Temasek Polytechnic Library Tutorial

SUMMARISING

= to explain the main points of what someone else has written or said.

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A summary should be clear and short, i.e. shorter than the original. It will not include all the specific details from the original work.

> Use a summary to:

put forward the background or general ideas of a topic
present different viewpoints about a topic from various sources

> Watch out for:

Length – should be shorter than the original
Accuracy – do not leave out important ideas from the original work

An Example:

Original Passage:

The purpose of note-taking is to summarise and record information you extract during research. The challenge in taking notes is to condense another writer’s thoughts into your own words without distorting the original thinking or plagiarising. As you extract information, let your knowledge of the audience and the purpose of your writing guide you. Resist the temptation to copy your source word for word as you take notes; instead, paraphrase the author’s idea or concept. You must do more than just change a few words in the original passage; otherwise, you will be guilty of plagiarism.

Passage is extracted from: G. J. Alfred, C. T. Brusaw and W. E. Oliu, Handbook of Technical Writing. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2003.

An acceptable summary:

To avoid plagiarism when taking notes from other sources, use your own words to paraphrase or summarise the ideas given from the original works.