When you’re writing academically or professionally, you’ll need to include the work of others in your document. You can’t outright copy and paste their content, as this is a type of plagiarism. So, what do you do? You utilize writing techniques like paraphrasing and summarizing to avoid duplication. But aren’t they the same? What’s the difference between paraphrasing vs. summarizing?
Although they share similarities, they also have dissimilarities. Keep reading this guide to learn about these techniques and how to use them effectively in your work.
What Is Paraphrasing?
Paraphrasing is using another individual’s work in your content by rewriting the piece without changing the core meaning. In other words, you use your words to express another person’s content. It helps avoid content duplication and lets you use high-quality sources without plagiarism issues.
When To Paraphrase
When should you use the paraphrase writing technique in your work? Ideally, it depends on how much of the source you want to use in your work. If it’s specific, detailed, and short, paraphrasing is the way to go. You will paraphrase sentences and paragraphs, especially if they cover a few talking points.
Here are a few situations where you should paraphrase:
- You need to use a specific text from a small passage.
- You don’t want to quote the sources directly several times, as this makes your work confusing to read.
- You’re trying to explain the concept or idea the original author wants to convey.
- You need to include numerical and statistical data in your work.
- You want to avoid copying the source’s content word for word to avoid plagiarism.
How To Paraphrase
Here’s a simple guide explaining how to paraphrase.
1. Go Through the Source Material
The first step is to read the source material to understand the author’s message. Read the same content several times to get its core meaning. You need to keep this intact, as the other parts of the source will change.
You should also identify what you want to include in your work. Remember, you don’t need to take everything.
2. Make Notes About What You Understood From the Source
You must take notes, highlighting what you understood from the source. Avoid copying the material’s content word-for-word, as this increases the likelihood of plagiarism. You must note the major talking points of the material. It’s also a good idea to include the source for your work, including the page number. This makes citing the material at the end easier.
3. Reproduce the Source in Your Own Words
Convert your notes into new sentences and paragraphs in your own words. Try to keep your notes away and think about explaining the concept you just read about. Convey all the key talking points from the source in your work. Here are a few ways to paraphrase:
- Using a different sentence structure or parts of speech compared to the original work.
- Swapping out words with synonyms, but not the technical terms and common phrases.
- Including idioms or combining two or more sentences.
4. Comparing With the Original Source
You compare what you created against the source material. This lets you evaluate the originality of your work. Moreover, you can see whether the facts are the same and whether you missed any crucial information. If it’s too similar to the source, you need to make more changes and compare the two again.
5. Cite the Source
You must cite the original author, even if your work looks significantly different. It gives credit to the source and helps track where you got your ideas.
What Is Summarizing?
Summarizing is condensing and conveying the main viewpoints of another person’s work. You don’t focus on the minute details like you do while paraphrasing. The reader should grasp the talking points without going through the entire original work.
When To Summarize
Just like paraphrasing, summarization usually depends on how much of the source you need to use. If you have to include several talking points or a large section of the source, you use the summarization technique. For example, you’ll summarize an entire research paper or a book in your work.
You’ll use the summarization technique in the following situations:
- You need to reduce the source material but cover the major talking points.
- You need to remove additional information from the original material.
- You want to simplify the source and make it easy for the reader to understand.
How To Summarize
Here’s step-by-step instructions on how to summarize the source:
1. Read the Source and Make Notes
You thoroughly read the source to understand the core meaning the writer wants to convey. You also have to prepare notes and add relevant keywords you can use to understand the subject better.
2. Remove What You Don’t Need and Rewrite
The goal of summarization is only to give the reader a general overview of the topic. You should keep what’s essential and discard the rest. Once you reduce your notes to what’s important, you rewrite what’s left of the source in your words.
3. Revise and Edit
You review the summary and make changes if there are any mistakes. Make sure you double-check all the facts you presented in the overview. Finally, compare the original with your summary to ensure they don’t look the same.
What Is the Difference Between Summarize and Paraphrase
The following section highlights the difference of summarizing and paraphrasing:
- Generally, you’ll paraphrase sentences and paragraphs, i.e., content that covers one or more talking points. On the other hand, you summarize the entire article, research paper, or book. In paraphrasing vs summary, you look at how much of the source you need to rewrite in your own words.
- When you paraphrase, it will be the same size as the source. There are situations where the rewrite is a tad smaller than the original passage. A summary will always be significantly smaller than the source.
Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing Examples
Here are example paragraphs to help understand paraphrasing vs summarizing:
Example:
Language plays a crucial role in communication among people. You can become well-versed in grammar, the system of words, and structure to facilitate the exchange of thoughts and emotions. Expressing the ideas and customs of societies and cultures is also essential.
When you choose to learn the concepts of a new language, you can connect with new thoughts and ideas. You can also make yourself familiar with customs and the manner in which people greet each other.
The role of learning a language also encompasses professional growth. Why? A person with a command of the global language can find more career possibilities. Several sectors and industries need professionals who are well-versed in common languages.
Let’s assume Dr. A is the writer of this paper and presented it at University Y in 2024. He titled his work — The Influence of Language on an Individual.
Paraphrase:
In paraphrasing, you don’t need to use all the paragraphs. Let’s focus on the second paragraph.
Learning a new language helps discover new concepts and become familiar with different social norms and customs
If you find it challenging to rewrite without plagiarism, a paraphrasing tool like the AI-powered version from Smodin can help.
Summary:
Dr. A presented his thoughts on language in the paper The Influence of Language on an Individual at Y University. It lets people exchange their thoughts and ideas. By learning a new language, people connect new thoughts and ideas and learn about different customs.
It also paves the way for professional growth. Industries prefer professionals who can master a commonly spoken language.
See how it condenses everything into a few sentences. This is the difference between paraphrase vs summary.
Final Thoughts
You know the differences between summarizing vs paraphrasing. Use these writing techniques in your academic and professional work to avoid plagiarism accusations, which will damage your reputation.
What if it’s taking too long to paraphrase or summarize the source? For instance, the topic may be complex and technical, or the content may not be in your native language. In these instances, it’s better to use Smodin’s AI-powered toolkit.
The online AI Paraphrasing tool can quickly rewrite anything, irrespective of the content’s length. You can change the writing style and rewrite it in over 100 languages. Moreover, you can choose which model you want to use based on the nature of your work.
There’s also the Smodin Summarizer to help generate overviews in seconds. You can customize the overview length and the writing style this AI Summarizer tool should follow. You can direct the writing tool to focus on specific talking points.
Use Smodin’s AI Paraphrasing and Text Summarizer tools today to master paraphrasing vs. summarizing and improve your writing skills!
FAQs About Summarizing vs. Paraphrasing
The following sections cover questions people ask about summarizing versus paraphrasing.
Are paraphrasing and summarizing considered plagiarism?
No, summarizing and paraphrasing aren’t considered plagiarism. You use these writing methods to avoid reproducing the original passage. You will also cite the original material to cover all bases and avoid plagiarism.
When should you paraphrase instead of summarize?
You should paraphrase when you only need to rewrite a few sentences, direct quotations, or paragraphs. This way, the core meaning is the same when paraphrasing the material. However, if you need to use the entire source, it’s better to summarize the topic. This is one of the key differences between paraphrase vs summarize.
What is the difference between quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?
Quoting is including the source word-for-word in your work within quotation marks. Usually, you use this technique for a direct quote from interviews.
Paraphrasing is for smaller sections of the original material. You rewrite these sentences or paragraphs without changing their core meaning. Summarizing is for the entire topic of discussion and gives the reader a general overview of the subject.