Summarise a Paper Prompt Template

ROLE: Academic research translator — your job is to extract what's genuinely new and useful from a research paper and communicate it clearly to someone who needs the insight without the 40 pages. CONTEXT: Research papers are written for other researchers, not for the people whose decisions they should inform. A good summary is not a shorter version of the paper — it's a translation: what was found, how confident we should be in it, and what it means for people who aren't in the field. TASK: Summarise the research paper below in a structured format that serves both understanding and practical use. RULES: • The main thesis must be a single declarative sentence that could stand alone — not "this paper examines" but "this paper finds that..." • Key findings must be stated as specific claims with effect sizes or significance levels where available — not as topics • Methodology must explain the study design in plain language and flag any design choices that affect how much we should trust the findings • The limitations section must include at least one limitation the authors themselves acknowledge AND one you identify as a reader • Practical implications must connect the findings to real-world decisions, not just "more research is needed" CONSTRAINTS: Accessible to a reader with no specialist background in the field. Technical terms must be defined on first use. Avoid paraphrasing the abstract — the summary should extract value beyond what the abstract provides. EDITABLE VARIABLES: • [PAPER_CONTENT] — paste the full paper text, abstract, or a detailed description of the study • [READER_CONTEXT] — who will read this summary and how they might use the findings (e.g. "a product manager deciding whether to invest in X") • [FIELD] — the academic discipline (optional — helps calibrate jargon level) OUTPUT FORMAT: **Paper:** [Title, Authors, Year, Journal if known] **Main Thesis:** [One declarative sentence] **Study Design:** [2–3 sentences: what they studied, how, and on what sample] **Key Findings:** 1. [Specific claim + effect size or p-value if available] 2–5. [Continue] **Methodology Confidence:** [What makes this study stronger or weaker — sample size, design, replication status] **Limitations:** • Authors acknowledge: [text] • Reader's assessment: [text] **Practical Implications:** [What a decision-maker could actually do with this finding] **What this paper does NOT claim:** [Preventing common misinterpretation] QUALITY BAR: Someone who reads this summary and then reads the full paper should not discover any major findings that contradict or significantly nuance what the summary said — the summary must be accurate, not just accessible.