail.

Summarising, on the other hand, makes the content shorter and pays attention to the key points. It eliminates unnecessary information and is best suited to give brief summaries or simplify large volumes of data. Whereas paraphrasing is employed on the explanation and analysis, summarising is employed on clarity and brevity.

When to Use Which? (Paraphrasing vs Summarising)

The decision between paraphrasing vs summarising is determined by the purpose. Paraphrasing is preferable in case you have to elaborate on a point or justify your points. It enables you to write all the information, yet be original. Nevertheless, in case you want to briefly present information or give an overview, the use of summarising would be more appropriate.

Paraphrasing is frequently applied in the main body where one has to provide detailed discussion and summarising is applied in introductions, conclusion, and literature review. Being aware of when to apply both techniques aids in enhancing the quality and clarity of your work.

Conclusion

Paraphrasing, as well as summarising, are two vital academic writing skills. They assist the students to provide the information in a clear manner without plagiarising or losing originality. To make detailed explanations, paraphrasing is an effective tool, but to provide major ideas in a summary form, summarising is the most appropriate. The knowledge of Paraphrasing vs Summarising will enable you to select the appropriate strategy depending on your assignment needs.

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