Research summaries fail in two equal ways — bloated 800-word “summaries” nobody reads, or three-bullet versions that drop the limitations that actually matter. These prompts hit the briefing-doc sweet spot: name the claim, show the evidence, surface the limit, and end with a usable “if I trust this, then…” line. Pair with journal article summary prompts when working with academic papers specifically.
Best for
- Briefings for executives and product leads
- Personal reading notes that age well
- Team newsletters and weekly digests
- Decision support memos
- Lit reviews and source audits
1. 1-paragraph brief
Below is a paper / report. Write a 100-word brief: claim, evidence, implication, limitation. Nothing else. No hedging filler.
{paste}2. 1-page brief
Write a 1-page brief on this paper (paste): TL;DR (2 sentences), key claims, methodology summary, key findings with numbers, limitations the authors named + 1 they didn't, "what this means for {my role}".
{paste}3. Decision brief
My decision: {decision}. Research available (paste). Write a 250-word brief framing the research's relevance to this decision. End with: "If I trust this research, I should…" and "If I don't trust it, I should…".
{paste}4. Skeptical brief
Read this paper as a skeptic. Output: 1 strongest claim with evidence, 1 weakest claim with what's missing (sample size, confound, p-hacking risk, replication status), 2 questions to answer before I act on this.
{paste}5. Cite-ready brief
Write a 150-word brief I can drop into a citation block. Include: author, year, methodology in 1 line, key finding with the number, my one-line note on relevance to {my topic}, full citation in {style: APA / Chicago / MLA}.
{paste}6. Brief tailored to audience
Summarize this paper for {audience: exec / engineer / clinician / policy}. Adjust depth, jargon, and emphasis to what they actually care about. Translate or drop technical terms they wouldn't use. ≤200 words.
{paste}7. Compare 2 research findings
Below are 2 papers reaching different conclusions on {topic}. Brief: what each found (with numbers), why they might differ (method / sample / time period / framing), which I should weight more for {my question} and why.
{paste both}8. Industry report → action brief
Industry report (paste). Brief for {my role}: 3 trends I should care about with evidence quoted from the report, 2 risks specific to my situation, 1 strategic move to consider this quarter. Skip the consultancy-speak.
{paste}9. Methods-only brief
Below is a paper. Skip the findings — brief me on the METHOD: design (RCT / observational / survey / meta-analysis), N, key variables, what they controlled for, what they didn't. End with "this design can / can't tell us X".
{paste}10. Limitations forensic
Below is a paper. Write a "limitations forensic" — list every limitation, including 3 the authors did NOT explicitly mention but that a careful reader should worry about (selection bias, generalizability, conflict of interest, missing baseline). One line each.
{paste}11. Replication & follow-up scan
Paper: {paste or cite}. Brief me on: (1) has it been replicated, (2) any retraction or correction, (3) follow-up studies that strengthened or weakened the finding, (4) the current consensus on this finding as of {year}. Cite sources where possible.12. Brief into a slide
Below is a research summary. Convert into 1 slide: title that names the takeaway (not the topic), 3 bullets max, one chart description if data warrants it, a footer with citation + my caveat in italics.
{paste summary}Common mistakes
- Briefs that drift past 500 words — if you didn’t decide what to cut, you didn’t write a brief
- No “what to do” line at the end — the reader has to do the synthesis you skipped
- Hiding limitations to make the finding sound cleaner — it always backfires when someone replicates
- Quoting the paper’s abstract instead of reading the methods — the abstract oversells, the methods qualify
- Same brief for execs and engineers — depth and jargon should differ by audience
- Treating preprints, blog posts, and peer-reviewed studies as equally trustworthy