The document outlines techniques for summarizing and synthesizing reading material for postgraduate assignments, highlighting the importance of academic integrity and personal voice. It differentiates between summarizing and paraphrasing, emphasizing the need for active reading and critical analysis to effectively integrate research into writing. The text also provides examples and approaches to develop these skills, ultimately guiding students on how to produce well-researched and credible academic work.

1. Summarising and Synthesising for PG
Assignments
Describe and apply techniques to summarise your
reading
Synthesise your summaries in a range of different
ways
Support your points with your reading

2. What is the
difference
between
paraphrasing and
summarising?
Does A or B describe a paraphrase?
A) Using your own words to draw out and
represent the key points of the text.
Provides a brief overview of an idea.
B) Putting the ideas of the author into your
own words. Use when you need to refer to a
fuller amount of information than a
summary would allow. For example, you
may need to discuss in some depth a
particular research paper and its findings.

3. Is this a good summary of the original?
Original:
Better note taking by students
will help to reduce the amount
of quotations in their work,
which is often too high.
Students should try to write
notes in their own words rather
than copying word for word
from a source.
Singh, A. (2015) Academic Skills
for Postgraduate Students.
Liverpool: LJMU Press
Singh (2015) argues that
to reduce the amount of
quotations, students need
to attempt to use their
own words in notes

4. Better….
Original:
Better note taking by students
will help to reduce the amount
of quotations in their work,
which is often too high.
Students should try to write
notes in their own words rather
than copying word for word
from a source.
Singh, A. (2015) Academic Skills
for Postgraduate Students.
Liverpool: LJMU Press
When reading, students
should make just a few
notes and without
copying so that they use
fewer quotations (Singh,
2015).

5. Why should you
summarise or paraphrase?
• Academic integrity: avoiding plagiarism.
• Demonstrates your understanding of what you
have read.
• Provides support for your own claims: credibility.
• Enables you to develop your own academic
voice.

6. How to summarise
Read actively:
talk to
yourself.
Think about
what the text
means.
Write down
the key words
from the text.
Make notes in
your own
words.
Avoid writing
as you are
reading.
Step away
from the
words.
Reference the
source of the
information.

7. • Use the same technique as
summarising but then go back
and highlight the key
information that helps to
explain the main points.
• You may need to revisit the
text a number of times.
How to paraphrase

8. For example….
Original:
Better note taking by students
will help to reduce the amount
of quotations in their work,
which is often too high.
Students should try to write
notes in their own words rather
than copying word for word
from a source.
Singh, A. (2015) Academic Skills
for Postgraduate Students.
Liverpool: LJMU Press
According to Singh (2015), in
research papers students
often quote excessively, failing
to keep quoted material down
to a desirable level. Since the
problem usually originates
during note taking, it is
essential to minimize the
material recorded verbatim.

9. How well is Jamie
using their
summaries?
Hennessy (1968) believes that all first year
university essays should only be written
from lecture notes as students know so
little of their subject. According to
Choudrey (2015), academic essays should
be well researched. This research should
be done from books listed in the module
handbook and using the online resources in
the library. Beko (2013) says that
assignments are written using information
collected from the library and reliable
online sources. Cottrell (2012) argues that
students should use library resources and
some academic websites.

10. It could be like this...
According to Choudrey (2015) and Beko (2013)
students should research for assignments using
resources in the library and from online sources.
They both stress that website based research should
be done carefully. This is further supported in the
work of Cottrell (2012). Choudrey (2015) also adds
that book lists in Module Handbooks should also be
used. These contemporary opinions are in contrast to
Hennessy writing in 1968 who argued at least in first
year students should only refer to lecture notes for
research.

11. Jamie needed to synthesise
their reading.
This means you need to
analyse, compare and
contrast your reading
before you can use it in
your writing.
‘Zoom in and zoom out’

12. ‘Zooming out’
• Make comparisons and connections
• Position key points against each other
• Identify themes and trends
• Areas of agreement or disagreement
This is where you start to position yourself.

13. A) Synthesis B) Not synthesis
Research into mega-events has highlighted their
positive economic impact (Getz and Page, 2016), which
Kasimati (2003) has demonstrated to be frequently
used as justification for event bidding.

14. This has been argued by both Kapalnidou (2013) and
Chun Ma (2016) to positively affect the social needs of
residents, thus reinforcing the notion that the
economic impacts of hosting a mega-event can act as a
basis for achieving wider social needs.
A) Synthesis B) Not synthesis

15. In turn, this has repeatedly been shown to increase the
amount of tax received in the area (Taylor, 2005; Ying-
Wen et al, 2016; Kim et al, 2017), suggesting further
positive economic benefits can be felt in the local area
after the holding of a mega-event.
A) Synthesis B) Not synthesis

16. Lee et al., (2017) emphasise the impact of permanent
jobs being created by the hosting of a mega-event and
therefore the long term benefits they bring, but the
figures they present are relatively modest. Taylor’s
convincing longitudinal study (2005) is part of a body of
literature that notes that most employment generated
by hosting events is in fact not permanent due to the
very nature of those events.
A) Synthesis B) Not synthesis

17. Better synthesis
Similarly, Lee et al., (2017) emphasise the impact of
permanent jobs being created by the hosting of a mega-event
and therefore the long term benefits they bring, but the
figures they present are relatively modest. However, there is a
body of far more convincing longitudinal research that has
noted that most employment generated by hosting events is
in fact not permanent due to the very nature of those events
(Taylor, 2005; Mathurin et al, 2013; Dwyer et al, 2016; Kim et
al, 2017).

18. Using the synthesis to support a point: using
your voice
Ultimately then, despite some positive economic
impact of hosting a mega-event, the research suggests
that that any economic boost experienced individually
and by the wider community is only temporary. This
may be due to a number of factors, such as
employment they generate tends to be fixed term and
zero hours.

19. Let’s go back to this...how would you use it to
support a point?
According to Choudrey (2015) and Beko (2013) students should
research for assignments using resources in the library and from
online sources. They both stress that website based research
should be done carefully. This is further supported in the work of
Cottrell (2012). Choudrey (2015) also adds that book lists in
Module Handbooks should also be used. These contemporary
opinions are in contrast to Hennessy writing in 1968 who argued at
least in first year students should only refer to lecture notes for
research.

20. How to achieve this
Author,
title
Topic Key idea Strength
Weakness
How to use Analysis
Contrast
with…
Show
agreement
with…

21. Reflection…..
• Which aspects of using your reading
would you now make sure you
remember?
• How will you make those
improvements?

22. Next steps:
Next Wednesday:
Writing with Critical Analysis
(building on your summaries and
syntheses)
Developing your academic language
(will help you to integrate your
reading into
your writing and find your voice)