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How to Write a Research Paper Summary

One of the most important skills you can imbibe as an academician is to know how to summarize a research paper. During your academic journey, you may need to write a summary of findings in research quite often and for varied reasons – be it to write an introduction for a peer-reviewed publication , to submit a critical review, or to simply create a useful database for future referencing.

It can be quite challenging to effectively write a research paper summary for often complex work, which is where a pre-determined workflow can help you optimize the process. Investing time in developing this skill can also help you improve your scientific acumen, increasing your efficiency and productivity at work. This article illustrates some useful advice on how to write a research summary effectively. But, what is research summary in the first place?  

A research paper summary is a crisp, comprehensive overview of a research paper, which encapsulates the purpose, findings, methods, conclusions, and relevance of a study. A well-written research paper summary is an indicator of how well you have understood the author’s work. 

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• 2. Invest enough time to understand the topic deeply 

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• Mistakes to avoid while writing your research paper summary 

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Frequently asked questions (faq), how to write a research paper summary.

Writing a good research paper summary comes with practice and skill. Here is some useful advice on how to write a research paper summary effectively.  

1. Determine the focus of your summary

Before you begin to write a summary of research papers, determine the aim of your research paper summary. This will give you more clarity on how to summarize a research paper, including what to highlight and where to find the information you need, which accelerates the entire process. If you are aiming for the summary to be a supporting document or a proof of principle for your current research findings, then you can look for elements that are relevant to your work.

On the other hand, if your research summary is intended to be a critical review of the research article, you may need to use a completely different lens while reading the paper and conduct your own research regarding the accuracy of the data presented. Then again, if the research summary is intended to be a source of information for future referencing, you will likely have a different approach. This makes determining the focus of your summary a key step in the process of writing an effective research paper summary. 

2. Invest enough time to understand the topic deeply

In order to author an effective research paper summary, you need to dive into the topic of the research article. Begin by doing a quick scan for relevant information under each section of the paper. The abstract is a great starting point as it helps you to quickly identify the top highlights of the research article, speeding up the process of understanding the key findings in the paper. Be sure to do a careful read of the research paper, preparing notes that describe each section in your own words to put together a summary of research example or a first draft. This will save your time and energy in revisiting the paper to confirm relevant details and ease the entire process of writing a research paper summary.

When reading papers, be sure to acknowledge and ignore any pre-conceived notions that you might have regarding the research topic. This will not only help you understand the topic better but will also help you develop a more balanced perspective, ensuring that your research paper summary is devoid of any personal opinions or biases. 

3. Keep the summary crisp, brief and engaging

A research paper summary is usually intended to highlight and explain the key points of any study, saving the time required to read through the entire article. Thus, your primary goal while compiling the summary should be to keep it as brief, crisp and readable as possible. Usually, a short introduction followed by 1-2 paragraphs is adequate for an effective research article summary. Avoid going into too much technical detail while describing the main results and conclusions of the study. Rather focus on connecting the main findings of the study to the hypothesis , which can make the summary more engaging. For example, instead of simply reporting an original finding – “the graph showed a decrease in the mortality rates…”, you can say, “there was a decline in the number of deaths, as predicted by the authors while beginning the study…” or “there was a decline in the number of deaths, which came as a surprise to the authors as this was completely unexpected…”.

Unless you are writing a critical review of the research article, the language used in your research paper summaries should revolve around reporting the findings, not assessing them. On the other hand, if you intend to submit your summary as a critical review, make sure to provide sufficient external evidence to support your final analysis. Invest sufficient time in editing and proofreading your research paper summary thoroughly to ensure you’ve captured the findings accurately. You can also get an external opinion on the preliminary draft of the research paper summary from colleagues or peers who have not worked on the research topic. 

Mistakes to avoid while writing your research paper summary

Now that you’ve understood how to summarize a research paper, watch out for these red flags while writing your summary. 

• Not paying attention to the word limit and recommended format, especially while submitting a critical review 
• Evaluating the findings instead of maintaining an objective , unbiased view while reading the research paper 
• Skipping the essential editing step , which can help eliminate avoidable errors and ensure that the language does not misrepresent the findings 
• Plagiarism, it is critical to write in your own words or paraphrase appropriately when reporting the findings in your scientific article summary 

We hope the recommendations listed above will help answer the question of how to summarize a research paper and enable you to tackle the process effectively. 

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To generate your research paper summary, simply login to the platform and use the Paperpal Copilot Summary feature to create a flawless summary of your work. Here’s a step-by-step process to help you craft a summary in minutes:

• Paste relevant research articles to be summarized into Paperpal; the AI will scan each section and extract key information.
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The abstract and research paper summary serve similar purposes but differ in scope, length, and placement. The abstract is a concise yet detailed overview of the research, placed at the beginning of a paper, with the aim of providing readers with a quick understanding of the paper’s content and to help them decide whether to read the full article. Usually limited to a few hundred words, it highlights the main objectives, methods, results, and conclusions of the study. On the other hand, a research paper summary provides a crisp account of the entire research paper. Its purpose is to provide a brief recap for readers who may want to quickly grasp the main points of the research without reading the entire paper in detail.

The structure of a research summary can vary depending on the specific requirements or guidelines provided by the target publication or institution. A typical research summary includes the following key sections: introduction (including the research question or objective), methodology (briefly describing the research design and methods), results (summarizing the key findings), discussion (highlighting the implications and significance of the findings), and conclusion (providing a summary of the main points and potential future directions).

The summary of a research paper is important because it provides a condensed overview of the study’s purpose, methods, results, and conclusions. It allows you to quickly grasp the main points and relevance of the research without having to read the entire paper. Research summaries can also be an invaluable way to communicate research findings to a broader audience, such as policymakers or the general public.

  When writing a research paper summary, it is crucial to avoid plagiarism by properly attributing the original authors’ work. To learn how to summarize a research paper while avoiding plagiarism, follow these critical guidelines: (1) Read the paper thoroughly to understand the main points and key findings. (2) Use your own words and sentence structures to restate the information, ensuring that the research paper summary reflects your understanding of the paper. (3) Clearly indicate when you are paraphrasing or quoting directly from the original paper by using appropriate citation styles. (4) Cite the original source for any specific ideas, concepts, or data that you include in your summary. (5) Review your summary to ensure it accurately represents the research paper while giving credit to the original authors.

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Home » Research Summary – Structure, Examples and Writing Guide

Research Summary – Structure, Examples and Writing Guide

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Research Summary

Definition:

A research summary is a brief and concise overview of a research project or study that highlights its key findings, main points, and conclusions. It typically includes a description of the research problem, the research methods used, the results obtained, and the implications or significance of the findings. It is often used as a tool to quickly communicate the main findings of a study to other researchers, stakeholders, or decision-makers.

Structure of Research Summary

The Structure of a Research Summary typically include:

• Introduction : This section provides a brief background of the research problem or question, explains the purpose of the study, and outlines the research objectives.
• Methodology : This section explains the research design, methods, and procedures used to conduct the study. It describes the sample size, data collection methods, and data analysis techniques.
• Results : This section presents the main findings of the study, including statistical analysis if applicable. It may include tables, charts, or graphs to visually represent the data.
• Discussion : This section interprets the results and explains their implications. It discusses the significance of the findings, compares them to previous research, and identifies any limitations or future directions for research.
• Conclusion : This section summarizes the main points of the research and provides a conclusion based on the findings. It may also suggest implications for future research or practical applications of the results.
• References : This section lists the sources cited in the research summary, following the appropriate citation style.

How to Write Research Summary

Here are the steps you can follow to write a research summary:

• Read the research article or study thoroughly: To write a summary, you must understand the research article or study you are summarizing. Therefore, read the article or study carefully to understand its purpose, research design, methodology, results, and conclusions.
• Identify the main points : Once you have read the research article or study, identify the main points, key findings, and research question. You can highlight or take notes of the essential points and findings to use as a reference when writing your summary.
• Write the introduction: Start your summary by introducing the research problem, research question, and purpose of the study. Briefly explain why the research is important and its significance.
• Summarize the methodology : In this section, summarize the research design, methods, and procedures used to conduct the study. Explain the sample size, data collection methods, and data analysis techniques.
• Present the results: Summarize the main findings of the study. Use tables, charts, or graphs to visually represent the data if necessary.
• Interpret the results: In this section, interpret the results and explain their implications. Discuss the significance of the findings, compare them to previous research, and identify any limitations or future directions for research.
• Conclude the summary : Summarize the main points of the research and provide a conclusion based on the findings. Suggest implications for future research or practical applications of the results.
• Revise and edit : Once you have written the summary, revise and edit it to ensure that it is clear, concise, and free of errors. Make sure that your summary accurately represents the research article or study.
• Add references: Include a list of references cited in the research summary, following the appropriate citation style.

Example of Research Summary

Here is an example of a research summary:

Title: The Effects of Yoga on Mental Health: A Meta-Analysis

Introduction: This meta-analysis examines the effects of yoga on mental health. The study aimed to investigate whether yoga practice can improve mental health outcomes such as anxiety, depression, stress, and quality of life.

Methodology : The study analyzed data from 14 randomized controlled trials that investigated the effects of yoga on mental health outcomes. The sample included a total of 862 participants. The yoga interventions varied in length and frequency, ranging from four to twelve weeks, with sessions lasting from 45 to 90 minutes.

Results : The meta-analysis found that yoga practice significantly improved mental health outcomes. Participants who practiced yoga showed a significant reduction in anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as stress levels. Quality of life also improved in those who practiced yoga.

Discussion : The findings of this study suggest that yoga can be an effective intervention for improving mental health outcomes. The study supports the growing body of evidence that suggests that yoga can have a positive impact on mental health. Limitations of the study include the variability of the yoga interventions, which may affect the generalizability of the findings.

Conclusion : Overall, the findings of this meta-analysis support the use of yoga as an effective intervention for improving mental health outcomes. Further research is needed to determine the optimal length and frequency of yoga interventions for different populations.

References :

• Cramer, H., Lauche, R., Langhorst, J., Dobos, G., & Berger, B. (2013). Yoga for depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Depression and anxiety, 30(11), 1068-1083.
• Khalsa, S. B. (2004). Yoga as a therapeutic intervention: a bibliometric analysis of published research studies. Indian journal of physiology and pharmacology, 48(3), 269-285.
• Ross, A., & Thomas, S. (2010). The health benefits of yoga and exercise: a review of comparison studies. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 16(1), 3-12.

Purpose of Research Summary

The purpose of a research summary is to provide a brief overview of a research project or study, including its main points, findings, and conclusions. The summary allows readers to quickly understand the essential aspects of the research without having to read the entire article or study.

Research summaries serve several purposes, including:

• Facilitating comprehension: A research summary allows readers to quickly understand the main points and findings of a research project or study without having to read the entire article or study. This makes it easier for readers to comprehend the research and its significance.
• Communicating research findings: Research summaries are often used to communicate research findings to a wider audience, such as policymakers, practitioners, or the general public. The summary presents the essential aspects of the research in a clear and concise manner, making it easier for non-experts to understand.
• Supporting decision-making: Research summaries can be used to support decision-making processes by providing a summary of the research evidence on a particular topic. This information can be used by policymakers or practitioners to make informed decisions about interventions, programs, or policies.
• Saving time: Research summaries save time for researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders who need to review multiple research studies. Rather than having to read the entire article or study, they can quickly review the summary to determine whether the research is relevant to their needs.

Characteristics of Research Summary

The following are some of the key characteristics of a research summary:

• Concise : A research summary should be brief and to the point, providing a clear and concise overview of the main points of the research.
• Objective : A research summary should be written in an objective tone, presenting the research findings without bias or personal opinion.
• Comprehensive : A research summary should cover all the essential aspects of the research, including the research question, methodology, results, and conclusions.
• Accurate : A research summary should accurately reflect the key findings and conclusions of the research.
• Clear and well-organized: A research summary should be easy to read and understand, with a clear structure and logical flow.
• Relevant : A research summary should focus on the most important and relevant aspects of the research, highlighting the key findings and their implications.
• Audience-specific: A research summary should be tailored to the intended audience, using language and terminology that is appropriate and accessible to the reader.
• Citations : A research summary should include citations to the original research articles or studies, allowing readers to access the full text of the research if desired.

When to write Research Summary

Here are some situations when it may be appropriate to write a research summary:

• Proposal stage: A research summary can be included in a research proposal to provide a brief overview of the research aims, objectives, methodology, and expected outcomes.
• Conference presentation: A research summary can be prepared for a conference presentation to summarize the main findings of a study or research project.
• Journal submission: Many academic journals require authors to submit a research summary along with their research article or study. The summary provides a brief overview of the study’s main points, findings, and conclusions and helps readers quickly understand the research.
• Funding application: A research summary can be included in a funding application to provide a brief summary of the research aims, objectives, and expected outcomes.
• Policy brief: A research summary can be prepared as a policy brief to communicate research findings to policymakers or stakeholders in a concise and accessible manner.

Advantages of Research Summary

Research summaries offer several advantages, including:

• Time-saving: A research summary saves time for readers who need to understand the key findings and conclusions of a research project quickly. Rather than reading the entire research article or study, readers can quickly review the summary to determine whether the research is relevant to their needs.
• Clarity and accessibility: A research summary provides a clear and accessible overview of the research project’s main points, making it easier for readers to understand the research without having to be experts in the field.
• Improved comprehension: A research summary helps readers comprehend the research by providing a brief and focused overview of the key findings and conclusions, making it easier to understand the research and its significance.
• Enhanced communication: Research summaries can be used to communicate research findings to a wider audience, such as policymakers, practitioners, or the general public, in a concise and accessible manner.
• Facilitated decision-making: Research summaries can support decision-making processes by providing a summary of the research evidence on a particular topic. Policymakers or practitioners can use this information to make informed decisions about interventions, programs, or policies.
• Increased dissemination: Research summaries can be easily shared and disseminated, allowing research findings to reach a wider audience.

Limitations of Research Summary

Limitations of the Research Summary are as follows:

• Limited scope: Research summaries provide a brief overview of the research project’s main points, findings, and conclusions, which can be limiting. They may not include all the details, nuances, and complexities of the research that readers may need to fully understand the study’s implications.
• Risk of oversimplification: Research summaries can be oversimplified, reducing the complexity of the research and potentially distorting the findings or conclusions.
• Lack of context: Research summaries may not provide sufficient context to fully understand the research findings, such as the research background, methodology, or limitations. This may lead to misunderstandings or misinterpretations of the research.
• Possible bias: Research summaries may be biased if they selectively emphasize certain findings or conclusions over others, potentially distorting the overall picture of the research.
• Format limitations: Research summaries may be constrained by the format or length requirements, making it challenging to fully convey the research’s main points, findings, and conclusions.
• Accessibility: Research summaries may not be accessible to all readers, particularly those with limited literacy skills, visual impairments, or language barriers.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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Researching and Writing a Paper: Summarizing

• Outline Note-Taking

Summarizing

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Writing an Article Summary: A summary is a short and objective overview or description of the original article (text, chapter, book, etc.). When you are preparing to write you summarize a source to help you understand that source. You summarize sources in your paper so you can then analyze, critique, or synthesize, the ideas/facts presented by the original author. The summary itself should focus only on the article's main ideas and important details that support those ideas.

# When you are summarizing a source in preparation for writing a paper your summary can be any collection of sentences that helps you understand the source and how you can use it in your paper. In general you should include:

• The citation (title, author(s), date, etc.) and a short description of the main ideas of the text ( note page numbers ).
• Identify the most important details that support the main ideas.
• Briefly describe the most important details in your own words ( note page numbers for each of those details ).
• Do not copy phrases or sentences unless they are being used as direct quotations ( include the page number for each quote ).
• Describe the meaning of the article, but do not critique or analyze (if your summary is part of preparing to write a paper you should write all questions and thoughts about what you are summarizing separately from your summary [in Outline note-taking this is a separate line, in a Mind Map it is a separate branch - anything that keeps you from mixing your description of the article with your thoughts, views, opinions, questions, etc., about the article is good]).
• A summary is shorter than the original article – sometimes it is just a few sentences, sometimes it is several paragraphs.

# When you are summarizing a source in your paper your summary should include:

• An overview of the article, including the article title and the name of the author (and include the citation  in your bibliography).
• Write a sentence that states the main ideas of the article. Do Not critique or analyze those ideas, your analysis of the article is not part of the summary of the article (analyzing, critiquing, or synthesizing, what you have summarized occurs after your summary).
• Explain the supporting ideas and facts in the article (include in-text citations for these paraphrases). Use quotes only as needed, make sure they are in quote marks and correctly cited.
• One-paragraph summary - usually one sentence per supporting detail or idea.
• Multi-paragraph summary - often one paragraph per supporting detail or idea.
• Many summaries in a paper are longer than a paragraph, but often not a lot longer.
• Look back over both the article and what you have just written, make sure you have accurately stated the main idea and any additional meaning(s) of the article.

Note: There are more and more Summarizing Tools based on machine learning (often mislabeled 'AI') that are available for free or for fee.  Much of the time the results are pretty good - but not always.  If you use a Summarizing Tool you absolutely must then read the article , compare what it says to what appears in the summary, and then correct the summary . The summary will always need correcting , sometimes a little correction, sometimes some very important corrections.  If you read the article, and then correct the summary the tool created, you may find that the free version of a Summarizing Tool is a useful time-saver and helps you to relax and enjoy the assignment. However, our opinion is that none of the Summarizing Tools are currently good enough to pay for - use the free version only .  A simple search for ' free summarizing tools ' will produce several options for your consideration. If you don't want to decide among the search results you might try the free version of ' Wordtune '.

*** Questions or confusions about anything on this page, in this LibGuide, or anything else? You can Ask Us Questions ! ***

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• How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples

Published on 25 September 2022 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 12 May 2023.

Summarising , or writing a summary, means giving a concise overview of a text’s main points in your own words. A summary is always much shorter than the original text.

There are five key steps that can help you to write a summary:

• Read the text
• Break it down into sections
• Identify the key points in each section
• Write the summary
• Check the summary against the article

Writing a summary does not involve critiquing or analysing the source. You should simply provide an accurate account of the most important information and ideas (without copying any text from the original).

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Table of contents

When to write a summary, step 1: read the text, step 2: break the text down into sections, step 3: identify the key points in each section, step 4: write the summary, step 5: check the summary against the article, frequently asked questions.

There are many situations in which you might have to summarise an article or other source:

• As a stand-alone assignment to show you’ve understood the material
• To keep notes that will help you remember what you’ve read
• To give an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review

When you’re writing an academic text like an essay , research paper , or dissertation , you’ll integrate sources in a variety of ways. You might use a brief quote to support your point, or paraphrase a few sentences or paragraphs.

But it’s often appropriate to summarize a whole article or chapter if it is especially relevant to your own research, or to provide an overview of a source before you analyse or critique it.

In any case, the goal of summarising is to give your reader a clear understanding of the original source. Follow the five steps outlined below to write a good summary.

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You should read the article more than once to make sure you’ve thoroughly understood it. It’s often effective to read in three stages:

• Scan the article quickly to get a sense of its topic and overall shape.
• Read the article carefully, highlighting important points and taking notes as you read.
• Skim the article again to confirm you’ve understood the key points, and reread any particularly important or difficult passages.

There are some tricks you can use to identify the key points as you read:

• Start by reading the abstract . This already contains the author’s own summary of their work, and it tells you what to expect from the article.
• Pay attention to headings and subheadings . These should give you a good sense of what each part is about.
• Read the introduction and the conclusion together and compare them: What did the author set out to do, and what was the outcome?

To make the text more manageable and understand its sub-points, break it down into smaller sections.

If the text is a scientific paper that follows a standard empirical structure, it is probably already organised into clearly marked sections, usually including an introduction, methods, results, and discussion.

Other types of articles may not be explicitly divided into sections. But most articles and essays will be structured around a series of sub-points or themes.

Now it’s time go through each section and pick out its most important points. What does your reader need to know to understand the overall argument or conclusion of the article?

Keep in mind that a summary does not involve paraphrasing every single paragraph of the article. Your goal is to extract the essential points, leaving out anything that can be considered background information or supplementary detail.

In a scientific article, there are some easy questions you can ask to identify the key points in each part.

If the article takes a different form, you might have to think more carefully about what points are most important for the reader to understand its argument.

In that case, pay particular attention to the thesis statement —the central claim that the author wants us to accept, which usually appears in the introduction—and the topic sentences that signal the main idea of each paragraph.

Now that you know the key points that the article aims to communicate, you need to put them in your own words.

To avoid plagiarism and show you’ve understood the article, it’s essential to properly paraphrase the author’s ideas. Do not copy and paste parts of the article, not even just a sentence or two.

The best way to do this is to put the article aside and write out your own understanding of the author’s key points.

Examples of article summaries

Let’s take a look at an example. Below, we summarise this article , which scientifically investigates the old saying ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’.

An article summary like the above would be appropriate for a stand-alone summary assignment. However, you’ll often want to give an even more concise summary of an article.

For example, in a literature review or research paper, you may want to briefly summarize this study as part of a wider discussion of various sources. In this case, we can boil our summary down even further to include only the most relevant information.

Citing the source you’re summarizing

When including a summary as part of a larger text, it’s essential to properly cite the source you’re summarizing. The exact format depends on your citation style , but it usually includes an in-text citation and a full reference at the end of your paper.

You can easily create your citations and references in APA or MLA using our free citation generators.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

Finally, read through the article once more to ensure that:

• You’ve accurately represented the author’s work
• You haven’t missed any essential information
• The phrasing is not too similar to any sentences in the original.

If you’re summarising many articles as part of your own work, it may be a good idea to use a plagiarism checker to double-check that your text is completely original and properly cited. Just be sure to use one that’s safe and reliable.

A summary is a short overview of the main points of an article or other source, written entirely in your own words.

Save yourself some time with the free summariser.

A summary is always much shorter than the original text. The length of a summary can range from just a few sentences to several paragraphs; it depends on the length of the article you’re summarising, and on the purpose of the summary.

With the summariser tool you can easily adjust the length of your summary.

You might have to write a summary of a source:

• As a stand-alone assignment to prove you understand the material
• For your own use, to keep notes on your reading
• To provide an overview of other researchers’ work in a literature review
• In a paper , to summarise or introduce a relevant study

To avoid plagiarism when summarising an article or other source, follow these two rules:

• Write the summary entirely in your own words by   paraphrasing the author’s ideas.
• Reference the source with an in-text citation and a full reference so your reader can easily find the original text.

An abstract concisely explains all the key points of an academic text such as a thesis , dissertation or journal article. It should summarise the whole text, not just introduce it.

An abstract is a type of summary , but summaries are also written elsewhere in academic writing . For example, you might summarise a source in a paper , in a literature review , or as a standalone assignment.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, May 12). How to Write a Summary | Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 9 September 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/working-sources/how-to-write-a-summary/

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How to Write a Summary of a Research Paper

Last Updated: July 10, 2020 References

This article was reviewed by Annaliese Dunne and by wikiHow staff writer, Hannah Madden . Annaliese Dunne is a Middle School English Teacher. With over 10 years of teaching experience, her areas of expertise include writing and grammar instruction, as well as teaching reading comprehension. She is also an experienced freelance writer. She received her Bachelor's degree in English. This article has been viewed 28,806 times.

Writing a summary of an academic research paper is an important skill, and it shows that you understand all of the relevant information presented to you. However, writing a summary can be tough, since it requires you to be completely objective and keep any analysis or criticisms to yourself. By keeping your goal in mind as you read the paper and focusing on the key points, you can write a succinct, accurate summary of a research paper to prove that you understood the overall conclusion.

Reading the Research Paper

• For instance, if you’re supporting an argument in your own research paper, focus on the elements that are similar to yours.
• Or, if you’re comparing and contrasting methodology, focus on the methods and the significance of the results.

• You can also read the abstract of the paper as a good example of what the authors find to be important in their article.

• Depending on how long and dense the paper is, your initial reading could take you up to an hour or more.

• The important information will usually be toward the end of the paper as the authors explain their findings and conclusions.

• Writing a summary without plagiarizing, or copying the paper, is really important. Writing notes in your own words will help you get into the mindset of relaying information in your own way.

Including Relevant Information

• For example, “The methods used in this paper are not up to standards and require more testing to be conclusive.” is an analysis.
• ”The methods used in this paper include an in-depth survey and interview session with each candidate.” is a summary.

• If you’re writing a summary for class, your professor may specify how long your summary should be.
• Some summaries can even be as short as one sentence.

• ”Environmental conditions in North Carolina pose a threat to frogs and toads.”

• For example: “According to the climate model, frog and toad populations have been decreasing at a rapid rate over the past 10 years, and are on track to decrease even further in the coming years.”

• For example: “Smith and Herman (2008) argue that by decreasing greenhouse gases, frog and toad populations could reach historical levels within 20 years, and the climate model projections support that statement.”
• You can add in the authors and year of publication at any time during your summary.

• If you have time, try reading your summary to someone who hasn’t read the original paper and see if they understand the key points of the article.

Expert Q&A

• Make sure you fully understand the paper before you start writing the summary. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0
• Plagiarism can have serious consequences in the academic world, so make sure you’re writing your summary in your own words. [12] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ https://writingcenter.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/593/2014/06/How_to_Summarize_a_Research_Article1.pdf
• ↑ https://www.ufv.ca/media/assets/academic-success-centre/handouts/Summarizing-a-Scholarly-Journal-Article-rev2018.pdf
• ↑ https://integrity.mit.edu/handbook/academic-writing/summarizing
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/summary-using-it-wisely/
• ↑ https://davidson.libguides.com/c.php?g=349327&p=2361763

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Oct 18, 2022

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Summarizing Papers: Step-by-Step Guide

Crack the code: your step-by-step guide to summarizing papers like a pro.

Have you ever found yourself lost in the labyrinth of lengthy research papers, drowning in a sea of words and data? If so, you’re not alone. The truth is, delving into the depths of every research paper relevant to your studies or profession is a Herculean task, if not outright impossible. But fear not, for there exists a beacon of hope amidst this scholarly deluge – research paper summaries.

Picture this: You’re on a quest for knowledge, navigating through a jungle of academic texts, each thicker than the last. Suddenly, you stumble upon a treasure trove of summarized research papers, neatly packaged and ready for consumption. Intrigued, you wonder: How does one unlock the secrets within these condensed manuscripts? How does one master the art of research paper summarization?

As a student, these questions may linger in your mind like riddles waiting to be solved. Fear not, for within the realm of this guide lies the key to unlocking the mysteries of research paper summarization. Just as a skilled cartographer maps uncharted territories, we shall embark on a journey to unravel the complexities of summarizing research papers effectively. So, dear reader, fasten your intellectual seatbelt and prepare to embark on a voyage of discovery. The world of research paper summarization awaits, brimming with knowledge and adventure.

What is a research paper summary?

A research paper summary is a condensed version of a scholarly article or academic paper that captures the main points, arguments, findings, and conclusions presented in the original work. It aims to provide readers with a concise overview of the paper’s content without delving into every detail or aspect covered in the full text.

In essence, a research paper summary distills the essence of the original paper into a shorter format, making it easier for readers to grasp the key ideas and information without having to read the entire document. This summary typically includes a brief overview of the research topic, the purpose of the study, the methodology used, the main findings or results, and the implications or significance of the research.

Research paper summaries are valuable tools for researchers, students, and professionals alike, as they allow for efficient information gathering and help in quickly understanding the essential points of a study without having to sift through extensive literature.

Understanding research paper summarization

Understanding research paper summarization is crucial for navigating the vast landscape of academic literature efficiently and effectively. At its core, research paper summarization involves distilling the key ideas, findings, and arguments of a scholarly article into a concise and digestible format.

• Efficient Information Retrieval: Research paper summarization allows readers to quickly identify relevant papers and extract essential information without investing significant time in reading lengthy documents. This is particularly beneficial when conducting literature reviews or seeking specific insights on a topic.
• Enhanced Comprehension: Summarizing research papers helps readers grasp the main concepts and arguments presented in the original work. By condensing complex information into a more accessible form, summarization promotes better understanding and retention of knowledge.
• Focused Attention on Key Points: A well-crafted summary highlights the most important aspects of a research paper, such as its research question, methodology, major findings, and implications. This focused approach directs readers’ attention to the core elements of the study, enabling them to extract valuable insights more efficiently.
• Facilitation of Critical Analysis: Summarizing research papers requires synthesizing information and critically evaluating the validity and significance of the findings. Engaging in this process fosters critical thinking skills and encourages readers to assess the strengths and limitations of the research presented.
• Promotion of Knowledge Sharing: Summaries serve as valuable resources for disseminating research findings to a broader audience, including students, professionals, and policymakers. By distilling complex research into accessible summaries, scholars can facilitate knowledge sharing and promote interdisciplinary dialogue.

In essence, research paper summarization is a skill that empowers individuals to navigate the vast expanse of academic literature with agility and insight. By mastering this skill, researchers and students alike can unlock the wealth of knowledge contained within scholarly articles and contribute to the advancement of their respective fields.

Preparation: Setting the Stage for Effective Summarization

Before embarking on the journey of summarizing a research paper, it’s essential to lay a solid foundation for effective summarization. This preparation phase serves as the springboard for crafting concise and informative summaries that capture the essence of the original work. Here are key steps to prepare for successful research paper summarization:

• Familiarize Yourself with the Research Topic: Begin by gaining a thorough understanding of the research topic addressed in the paper you intend to summarize. Familiarize yourself with relevant concepts, terminology, and background information to contextualize the study effectively.
• Review the Paper’s Abstract and Keywords: The abstract of a research paper provides a succinct overview of the study’s objectives, methodology, findings, and conclusions. Pay close attention to the abstract and keywords to identify the paper’s central focus and key elements.
• Skim Through the Entire Paper: Conduct a preliminary skim of the entire research paper to get an overview of its structure and content. Focus on headings, subheadings, and key sections such as the introduction, methodology, results, and conclusion. This initial skim will help you identify the paper’s organization and locate key information efficiently.
• Identify the Main Research Question or Objective: Clearly define the primary research question or objective addressed in the paper. Understanding the central focus of the study will guide your summarization efforts and ensure that your summary remains aligned with the paper’s core purpose.
• Analyze the Methodology and Approach: Pay close attention to the methodology section of the research paper to understand the approach used by the authors to address the research question. Consider the study design, data collection methods, and analytical techniques employed, as these factors influence the interpretation of the results.
• Note Key Findings and Results: Identify the main findings and results presented in the paper. Look for key data points, statistical analyses, trends, or patterns that contribute to the paper’s central argument or conclusions. Take note of any significant outcomes or implications highlighted by the authors.
• Evaluate the Strengths and Limitations: Assess the strengths and limitations of the research paper, including potential biases, methodological constraints, and areas for further investigation. Understanding the paper’s strengths and limitations will enable you to provide a balanced summary that acknowledges both its merits and shortcomings.

By diligently preparing for the task of summarizing a research paper, you set yourself up for success by establishing a solid understanding of the paper’s content, objectives, and key findings. This preparation phase lays the groundwork for crafting concise, accurate, and insightful summaries that capture the essence of the original work.

Deciphering the Structure: Breaking Down the Research Paper

Understanding the structure of a research paper is essential for effectively summarizing its content. By dissecting the paper into its constituent parts, you can identify key elements and extract the most pertinent information for your summary. Here’s how to decipher the structure of a research paper:

Abstract: The abstract provides a concise summary of the entire research paper, including its purpose, methodology, results, and conclusions. Begin by reading the abstract to grasp the paper’s central focus and key findings.

Introduction: The introduction sets the stage for the research by presenting the background, context, and rationale for the study. It typically includes a literature review to establish the research gap or problem, followed by the research question or hypothesis. Identify the main objectives of the study outlined in the introduction.

Methodology: The methodology section describes the research design, participants, materials, and procedures used to conduct the study. It provides insight into how data were collected and analyzed. Pay attention to the specific methods employed, as they influence the validity and reliability of the study’s findings.

Results: The results section presents the findings of the study, often in the form of descriptive statistics, tables, and figures. It details the outcomes of data analysis and any patterns or trends observed. Note the key findings and significant results reported by the authors.

Discussion: In the discussion section, the authors interpret the results in the context of the research question and relevant literature. They analyze the implications of their findings, address any limitations or biases, and suggest avenues for future research. Look for the authors’ interpretations and explanations of the study’s significance.

Conclusion: The conclusion summarizes the main findings of the study and reiterates their implications. It often restates the research question or hypothesis and highlights the key contributions of the research. Pay attention to the authors’ final thoughts and recommendations.

References: Finally, review the list of references cited in the research paper to identify relevant sources and support for the study’s claims. Note any additional resources that may be of interest for further exploration.

By breaking down the research paper into its structural components, you can systematically analyze each section and extract the essential information for your summary. This approach ensures that your summary accurately reflects the organization and content of the original paper, providing readers with a clear and concise overview of the research.

Summarization Techniques: Crafting Succinct and Informative Summaries

Crafting a high-quality summary of a research paper requires skillful application of summarization techniques to distill complex information into a concise and informative format. Here are several techniques to help you craft effective summaries:

• Paraphrasing: Paraphrasing involves restating the main ideas and findings of the research paper in your own words. Focus on conveying the essential information while retaining the original meaning. Be sure to accurately represent the author’s ideas and avoid copying verbatim.
• Identifying Main Points: Identify the key points, arguments, and findings presented in each section of the research paper. Determine the central theme or thesis of the study and highlight supporting evidence and conclusions. Prioritize including information that is crucial for understanding the paper’s main message.
• Omitting Irrelevant Details: Eliminate extraneous details, background information, and minor findings that are not essential to the central focus of the research paper. Streamline your summary by focusing on the most relevant and impactful aspects of the study. Remember, brevity is key to crafting a succinct summary.
• Structuring the Summary: Structure your summary in a logical and organized manner, following the sequence of the original paper’s sections. Start with an introductory sentence that provides context for the research topic and thesis statement. Then, present a brief overview of each section, including the methodology, results, and conclusions.
• Highlighting Key Findings: Emphasize the most significant findings, results, and conclusions of the research paper. Focus on summarizing data trends, statistical analyses, and noteworthy outcomes that contribute to the paper’s central argument. Use clear and concise language to communicate these key points effectively.
• Incorporating Direct Quotations: When appropriate, incorporate direct quotations from the research paper to support your summary. Select quotes that are particularly insightful, well-phrased, or representative of the author’s arguments. Be sure to properly cite the source of the quotations to maintain academic integrity.
• Maintaining Objectivity: Maintain objectivity and neutrality in your summary by presenting the research paper’s content without bias or personal interpretation. Avoid injecting your own opinions or analysis into the summary, as its purpose is to provide an impartial overview of the original work.
• Ensuring Accuracy: Verify the accuracy of your summary by cross-referencing it with the original research paper. Ensure that you have correctly represented the author’s ideas, data, and conclusions. Double-check any numerical data or technical terminology to prevent inaccuracies.

By employing these summarization techniques, you can create succinct and informative summaries that capture the essence of the original research paper while effectively communicating its main points to your audience. Practice and refinement of these techniques will enhance your ability to craft high-quality summaries that convey complex information concisely and accurately.

How to Summarize a Research Paper: Step-by-Step Guide

Summarizing a research paper may seem daunting at first, but with a systematic approach, you can effectively distill complex information into a concise and informative summary. Follow these step-by-step instructions to craft a high-quality summary:

Step 1: Read the Paper Thoroughly

• Start by carefully reading the entire research paper from beginning to end.
• Take notes on key points, main arguments, significant findings, and any supporting evidence presented.

Step 2: Identify the Main Elements

• Determine the research paper’s main elements, including the research question or objective, methodology, results, and conclusions.
• Highlight or underline essential information to guide your summary-writing process.

Step 3: Understand the Structure

• Familiarize yourself with the structure of the research paper, including its introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion sections.
• Pay attention to the flow of ideas and logical progression of the paper’s argument.

Step 4: Write an Introductory Sentence

• Begin your summary with an introductory sentence that provides context for the research paper, including the title, authors, and main topic.
• Capture the reader’s interest and set the stage for the summary that follows.

Step 5: Summarize the Introduction

• Summarize the introduction section by briefly outlining the research problem, objectives, and significance.
• Highlight any key concepts or theories introduced in the literature review.

Step 6: Outline the Methodology

• Provide a concise overview of the research methodology, including the study design, data collection methods, and analytical techniques used.
• Summarize any relevant details about the sample population, materials, or procedures.

Step 7: Summarize the Results

• Summarize the main findings and results presented in the research paper.
• Highlight significant data trends, statistical analyses, or key outcomes that support the paper’s main arguments.

Step 8: Capture the Discussion

• Summarize the discussion section by outlining the authors’ interpretations of the results and their implications.
• Identify any limitations or areas for future research mentioned by the authors.

Step 9: Conclude with Key Points

• Conclude your summary by reiterating the main points and conclusions of the research paper.
• Emphasize the paper’s contributions to the field and its relevance to the broader academic discourse.

Step 10: Revise and Edit

• Review your summary for clarity, coherence, and accuracy.
• Ensure that your summary is concise, well-structured, and free of grammatical errors.
• Seek feedback from peers or mentors to improve the quality of your summary.

By following this step-by-step guide, you can create a comprehensive summary of a research paper that effectively communicates its main ideas and findings to your audience. Practice and refinement of your summarization skills will enhance your ability to distill complex information concisely and accurately.

Research Paper Summary: “The Effects of Exercise on Mental Health in College Students”

Title: “The Effects of Exercise on Mental Health in College Students” Authors: John Doe, Jane Smith Introduction: The research paper investigates the relationship between exercise and mental health among college students. The authors argue that college students often experience high levels of stress and anxiety, which can negatively impact their mental well-being. The study aims to explore whether regular exercise can mitigate these effects and promote better mental health outcomes. Methodology: A sample of 200 college students was recruited for the study. Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing their exercise habits, stress levels, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Exercise frequency and intensity were measured using standardized scales, while mental health outcomes were assessed using validated psychological measures. Results: The results revealed a significant correlation between exercise frequency and mental health outcomes. College students who engaged in regular exercise reported lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression compared to those who were less physically active. Furthermore, participants who engaged in high-intensity exercise demonstrated the most substantial improvements in mental well-being. Discussion: The findings support previous research suggesting that exercise can have beneficial effects on mental health, particularly among college students. The authors discuss potential mechanisms underlying the exercise-mental health relationship, including the release of endorphins and reduction of cortisol levels. They also highlight the importance of incorporating regular physical activity into college wellness programs to promote student well-being. Conclusion: In conclusion, the study provides empirical evidence supporting the positive effects of exercise on mental health in college students. The findings underscore the importance of promoting physical activity as a means of improving psychological well-being among this population. Future research should further explore the mechanisms underlying the exercise-mental health relationship and investigate the long-term effects of exercise interventions on college student mental health outcomes.

This summary provides a concise overview of the research paper, including its main objectives, methodology, findings, and implications. It effectively communicates the key points of the study while maintaining clarity and coherence.

Resources and Tools for Summarizing Research Papers

Several tools and resources are available to assist in summarizing research papers effectively. Here are some options:

• Note-taking Apps: Utilize note-taking applications such as Evernote, Microsoft OneNote, or Notion to organize key points, main findings, and important details while reading the research paper. These apps allow you to create digital notebooks, tag information, and easily access your notes when summarizing the paper.
• Summarization Websites: Explore online platforms like TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) or SummarizeBot that automatically generate summaries of articles and research papers. Simply input the URL or text of the paper, and these tools will provide a condensed summary, saving time and effort.
• Reference Management Software: Reference management tools like Zotero, Mendeley, or EndNote not only help organize and manage research papers but also offer features for annotating and summarizing articles. These tools allow you to highlight key passages, add notes, and create summaries directly within the software.
• Text Summarization Algorithms: Experiment with text summarization algorithms and natural language processing (NLP) tools such as GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3) or BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers). These advanced AI models can generate summaries of research papers based on input text, offering an automated summarization solution.
• Online Courses and Tutorials: Enroll in online courses or tutorials on academic writing and summarization techniques. Websites like Coursera, Udemy, or LinkedIn Learning offer courses specifically tailored to summarizing research papers, providing valuable insights and practical tips from experts in the field.
• Writing Centers and Workshops: Take advantage of writing centers or workshops offered by universities and academic institutions. These resources often provide guidance and support for improving summarization skills, offering one-on-one consultations, writing guides, and workshops on summarizing research papers.
• Peer Collaboration and Feedback: Collaborate with peers or colleagues to exchange ideas, share insights, and provide feedback on each other’s summaries. Peer review can help refine summarization skills, identify blind spots, and improve the quality of summaries through constructive criticism and discussion.

By leveraging these tools and resources, you can enhance your ability to summarize research papers effectively, saving time and effort while ensuring accuracy and clarity in your summaries. Experiment with different approaches and find the methods that work best for your individual needs and preferences.

In conclusion, summarizing research papers is a valuable skill that allows individuals to distill complex information into concise and informative summaries. Throughout this guide, we have explored various techniques and strategies for effectively summarizing research papers, from understanding the paper’s structure to crafting succinct and accurate summaries.

By following a step-by-step approach, including thorough preparation, careful analysis of the paper’s content, and strategic summarization techniques, individuals can create high-quality summaries that capture the essence of the original research. Whether utilizing note-taking apps, online resources, or peer collaboration, there are numerous tools and resources available to support the summarization process.

Summarizing research papers not only facilitates efficient information retrieval and comprehension but also promotes knowledge sharing and academic discourse. By mastering the art of summarization, individuals can contribute to the dissemination of research findings, enhance their own understanding of complex topics, and engage more effectively with scholarly literature.

As summarization skills are honed through practice and experience, individuals are encouraged to continue refining their abilities and seeking opportunities for growth. Whether as students, researchers, or professionals, the ability to effectively summarize research papers is a valuable asset that empowers individuals to navigate the vast landscape of academic literature with confidence and insight.

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• Best Summary Generator | Tools Tested & Reviewed

Best Summary Generator | Tools Tested & Reviewed

Published on May 6, 2024 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on May 21, 2024.

A summary generator (also called a summarizer , summarizing tool , or text summarizer ) is a kind of AI writing tool that automatically generates a short summary of a text. Many tools like this are available online, but what are the best options out there?

To find out, we tested 11 popular summary generators (all available free online, some with a premium version). We used two texts: a short news article and a longer academic journal article. We evaluated tools based on the clarity, accuracy, and concision of the summaries produced.

Our research indicates that the best summarizer available right now is the one offered by QuillBot . You can use it for free to summarize texts of up to 1,200 words—up to 6,000 with a premium subscription.

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Table of contents

1. quillbot , 2. resoomer , 3. scribbr , 4. sassbook , 5. paraphraser , 6. tldr this , 7. rephrase , 8. editpad , 9. summarizing tool , 10. smodin , 11. summarizer , research methodology, frequently asked questions about summarizers.

• Produces the clearest and most accurate summaries
• Summarizes text in a creative way, combining sentences
• Can summarize long texts (up to 6,000 words with premium)
• Options for length, format of summary, and keywords to focus on
• Highlights text that was used in the summary
• Summaries occasionally include errors
• Premium costs $19.95 a month (but gets you a variety of other tools)

We found QuillBot’s summarizer to be the most effective tool available right now. Its technology is more advanced and creative than any other tool’s. It offers a Key Sentences mode and a Paragraph mode; we found the Paragraph mode to be the most useful.

This mode effectively combined information from multiple sentences to produce a concise and clear summary. In the premium version, it was also able to summarize the longer testing text very effectively. The tool usefully highlights text from your input that was used in the summary, and it allows you to pick keywords to focus on if you want a summary of a specific theme.

We did notice some errors even in this tool: it occasionally misunderstood the meaning of the text or combined sentences in a way that was misleading. On one occasion, it seemed to introduce a typo (“collectiveists”) that wasn’t present in the original text.

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• Relatively clear and accurate summaries
• Summarizes creatively, combining sentences
• A variety of modes and options
• Can summarize long texts (no word limit as far as we could tell)
• Confusing interface with irrelevant features
• Summaries of long texts are long-winded and split across multiple pages
• Only the premium mode ($10.57 a month) is useful

We found that Resoomer, though significantly less powerful than QuillBot, was stronger than other competitors—at least, if you pay for its premium mode. Like QuillBot, it generated creative summaries that combined information from different sentences in a relatively fluent way.

It was able to summarize the long text, but the summary it produced was overly long and spread across multiple pages we had to click between, limiting its usefulness. Resoomer offers a variety of modes, but they are presented in a rather confusing way and all of the free modes are very basic, just picking out sentences from the text rather than generating an original summary.

The mode we found useful was the “Assisted” mode, which is unfortunately only available with a premium subscription. We also didn’t find a use for the unusual “More words” button, which generates a continuation of the summary, seemingly not based on anything in the text.

Try Resoomer

• Produces clear and accurate summaries (powered by QuillBot)
• Can’t summarize long texts (limit of 600 words)

Scribbr’s summarizer is powered by QuillBot technology, which means that it offers the same modes, options, and quality-of-life features such as highlighting text used in the summary. And it produces similarly creative summaries: clear, concise, and fluently written.

The Scribbr summarizer does have one key limitation compared to the QuillBot tool: it cannot handle longer texts, since it has a limit of 600 words per input. The Scribbr tool is free, with no sign-up required and no premium version available right now.

Try Scribbr’s summarizer

• Relatively fluent and creative summaries
• Can summarize long texts (up to 22,000 characters with premium)
• Provides options for length and format of summary
• Very expensive subscription ($39 a month)
• Adds unnecessary verbiage (“Authors say that …”)
• Fairly cluttered interface
• Summaries sometimes misleading or hard to follow

We found that Sassbook provided relatively creative summaries, combining information from different sentences in a similar way to QuillBot or Resoomer. But we found the results less clear than in those tools.

Especially for the longer text, we saw that Sassbook summaries were not very coherently structured, presenting information in a somewhat random order that was hard to follow. We also noticed the tool’s tendency to insert unnecessary text such as “Authors say that …”

Moreover, the tool can only handle longer texts if you pay for a premium subscription, and we found the premium subscription to be unreasonably priced at $39 a month. Perhaps if you find the other tools included in the subscription useful, it could be worth the price. For the summarizer alone, it certainly isn’t worth it, and there are much better and cheaper options out there.

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• Creative summaries with use of note-style language
• Summaries are usually relatively clear and accurate
• Can’t summarize long texts (no word limit stated, but didn’t work with our long text)
• Summaries are too long, and length controls make little difference
• Note-style summaries may not be what you want
• Some confusing moments in summaries

Paraphraser’s summarizer is a free tool with no premium options. It offers two modes, “Summarizer” and “AI Summarizer”; the difference isn’t clearly explained, but in our experience, AI Summarizer produced much better results. Summaries produced in this mode were creative but rough, using note-style language (e.g., omitting articles, using abbreviations) in a way we didn’t see in other tools.

Other options were available but made little difference to the output. Selecting different lengths of summary made very little difference in practice, and the alternative “Bullets” mode presented the same text as the “Paragraph” mode, but in bullet points. Because summary length couldn’t be effectively adjusted, summaries were always longer than we would have liked: over half the length of the full text.

There were also some confusing errors in the output: summaries would often end with a sentence like “Please shorten this text” that clearly shouldn’t be there. And although no word limit is mentioned, the tool didn’t work for our longer text in practice, summarizing only the first 1,000 words.

Try Paraphraser’s summarizer

• 10 free “AI” summaries to start with
• Can summarize the long text
• Just selects a few sentences from the text, producing no original summary
• Costs $4 a month for premium options (100 summaries a month)
• Premium options not noticeably better than free version
• Options (e.g., “short” or “detailed” modes) not noticeably different

The TLDR This tool seems to operate in a very basic way, just taking a few sentences from the text and presenting them in the order in which they originally appeared. It does not combine or paraphrase information in a creative way, even in its premium “AI” mode, which we found produced results nearly identical to those of the free “key sentences” mode.

Like some other tools, it can pick out keywords from the text. But the keywords selected are sometimes not very logical (e.g., “Percent Last Year”), and clicking on them just googles them rather than doing anything in the tool itself. We also did not notice any significant differences between the “short” and “detailed” modes.

Because of its very basic approach and the lack of noticeable differences between its modes, we don’t advise paying for TLDR This.

Try TLDR This

• Can’t summarize the long text (no word limit stated, but didn’t work in practice)
• No options for different lengths or formats of summary

Like TLDR This, Rephrase’s summarizer seemed to just select sentences from the text and present them in the same order again, without any creative recombination of information. In this case, the only way it modified the text was by putting the paragraph breaks at different points.

Rephrase’s tool is free, but, as mentioned, it’s extremely basic. It also lacks any options to change the length or format of the summary. As with other tools like this, the sentences it selects feel very random and often make no sense out of context, meaning the “summary” provided is effectively useless.

No word limit is indicated in the tool, but in practice we found that it could only summarize the first 1,500 words of our longer text. We also found the interface somewhat cluttered with ads.

Try Rephrase’s summarizer

• Can summarize the long text (stated limit of 10,000 words, seems to be 9,000 in reality and much lower in premium mode)
• Premium mode ($30 for a month) is indistinguishable from free mode apart from having a lower word limit and  fewer  options
• Messy interface

Editpad was one of the worst tools we tested: like Paraphraser’s tool, it offered a “Summarizer” mode (which seems identical to Paraphraser’s tool) and an “AI Summarizer” mode (only available with a $30 premium subscription in the case of Editpad).

But Editpad’s AI Summarizer mode seems worse than the free mode. The results in both modes are very basic, seemingly just selecting some sentences from the text and presenting them in the same order. The AI Summarizer mode differed in only two ways that we noticed: it could not summarize the long text (the free mode could), and it did not have any options regarding the length of the summary.

It’s not clear why Editpad charges money for a tool that seems to be much worse than the (already poor) tool they offer for free, but we strongly advise against paying for it.

Try Editpad’s summarizer

• Just selects sentences from the text and presents them in random order
• Summary of long text is very long

Summarizing Tool is a free tool that doesn’t really produce coherent summaries. Like many other tools, it just chooses some sentences from the text rather than generating an original summary. Even worse, though, it shuffles the sentences into a random order, making the text difficult to follow.

It’s not clear how this kind of “summary” could be useful, since it’s much harder to understand than if the sentences were presented in their original order.

Additionally, while the tool could summarize the long text, its summary in this case was also very long. What you get is essentially an incoherent jumble of ideas that is not even particularly short.

Try Summarizing Tool

• Can choose length of summary
• “Abstractive” and “extractive” modes not noticeably different
• Summary loads slowly
• $5 a month for premium version

Smodin’s summarizer seems to do effectively the same thing as Summarizing Tool: picking sentences from the text and presenting them out of order. In “abstractive” mode, we did notice it sometimes made slight changes to sentences, such as removing a word from the start, but it didn’t seem to properly combine information from different sentences.

One thing it did frequently do was to insert spelling errors (e.g., “religioosity”) and inappropriate synonyms (e.g., “humanity” instead of “personality”) into the text, which seems strange considering how little it otherwise changed in each sentence. In combination with the random order of the sentences, this results in a highly incoherent “summary.”

Paying $5 a month for the premium version raises the character limit from 30,000 to 50,000 and removes the daily limit of 30 entries. Given the poor quality of the tool, we don’t recommend paying.

Try Smodin’s summarizer

• Just gives you the same text back, but cut off halfway through—not a summary at all
• Unclear interface (100% length is actually the shortest)
• Not clear what the “Best Line” mode is for

Summarizer’s tool performed the worst out of those we tested. All it does is present the same text back to you, but cut off at a certain point (depending on the length of summary you select). No changes are made to any of the sentences.

Essentially, it’s a tool that deletes all but the first paragraph of a text for you. This is quite easy to do yourself with the backspace key, and it’s not likely to result in a “summary” of the text.

Try Summarizer

For our comparison, we selected 11 summarizing tools that show up prominently in search results. All the tools we tested can be used for free, but several of them have premium versions that you can use if you pay for a subscription. We tested the premium versions when available.

To compare the capabilities of the different tools, we used two testing texts, which are linked below:

• A short online news article (around 575 words)
• A longer academic journal article (around 3,500 words)

In each case, we pasted the entire main text of the article into the summarizer, leaving out things like footnotes, the article title, and details about the authors.

To judge the usefulness of the summaries generated, we looked at three qualitative factors:

• Concision:  Did the tool effectively condense the text into a quick summary?
• Clarity:  Is the summary easy to understand, or are sentences sometimes confusingly phrased or out of context?
• Accuracy:  Does it correctly express the key points of the text? Are any important details left out or stated incorrectly?

In the individual reviews, we also take into account details like user-friendliness, pricing, and limitations such as being unable to summarize the longer text.

Our research into the best summary generators (aka summarizers or summarizing tools) found that the best summarizer available is the one offered by QuillBot.

While many summarizers just pick out some sentences from the text, QuillBot generates original summaries that are creative, clear, accurate, and concise. It can summarize texts of up to 1,200 words for free, or up to 6,000 with a premium subscription.

Try the QuillBot summarizer for free

A summary is a short overview of the main points of an article or other source, written entirely in your own words. Want to make your life super easy? Try our free text summarizer today!

An abstract concisely explains all the key points of an academic text such as a thesis , dissertation or journal article. It should summarize the whole text, not just introduce it.

An abstract is a type of summary , but summaries are also written elsewhere in academic writing . For example, you might summarize a source in a paper , in a literature review , or as a standalone assignment.

All can be done within seconds with our free text summarizer .

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2024, May 21). Best Summary Generator | Tools Tested & Reviewed. Scribbr. Retrieved September 9, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/ai-tools/best-summarizer/

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How to Summarize Any Research Article Better: Proven Tips Outlined

Rev › Blog › Marketing › How to Summarize Any Research Article Better: Proven Tips Outlined

You’ve got content gold on your hands—  primary  and  secondary  research materials from some of the top market research companies. Now, it’s time to decide how it relates to your products, project, or consumers. What’s more, you need to distill each article’s essential parts into easy-to-read, accurate, informative, and, most importantly, concise summaries. Overwhelming? Maybe. Impossible? Heck no; you just need a good strategy. So, where to start?

You’ve landed on the right page! These tips and techniques provide a template to help guide you through the process. 

Know Your Focus

The streaming TV hit,  Cobra Kai,  brings to mind Mr. Miyagi’s age-old wisdom– ‘Focus, Daniel-San.’ Focus is vital, as some sections of a research article are more relevant to your strategy than others. 

For example, a summary crafted for a school project or a university may focus on the experiment itself. In contrast, the article’s results and discussion sections may be more relevant to consumer marketing or for a business model.

Once you establish your focus, you’re less likely to waste time.

Read The Research Article

But before you do, let’s look at the makeup of these articles. Market research, focus group data, and surveys usually consist of five or more sections.

• An abstract or hypothesis
• Explanation of the methods used
• Tests or experiments performed
• Summation and or discussion of the results
• A list of references or source materials

Read The Abstract

Since some of the research articles you find will not work for your purpose, you should always start with the abstract. It’s an overview of the data and explains the purpose of the study as well as the expected results. So you’ll know whether to include the article or move on to the next piece of research.

Take Good Notes

The next step– read the article from abstract to references. But be prepared! Your mind may wander when faced with numbers, statistics, and long-winded wording. So grab your highlighter and pen and start taking notes.

Depending on the space available, you can write your notes in the margin. If you’re in a time crunch, check out  Rev . We’ve designed a convenient application perfect for taking notes! Download our  Voice Recorder App  for free and read your notes out loud. You’ll get a 99% accurate transcription of your summary notes sent to your email or account with a simple tap. 

Research Hack:  As an overview, a research article may not include every insight from the participants, interviews, or market data. Take a look at the references. You may find some hidden gems that will help your strategy stand out.    

Outline Your Thoughts

You’ve made notes, sifted through the numbers and statistics; but, there’s still a ton of information. An outline will make your writing process much more efficient. Although each research article is relatively straight-forward, you want your summary to stay on strategy.

Write A Summary

Okay, you’re ready to condense someone else’s work. Rather than stress over grammar and length, take the pressure off by writing a rough draft. Use key points from your notes, REV transcriptions, your outline, and the research article’s sections as your guide. 

Identify The Goal And The Methods Used

Like the author’s abstract, the beginning of your summary should address the research article’s fundamental objective .  This section may also include critical details about demographics, customer behavior, or trends. When summarizing, consider three key questions. 

• What is the goal of the research?
• What methods did the author(s) use?
• Are potential obstacles to success listed?

Methods vary in market research. You may have focus groups ,  in-depth interviews , or online discussions. Depending on the reason for your summary, the raw audio or video clips used in the study may hold nuggets. If full transcripts aren’t available, save time by uploading the clips to Rev. Our human transcription service costs $1.99 per minute, and we offer a 99% accuracy guarantee. We also offer a more cost-effective A.I. speech-to-text solution for only $0.25 per minute .

Describe The Observations

The experiment is the “meat” of the research. In your own words, briefly explain what the author(s) observed as the testing played out in real-time. You can talk about the time it took participants to complete tasks or directives. Were they excited about the client’s brand or disinterested? Basically, you’re recapping the participant’s reactions. 

Discuss The Outcome

As with any study, the results make or break the goal of the research. Was the test successful? Was anyone surprised by the outcome, or were there any unexpected developments? Pay careful attention to detail as you layout all conclusions reached by the author(s).

Article Summary Quick Tips: Do This, Not That

Is your head spinning yet? You can simplify the editing process by following these technical takeaways.

• Be Careful Not To Draw Your Own Conclusions:  You are summarizing the results of the research. The last thing you want to do is editorialize your summary. To avoid this, use the third-person point of view and present tense.  
• Keep Your Copy Clean And Free Of Errors:  Reread your text. Eliminate words like “that,” “in fact,” “however,” and adverbs. Make sure your summary is accurate. Then, use free websites like  Hemingway App  or paid services such as  Grammarly  to check for grammar or spelling issues. 
• Watch For Plagiarism:  Unless you’re using a word coined by the researcher, paraphrase your text. If you notice similar wording in your summary, reread the article so you can explain the data in your own words.
• Cite Your Sources: Steer clear of directly quoting the research. It’s best to paraphrase the data and reference the source using: the name of the university, the name of the journal and year of publication, or the name of the researcher, team, or society and year of study.  

Finalize Your Article Summary

Remember, you want your summary to be clear, straight-forward, and compelling. The market research article or study you’ve chosen may prove vital to you or your client’s business strategy and brand analysis. Take your time. Read and reread your summary. Make sure it’s representative of the research. And always triple-check your text for technical and factual accuracy.

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A Complete Guide to Writing a Research Summary

A summary is a key part of any research. So, how should you go about writing one?

You will find many guides on the Internet about writing research. But, any article seldom covers the prospect of writing a research summary. While many things are shortened versions of the original article, there’s much more to research summaries.

From descriptive statistics to writing scientific research, a summary plays a vital role in describing the key ideas within. So, it begs a few questions, such as:

• What exactly is a research summary?
• How do you write one?
• What are some of the tips for writing a good research summary ?

In this guide, we’ll answer all of these questions and explore a few essential factors about research writing. So, let’s jump right into it.

What is a Research Summary?

A research summary is a short, concise summary of an academic research paper. It is often used to summarize the results of an experiment, summarize the major findings and conclusions, and provide a brief overview of the methods and procedures used in the study.

The purpose of a research summary is to provide readers with enough information about an article to decide whether they want to read it in its entirety. It should be no more than two paragraphs long and should include:

• A brief introduction summarizing why the article was written
• The main idea of the article
• The major findings and conclusions
• An overview of how the study was conducted

In order to write effective research summaries, it is important that you can capture the essential points of the research and provide a concise overview. The key step in writing a good summary is to read through the article and make notes of the key points.

This can be done by underlining or highlighting key phrases in the article. One essential thing is to organize these points into an outline format, which includes an introduction and conclusion paragraph.

Another best and quick way to generate a precise summary of your research paper is to take assistance from the online text summarizer, like Summarizer.org .

The online summarizing tool gets the research paper and creates a precise summary of it by taking the important points.

Finally, you must edit your work for grammar and spelling errors before submitting it for grading.

The purpose of the research summary is to provide a comprehensive sum of everything that’s in the research. This includes a summarization of scientific/literal research, as well as of the writer’s aim and personal thoughts.

As for the summary length, it shouldn’t be more than 10% of the entire content. So, if your research is around 1000-words or so, then your summary should be 100-words. But, considering how most research papers are around 3000-4000 words, it should be 300-400 words.

Key pillars of a Research Summary

The summary of any research doesn’t just include the summarized text of the entire research paper. It includes a few other key things, which we’ll explore later on in this article. But, the purpose of a summary is to give proper insights to the reader, such as:

• The writer’s intention
• sources and bases of research
• the purpose & result.

That’s why it’s important to understand that the summary should tell your reader all these elements. So, the fundamentals of any summary include:

• Write a section and state the importance of the research paper from your perspective. In this section, you will have to describe the techniques, tools, and sources you employed to get the conclusion.
• Besides that, it’s also meant to provide a brief and descriptive explanation of the actionable aspect of your research. In other words, how it can be implemented in real life.
• Treat your research summary like a smaller article or blog. So, each important section of your research should be written within a subheading. However, this is highly optional to keep things organized.
• As mentioned before, the research summary shouldn’t exceed 300-400 words. But, some research summaries are known to surpass 10000-words. So, try to employ the 10% formula and write one-tenth of the entire length of your research paper.

These four main points allow you to understand how a research summary is different from the research itself. So, it’s like a documentary where research and other key factors are left to the science (research paper), while the narration explains the key points (research summary)

How do you write a Research Summary?

Writing a research summary is a straightforward affair. Yet, it requires some understanding, as it’s not a lengthy process but rather a tricky and technical one. In a research summary, a few boxes must be checked. To help you do just that, here are 6 things you should tend to separately:

A summary’s title can be the same as the title of your primary research. However, putting separate titles in both has a few benefits. Such as:

• A separate title shifts attention towards the conclusion.
• A different title can focus on the main point of your research.
• Using two different titles can provide a better abstract.

Speaking of an abstract, a summary is the abstract of your research. Therefore, a title representing that very thought is going to do a lot of good too. That’s why it’s better if the title of your summary differs from the title of your research paper.

2. Abstract

The abstract is the summarization of scientific or research methods used in your primary paper. This allows the reader to understand the pillars of the study conducted. For instance, there has been an array of astrological research since James Webb Space Telescope started sending images and data.

So, many research papers explain this Telescope’s technological evolution in their abstracts. This allows the reader to differentiate from the astrological research made by previous space crafts, such as Hubble or Chandra .

The point of providing this abstract is to ensure that the reader grasps the standards or boundaries within which the research was held.

3. Introduction

This is the part where you introduce your topic. In your main research, you’d dive right into the technicalities in this part. However, you’ll try to keep things mild in a research summary. Simply because it needs to summarize the key points in your main introduction.

So, a lot of introductions you’ll find as an example will be extensive in length. But, a research summary needs to be as concise as possible. Usually, in this part, a writer includes the basics and standards of investigation.

For instance, if your research is about James Webb’s latest findings , then you’ll identify how the studies conducted by this Telescope’s infrared and other technology made this study possible. That’s when your introduction will hook the reader into the main premise of your research.

4. Methodology / Study

This section needs to describe the methodology used by you in your research. Or the methodology you relied on when conducting this particular research or study. This allows the reader to grasp the fundamentals of your research, and it’s extremely important.

Because if the reader doesn’t understand your methods, then they will have no response to your studies. How should you tend to this? Include things such as:

• The surveys or reviews you used;
• include the samplings and experiment types you researched;
• provide a brief statistical analysis;
• give a primary reason to pick these particular methods.

Once again, leave the scientific intricacies for your primary research. But, describe the key methods that you employed. So, when the reader is perusing your final research, they’ll have your methods and study techniques in mind.

5. Results / Discussion

This section of your research needs to describe the results that you’ve achieved. Granted, some researchers will rely on results achieved by others. So, this part needs to explain how that happened – but not in detail.

The other section in this part will be a discussion. This is your interpretation of the results you’ve found. Thus, in the context of the results’ application, this section needs to dive into the theoretical understanding of your research. What will this section entail exactly? Here’s what:

• Things that you covered, including results;
• inferences you provided, given the context of your research;
• the theory archetype that you’ve tried to explain in the light of the methodology you employed;
• essential points or any limitations of the research.

These factors will help the reader grasp the final idea of your research. But, it’s not full circle yet, as the pulp will still be left for the actual research.

6. Conclusion

The final section of your summary is the conclusion. The key thing about the conclusion in your research summary, compared to your actual research, is that they could be different. For instance, the actual conclusion in your research should bring around the study.

However, the research in this summary should bring your own ideas and affirmations to full circle. Thus, this conclusion could and should be different from the ending of your research.

5 Tips for writing a Research Summary

Writing a research summary is easy once you tend to the technicalities. But, there are some tips and tricks that could make it easier. Remember, a research summary is the sum of your entire research. So, it doesn’t need to be as technical or in-depth as your primary work.

Thus, to make it easier for you, here are four tips you can follow:

1. Read & read again

Reading your own work repeatedly has many benefits. First, it’ll help you understand any mistakes or problems your research might have. After that, you’ll find a few key points that stand out from the others – that’s what you need to use in your summary.

So, the best advice anyone can give you is to read your research again and again. This will etch the idea in your mind and allow you to summarize it better.

2. Focus on key essentials in each section

As we discussed earlier, each section of your research has a key part. To write a thoroughly encapsulating summary, you need to focus on and find each such element in your research.

Doing so will give you enough leverage to write a summary that thoroughly condenses your research idea and gives you enough to write a summary out of it.

3. Write the research using a summarizing tool

The best advice you can get is to write a summary using a tool. Condensing each section might be a troublesome experience for some – as it can be time-consuming.

To avoid all that, you can simply take help from an online summarizer. It gets the lengthy content and creates a precise summary of it by using advanced AI technology.

As you can see, the tool condenses this particular section perfectly while the details are light.

Bringing that down to 10% or 20% will help you write each section accordingly. Thus, saving precious time and effort.

4. Word count limit

As mentioned earlier, word count is something you need to follow thoroughly. So, if your section is around 200-word, then read it again. And describe it to yourself in 20-words or so. Doing this to every section will help you write exactly a 10% summary of your research.

5. Get a second opinion

If you’re unsure about quality or quantity, get a second opinion. At times, ideas are in our minds, but we cannot find words to explain them. In research or any sort of creative process, getting a second opinion can save a lot of trouble.

There’s your guide to writing a research summary, folks. While it’s not different from condensing the entire premise of your research, writing it in simpler words will do wonders. So, try to follow the tips, tools, and ideas provided in this article, and write outstanding summaries for your research.

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How to summarize a research paper: traditional methods and ai tools.

Posted by Neil Jensen | September 27, 2023 | 0 responses

Learning to summarize research papers profoundly is crucial for researchers or professionals out there. In doing so, in the right way, readers could get a quick preview of the main points without covering the whole paper. Previously, research paper summarization was conducted through manual techniques, but this work has been made simpler with the onset of AI technology. This article provides vast knowledge regarding traditional ways of summarizing research papers and AI tools And the mistakes you must avoid while preparing that research paper summary.

Traditional ways of summarizing research papers

• Going through the article

In traditional practice, going over the entire research paper and reading it thoroughly would be helpful for you to summarize it. Doing so would help you learn the context behind this research paper.

• Identification of key points

When summarize a research paper , you will find plenty of information. However, identifying the key points is essential in that vast degree of knowledge because the reader would look for that information that is essential to them instead of other trivial things mentioned in the research paper.

• Making a summary

Summarizing all the key points you have formulated and the information gathered would be helpful. Ensure no jargon is involved in your summarization; the reader wants a crisp reading experience.

How to use WondersharePDFelement’s summarize tool to summarize research papers

The summarizing tool of WondersharePDFelement is the most renowned option among all the other summarization tools available for summarizing research papers. It is a hugely popular AI tool that can be used by students and professors alike to summarize research papers efficiently. The user-friendly interface and free-to-use features have only proliferated the growth of WondersharePDFelement’s summarization tool. If you need to become more familiar with the steps that must be followed for using this tool. We have elaborated and described those steps exclusively for you to understand.

To start to summarize a research paper, you need to open the PDFelement and access the Lumi PDF AI robot button at the bottom right corner of your screen.

On accessing the Lumi PDF, you need to select the summarize option from the pop-up menu and import your current file into it. On the other hand, you can also go for the content tab option and click it to let Lumi do the summarization for you.

Once you successfully import your file for summarization, clicking on the analysis button will begin the process.

You can check out the result provided under the response box, copy and paste it into your file, and edit it to summarize a research paper.

Mistakes to avoid while writing your research paper summary

• Inclusion of irrelevant information

One of the biggest mistakes to avoid while writing your research paper summary is not including any unnecessary information. Whenever a reader has chosen to read or go through the summarization of a research paper. They are looking for those points that are relevant to them instead of reading jargon included in the summary of a research paper.

• Failure to point out key points

Including the main key points in your summary of a research paper is crucial and holds immense value to the reader. In many instances, the reader of that summary only opts to read the key points instead of other details mentioned in the research paper.

• Reincluding information or repeating words

Choosing to mince information among relevant factors might help you complete the summarization of a research paper. But it wouldn’t be helpful when a reader would see one piece of information being included in a repeated pattern. Therefore, choosing to have various words differently will be more helpful in summarizing the research paper.

• Missing the tone

The tone you were looking to use through summarizing your chosen research paper might help you showcase the idea to other people. However, on missing that tone, the work conducted to summarize a research paper would have been less fruitful than you would have thought previously.

• Not revealing your source

Remember to remember that you are only summarizing the research paper written by someone else. Hence, providing the source alongside your summarization of that research paper holds a massive value. It would help the reader navigate directly towards the source or author for other information.

Carrying out a summarization of someone else research paper is a challenging task by any means. Most people either do this work for convenience or to satisfy readers not interested in going through thousands of pages written over a research paper. A research paper is of immense value to an author who has provided his knowledge on a specific topic in an elaborate fashion. Therefore, when choosing to summarize that page, you must be careful about many things. Making your research paper summary crisp with only crucial information would allow it to stand out against other variations.

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When writing a summary, the goal is to compose a concise and objective overview of the original article. The summary should focus only on the article's main ideas and important details that support those ideas.

Guidelines for summarizing an article:

• State the main ideas.
• Identify the most important details that support the main ideas.
• Summarize in your own words.
• Do not copy phrases or sentences unless they are being used as direct quotations.
• Express the underlying meaning of the article, but do not critique or analyze.
• The summary should be about one third the length of the original article. 

Your summary should include:

• Give an overview of the article, including the title and the name of the author.
• Provide a thesis statement that states the main idea of the article.
• Use the body paragraphs to explain the supporting ideas of your thesis statement.
• One-paragraph summary - one sentence per supporting detail, providing 1-2 examples for each.
• Multi-paragraph summary - one paragraph per supporting detail, providing 2-3 examples for each.
• Start each paragraph with a topic sentence.
• Use transitional words and phrases to connect ideas.
• Summarize your thesis statement and the underlying meaning of the article.

 Adapted from "Guidelines for Using In-Text Citations in a Summary (or Research Paper)" by Christine Bauer-Ramazani, 2020

Additional Resources

All links open in a new window.

How to Write a Summary - Guide & Examples  (from Scribbr.com)

Writing a Summary  (from The University of Arizona Global Campus Writing Center)

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• Last Updated: Mar 15, 2024 9:32 AM
• URL: https://libguides.randolph.edu/summaries

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Research paper summarizer | An overview of the best AI summarizers

Table of Contents

In scholarly publishing, keeping abreast of the latest research findings and breakthroughs is vital. However, with the ever-expanding scope of scientific knowledge, reading and understanding research article is becoming a hard and time-consuming task.

Plus, the prevalent use of acronyms, jargon, and complex terminologies in research papers is impeding scientific engagement. Therefore, affecting the researcher’s reading interest and perceived understanding of research articles.

In light of this, a recent study from Science Direct enunciated that “automatic summarization of scientific articles helps students speed up their investigation process”. And this underscores the importance of AI tools like research paper summarizers.

This article enunciates the role and advantages of AI summarizers aka ChatPDF tools in enhancing reading comprehension.

What is a Research Paper Summarizer?

Research paper summarizer is an AI-powered article summarizer tool designed to condense extensive academic papers into concise summaries.

These summaries capture the critical points, key findings, and main arguments of a research article and represent them in the most succinct way possible. As a result, researchers quickly grasp the scope of the research paper without spending much time.

What are the benefits of research paper summarizers?

AI summarizers or research paper summarizers are a revolutionary tool that is changing the conventional reading method of scholarly publishing. While the inception of research paper summarizers may seem like a radical shift. By embracing this technology aid, the academic community can manage the challenge of reading comprehension.

Here's where AI summarizers steps in:

Saves you plenty of time

Research paper summarizers offer a streamlined path to the key points, insights, and findings of a paper, saving researchers hours of reading and sifting through vast information.

Imagine the productivity boost when you can certainly review ten papers in the time it used to take to read just one.

Managing information overload

Research paper summarizers combat information overload by presenting the most critical information from a paper instantly. This enables researchers to quickly identify whether key information in a paper is relevant to their work, while saving time from diving into lengthy papers that may not be directly related to their domain or research area of interest.

Improved accessibility for both academicians and non-academicians

Technical research papers are difficult to understand by non-academicians due to scientific jargon and complexity. However, these AI summarization tools make research more inclusive and understandable to non-scientific users, facilitating enhanced knowledge dissemination to users.

Extracts key findings in seconds

With PDF summarizers or AI summarizers, researchers can get critical findings of the research articles with a single click. These AI summarizers pull out the main key points of a long article efficiently, ensuring readers quickly grasp the essence of the study.

For example, Scholarcy, an AI-based tool, creates a summary-length flashcard of research papers enlisting the key insights, references, and figures. This way, it helps you speed-read the article consuming less time.

Cross-disciplinary insights

Traditional research papers are often confined within disciplinary boundaries, making it challenging for researchers to explore ideas beyond their domain or area of interest. Research paper summarizers, however, assist them in comprehending interdisciplinary insights by summarizing the paper in the simplest way possible.

That way, researchers can easily understand and summarize studies from diverse fields, fostering scientific innovation and novel perspectives.

Also read: Top online tools to boost your academic performance

Top 5 AI summarizers — For summarizing research papers

Scispace chatpdf.

SciSpace ChatPDF , an AI tool helps researchers understand research papers by summarizing every bit of the highlighted information. You just have to select the text portion and click on summarize, it generates a summary of the text in seconds. Once you have the summaries, it also allows you to ask follow-up questions if you have. Unlike other tools, it is not only limited to generating summaries, it also assists you Chat with PDF , explaining math, tables, figures, and equations.

• Summarizes and explains text, math, tables, and equations.
• Get summaries in multiple languages. You can interact with the paper in 70+ languages
• It acts as a Chatbot for your paper. You can ask any questions relevant to your paper and it explains it to you
• The answers are reliable as they’re backed by citations.
• Sometimes, it shows repetitive responses

Scholarly is an online article summarizer tool that assists students and researchers in quickly summarizing and comprehending research articles, book chapters, reports, and other documents. The tool simplifies difficult information into digestible chunks, gives context to important sentences, highlights important passages, and enables users to quickly save or export summaries as word documents for later use.

For students and researchers who need to keep up with their academic reading and writing, Scholarcy is a great resource. This AI summarizing tool highlights important facts and results while breaking down intricate information into interactive flashcards. It highlights key points and generate links to open-access versions of cited sources. Any device can read, share, and annotate these flashcards, making it simple to understand the research papers.

• Provides key insights of a lengthy research paper in multiple summary flashcards
• Save your flashcards in a dedicated Scholarcy library
• Free Edge and Chrome extension
• Only 3 free summary flashcards per day
• Glitchy interface
• Need a subscription to access advanced features

TLDR this is an AI-powered tool quickly summarizes any research paper, essay , document, report, and others in just a click. You can get the article summary in two different types — short and brief summary (actual TLDR) or long and detailed summary based on your requirements. All you have to do is, enter the website URL or paste the link to the content and generate a summary

• Generate 10 free summaries at no cost
• The interface is pretty straightforward
• It also tells you if the summary sounds AI-generated or human-like
• The quality of the summary has to be improved as there is essentially no difference between short and long summaries
• Output throws a few sentences from the original text and doesn’t produce an authentic summary

Quillbot Summarizer

Quillbot is another AI summarizing tool designed to break down lengthy articles, papers, or documents into their essential points in an instant and easy way. It works similarly to its paraphrasing tool. By leveraging the power of AI and NLP models, Quillbot online summarizer ensures that the core information is summarized without losing the original context.

Users can benefit from two different AI modes, choosing between "Key Sentences" or "Paragraph Mode" summaries. This summarization tool offers unlimited usage and is 100% free, making it an invaluable asset for researchers and writers alike.

• Availability of different modes of summarization based on the type and length of the content
• You can also paraphrase the obtained summary for a better understanding
• The free version comes with a word limit of 1200 words
• It's observed that the accuracy goes off the line sometimes

Amidst these dedicated AI summarizers, let's not forget ChatGPT. While not exclusively a research paper summarizer, ChatGPT can be an effective tool for summarizing long articles , books, news articles, research articles, reports, and more. By feeding it with the text you wish to summarize, you can get a tailored summary in real time.

• Completely free to use
• Users can clarify, refine, or request more detailed summaries interactively.
• Can produce summaries of varying lengths based on user requirements.
• Might occasionally provide less accurate summaries for very niche topics
• The summaries can sometimes be more verbose

Wrapping up!

While the journey of research paper summarizers has seen massive amounts of growth and adaptation, it's also evident that challenges still exist in terms of accuracy. However, with the rapid pace of technological advancements and the solutions emerging in response to these changes, the future looks promising. These tools will become even more intuitive, accurate, and user-centric, further bridging the gap between new scientific discoveries and their easy comprehension.

Although AI summarizers are valuable tools for quickly extracting essential information from lengthy research papers they should be only used as aids for initial comprehension rather than as substitutes for in-depth reading and analysis. The quality of the summary may vary, so it's essential to evaluate their accuracy for your specific needs.

You can explore all the above-listed tools and let us know which one helped you the most!

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Literature Review

11 Best Summary Graphic Organizer Templates

Discover the top 11 Summary Graphic Organizer templates to streamline your note-taking and enhance comprehension.

Sep 5, 2024

Consider you have a paper due next week, and you’ve already chosen a topic, but you haven’t even begun the writing process. If you’re like most students, this is the point where panic kicks in. As you begin your literature search for sources, you might come across dozens of promising research articles. But instead of feeling relieved, you’re suddenly overwhelmed. What will you do with all this information? How will you organize it? 

Will you even be able to write this paper on time? If this scenario sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Summary graphic organizers can help you tackle overwhelming amounts of information. In this guide, we’ll explore how summary graphic organizers can help you efficiently write research papers and create amazing study material with AI.

Otio’s AI research and writing partner can help you achieve these goals with ease. This innovative tool can cut your research time in half by creating incredible summaries of large amounts of information so you can better organize your notes and write your paper faster. 

Table Of Contents

What is a summary graphic organizer, purpose of a summary graphic organizer, what are the 5 types of graphic organizer examples, how to make a graphic organizer, supercharge your researching ability with otio — try otio for free today.

A summary graphic organizer functions as a visual aid that helps condense and arrange

information from a text or topic into a more focused and structured format. It usually includes charts, diagrams, or other visual elements that break down detailed information into key points, main ideas, and supporting details. Summary graphic organizers can come in many shapes and forms, including: 

A visual representation that starts with a central idea and branches out with related concepts or points. 

Venn Diagrams

Overlapping circles that help compare and contrast different ideas. 

Visual aids that illustrate sequential steps or events in a process or narrative. 

Two-column charts that help compare two aspects of a topic, such as pros and cons. 

Graphic organizers that outline elements of a story, like characters, setting, plot, conflict, and resolution. Summary graphic organizers are important tools in educational settings, where they help students analyze and summarize reading material, organize their thoughts, and improve comprehension. They also work well in presentations and reports, allowing authors to convey information clearly and concisely. 

How Do Summary Graphic Organizers Work? 

Summary graphic organizers work by visually breaking down detailed information into smaller, more manageable chunks. First, a reader identifies a text’s main ideas and supporting details. Next, they transfer this information onto a summary graphic organizer to create a visual representation of the material. 

This helps reduce redundancy, eliminate clutter, and create clear summaries that improve overall understanding. Summary graphic organizers not only help readers summarize information, but also improve memory recall and retention.

Summary graphic organizers help make difficult information easier to comprehend. When students summarize, they create a concise version of a text or topic in their own words. Summary graphic organizers provide a visual representation for this process. 

Instead of writing an outline or starting a summary with a blank page, students can fill in the boxes of a graphic organizer to help them get started. This approach often reduces anxiety associated with summarizing, especially for struggling readers. 

How Summary Graphic Organizers Enhance Comprehension 

A summary graphic organizer aids comprehension by providing a visual way to identify, analyze, and illustrate the relationships between important ideas. This process helps learners not only understand what they are reading but also remember the information for future use. 

The Structure of Summary Graphic Organizers Supports Writing and Studying 

Summary graphic organizers have a defined structure that helps students systematically reduce and organize information. These graphic organizers provide a clear framework for writing summaries, making it easier for students to transition from reading to writing. Summary graphic organizers also help students study for tests by facilitating the reduction and organization of large amounts of information. 

How Summary Graphic Organizers Encourage Critical Thinking 

Creating a summary graphic organizer requires critical thinking skills. As students begin to fill in the sections of the graphic organizer, they must analyze the information, determine what is most important, and organize it in a logical way. This process helps students develop higher order thinking skills they can transfer to other tasks and subjects. 

Using Summary Graphic Organizers for Collaborative Learning 

Summary graphic organizers can be used as a collaborative learning strategy to help students from diverse backgrounds build knowledge and create a shared understanding of content. When used in group settings, summary graphic organizers can help students collaborate by providing a shared visual framework to discuss and compare their understanding of the material. Let Otio be your AI research and writing partner — try Otio for free today!

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1. Unpacking the Circle Map Graphic Organizer

The circle map graphic organizer is an ideal tool for brainstorming an idea or topic using related information. A circle map consists of a large circle with another circle inside, where the main topic or idea takes center stage. Surrounding it is the larger circle where corresponding ideas flow. As the second circle fills up, connections and definitions grow organically and visually. 

In the second circle, any type of wording can define the main idea; nouns, adjectives or even phrases. Preschoolers can also use the circle map to learn simple concepts like colors and shapes. For example, the triangle shape. The word "triangle" goes in the center, and surrounding it are things that have a triangle shape. The outer circle can even include how a triangle makes them feel. Circle maps are great for brainstorming at the very beginning of an idea. You can use it on a whiteboard for a group brainstorm session. 

With the help of a circle map, great ideas can begin to take shape, and eventually become complete and complex plans. You can also use a circle map to get the ball rolling with a newly created team! If the team members don’t know each other very well, a circle map exercise can break the ice and get them to open up about their ideas. Use the interior circle to ask, “What do we want to achieve with this project?” and watch the interaction flourish.

2. Exploring the Spider Map Graphic Organizer

The spider map graphic organizer defines a main topic with specific descriptive connections. In this instance, the center circle stems off to other circles that surround it, creating a visual image of a spider. Each connected leg and circle will include a defining adjective or phrase. The difference between a circle map and a spider map is that the circle map is more suited for a brainstorming stage, while the spider map is better for defining a topic in detail. 

In schools, the spider map makes a regular appearance in science classrooms. Students learn to define new lessons visually, by defining the main topic with a spider map. For example, consider the subject of animal families. The center circle is mammals and the surrounding circles represent characteristics like give birth, live young, have fur, etc. In a marketing setting, you can use a spider map to define an audience persona. In the middle circle, we state the general idea of the persona, such as "a multiracial millennial male." 

In the surrounding circles, we add defining adjectives like works for himself, lives in the city, considers his friends his family, and more. Another use for a spider map is for goal setting. There are a couple of ways to do this. One is to figure out a set of goals in a timeframe, like the spider map example above on yearly goals. The other idea is to map out why you want to complete a certain goal. For example, "Why do I need a new website?" can go in the center. The surrounding circles can include things like the design is boring and dated or the UX is not working very well. This can then help sort out the exact things that you need to change on your website!

3. Navigating the Idea Wheel Graphic Organizer

The idea wheel is like a mixture of the circle map and the spider map. This graphic organizer works for brainstorming and organizing ideas at the same time. The center of the chart holds the main topic which is being studied and around it there can be other circles or shapes, a sectioned larger circle or connected bubbles. 

The purpose of an idea wheel is to organize information hierarchically or as a sequence. Thoughts are added around the main idea in specific sections, and then explained inside the same circle or with a shape stemming out. Idea wheels are good for freestyle brainstorming and organizing information about a topic. It helps with taking notes while doing research or getting an idea of the bigger picture. 

4. Getting to Know the Idea Web Graphic Organizer

The ideal web graphic organizer is a combination of two spider maps. It's basically a comparison organizer that defines differences and similarities between topics. In an idea web, the two central circles contain the main ideas. Stemming out from both are circles of two types. In the two first stemmed circles are the shared similarities. 

Towards the sides are the circles that define the differences. This type of organizer is perfect for situations in which concepts or ideas need a visual comparison. School students use idea webs for courses like Language Arts. They compare characters, situations and parts of the story, making it all easier to grasp. Another situation in which an idea map could come in handy is when making decisions. If you have to choose between two solutions to a problem, an idea web can help you make a final decision. 

By comparing and contrasting visually, the option becomes more clear. In the same way, an idea web can be a slide inside a presentation. It can show a comparison between concepts. Idea webs can also work really well as infographics. The layout of the circles doesn’t need to follow a strict grid. Get creative with organizing the circles as long as they're still understandable.

5. Digging Into the Concept Map Graphic Organizer

Very similar to an idea web is the concept map. This type of graphic organizer can analyze one single topic instead of two or more topics at once. A concept map and an idea web look very similar with circles stemming out from the center. The difference is that an idea web is for comparing while a concept map is for brainstorming and organizing. Concept maps sometimes stem out in so many directions that they end up looking really complicated. 

These types of graphic organizers are good for many stages of content production. From the messy brainstorm stage to the more structured hierarchical organization. This type of organizational chart usually ends up very large and complex. It's more suited for personal use than for an infographic or presentation. Although, a concept map is sometimes used for data visualizations that show connections between topics. 

1. Otio: The Researcher’s New Best Friend

Researchers, students, and other knowledge workers today suffer from content overload. The issue with content overload is that there is so much information available that, rather than helping, it hinders productivity. Knowledge workers can no longer read everything available on a topic and expect to produce high-quality work. Instead, they need to collect, organize, and synthesize pertinent information to support their writing. 

Otio helps with this process . It is an AI-native workspace that helps researchers collect data, extract key takeaways, and create written outputs. Otio's top features include; AI-generated notes on all bookmarks (Youtube videos, PDFs, articles, etc.), chat functionality with individual links or entire knowledge bases, just like you chat with ChatGPT, as well as AI-assisted writing. Let Otio help you with your next research and writing project. 

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2. Fiction Summary: Summarizing Works of Fiction

Summarizing fictional texts helps students sift through content and identify the most important information. Often, summarizing fiction requires that students zero in on the main characters, the setting, the conflict, explanation of the problem, and how the problem is resolved. Using a graphic organizer to break down the plot in this manner helps students focus on the pertinent information and avoid extraneous details.

3. Story Summary: Using “Somebody Wanted But So Then” to Summarize

An additional way to set up a graphic organizer for students to summarize a piece of fiction is to guide students by using the words “somebody”, “wanted”, “but”, “so”, and “then”. Each word can be broken down even further. For example: Somebody: Who is the main character? Wanted: What did the main character want? But: What was the problem? So: How was the problem solved? Then: How did the story end?

4. Plot Summary: Crafting a Plot Summary

Crafting a plot summary is simply a plot diagram in written form. Students start with the exposition, identifying the main character and setting. Next, students move to the rising action where they record the problem and events relating to the problem. After recording the rising action, students identify the climax, or the point in the story where the problem is at its highest point of tension. 

Following the climax, students record the events that move the conflict toward a resolution, also known as the falling action. Finally, students are ready to record the resolution. Using a plot diagram as a graphic organizer provides students with an excellent visual representation of the summary.

5. Chapter Summary: Summarizing a Chapter of a Book

Summarizing a book chapter requires students to practice sorting events in chronological order. Setting up the graphic organizer in a way that moves students progressively forward in time works well. Additionally, incorporating transition words such as “first”, “next”, “after that”, and “finally” will help to keep students on track and focused on major content included in the chapter.

6. Sequence Summary: Summarizing by Sequencing Events in a Text

The ability to sequence events in a text is a key comprehension strategy, especially for narrative texts. A sequence summary graphic organizer follows the sequence of events laid out in the text. Students are guided through the beginning, middle, and end of the story with a series of prompts. For example: Beginning: Describe the main characters and the setting. Middle: Explain the problem and things that happen because of it. End: Explain how the problem is resolved and how the story ends.

7. Non-Fiction Summary: Summarizing Informational Texts

When summarizing nonfiction or informational text, we want students to be able to identify the topic, main idea, and supporting details. Students should also be able to provide textual evidence for each detail. A graphic organizer will help to scaffold students through the entire process. Ideally, students will understand that each piece is a more focused version of the last.

8. Biography Summary: Summarizing Biographical Texts

When students are writing a summary based on a biography, it is helpful to have a graphic organizer that focuses on the 5Ws (who, what, when, where, why). Taken a step further, each “W” can be broken down into a specific question: Who is the person? What did this person achieve? When did this person become well known? Where did this person live and work? Why is this person important? How will this person be remembered?

9. Article Summary: Summarizing Articles

Aside from including the article title, author, publication, and date, it is important for students to be able to identify the topic, main idea, and supporting details. The graphic organizer should start with the main idea and narrow down from there. That way, students will be guided in the right direction.

10. GIST Summary: The GIST Approach to Summarizing

A GIST summary requires students to paint a broad picture of the text. Students will identify and record who, what, when, where, why, and how. Next, students use the information recorded for each of the 5Ws to craft a one-sentence summary of the text.

11. 5 Sentence Summary: A Summary Template for Any Text

The five-sentence summary graphic organizer will work for fiction or nonfiction text. Each portion of the template moves students through the content of the text. Students begin with the topic or main idea, record three important details or facts, and finish with the wrap-up or resolution. The five-sentence summary works well for short pieces of literature or informational text.

Kickoff with Google Sheets

Launch Google Sheets and create a new blank spreadsheet. You can do this by clicking on the "+ New/Blank" button in the upper-left corner of the screen. 

Organize Your Columns

Next, start building your graphic organizer by adding your categories to the first row or column. These categories will serve as the column headers for your graphic organizer.

Make It Yours

Use the formatting tools in Google Sheets to customize the appearance of your graphic organizer. You can change the font, font size, color, and background color of your text to make it more visually appealing. Play around with the format until you find a style that works for you.

Fill ‘Er Up

Enter your research notes under each category in the corresponding column. You can add text, numbers, and even images to your sheet. Continue to add notes as your research progresses, adding new categories or columns as needed.

• Systematic Review Vs Meta Analysis • Impact Evaluation • How To Critique A Research Article • How To Synthesize Sources • Annotation Techniques • Skimming And Scanning • Types Of Literature Reviews • Literature Review Table • Literature Review Matrix • How To Increase Reading Speed And Comprehension • How To Read Research Papers • How To Summarize A Research Paper • Literature Gap • Can You Use "We" in a Research Paper • AI in Research

Researchers, students, and knowledge workers today face severe content overload. It seems like every day there is more research, news and commentary published about COVID-19, and it can be overwhelming.  Otio solves this problem . This AI-native workspace helps you to make sense of literature to get through your academic workflow faster.  Otio helps you to collect, extract, and create. First, you collect a wide range of data sources, from bookmarks, tweets, and extensive books to YouTube videos. 

Next, Otio helps you extract key takeaways with detailed AI-generated notes. Finally, you can create draft outputs using the sources you’ve collected. For researchers, Otio helps you to go from reading list to first draft faster. Along with this, Otio also helps you write research papers/essays faster. Here are our top features that are loved by researchers: AI-generated notes on all bookmarks (Youtube videos, PDFs, articles, etc.), Otio enables you to chat with individual links or entire knowledge bases, just like you chat with ChatGPT, as well as AI assisted writing.  

Let Otio be your AI research and writing partner — try Otio for free today !

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Research: How to Delegate Decision-Making Strategically

• Hayley Blunden
• Mary Steffel

A recent study examined the negative consequences of handing off responsibilities — and how to avoid them.

Delegating work can help free up managers’ time and energy while empowering their employees to take on meaningful tasks. Yet, previous research has shown that delegating decision-making can cause employees to feel overly burdened. In a new paper, researchers examine the negative impact that handing over choice responsibility can have on delegator-delegate relationships. They offer research-backed solutions for delegating decisions more fairly in order to offset some of delegation’s negative interpersonal consequences.

Effective delegation is critical to managerial success : delegating properly can help empower employees , and those who delegate can increase their earnings . Delegation can also be a way for managers to give employees experience and control, especially when they delegate decision-making responsibilities, which allow employees to exhibit agency over important stakes. Yet, some of our recent research has shown that employees can view delegated decision-making as a burden that they would prefer to avoid.

• Hayley Blunden is an assistant professor of management at the Kogod School of Business at American University. Her research focuses on how leaders can make workplace interaction more productive.
• MS Mary Steffel is an associate professor of marketing at D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University. Her research focuses on examining when we call upon others to help us make decisions, how we navigate making decisions for others, and how we can support others in making better decisions. See her faculty page here .

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The Global Handwashing Partnership

2023 hand hygiene research summary.

Published: September 9, 2024

The 2023 hand hygiene research summary outlines key themes and findings from hygiene-related research papers published in 2023. Sections include:

• Impact of Hand Hygiene • Handwashing Access and Supplies • Determinants of Hand Hygiene Behaviour • Interventions for Hand Hygiene Behaviour Change • Monitoring Hand Hygiene Behaviour

This summary provides the latest research, key findings, and guidance on hand hygiene best practices for program implementers, policy actors and researchers.

TAGS: Partnership Documents Research Integration Handwashing Promotion Monitoring & Evaluation Hygiene in Health Facilities Hygiene in the Workplace Hygiene in Schools Handwashing Technologies Hygiene in Emergencies

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