A simple and effective technique for paraphrasing is to read a paper, or even just the abstract, then look away from the text and write down what you remember:
- what is the study about?
- what problem does it address?
- how did they conduct the research?
- what were the main findings?
- why is it important?
The next thing to do is add some evaluation;
So as I’m reading a paper, I take summary notes first, then I have a go at paraphrasing it and adding some comments, to emphasise what I find most important.. or I’ll ask questions, and spell out why I think it is or isn’t useful to the discussion and research I’m planning… https://litreviewsite.wordpress.com/2017/12/06/2-10/
three distinct functions of the annotation. First there is a summary of the publication, then a more personal response and evaluation (what I think about it), and finally an explanation of why the source is or isn’t useful to the review I want to write (what I think I might be able to do with this information).
So as a rule, aim to make notes about other researchers’ work in these three ways:
- synopsis of the facts (what authors have done, found and said)
- comments on aspects of their research design or findings that you find interesting, new, important, problematic, limited etc
- comment about how the publication relates to your research project (what seems most useful for your own quest to answer a particular question or articulate a particular problem)
