What is a best practice for authors when summarizing other people's work?

Providing a brief overview that captures essential information is considered a best practice for summarizing other people's work. This approach allows authors to distill the most important ideas, findings, or arguments from the original text while maintaining the integrity of the original work. By summarizing effectively, authors can highlight key points and present them in a concise manner, making it easier for readers to grasp the essential elements without overwhelming them with excessive detail.

This practice also helps in maintaining clarity and focus in the writing, allowing authors to integrate multiple sources into their work seamlessly. It shows respect for the original authors' ideas while also demonstrating the summarizer's understanding of the research. This balance is crucial in academic writing, where synthesizing information from various sources is a foundational skill in building knowledge and contributing to discussions in the field.

In contrast, using lengthy quotes could lead to potential issues with plagiarism or a lack of original thought, while avoiding summarizing altogether may limit the depth of the work. Including all details might overwhelm readers and stray from the purpose of summarization, which is to highlight and clarify rather than reproduce the original text verbatim.