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How To Write A Research Summary

It’s a common perception that writing a research summary is a quick and easy task. After all, how hard can jotting down 300 words be? But when you consider the weight those 300 words carry, writing a research summary as a part of your dissertation, essay or compelling draft for your paper instantly becomes daunting task.

A research summary requires you to synthesize a complex research paper into an informative, self-explanatory snapshot. It needs to portray what your article contains. Thus, writing it often comes at the end of the task list.

Regardless of when you’re planning to write, it is no less of a challenge, particularly if you’re doing it for the first time. This blog will take you through everything you need to know about research summary so that you have an easier time with it.

What is a Research Summary?

A research summary is the part of your research paper that describes its findings to the audience in a brief yet concise manner. A well-curated research summary represents you and your knowledge about the information written in the research paper.

While writing a quality research summary, you need to discover and identify the significant points in the research and condense it in a more straightforward form. A research summary is like a doorway that provides access to the structure of a research paper's sections.

Since the purpose of a summary is to give an overview of the topic, methodology, and conclusions employed in a paper, it requires an objective approach. No analysis or criticism.

Research summary or Abstract. What’s the Difference?

They’re both brief, concise, and give an overview of an aspect of the research paper. So, it’s easy to understand why many new researchers get the two confused. However, a research summary and abstract are two very different things with individual purpose. To start with, a research summary is written at the end while the abstract comes at the beginning of a research paper.

A research summary captures the essence of the paper at the end of your document. It focuses on your topic, methods, and findings. More like a TL;DR, if you will. An abstract, on the other hand, is a description of what your research paper is about. It tells your reader what your topic or hypothesis is, and sets a context around why you have embarked on your research.

Getting Started with a Research Summary

Before you start writing, you need to get insights into your research’s content, style, and organization. There are three fundamental areas of a research summary that you should focus on.

• While deciding the contents of your research summary, you must include a section on its importance as a whole, the techniques, and the tools that were used to formulate the conclusion. Additionally, there needs to be a short but thorough explanation of how the findings of the research paper have a significance.
• To keep the summary well-organized, try to cover the various sections of the research paper in separate paragraphs. Besides, how the idea of particular factual research came up first must be explained in a separate paragraph.
• As a general practice worldwide, research summaries are restricted to 300-400 words. However, if you have chosen a lengthy research paper, try not to exceed the word limit of 10% of the entire research paper.

How to Structure Your Research Summary

The research summary is nothing but a concise form of the entire research paper. Therefore, the structure of a summary stays the same as the paper. So, include all the section titles and write a little about them. The structural elements that a research summary must consist of are:

It represents the topic of the research. Try to phrase it so that it includes the key findings or conclusion of the task.

The abstract gives a context of the research paper. Unlike the abstract at the beginning of a paper, the abstract here, should be very short since you’ll be working with a limited word count.

Introduction

This is the most crucial section of a research summary as it helps readers get familiarized with the topic. You should include the definition of your topic, the current state of the investigation, and practical relevance in this part. Additionally, you should present the problem statement, investigative measures, and any hypothesis in this section.

Methodology

This section provides details about the methodology and the methods adopted to conduct the study. You should write a brief description of the surveys, sampling, type of experiments, statistical analysis, and the rationality behind choosing those particular methods.

Create a list of evidence obtained from the various experiments with a primary analysis, conclusions, and interpretations made upon that. In the paper research paper, you will find the results section as the most detailed and lengthy part. Therefore, you must pick up the key elements and wisely decide which elements are worth including and which are worth skipping.

This is where you present the interpretation of results in the context of their application. Discussion usually covers results, inferences, and theoretical models explaining the obtained values, key strengths, and limitations. All of these are vital elements that you must include in the summary.

Most research papers merge conclusion with discussions. However, depending upon the instructions, you may have to prepare this as a separate section in your research summary. Usually, conclusion revisits the hypothesis and provides the details about the validation or denial about the arguments made in the research paper, based upon how convincing the results were obtained.

The structure of a research summary closely resembles the anatomy of a scholarly article . Additionally, you should keep your research and references limited to authentic and  scholarly sources only.

Tips for Writing a Research Summary

The core concept behind undertaking a research summary is to present a simple and clear understanding of your research paper to the reader. The biggest hurdle while doing that is the number of words you have at your disposal. So, follow the steps below to write a research summary that sticks.

1. Read the parent paper thoroughly

You should go through the research paper thoroughly multiple times to ensure that you have a complete understanding of its contents. A 3-stage reading process helps.

a. Scan: In the first read, go through it to get an understanding of its basic concept and methodologies.

b. Read: For the second step, read the article attentively by going through each section, highlighting the key elements, and subsequently listing the topics that you will include in your research summary.

c. Skim: Flip through the article a few more times to study the interpretation of various experimental results, statistical analysis, and application in different contexts.

Sincerely go through different headings and subheadings as it will allow you to understand the underlying concept of each section. You can try reading the introduction and conclusion simultaneously to understand the motive of the task and how obtained results stay fit to the expected outcome.

2. Identify the key elements in different sections

While exploring different sections of an article, you can try finding answers to simple what, why, and how. Below are a few pointers to give you an idea:

• What is the research question and how is it addressed?
• Is there a hypothesis in the introductory part?
• What type of methods are being adopted?
• What is the sample size for data collection and how is it being analyzed?
• What are the most vital findings?
• Do the results support the hypothesis?

Discussion/Conclusion

• What is the final solution to the problem statement?
• What is the explanation for the obtained results?
• What is the drawn inference?
• What are the various limitations of the study?

3. Prepare the first draft

Now that you’ve listed the key points that the paper tries to demonstrate, you can start writing the summary following the standard structure of a research summary. Just make sure you’re not writing statements from the parent research paper verbatim.

Instead, try writing down each section in your own words. This will not only help in avoiding plagiarism but will also show your complete understanding of the subject. Alternatively, you can use a summarizing tool (AI-based summary generators) to shorten the content or summarize the content without disrupting the actual meaning of the article.

SciSpace Copilot is one such helpful feature! You can easily upload your research paper and ask Copilot to summarize it. You will get an AI-generated, condensed research summary. SciSpace Copilot also enables you to highlight text, clip math and tables, and ask any question relevant to the research paper; it will give you instant answers with deeper context of the article..

4. Include visuals

One of the best ways to summarize and consolidate a research paper is to provide visuals like graphs, charts, pie diagrams, etc.. Visuals make getting across the facts, the past trends, and the probabilistic figures around a concept much more engaging.

5. Double check for plagiarism

It can be very tempting to copy-paste a few statements or the entire paragraphs depending upon the clarity of those sections. But it’s best to stay away from the practice. Even paraphrasing should be done with utmost care and attention.

Also: QuillBot vs SciSpace: Choose the best AI-paraphrasing tool

6. Religiously follow the word count limit

You need to have strict control while writing different sections of a research summary. In many cases, it has been observed that the research summary and the parent research paper become the same length. If that happens, it can lead to discrediting of your efforts and research summary itself. Whatever the standard word limit has been imposed, you must observe that carefully.

7. Proofread your research summary multiple times

The process of writing the research summary can be exhausting and tiring. However, you shouldn’t allow this to become a reason to skip checking your academic writing several times for mistakes like misspellings, grammar, wordiness, and formatting issues. Proofread and edit until you think your research summary can stand out from the others, provided it is drafted perfectly on both technicality and comprehension parameters. You can also seek assistance from editing and proofreading services , and other free tools that help you keep these annoying grammatical errors at bay.

8. Watch while you write

Keep a keen observation of your writing style. You should use the words very precisely, and in any situation, it should not represent your personal opinions on the topic. You should write the entire research summary in utmost impersonal, precise, factually correct, and evidence-based writing.

9. Ask a friend/colleague to help

Once you are done with the final copy of your research summary, you must ask a friend or colleague to read it. You must test whether your friend or colleague could grasp everything without referring to the parent paper. This will help you in ensuring the clarity of the article.

Once you become familiar with the research paper summary concept and understand how to apply the tips discussed above in your current task, summarizing a research summary won’t be that challenging. While traversing the different stages of your academic career, you will face different scenarios where you may have to create several research summaries.

In such cases, you just need to look for answers to simple questions like “Why this study is necessary,” “what were the methods,” “who were the participants,” “what conclusions were drawn from the research,” and “how it is relevant to the wider world.” Once you find out the answers to these questions, you can easily create a good research summary following the standard structure and a precise writing style.

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Home » Research Summary – Structure, Examples and Writing Guide

Research Summary – Structure, Examples and Writing Guide

Table of Contents

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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• Research Summary: What Is It & How To Write One

Introduction

A research summary is a requirement during academic research and sometimes you might need to prepare a research summary during a research project for an organization.

Most people find a research summary a daunting task as you are required to condense complex research material into an informative, easy-to-understand article most times with a minimum of 300-500 words.

In this post, we will guide you through all the steps required to make writing your research summary an easier task. 

What is a Research Summary?

A research summary is a piece of writing that summarizes the research of a specific topic into bite-size easy-to-read and comprehend articles. The primary goal is to give the reader a detailed outline of the key findings of a research.

It is an unavoidable requirement in colleges and universities. To write a good research summary, you must understand the goal of your research, as this would help make the process easier. 

A research summary preserves the structure and sections of the article it is derived from.

Research Summary or Abstract: What’s The Difference?

The Research Summary and Abstract are similar, especially as they are both brief, straight to the point, and provide an overview of the entire research paper. However, there are very clear differences.

To begin with, a Research summary is written at the end of a research activity, while the Abstract is written at the beginning of a research paper. 

A Research Summary captures the main points of a study, with an emphasis on the topic, method , and discoveries, an Abstract is a description of what your research paper would talk about and the reason for your research or the hypothesis you are trying to validate.

Let us take a deeper look at the difference between both terms.

What is an Abstract?

An abstract is a short version of a research paper. It is written to convey the findings of the research to the reader. It provides the reader with information that would help them understand the research, by giving them a clear idea about the subject matter of a research paper. It is usually submitted before the presentation of a research paper.

What is a Summary?

A summary is a short form of an essay, a research paper, or a chapter in a book. A research summary is a narration of a research study, condensing the focal points of research to a shorter form, usually aligned with the same structure of the research study, from which the summary is derived.

What Is The Difference Between an Abstract and a Summary?

An abstract communicates the main points of a research paper, it includes the questions, major findings, the importance of the findings, etc.

An abstract reflects the perceptions of the author about a topic, while a research summary reflects the ideology of the research study that is being summarized.

Getting Started with a Research Summary

Before commencing a research summary, there is a need to understand the style and organization of the content you plan to summarize. There are three fundamental areas of the research that should be the focal point:

• When deciding on the content include a section that speaks to the importance of the research, and the techniques and tools used to arrive at your conclusion.
• Keep the summary well organized, and use paragraphs to discuss the various sections of the research.
• Restrict your research to 300-400 words which is the standard practice for research summaries globally. However, if the research paper you want to summarize is a lengthy one, do not exceed 10% of the entire research material.

Once you have satisfied the requirements of the fundamentals for starting your research summary, you can now begin to write using the following format:

• Why was this research done?   – A clear description of the reason the research was embarked on and the hypothesis being tested.
• Who was surveyed? – Your research study should have details of the source of your information. If it was via a survey, you should document who the participants of the survey were and the reason that they were selected.
• What was the methodology? – Discuss the methodology, in terms of what kind of survey method did you adopt. Was it a face-to-face interview, a phone interview, or a focus group setting?
• What were the key findings? – This is perhaps the most vital part of the process. What discoveries did you make after the testing? This part should be based on raw facts free from any personal bias.
• Conclusion – What conclusions did you draw from the findings?
• Takeaways and action points – This is where your views and perception can be reflected. Here, you can now share your recommendations or action points.
• Identify the focal point of the article –  In other to get a grasp of the content covered in the research paper, you can skim the article first, in a bid to understand the most essential part of the research paper. 
• Analyze and understand the topic and article – Writing a summary of a research paper involves being familiar with the topic –  the current state of knowledge, key definitions, concepts, and models. This is often gleaned while reading the literature review. Please note that only a deep understanding ensures efficient and accurate summarization of the content.
• Make notes as you read – Highlight and summarize each paragraph as you read. Your notes are what you would further condense to create a draft that would form your research summary.

How to Structure Your Research Summary

• Title – This highlights the area of analysis, and can be formulated to briefly highlight key findings.
• Abstract – this is a very brief and comprehensive description of the study, required in every academic article, with a length of 100-500 words at most. 
• Introduction – this is a vital part of any research summary, it provides the context and the literature review that gently introduces readers to the subject matter. The introduction usually covers definitions, questions, and hypotheses of the research study. 
• Methodology –This section emphasizes the process and or data analysis methods used, in terms of experiments, surveys, sampling, or statistical analysis. 
• Results section – this section lists in detail the results derived from the research with evidence obtained from all the experiments conducted.
• Discussion – these parts discuss the results within the context of current knowledge among subject matter experts. Interpretation of results and theoretical models explaining the observed results, the strengths of the study, and the limitations experienced are going to be a part of the discussion. 
• Conclusion – In a conclusion, hypotheses are discussed and revalidated or denied, based on how convincing the evidence is.
• References – this section is for giving credit to those who work you studied to create your summary. You do this by providing appropriate citations as you write.

Research Summary Example 1

Below are some defining elements of a sample research summary.

Title – “The probability of an unexpected volcanic eruption in Greenwich”

Introduction – this section would list the catastrophic consequences that occurred in the country and the importance of analyzing this event. 

Hypothesis –  An eruption of the Greenwich supervolcano would be preceded by intense preliminary activity manifesting in advance, before the eruption.

Results – these could contain a report of statistical data from various volcanic eruptions happening globally while looking critically at the activity that occurred before these events. 

Discussion and conclusion – Given that Greenwich is now consistently monitored by scientists and that signs of an eruption are usually detected before the volcanic eruption, this confirms the hypothesis. Hence creating an emergency plan outlining other intervention measures and ultimately evacuation is essential. 

Research Summary Example 2

Below is another sample sketch.

Title – “The frequency of extreme weather events in the UK in 2000-2008 as compared to the ‘60s”

Introduction – Weather events bring intense material damage and cause pain to the victims affected.

Hypothesis – Extreme weather events are more frequent in recent times compared to the ‘50s

Results – The frequency of several categories of extreme events now and then are listed here, such as droughts, fires, massive rainfall/snowfalls, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.

Discussion and conclusion – Several types of extreme events have become more commonplace in recent times, confirming the hypothesis. This rise in extreme weather events can be traced to rising CO2 levels and increasing temperatures and global warming explain the rising frequency of these disasters. Addressing the rising CO2 levels and paying attention to climate change is the only to combat this phenomenon.

A research summary is the short form of a research paper, analyzing the important aspect of the study. Everyone who reads a research summary has a full grasp of the main idea being discussed in the original research paper. Conducting any research means you will write a summary, which is an important part of your project and would be the most read part of your project.

Having a guideline before you start helps, this would form your checklist which would guide your actions as you write your research summary. It is important to note that a Research Summary is different from an Abstract paper written at the beginning of a research paper, describing the idea behind a research paper.

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Research Summary: What is it & how to write one

The Research Summary is used to report facts about a study clearly. You will almost certainly be required to prepare a research summary during your academic research or while on a research project for your organization.

If it is the first time you have to write one, the writing requirements may confuse you. The instructors generally assign someone to write a summary of the research work. Research summaries require the writer to have a thorough understanding of the issue.

This article will discuss the definition of a research summary and how to write one.

What is a research summary?

A research summary is a piece of writing that summarizes your research on a specific topic. Its primary goal is to offer the reader a detailed overview of the study with the key findings. A research summary generally contains the article’s structure in which it is written.

You must know the goal of your analysis before you launch a project. A research overview summarizes the detailed response and highlights particular issues raised in it. Writing it might be somewhat troublesome. To write a good overview, you want to start with a structure in mind. Read on for our guide.

Why is an analysis recap so important?

Your summary or analysis is going to tell readers everything about your research project. This is the critical piece that your stakeholders will read to identify your findings and valuable insights. Having a good and concise research summary that presents facts and comes with no research biases is the critical deliverable of any research project.

We’ve put together a cheat sheet to help you write a good research summary below.

Research Summary Guide

• Why was this research done?  – You want to give a clear description of why this research study was done. What hypothesis was being tested?
• Who was surveyed? – The what and why or your research decides who you’re going to interview/survey. Your research summary has a detailed note on who participated in the study and why they were selected. 
• What was the methodology? – Talk about the methodology. Did you do face-to-face interviews? Was it a short or long survey or a focus group setting? Your research methodology is key to the results you’re going to get. 
• What were the key findings? – This can be the most critical part of the process. What did we find out after testing the hypothesis? This section, like all others, should be just facts, facts facts. You’re not sharing how you feel about the findings. Keep it bias-free.
• Conclusion – What are the conclusions that were drawn from the findings. A good example of a conclusion. Surprisingly, most people interviewed did not watch the lunar eclipse in 2022, which is unexpected given that 100% of those interviewed knew about it before it happened.
• Takeaways and action points – This is where you bring in your suggestion. Given the data you now have from the research, what are the takeaways and action points? If you’re a researcher running this research project for your company, you’ll use this part to shed light on your recommended action plans for the business.

LEARN ABOUT:   Action Research

If you’re doing any research, you will write a summary, which will be the most viewed and more important part of the project. So keep a guideline in mind before you start. Focus on the content first and then worry about the length. Use the cheat sheet/checklist in this article to organize your summary, and that’s all you need to write a great research summary!

But once your summary is ready, where is it stored? Most teams have multiple documents in their google drives, and it’s a nightmare to find projects that were done in the past. Your research data should be democratized and easy to use.

We at QuestionPro launched a research repository for research teams, and our clients love it. All your data is in one place, and everything is searchable, including your research summaries! 

Authors: Prachi, Anas

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A comprehensive guide on how to write a research summary paper, rachel r.n..

• November 30, 2023
• How to Guides

Learning how to summarize a research paper is a really important skill for academics. You might need to do it often for different reasons like writing an introduction for a journal article, giving feedback, or just keeping a useful record for later.

Summarizing a research paper can be tough because the papers are usually complex. But having a plan can make it easier. Spending time getting good at this can also make you better at science overall, and help you work faster and better.

So, what is a research summary? It’s a short and clear overview of a research paper. It covers what the study was about, what they found, how they did it, what they concluded, and why it matters. Writing a good summary shows that you really understood the paper.

By following the guidelines and tips provided in this guide, you will be able to excel in your writing endeavors and produce high-quality research papers.

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Preliminary steps to Writing a Research Summary Paper

Quickly read through the article to understand what each part talks about and figure out which parts are more important. Make sure you know what your professor wants from you. Decide if you want to summarize it yourself or get help from a cheap research paper writing service.

Understand the topic and article . To write a summary, you need to know a lot about the subject. Sometimes, you can’t understand the content unless you know about the current knowledge, key definitions, concepts, and models. This usually happens when you’re reading the literature review. For the paper itself, you need to understand analysis questions, hypotheses, evidence listed, and how strong that evidence supports the hypotheses. Also, understand the implications of the analysis. Only when you really understand can you summarize well.

Take notes as you read. You can highlight or sum up each paragraph with a short sentence that records the main idea. But be careful not to write too much while reading. This is because as you read, you might find that some parts you thought were important are actually less important than what comes next. Only underline or highlight the most important evidence; there’s no point in highlighting everything without making distinctions.

Put together a draft by collecting key evidence and notes from each paragraph or section. Make sure your summary covers all the things that a research summary should have.

Find more literature to support your critical view . This is especially important if you need to give your opinion on the study’s limitations or contradictory evidence.

Research Paper Example

• 50 Potential Research Summary Topics

General Points for Writing Research Papers

When it comes to writing research papers , there are several important factors to consider to ensure your work is clear, cohesive, and impactful. In this section, I will discuss some general tips and strategies that can help you improve your writing and make your research paper stand out.

Tense in Research Papers

One crucial aspect of writing research papers is choosing the appropriate verb tense. Generally, the past tense is used to describe completed actions, while the present tense is used for ongoing actions or facts. It is essential to maintain consistency in your verb tense throughout the paper to avoid confusion and ensure a smooth flow of information.

Writing and Editing Tips

When writing your research paper, it is important to pay attention to your writing style and structure . Avoid long, complex paragraphs and sentences, as they can make it difficult for readers to follow your ideas. Instead, use headings, bullets, italics, and boldface to break up the text and draw attention to key points.

Additionally, consider creating easy-to-understand graphics or tables to present your data or findings visually. This can help readers grasp complex information more easily and enhance the overall clarity of your paper. Furthermore, ensure there is a logical flow of information from one section to another, making it easier for readers to navigate through your paper and understand your arguments.

Consistency in Writing

Consistency is key when it comes to writing research papers. Pay attention to your writing style, formatting, and citation style throughout the paper. Consistent formatting and citation practices not only improve the overall professionalism of your work but also make it easier for readers to locate and refer to your sources.

Before submitting your manuscript, take the time to read it multiple times and seek feedback from peers or colleagues. They can provide valuable insights and perspectives, helping you identify areas for improvement and making your research paper even stronger.

Understanding the Research Paper Format

Before starting the research paper, it is crucial to understand the structure and format. The typical research paper consists of a title , abstract , introduction , methods and materials, results, discussion, and conclusion.

In order to create an effective research paper, it is important to pay attention to each section and understand its purpose. Let’s take a closer look at the key elements of a research paper format :

The title of your research paper should be concise and informative. It should accurately reflect the content of your study and grab the reader’s attention. A well-crafted title sets the tone for your research paper and gives readers an idea of what to expect.

The abstract provides a summary of the research paper and should be concise, honest, and stand-alone. It should give readers a clear understanding of the purpose, methods, results, and implications of your study. A well-written abstract captures the essence of your research and entices readers to continue reading.

Introduction

The introduction is where you present the research topic, questions or hypotheses, and its significance. It sets the stage for your research paper and provides context for your study. A strong introduction grabs the reader’s attention, outlines the scope of your research, and establishes the importance of your work.

Understanding the structure and format of a research paper is essential for creating a well-organized and cohesive piece of academic writing. By following the guidelines for each section, you can ensure that your research paper is clear, concise, and impactful.

Writing the Introduction

When it comes to writing a research paper, the introduction plays a crucial role. It is your chance to captivate the reader’s attention and set the tone for the rest of your paper. A well-crafted introduction can make a strong impression and make your research paper stand out.

An engaging introduction should start with an attention-grabbing opening sentence or anecdote that relates to your research topic. This will immediately draw the reader in and make them curious to learn more. Additionally, provide some context by introducing the research topic and explaining why it is important or significant.

One key element of the introduction is the thesis statement . This statement should clearly state the purpose of your research and the main argument or hypothesis you will be exploring. It acts as a roadmap for your paper and helps guide the reader through your research.

Remember to use appropriate verb tenses in the introduction. Present tense can be used to state known facts and general truths, while past tense is suitable for describing methods or actions used in previous studies. By crafting a compelling and informative introduction, you will successfully set the stage for the rest of your research paper.

Example Opening Sentence:

“Did you know that the average person spends approximately five years of their life scrolling through social media?”

Key Elements of an Engaging Introduction:

• An attention-grabbing opening sentence or anecdote
• Contextual information about the research topic
• A clear and concise thesis statement

Crafting the Body and Conclusion

After a captivating introduction, the body of your research paper is where you delve into the arguments and evidence that support your thesis statement. It’s crucial to present your ideas in a logical and organized manner to ensure clarity and coherence.

Organize your paper into paragraphs, with each paragraph focusing on a specific point or aspect of your research. Provide relevant data, examples, and citations to support your claims and strengthen your arguments. Remember to use proper citation styles, such as APA or MLA, to give credit to the original authors and avoid plagiarism.

Within the body of your research paper, make use of headings and subheadings to break down the content and guide the reader. This helps them navigate through your paper more easily and locate specific information. Clear headings also contribute to the overall visual appeal of your research paper and make it more reader-friendly.

“The key to a successful research paper lies in the effective presentation of arguments and evidence. Each paragraph should build upon the previous one, leading the reader towards a comprehensive understanding of your research topic.”

As you approach the conclusion of your research paper, it’s essential to summarize the main findings and restate your thesis statement. The conclusion should provide closure to your research paper and offer additional insights or recommendations for further study.

Ensure that your research paper is properly formatted and presented, with clear headings, logical flow, and a consistent citation style throughout. Double-check for any grammatical or spelling errors, and seek feedback from peers or mentors to ensure the highest quality of your work.

Writing a research paper is a skill that can be honed through practice and refinement. By following the guidelines and tips provided in this guide, you can become proficient in research paper writing and enhance your overall writing skills.

It is important to choose a clear and engaging topic that aligns with your interests and expertise. Conduct thorough research to gather relevant information and develop a solid thesis statement that will guide your paper. Create an outline to organize your thoughts and ensure a logical flow of ideas within your paper.

When writing your research paper, pay attention to the structure and format, including the introduction, body, and conclusion. Craft a captivating introduction that grabs the reader’s attention and provides context for your research. In the body of your paper, present well-structured arguments supported by evidence and properly cite your sources. Finally, summarize your main findings in the conclusion and provide insights or recommendations.

Remember, practice makes perfect. Continually practice writing research papers to refine your skills and become a more effective communicator and analytical thinker. StudyingHq.com provides a vast selection of free essay examples, samples, guides, topics, and research papers that can serve as inspiration for your assignments. Additionally, if you need assistance, expert writers are available to provide writing help within a short timeframe.

Related Articles

How to Write a Summary (Examples Included)

7 Things You Didn’t Know About Writing Research Paper Summary

How many parts are there in a research paper?

There are 5 parts in a research paper: introduction, methods and materials, results, discussion, and conclusion.

What verb tense should I use when writing a research paper?

It is important to choose the correct verb tense. Use past tense for completed actions and present tense for ongoing actions.

How can I make my research paper easier to read?

To make your research paper easier to read, avoid very long paragraphs and sentences. Use headings, bullets, italics, and boldface when necessary. Make easy-to-understand graphics and ensure there is a logical flow of information.

What should I do before submitting my research paper?

Before submitting your research paper, read it multiple times and seek feedback from others to ensure it is well-written and error-free.

What is the structure and format of a research paper?

The typical research paper consists of a title, abstract, introduction, methods and materials, results, discussion, and conclusion.

How should I write the introduction of my research paper?

To write an  engaging introduction  for your research paper, start with an attention-grabbing opening sentence or anecdote. Provide context by introducing the research topic and its relevance. State the research question or hypothesis clearly and outline the structure of the paper.

What should I include in the body of my research paper?

In the body of your research paper, present the arguments and evidence supporting your thesis statement. Each paragraph should focus on a specific point, supported by relevant data or examples. Properly cite your sources using a recognized citation style.

How should I conclude my research paper?

In the conclusion of your research paper, summarize the main findings, restate the thesis, and provide insights or recommendations based on the research conducted.

How can I improve my writing skills for research papers?

To improve your writing skills for research papers,  practice writing  regularly, choose clear and engaging topics, conduct thorough research, develop a solid thesis statement, create an outline, and edit and proofread your paper for clarity and cohesiveness.

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• https://researcher.life/blog/article/how-to-write-a-research-paper-summary-infographic/

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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. 

Table of Contents

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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. 

Summarize your research paper with Paperpal

Paperpal, an AI academic writing assistant, is designed to support academics at every step of the academic writing process. Built on over two decades of experience helping researchers get published and trained on millions of published research articles, Paperpal offers human precision at machine speed. Paperpal Copilot, with advanced generative AI features, can help academics achieve 2x the writing in half the time, while transforming how they research and write.

How to summarize a research paper with Paperpal?

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.
• In minutes, Paperpal will generate a comprehensive summary that showcases the main paper highlights while adhering to academic writing conventions.
• Check the content to polish and refine the language, ensure your own voice, and add citations or references as needed.

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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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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• What is a research summary: Definition, steps & tips

Defne Çobanoğlu

If you need to do academic research or take part in a research project, you most probably will need to make a research summary. It is a type of paper where you explain key findings in short. Doing this part correctly proves you clearly understand what the research is about, and also it is a good way to simplify complex research findings.

The best approach when starting your summary is to have a structured plan in mind. This will save you both energy and time. If you are new to this concept and want to know how to get started, this is the article for you. Here, we have gathered a step-by-step guide to creating your research survey, a research summary, and some useful tips. Let us get started!

• What is a research summary?

A research summary is basically the summary of a research paper that is done in a structured way. A good research summary starts with proper style and organization. When you start writing a good research summary with the findings of the research study, you should read the article again and move on with a clear plan. 

The definition of research summary

Your summary must be a well-organized way of presenting the key points to future readers. This part of the research paper is one of the most important as it is the part people read first when they try to figure out your paper's outline.

• How to write a research summary (step-by-step guide)

When you conclude your research and have concrete findings in your hand, the next step is to summarize the findings for future readers. It is one of the most vital sections of the papers and also the most viewed part by all. By having a guideline, the summary section can easily and successfully be completed. Now, let us see step by step how to write a summary for a research paper.

1 - Read the paper

In order to successfully summarize the whole research, you should understand it thoroughly. Read the paper carefully to understand its purpose, research design, methodology, results, and conclusions. You can also take a look at a research summary example to figure out what elements you should focus on while reading.

💡Tip #1 - Try a 3-stage reading method of Scan - Read - Skim. First, scan the paper to get an understanding of the concept. Then, read the paper attentively by focusing on elements you will include in your summary. Lastly, skim one last time to study the various elements.  

2 - Identify the key points

Once you read the entirety of the paper, try to pinpoint the key findings and research questions. It would help you to work with a set of questions to ask yourself when analyzing the paper. The questions you can try to answer could be these:

• What is the main research question?
• Is there a hypothesis that is proposed in the introduction part?
• What kind of methods are used in the study?
• What is the sample size for data collection?
• Do the results support the hypothesis?
• What are the most major findings?
• What are some limitations of the study?
• What is the final conclusion?

3 - Make notes as you read

It can help you tremendously to make notes as you read the paper. You can put simple sentences in each or most paragraphs to capture to the most important part. Or, you can highlight various findings, elements, and sentences. This will help you figure out what is important and what is not in the end.

4 - Prepare a draft

Once you gathered all the key points and highlighted sections, you can start preparing your draft. You should use a structured plan for your summary. Also, try rewriting important elements in your own words to avoid plagiarism. When you are preparing the draft, always be mindful of the word count limit.

💡Tip #2 - Keep it 10% or shorter One of the most crucial aspects of a research summary is the fact that it must be SHORT. Therefore, make sure the length of the summary is 10% or less of the original length of the parent paper.

5 - Finalize the summary

When you have the draft ready, proofread it to make sure everything is correct. And make sure the summary is objective, precise, and factually correct. You can also find additional literature to support your study and add that to the result section as well.

💡Tip #3 - Do not add anything new Never add new information or opinions to the summary that is not mentioned in the parent paper.

• Why do you need to summarize your research results?

The purpose of a research summary is to give a brief overview of the study to the readers. A reader who is trying to find appropriate research to go through can easily get through the central ideas. It is also a great way to elaborate on the significance of the findings, and it reminds the reader of the strengths of your main arguments.

Having a good summary is almost as important as writing a research paper.

• Wrapping it up

Having a good summary is almost as important as writing a research paper. A research paper involves statistical analysis, factual findings, and theories. And the summary of the paper briefly explains the main concepts and ideas. A person reading the summary of a paper should clearly understand the discussion and conclusion of the research study .

In this article, we have gathered a step-by-step guide to writing a research summary and useful tips to keep in mind. Next time, make sure your summary is to the point and faithful to the original paper. If you are planning to write your own research summary, you can get started with useful and easy-to-use survey templates of forms.app!

Defne is a content writer at forms.app. She is also a translator specializing in literary translation. Defne loves reading, writing, and translating professionally and as a hobby. Her expertise lies in survey research, research methodologies, content writing, and translation.

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• A Research Guide
• Research Paper Guide

How to Write a Summary for a Research Paper

• Why do you need a summary
• How to start a summary
• Step by step guide
• Summary checklist

Why do you need to write a summary of a research paper?

When do you need to write a research paper summary.

• Writing a research paper summary is crucial because it allows you to present a concise overview of your research to readers who need time or expertise to read the entire paper.
• A research paper summary can help you organize your thoughts and refine your research question, leading to a comprehensive answer.
• When you write a research paper summary, you make an essential step in the research process that can help you to be more effective and communicate your research findings.

How to start a summary if you have no ideas?

• When summarizing a research paper, it’s crucial to begin by identifying the primary points of the study.
• Start reading through the abstract and introduction and quickly scanning the results and conclusion sections.
• After pinpointing the key takeaways, you need to include in a summary information that accurately reflects the main findings of the research.
• Next, choose all the most basic and write down the abstracts logically.
• After, see what thought you could start your summary with.

How to write a good summary: step by step guide

Step 1. read the text of your work., step 2. structure your notes., step 3. write the main part of the summary., step 4. add a research objective., step 5. add keywords., step 6. briefly describe the findings., step 7. remove all unnecessary information., step 8. edit the summary., summary writing checklist.

• Understand the main idea: Before starting to write an executive summary for a research paper, ensure you understand the main idea of the text you are summarizing. It will help you to focus on the most critical points.
• Identify the key points: Once you have understood the main idea, identify the key points that support it. These are the essential pieces of information that should be included in a summary.
• Use your own words: When writing a summary, it is essential to use your own words to convey the information. Avoid simply copying and pasting sentences from the original text.
• Be concise: Summaries should be brief and to the point. Avoid including unnecessary details or information irrelevant to the main idea.
• Check for accuracy: Before submitting your summary, ensure it accurately reflects the original text’s main idea and key points. Also, check for any errors or omissions

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Research Summary

A research paper analyzes a perspective or argues a point. It is an expanded essay based on your interpretation, evaluation or argument about a certain topic.

According to Sunny Empire State College , “When you write a research paper you build upon what you know about the subject and make a deliberate attempt to find out what experts know. A research paper involves surveying a field of knowledge in order to find the best possible information in that field.” Whatever type of research paper you choose to write, it should present your own ideas backed with others’ (especially experts on the field) information and data.

Every research paper has a research summary. A research summary is a brief overview of what the whole research is about. It is a professional piece of writing that describes your research to the readers. It concisely yet perfectly captures the essence of the research as a whole. You may also see What Should Be in an Executive Summary of a Report?

Fundamentals of a Research Summary

Having a good template for a research summary is nothing if you don’t know its importance and basic function. Before you start writing your research summary, you should first know its fundamentals on the areas you need to pay attention to such as its content, style and organization.

• The content of your research summary must briefly discuss the techniques and tools used in the research and the importance of the research as a whole. Explain how the research can be of benefit for the people.
• To organize your research summary, each topic must be discussed in separate paragraphs. How you came up with a factual research must be briefly explained in a separate paragraph.
• If you have a lengthy research paper, try not to write not more than 10% of the entire paper. If it’s not as lengthy, you should not write more than 300 words in your summary.

However, rules may vary according to your research professor’s standards. This is just the basic fundamentals on how to write your research summary. Also see  Thesis Outline Examples

How to Write a Research Summary

It is apparent that a research summary is a condensed version of the main idea of your research paper. Because of this, it is advised that the summary of your paper is written after you are done with your entire research. This is to ensure that all the added information in your research can be written in your summary as well and all of those that removed can be edited out. Here are a few steps on how to write a research summary:

Read your paper

It should be a fact you should know beforehand; the importance of reading your entire research paper thoroughly to write an effective research summary. Along the way, take notes of the important details and key findings that you want to highlight in your paper. This will help you organize your summary better. Remember that your research summary is a mini-paper of your study and it should contain the main ideas of your entire research.

Write a draft

For your first draft, focus on the content rather than the length of your summary. Your draft is your first outline on what to include in the final summary. Writing a draft ensures you write a clear, thorough and coherent summary of your research paper. Also see  How to Write a Rough Outline

Identify main points

Within your research paper, you must identify the major points that will encourage prospective readers to go through your research paper. These major points must thoroughly and completely explain what the paper is trying to convey.

Separate sections

Identify the differences of the main section in your paper. Write a few sentences describing the main ideas of each section. In short, you should be able to present and thoroughly describe what each main section is focused on. It should have these basic sections:

• Introduction, brief opening statement
• Purpose of the study
• Data gathering method
• Summary of findings
• Description of recommendations with actual justification.

Combine Information

All the information you have gathered must be then used to make your summary. Remember that your summary is just an overview of your research paper as a whole. It should be not be more than 10% of your whole paper. Also see  5 Summary Writing Examples and Samples

Making The First Draft

After establishing the basic way of writing a research summary, it is a must to write a first draft. It should follow the flow of the original paper. Here’s a few steps on how to make a first draft:

First, state the research question in the introduction of your summary. This holds the ground as to the summary’s direction. Provide an explanation why your research is interesting and how it can help your target recipients.

Second, state the hypothesis you wish to prove. This will help you and your readers stay grounded on the topic at hand.

Third, briefly discuss the methodology used in your research. Discuss and describe the procedure, materials, participants, design, etc. The analysis of your data must also be included. You may also see  How to Write a Successful Thesis Proposal

Fourth, describe the results and significance of your research. And lastly, briefly discuss the key implications of your research. The results and its interpretation should directly coincide with your hypothesis.

Editing your Research Summary

A research paper is a formal piece of writing. Your summary should be tailored to your expected readers. Say for example the prospective readers are your classmates, so the style of your paper should be clearly understood by them.

Eliminate wordiness. Avoid using unnecessary adjectives and adverbs. Write in a way it would be easier for your readers to understand. It is common for research papers to establish a word count. Avoid elongating your sentences when it has shorter versions.

Being vague in describing and explaining the points of your paper might lead to confusion in your readers part. Use specific, concrete language when presenting results. Use reliable and specific examples and references as well. You should also use scientifically accurate language to help support your claims. Avoid informal words and adjectives to describe the results of your research.

Paraphrase the information you want to include in your research paper. Direct quoting the information you have read from a different source is not oftenly used in formal writings. To give the exact credit for the information you paraphrased, follow the citation format required by your professor.

Reread your paper and let others read it as well. This way minor errors you were not able to notice can be quickly pointed out and corrected.

Research Summary Writing Tips

Your research summary should not be more than 10 pages long or not more than 10% of your original document. This keeps your research summary concise and compact. It should be short enough for your readers to read through but long enough for you to clearly explain your study.

Copy and paste

Avoid simply copy and pasting different parts of your paper into your summary. You should paraphrase parts that you want to include. As most research advisers read through all of your paper, it can easily be identified if you have copy-pasted parts from your research and might give you a bad grade.

Consider the readers

Although not a requirement from your professor, catering your summary to what the readers need is sometimes required. As some studies are given out to different influential people in the field, writing a summary that caters to the readers’ necessities might be required.

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Research Writing Summary Tips (continuation)

Clarity and organization.

One of the common mistakes in writing a research is publishing an unclear and unpolished summary. Bear in mind that your readers are likely reading about the topic of your research for the first time, avoid unclear and uncertain explanations and a disorganized summary.

Use strong and positive language

Use precise and strong words to help strengthen the foundation of your summary. Your summary should be able to stand alone despite it being a part of the research paper. Once you have convinced your readers with the recommendations regarding the topic of your paper, the readers should be able to find concrete evidence and explanations within your summary. Avoid pleas and biased statements in your summary, but make sure you are able to relay the sense of urgency for the recommendations you have given.

Divide into parts

To make things easier for you, divide your paper into different sections and headings, much like creating an outline. With this in mind, every point should be explained limited to its essence. In this way, you avoid writing too much information about your paper in your summary.

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An executive summary is a thorough overview of a research report or other type of document that synthesizes key points for its readers, saving them time and preparing them to understand the study's overall content. It is a separate, stand-alone document of sufficient detail and clarity to ensure that the reader can completely understand the contents of the main research study. An executive summary can be anywhere from 1-10 pages long depending on the length of the report, or it can be the summary of more than one document [e.g., papers submitted for a group project].

Bailey, Edward, P. The Plain English Approach to Business Writing . (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 73-80 Todorovic, Zelimir William and Marietta Wolczacka Frye. “Writing Effective Executive Summaries: An Interdisciplinary Examination.” In United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Conference Proceedings . (Decatur, IL: United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 2009): pp. 662-691.

Importance of a Good Executive Summary

Although an executive summary is similar to an abstract in that they both summarize the contents of a research study, there are several key differences. With research abstracts, the author's recommendations are rarely included, or if they are, they are implicit rather than explicit. Recommendations are generally not stated in academic abstracts because scholars operate in a discursive environment, where debates, discussions, and dialogs are meant to precede the implementation of any new research findings. The conceptual nature of much academic writing also means that recommendations arising from the findings are distributed widely and not easily or usefully encapsulated. Executive summaries are used mainly when a research study has been developed for an organizational partner, funding entity, or other external group that participated in the research . In such cases, the research report and executive summary are often written for policy makers outside of academe, while abstracts are written for the academic community. Professors, therefore, assign the writing of executive summaries so students can practice synthesizing and writing about the contents of comprehensive research studies for external stakeholder groups.

When preparing to write, keep in mind that:

• An executive summary is not an abstract.
• An executive summary is not an introduction.
• An executive summary is not a preface.
• An executive summary is not a random collection of highlights.

Christensen, Jay. Executive Summaries Complete The Report. California State University Northridge; Clayton, John. "Writing an Executive Summary that Means Business." Harvard Management Communication Letter (July 2003): 2-4; Keller, Chuck. "Stay Healthy with a Winning Executive Summary." Technical Communication 41 (1994): 511-517; Murphy, Herta A., Herbert W. Hildebrandt, and Jane P. Thomas. Effective Business Communications . New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997; Vassallo, Philip. "Executive Summaries: Where Less Really is More." ETC.: A Review of General Semantics 60 (Spring 2003): 83-90 .

Structure and Writing Style

Writing an Executive Summary

Read the Entire Document This may go without saying, but it is critically important that you read the entire research study thoroughly from start to finish before you begin to write the executive summary. Take notes as you go along, highlighting important statements of fact, key findings, and recommended courses of action. This will better prepare you for how to organize and summarize the study. Remember this is not a brief abstract of 300 words or less but, essentially, a mini-paper of your paper, with a focus on recommendations.

Isolate the Major Points Within the Original Document Choose which parts of the document are the most important to those who will read it. These points must be included within the executive summary in order to provide a thorough and complete explanation of what the document is trying to convey.

Separate the Main Sections Closely examine each section of the original document and discern the main differences in each. After you have a firm understanding about what each section offers in respect to the other sections, write a few sentences for each section describing the main ideas. Although the format may vary, the main sections of an executive summary likely will include the following:

• An opening statement, with brief background information,
• The purpose of research study,
• Method of data gathering and analysis,
• Overview of findings, and,
• A description of each recommendation, accompanied by a justification. Note that the recommendations are sometimes quoted verbatim from the research study.

Combine the Information Use the information gathered to combine them into an executive summary that is no longer than 10% of the original document. Be concise! The purpose is to provide a brief explanation of the entire document with a focus on the recommendations that have emerged from your research. How you word this will likely differ depending on your audience and what they care about most. If necessary, selectively incorporate bullet points for emphasis and brevity. Re-read your Executive Summary After you've completed your executive summary, let it sit for a while before coming back to re-read it. Check to make sure that the summary will make sense as a separate document from the full research study. By taking some time before re-reading it, you allow yourself to see the summary with fresh, unbiased eyes.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Length of the Executive Summary As a general rule, the correct length of an executive summary is that it meets the criteria of no more pages than 10% of the number of pages in the original document, with an upper limit of no more than ten pages [i.e., ten pages for a 100 page document]. This requirement keeps the document short enough to be read by your audience, but long enough to allow it to be a complete, stand-alone synopsis. Cutting and Pasting With the exception of specific recommendations made in the study, do not simply cut and paste whole sections of the original document into the executive summary. You should paraphrase information from the longer document. Avoid taking up space with excessive subtitles and lists, unless they are absolutely necessary for the reader to have a complete understanding of the original document. Consider the Audience Although unlikely to be required by your professor, there is the possibility that more than one executive summary will have to be written for a given document [e.g., one for policy-makers, one for private industry, one for philanthropists]. This may only necessitate the rewriting of the introduction and conclusion, but it could require rewriting the entire summary in order to fit the needs of the reader. If necessary, be sure to consider the types of audiences who may benefit from your study and make adjustments accordingly. Clarity in Writing One of the biggest mistakes you can make is related to the clarity of your executive summary. Always note that your audience [or audiences] are likely seeing your research study for the first time. The best way to avoid a disorganized or cluttered executive summary is to write it after the study is completed. Always follow the same strategies for proofreading that you would for any research paper. Use Strong and Positive Language Don’t weaken your executive summary with passive, imprecise language. The executive summary is a stand-alone document intended to convince the reader to make a decision concerning whether to implement the recommendations you make. Once convinced, it is assumed that the full document will provide the details needed to implement the recommendations. Although you should resist the temptation to pad your summary with pleas or biased statements, do pay particular attention to ensuring that a sense of urgency is created in the implications, recommendations, and conclusions presented in the executive summary. Be sure to target readers who are likely to implement the recommendations.

Bailey, Edward, P. The Plain English Approach to Business Writing . (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 73-80; Christensen, Jay. Executive Summaries Complete The Report. California State University Northridge; Executive Summaries. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Clayton, John. "Writing an Executive Summary That Means Business." Harvard Management Communication Letter , 2003; Executive Summary. University Writing Center. Texas A&M University;  Green, Duncan. Writing an Executive Summary.   Oxfam’s Research Guidelines series ; Guidelines for Writing an Executive Summary. Astia.org; Markowitz, Eric. How to Write an Executive Summary. Inc. Magazine, September, 15, 2010; Kawaski, Guy. The Art of the Executive Summary. "How to Change the World" blog; Keller, Chuck. "Stay Healthy with a Winning Executive Summary." Technical Communication 41 (1994): 511-517; The Report Abstract and Executive Summary. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing Executive Summaries. Effective Writing Center. University of Maryland; Kolin, Philip. Successful Writing at Work . 10th edition. (Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2013), p. 435-437; Moral, Mary. "Writing Recommendations and Executive Summaries." Keeping Good Companies 64 (June 2012): 274-278; Todorovic, Zelimir William and Marietta Wolczacka Frye. “Writing Effective Executive Summaries: An Interdisciplinary Examination.” In United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Conference Proceedings . (Decatur, IL: United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 2009): pp. 662-691.

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How to Write a Summary of an Article: Brevity in Brilliance

Table of contents

• 1 What Is an Article Summary?
• 2 Difference Between Abstract and Research Summary Writing
• 3.1 Preparing for Summarizing
• 3.2 Identifying Main Ideas
• 3.3 Writing The Summary
• 4.1 Introduction
• 4.2 Methods
• 4.3 Results
• 4.4 Discussion
• 4.5.1 Structure Types  
• 5 Summary Writing Tips and Best Practices
• 6 Common Mistakes to Avoid
• 7 Examples of Article Summaries

Writing a review or a critique is often more difficult than it seems, so students and writers alike are often wondering about how to summarize an article. We know how challenging a task this can be, so this guide will give you a clear perspective and the main points on how to write a summary of an article.

Here’s a brief overview of the main points the article will cover before we start:

• The essence of an article summary and how to approach writing it;
• Three main steps for a successful research summary;
• Tips and strategies for outlining the main idea;
• Examples of good and bad short summaries for inspiration;
• Common mistakes to avoid when writing a research article summary.

The steps outlined in this post will help you summarize an article in your own words without sacrificing the original text message and ideas.

What Is an Article Summary?

An article summary is a concise and condensed version of a longer piece of writing, often an article, research paper, or news report. Its purpose is to capture the main ideas, crucial points, and key arguments found in the original text, providing a brief and easily understandable overview.

These summaries are composed in the author’s own words, distilling the essential information to help readers quickly grasp the content without having to read the entire article. They serve as a helpful tool to offer a snapshot of the most important aspects of the content, making it simpler for readers to decide whether they wish to delve into the complete article.

A common goal of academic summary writing is to  improve critical thinking skills , and they serve as great practice for academic writers to improve their own writing skills. There are several main goals of writing a synopsis of an article:

• This paper’s main goal is to provide a comprehensive yet brief descriptive comment on a particular article, telling your readers about the author’s topic sentence and important points in his work and the key points of it.
• It serves to outline a laconic reader’s perspective on the paper while keeping the main point.
• Identifies all the crucial segments from each of the paper’s sections.

A proper article summary can help do your college essays the right way because it provides a great, concise view of the source article. Especially if you are often facing writing tasks like academic papers, knowing how to write a good synopsis can upgrade your writing skills.

Difference Between Abstract and Research Summary Writing

Things get confusing when someone wants to define their place and purpose inside the text. To be more precise, the abstract appears first in the academic article, whereas the summary appears last.

Many students cannot distinguish between a summary and an abstract of a research paper. While these have certain similarities, they are not the same. Therefore, you must be aware of the subtleties before beginning a research article.

On the one hand, both components have a limited scope. Their goal is to provide a thorough literature assessment of the research paper’s main ideas. When you write a research summary, focus on your topic, methods, and findings.

Below you can find more differences between the abstract and research article summary for your project:

• Abstracts provide a succinct synopsis of your work and showcase your writing style.
• Abstracts lay out the background information and clarify the primary hypothesis thesis statement, while the summary emphasizes your research methodology, highlighting the important elements.

Finally, you must submit the abstract before actual publication. On the other hand, article summaries come with the finished piece of paper.

Steps to Write a Summary for an Article

In the world of effective communication, the skill of crafting short yet informative summaries is invaluable. Whether you’re a student dealing with academic articles, a professional simplifying complex reports, or simply someone looking to grasp the essence of an interesting read, mastering the art of summarization is crucial. This summarizing guidelines will lead you through the steps to write a compelling piece.

These steps will empower you to extract core ideas and key takeaways, making it easier to understand and share information efficiently.

Preparing for Summarizing

Before you start writing your summary of the article, you’ll have to read the piece a few times first as a base for further understanding. It’s recommended that you read the paper without taking any notes first because this gives you some room to create your own perspective of the work.

After the first reading, you should be able to tell the author’s perspective and the type of audience they are focusing on. Subsequently, you should get ready for the second read with a paper to write notes on as you get into the arguments of the post.

Identifying Main Ideas

As you come to the second read of the article, you should focus on the thesis statement, main ideas, and important details laid out in the piece. If you look at the headings and sections individually, you should be able to get some material for the summarizing by taking out the crucial events or a topic sentence from each part.

While writing down the main arguments of the post, make sure to ask the five “W” questions. If you think about the “Who” , “Why” , “When” , “Where” , and “What” , you should be able to construct a layout for the summary based on the main ideas.

Writing The Summary

Once you lay down the article’s main ideas and answer the key questions about it, you’ll have an outline for writing. The next move is to keep an eye out on the structure of the summary and use the material in your notes to write your short take on these essential points.

The steps for writing article summaries can be similar to the  main steps of article review writing . Therefore, it’s necessary to discuss the structure next so we can set you in the right direction with summary-specific format tips.

Outline Your Research Summary

To summarize research papers, you must be aware of the basic structure. You may know how to cite sources and filter the ideas, but you’ll also have to organize your findings in a concise academic structure.

The following components are essential for a summary paper format:

Introduction

Your research article’s introduction is a brief overview of your work. Outlining important ideas or presenting the state of the topic under research seeks to make the issue easier for your audience to comprehend.

The Methods section includes tests, databases, experiments, surveys, questionnaires, sampling, or statistical analysis, used to conduct a research study. However, for a solid research paper summary example, you should avoid getting bogged down in the specifics and just discuss the tools you utilized and how you conducted your study.

This part the summary of research, presents all of the data you gathered from your investigations and analysis. Therefore, incorporate any information you learned by watching your target and the supporting theories.

This stage requires you to summarize research paper, evaluate the result in light of the pertinent background, and determine how it reacts to the prevailing trends. You need to identify the subject’s advantages and disadvantages once you have provided an explanation using theoretical models. You may also recommend more research in the area.

Use this last part to support or refute your theories in light of the data collection and analysis, though, if your mentor insists on it being in a separate paragraph.

Here’s a research summary example outlining the topic “The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health Among Adolescents”:

I. Introduction.

• Brief overview of the rise of social media.
• Importance of studying its impact on mental health.
• Statement of the problem.
• Purpose of the study.

II. Literature Review.

• Statistics on social media penetration.
• Common platforms and their features.
• Studies supporting a negative and/or a positive impact.
• Gaps and inconsistencies in existing literature.

III. Methodology.

• Quantitative approach.
• Cross-sectional survey.
• Survey instrument details.
• Ethical considerations.

IV. Data Analysis.

• Descriptive statistics.
• Inferential statistics (e.g., regression analysis).
• Tables and figures.
• Key findings.

V. Discussion.

• Correlation between social media usage and mental health.
• Identification of patterns and trends.
• Practical implications for parents, educators, and policymakers.
• Suggestions for future research.

VI. Conclusion.

• Summary of key findings.
• Final remarks on the study’s contribution to the field.

The given research article summary example depicts how the text can be structured in a laconic and effective way.

Structure Types  

So, now you can see the best practices and structure types for writing both empirical and argumentative summaries. The only thing left to discuss is to go through our example outlined above and divide its structure into distinctive parts, which you could use when writing your own summary.

The best way to start is by mentioning the title and the author of the article. It’s best to keep it straightforward: “ In “Who Will Be In Cyberspace”, author Langdon Winner takes a philosophical approach…”

The next part is critical for writing a good summary since you’ll want to captivate the reader with a short and concise one-point thesis. If you look at our example, you’ll see that the first sentence or two contains the main point, along with the title and the author’s name.

So, that’s an easy way to get straight to the point while also sounding professional, and this works for all the essay structure types. You should briefly point out the main supportive points as well – “ He supports this through the claims that people working in the information industry should be more careful about newly developed technologies…”  

The key is to keep it neutral and not overcomplicate things with supportive claims. Try to make them as precise as possible and provide examples that directly support the main thesis.

Unless it’s a scientific article summary where you are requested to provide your take as a researcher, it’s also best to avoid using personal opinions. You can conclude the summary by once again mentioning the main thought of the article, and this time you can make the connection between the main thesis and supporting points to wrap up.

Summary Writing Tips and Best Practices

The way in which you’ll approach writing a summary depends on the type and topic of the original article, but there are some common points to keep in mind. Whether you are trying to summarize a research article or a journal piece, these tips can help you stay on topic:

• Be concise – The best way to summarize an article quickly is to be straightforward. In practice, it means making it all in a few sentences and no longer than one-fourth of the size of the original article.
• Highlight the study’s most significant findings – For your summary paper, prioritize presenting results that have the most substantial impact or contribute significantly to the field.
• Create a reverse outline – On the other hand, you can also remove the supporting writing to end up with a reverse essay outline and these are the ideas you can expand on through your summary.
• Use your own words – In most cases, a paper summary will be scanned for plagiarism, so you need to make sure you are using your words to express the main point uniquely. This doesn’t mean you have to provide your perspective on the topic. It just means your summary needs to be original.
• Make sure to follow the tone – Summarizing an article means you’ll also need to reflect on the tone of the original piece. To properly summarize an article, you should address the same tone in which the author is addressing the audience.
• Use author tags – Along with the thesis statement, you also have to express the author’s take through author tags. This means you need to state the name of the author and piece title at the beginning, and keep adding these “tags” like “he” or “she” or simply refer to the author by name when expressing their ideas.
• Avoid minor details – To ensure you stay on topic, it’s recommended that you avoid repetition, any minor details, or descriptive elements. Try to keep the focus on key points, main statements and ideas without being carried away in thought.
• Steer clear of interpretations or personal opinions – Avoid personal interpretations or opinions when you write a summary for a research paper. Remember to stick to presenting facts and findings without injecting subjective views.
• Highlight the research context – Focus on explaining to the readers why research is important. Your summary of research paper must not repeat the previous studies. Find the gap in the existing literature it could fill. When you write a summary of a research article, try to help readers understand the significance of your study within the broader academic or practical context. Use a paraphraser if you need a fresh perspective on your writing style.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Just like it’s important to  avoid plagiarism in your text , there are a few other mistakes that commonly occur. The whole point is to summarize article pieces genuinely, with a focus on the author’s argument and writing in your own words.

We’ve often seen college graduates do an article summary and misrepresent the author’s idea or take, so that’s an important piece of advice. You should avoid drifting away from the author’s main idea throughout the summary and keep it precise but not too short.

Quotes shouldn’t be used directly within the piece, and by that, we mean both quotes from the author and quotes from other summaries on the same topic since it would qualify as plagiarism. Finally, you shouldn’t state your opinion unless you are doing a summary of a novel or short story with a specific academic goal of writing from your perspective.

Examples of Article Summaries

While our guide and tips can be used for a variety of different types of written pieces, there are various types of articles. From professional essay writing to informative article synopsis, options can vary.

We will give you an example of a summary of the different article types that you may run upon, so you can see exactly what we mean by those standardized instructions and tips:

The question of how to summarize an article isn’t new to students or even writers with more experience, so we hope this guide will shed some light on the process. The most important piece of advice we can give you is to stay true to the main statement and key points of the article and express the synopsis in your original way to avoid plagiarism.

As for the structure, we are certain you’ll be able to use our examples and layouts for different types of summaries, so make sure to pay extra attention to the structure, quotes, and author tags.

What is a good way to start a summary?

To begin a summary effectively, start by briefly introducing the article’s topic and the main points the author discusses. Capture the reader’s attention with a concise yet engaging opening sentence. Provide context and mention the author’s name and the article’s title. Convey the essence of the article’s content, highlighting its significance or relevance to the reader. This initial context-setting sentence lays the foundation for a clear and engaging summary that draws the reader in.

What is the difference between summarizing and criticizing an article?

Summarizing an article entails condensing its main points objectively and neutrally, presenting the essential information to readers. In contrast, critiquing an article involves a more in-depth evaluation, assessing its strengths and weaknesses, methodology, and overall quality, often including the expression of personal opinions and judgments. Summarization offers a snapshot of the content, while critique delves deeper, offering a comprehensive assessment.

When summarizing a text, focus on these critical questions:

• “What’s the main point?” Find the core message or argument.
• “What supports the main point?” Identify key supporting details and evidence.
• “Who’s the author?” Consider their qualifications and potential bias.
• “Who’s the intended audience?” Understand the expected reader’s knowledge level.
• “Why is it important?” Explain the text’s relevance and significance within its context. Addressing these questions ensures a thorough and effective summary.

How long is a summary and how many paragraphs does a summary have?

A summary typically ranges from one to three paragraphs in length, depending on the complexity and length of the original text. The goal is to concisely present the main points or essence of the source material, usually resulting in a summary that is significantly shorter than the original.

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Writing a Great Research Summary and where to Get Help on it

Academic writing doesn’t revolve around essays only, it extends to research papers too. As you move through different stages of your education, assignments become more demanding and you engage in more projects. Students participate or create their own research about a certain topic. Not only do you have to publish the entire research, but you also need to create a summary. In most cases, students get an assignment to do a research summary for some other important study. Here, the professor wants to evaluate your skills in formal writing. Regardless of the scenario (your research or some other study), a research summary can be a demanding task, but you can make it easier. Scroll down to find out how.

Research Summary Purpose

A research summary is defined as a professional piece of academic writing. The goal of a summary is to describe the research to a prospective audience. Throughout the research summary, the author provides the reader with a brief overview of the whole study.

So, you just have to sum up the original file? Although this seems very easy, research summaries belong to the group of the most demanding academic assignments. To write a high-quality paper, it is crucial to identify the most important information from the research and condense it for a reader (or more of them).

The information you choose has to be explained briefly, but thoroughly. It needs to describe the important revelations from the original file, but in a way that captures the reader’s attention. Consider the research summary as an introduction to the big research. It is important to do research papers in a relevant way by adding new information in order to create a successful research summary.

How to write a Good Research Summary

Research summary requires a formal approach and needs to be on the level of other academic works. Nervous? Sure, this type of paper requires a great deal of effort, but it’s not the most difficult job in the world. With this checklist and our guide, you’ll learn more about the information you need to include in the summary and speed up the process on your own or with our help. Improve your paper writer service . Raise our grades! Here’s how:

Research Summary Outline (Tips)

• Think about your target audience – the golden rule of writing is to always consider your target audience and a research summary is not an exception. Why? Different people have different needs and your paper should meet the needs and preferences of the target audience. Ask yourself “who am I writing for?”, write down the answer and you’ll find it easier to pinpoint research articles for the summary
• Save time – research summary requires more time, it’s not something one can finish in an hour. Some students spend 5 or 6 hours summarizing their extensive research. Although dissecting one large work into a small paper takes time, you can finish quicker if you scan the paper from top to bottom prior to the writing process. Read carefully everything you’ve written from the abstract to the conclusion and it will be clearer what to include in the summary. Consider omitting the summary of the literature review, but this decision depends on the target audience
• Length – research summaries vary in length. The general rule of thumb is that summary should meet the criteria of no more than 10% of the number of pages in the original document. In most cases, it takes 2 and 4 pages
• Visual representation – it’s not just about writing a long text and analysis of some subject by using the information you find, both research and its summary need visuals for full effect. Sometimes a simple diagram or graph can say a lot of the information you tried to convey. A common mistake that students make is leaving visuals for the original file and omitting them in the summary. Feel free to include tables, figures, and other visual supplements to this paper too.

As it is a summary of a lengthy research paper, it needs to be concise and to the point. You can write your thesis in a relevant way by adding new information that connects the text and the phrase together. Additionally, some useful tips on how to write a great research summary include being aware of the keywords and making sure that you include all the main points.

Research Summary Structure and Organization

• Headline – the first contact between the research summary and a reader is its title. The headline acts as a hook that attracts readers’ attention and makes them want to read the rest of the content. Generally, headlines formed as questions work perfectly. At the beginning of the writing process, it may be tricky to come up with a headline. Instead, create it once you’re done with writing, you’ll have plenty of ideas to use
• What is this research about? (3-5 sentences) – introduce your research and its primary objective. Consider this part as an announcement of some event, you need to provide the necessary details to ensure the audience understands everything and wants to learn more. Define important terms from the research paper, especially if they aren’t common knowledge. And don’t forget to include the research question
• Methods (5-10 sentences) – research summary (and original file) aren’t just about findings that are of huge interest to the topic, methods also matter. Once you’ve explained the purpose of the research, move on to describe the methodology and elaborate on how researchers collected data, and include examples of questions that were asked. The section should also include the number of people who completed questionnaires and surveys, the total number of participants in larger studies both eligible ones and those who met the criteria for further research, etc. Ideally, you should never under any circumstances skip the sample size because it suggests how generalizable the findings are
• Findings (5-10 sentences) – this section is unavoidable. After researchers or scientists implemented their methods, what did they discover? Describe key findings from the study itself. Don’t waste your time including every finding from a specific study, just the key points. This saves time and ensures the summary is written in a concise manner. When describing findings, try to be specific. Always use exact information about a number of people who reported/experienced/did something. Use bulleted lists for better organization
• How can you use the research? (3-7 sentences) – describe how findings from the research can be used by practitioners in different fields e.g. education, medicine, or anything else relevant to the topic. Identify who would be interested in the results of the study
• Conclusion (3-4 sentences) – this section tells a reader what he/she needs to know about the research. Basically, this is a short overview of the summary that compiles key points of the study and its finding into a single section. It can be practical to include this section in a highlighted box on the top right-hand side of the first page
• Original research file – a citation and link to the original file
• About researchers – 1-2 sentences of short info about each researcher who participated in the study
• References – always cite sources you use while writing, particularly when the paper has tremendous importance such as research summary
• Keywords – don’t forget to add them if you’re uploading the summary to an online database
• About summary – a short section where you write a few sentences about the team who compiled the summary

Research Summary Help

Now that you know what to include in your summary, our tutorial can proceed to explain how you can write this paper faster. What can we do for you? Where to find help if you want to do the summary on your own? Let’s see.

By Markers Expectations / Rubrics

• Content – research summary should describe the topic, research techniques, and other facts about the original file in a specific manner. No need to go into great detail, that’s what the big paper is for. Feel free to include at least one sentence about the importance of your research to show how someone can benefit from it. Strive to include not more than three primary keywords when describing your work, if you decide to use keywords of course. The golden rule is that keywords should fit naturally into the text. Our professional writing service creates a well-structured research summary content that highlights the important information to capture the reader’s attention
• Clear Organization – the structure of a research summary goes beyond quality content but extends to the way it’s organized. Divide the paper into small paragraphs representing some specific thought or idea. Vary paragraph length to add more rhythm to your paper
• Style – adhere religiously to the guidelines recommended by a professor or school (when applicable), use formal language and plain sentences, and avoid passive voice whenever you can. Vary sentence length to avoid writing too many long or short sentences in a row. Meet the required word count (if provided) and don’t forget to format your paper. Style and formatting are equally important but largely overlooked. With our help, your research paper will be perfectly styled and formatted to enhance the quality of the content
• Coordination with CV – when writing a section about a team who compiled the summary, feel free to include some details from your CV. Think about information about your professional or academic career that the reader should know and write it down. You can also name the research summary on your CV

By Service:

• Writing – the process of writing a research summary can take hours. The paper should represent your research perfectly but in a concise and cohesive fashion. Students and researchers can speed up the process in more ways than one. You can hire a professional writing service that will create the summary following the instructions, latest standards, and academic criteria. Our writers have years of experience in research summary writing and know how to approach this type of a paper for maximum efficiency. If you want to write the summary on your own, you can use Edusson’s Magic Help and RobotDon to make the process faster
• Editing – services of editing and proofreading are ideal for students and researchers who just finished writing their summary. One can never be objective toward their own work which makes us overlook typos and other mistakes. Every mistake tarnishes the quality of your paper. Our proofreaders and editors scan and check the research summary to correct grammar and spelling mistakes, punctuation and syntax errors, poor sentence structure, references, you name it

Research Summary FAQ (People -Also Ask)

Who chooses a research summary writer when i submit my order.

You do. Unlike many other professional writer services, Edusson gives the clients full control over the process. Once the order is submitted, writers start sending bids and you (as a client) choose the perfect candidate for your assignment.

Can I trust your writers? A research summary is an important academic paper, after all.

The importance of a well-written research summary is undeniable and your assignment will be in good hands. Edussons takes a professional approach to every assignment, regardless of the type of paper you need to write. We take every task seriously and writers who want to join our collective must meet a set of criteria that prove their skills, knowledge, writing, and ability to meet academic requirements and deliver their assignments according to the scheduled deadline. In order to work for us, they have to pass rigorous tests so you can trust them entirely.

Do you protect my privacy and identity?

Customer satisfaction and safety are our main concerns. We employ the latest technologies and rules to protect your privacy. You can breathe easy knowing nobody will know you ordered a paper.

Will you send my research summary to someone else too?

Not at all! Every paper, regardless of the type, is written from scratch and sent to the client immediately. We do not keep or share your personal information and research summary with third parties.

What are your policies regarding plagiarism?

Plagiarism is one of the worst offenses and it is not tolerated. We do not condone such behavior and always make sure your paper is 100% original and free of plagiarism.

I wrote a research summary on my own, but want to check for plagiarism. Where can I do that?

RobotDon comes to the rescue. Not only does the robot look cute, but he’s a great little helper. The platform allows you to check the paper for plagiarism, sentence structure, and other factors that contribute to the quality of the research summary.

Where can I learn more about online services for research summary writing?

Feel free to contact us through the live chat feature which is available 24/7. We are going to send a detailed response to your inquiry and provide the information you need.

Job to get done / CTA

The importance of a well-written research summary is tremendous. The paper informs readers about some specific research and how they can use it. When written as an assignment in school, a research summary demonstrates one’s ability to write in a formal manner. It also shows your vocabulary skills, level of organization, reporting findings and information in a concise and specific manner, and overall knowledge and approach to the subject.

Improve your Research Paper

Bearing in mind the importance of a research summary, the use of online tools and services can be of huge help. Our writing and editing services enhance the quality of your research paper in many ways. The paper we write or edit is error-free, has a rhythm that keeps the reader interested, and highlights all the key findings from the original file (yours or someone else’s). The summary is also perfectly styled, formatted, and organized.

Raise your GPA (grade)

Getting much-needed help from online tools and services can boost your grades. Your GPA is incredibly important for further stages of your education and employment. Everything you do as a student can either contribute to your GPA or ruin it. Using tools such as RobotDon to check for plagiarism and structure of research papers or Edusson’s writing or editing services may give you the motivation you need to improve your writing skills and boost your GPA easily. Improve your research paper. Raise your grades! Don’t risk it.

Writing a great research summary is a daunting task even for the most experienced writers, but with the right guidance, it can be a straightforward process. To help write a speech , one should never forget that a research summary should present the main points of the research paper, make connections between the different elements of the research, and summarize the conclusions. It also helps to include relevant data and statistics to reinforce the conclusions. Additionally, a research summary should provide an opinion on the research topic, if applicable. Also, there are many services available online offering custom essays for cheap that can help you organize your research into an effective summary. Whether you need help with the structure and design or help with the content, these services can provide you with the top-quality assistance you need.

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Graduate School Applications: Writing a Research Statement

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

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Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The research statement is a common component of a potential candidate’s application for post-undergraduate study. This may include applications for graduate programs, post-doctoral fellowships, or faculty positions. The research statement is often the primary way that a committee determines if a candidate’s interests and past experience make them a good fit for their program/institution.

What is a Research Statement?

A research statement is a short document that provides a brief history of your past research experience, the current state of your research, and the future work you intend to complete.

What Should It Look Like?

Research statements are generally one to two single-spaced pages. You should be sure to thoroughly read and follow the length and content requirements for each individual application.

Your research statement should situate your work within the larger context of your field and show how your works contributes to, complicates, or counters other work being done. It should be written for an audience of other professionals in your field.

What Should It Include?

Your statement should start by articulating the broader field that you are working within and the larger question or questions that you are interested in answering. It should then move to articulate your specific interest.

The body of your statement should include a brief history of your past research . What questions did you initially set out to answer in your research project? What did you find? How did it contribute to your field? (i.e. did it lead to academic publications, conferences, or collaborations?). How did your past research propel you forward?

It should also address your present research . What questions are you actively trying to solve? What have you found so far? How are you connecting your research to the larger academic conversation? (i.e. do you have any publications under review, upcoming conferences, or other professional engagements?) What are the larger implications of your work?

Finally, it should describe the future trajectory on which you intend to take your research. What further questions do you want to solve? How do you intend to find answers to these questions? How can the institution to which you are applying help you in that process? What are the broader implications of your potential results?

Note: Make sure that the research project that you propose can be completed at the institution to which you are applying.

Other Considerations:

• What is the primary question that you have tried to address over the course of your academic career? Why is this question important to the field? How has each stage of your work related to that question?
• Include a few specific examples that show your success. What tangible solutions have you found to the question that you were trying to answer? How have your solutions impacted the larger field? Examples can include references to published findings, conference presentations, or other professional involvement.
• Be confident about your skills and abilities. The research statement is your opportunity to sell yourself to an institution. Show that you are self-motivated and passionate about your project.

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Top 7 Research Summary Templates with Samples and Examples

Kavesh Malhotra

Turning complex research into a compelling summary is like having a superpower in the vast world of information. A well-crafted research summary isn't just a data crunch; it's a strategic tool. Research shows that concise summaries enhance understanding. Studies reveal that audiences retained 50% more information when presented with well-structured summaries.

Imagine condensing your extensive research into a single page that instantly captivates the reader's attention and highlights the core of your findings. Whether presenting a market research proposal, diving into clinical medicine research, or outlining a project research proposal, a smartly crafted research statement can make your work convenient, accessible, and impactful.

In this blog, we'll guide you through a curated selection of seven Research Summary Templates, each a gem in its own right.

Why Choose Research Summary Templates?

"Efficiency is the soul of every impactful presentation."

• Time-Saving Marvels:  These presets are your express pass to creating professional, impactful presentations that save you so much time and energy that would otherwise be spent making a summary from scratch!
• Customizable Frameworks:  Tailor each layout to suit your unique research, maintaining flexibility while leveraging a solid starting point.
• Visual Appeal:  The slides are not just functional; they are visually engaging, ensuring that your  research paper  doesn't just get read but leaves a lasting impression.

Let’s begin exploring these templates!

Template 1: Market Research Proposal One-Page Summary Presentation Report Infographic PPT PDF Document

This preset is a game-changer for presenting  market research proposals  concisely. It encapsulates your research's key aspects in a one-page summary, making a compelling case for readers. It includes details about the project name, researcher's information,  and project research proposal  details like background, objectives, methodology, and outcomes. Visual elements and a well-organized structure enhance readability, effectively communicating your market insights. Download this preset that transforms your  market research proposal  into a concise yet comprehensive summary, guiding your stakeholders through the essentials.

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Template 2: Executive Summary Clinical Medicine Research Company Profile

For clinical medicine researchers, this layout provides a succinct yet comprehensive overview. The  executive summary  format communicates vital information, making it ideal for quickly understanding the research's significance. The slide depicts the company outline, critical statistics, and financial overview. The significant facts covered are the employee count, number of regulatory approvals, global market share, revenue CAGR, total revenue, and market capitalization. Elevate your  clinical medicine research  with an executive summary that encapsulates the essence of your findings and the potential impact on the medical landscape.

Template 3: Sample Research Paper Outline in One-Page Summary Report

This structure streamlines your detailed  research paper  into a digestible one-page summary. It breaks down the research paper's structure, ensuring the audience grasps vital points efficiently. It encapsulates five main sections: introduction, issue, literature review, recommendations, and conclusion. The easy-to-follow format makes it a valuable tool for presenting a complex  research statement.  Download this layout that transforms your detailed  research paper  into a  one-page summary  wonder, clearly presenting the structure and key points.

Template 4: One-Page Summary for Business Excellence Models Research Paper

Condense your exploration of business excellence models into a single, impactful page. This slide highlights the introduction,  executive summary , company background, financial information, business excellence model used, key findings and insights, and conclusion, presenting them aesthetically pleasing. It's perfect for delivering the essence of your business excellence research with clarity and brevity. Condense your exploration of business excellence models into a single page, making your insights accessible and actionable.

Template 5: One-Page Project Research Proposal Summary Presentation

Efficiently communicate the crux of your  project research proposal  with this preset. It highlights crucial components of your project research like objectives, study design, budget, project milestones and durations, etc. The  one-page summary  format ensures that your proposal's key elements are prominently featured. Visual elements enhance engagement, ensuring that key stakeholders swiftly grasp your project's significance. Download this layout and make it an excellent choice for a compelling project research presentation.

Template 6: One-Page Research Paper Summary on Business Ethics and Corruption

Navigate the complex landscape of business ethics and corruption research with this template. It condenses your  research paper  into a  one-page summary , focusing on crucial ethical considerations:

• Introduction of the concept
• sources of corruption in businesses
• The legislative framework
• Principals of ethics
• Conclusion and
• Customer viewpoint

Clear visuals and a cohesive layout ensure that your insights on ethics and corruption are communicated effectively, giving your  research statement  the attention it deserves. Download this  one-page summary , ensuring readers grasp your project's significance swiftly.

Template 7: Research Statement One Page Summary with Future Goals

Craft a compelling narrative of your research journey, culminating in a  one-page summary  with future goals. This presentation seamlessly integrates your  research statement  with a forward-looking perspective. It offers an overview of past and future research approaches and future goals to be achieved, along with a visual flowchart presenting your  project research proposal , research activity, and other written content. Download this powerful tool for presenting your research's impact and future directions.

Conclusion: Your Research, Your Way

In the world of academia, business, or healthcare, your research is a cornerstone of progress. Ensure it's not just buried in volumes of data but presented in a way that captivates and communicates. Explore the above research summary templates and transform your research journey into a resonant narrative. Furthermore, dive into the past with our  top history research proposal examples , complete with templates and samples for your historical research endeavors.

Remember, brevity is not just appreciated in a world saturated with information; it's often indispensable. So,  here , you can streamline your  project research proposals  with our top 7 one-page templates for compelling and concise presentations.

Craft your research summary with care, and let your findings shine!

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FACT SHEET: President   Biden Issues Executive Order and Announces New Actions to Advance Women’s Health Research and   Innovation

In his State of the Union address, President Biden laid out his vision for transforming women’s health research and improving women’s lives all across America. The President called on Congress to make a bold, transformative investment of $12 billion in new funding for women’s health research. This investment would be used to create a Fund for Women’s Health Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance a cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research agenda and to establish a new nationwide network of research centers of excellence and innovation in women’s health—which would serve as a national gold standard for women’s health research across the lifespan.

It is long past time to ensure women get the answers they need when it comes to their health—from cardiovascular disease to autoimmune diseases to menopause-related conditions. To pioneer the next generation of discoveries, the President and the First Lady launched the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research , which aims to fundamentally change how we approach and fund women’s health research in the United States.

Today, President Biden is signing a new Executive Order that will direct the most comprehensive set of executive actions ever taken to expand and improve research on women’s health. These directives will ensure women’s health is integrated and prioritized across the federal research portfolio and budget, and will galvanize new research on a wide range of topics, including women’s midlife health.

The President and First Lady are also announcing more than twenty new actions and commitments by federal agencies, including through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). This includes the launch of a new NIH-wide effort that will direct key investments of $200 million in Fiscal Year 2025 to fund new, interdisciplinary women’s health research—a first step towards the transformative central Fund on Women’s Health that the President has called on Congress to invest in. These actions also build on the First Lady’s announcement last month of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Sprint for Women’s Health , which committed $100 million towards transformative research and development in women’s health.

Today, the President is issuing an Executive Order that will:

• Integrate Women’s Health Across the Federal Research Portfolio . The Executive Order directs the Initiative’s constituent agencies to develop and strengthen research and data standards on women’s health across all relevant research and funding opportunities, with the goal of helping ensure that the Administration is better leveraging every dollar of federal funding for health research to improve women’s health. These actions will build on the NIH’s current policy to ensure that research it funds considers women’s health in the development of study design and in data collection and analysis. Agencies will take action to ensure women’s health is being considered at every step in the research process—from the applications that prospective grantees submit to the way that they report on grant implementation.
• Prioritize Investments in Women’s Health Research . The Executive Order directs the Initiative’s constituent agencies to prioritize funding for women’s health research and encourage innovation in women’s health, including through ARPA-H and multi-agency initiatives such as the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program. These entities are dedicated to high-impact research and innovation, including through the support of early-stage small businesses and entrepreneurs engaged in research and innovation. The Executive Order further directs HHS and NSF to study ways to leverage artificial intelligence to advance women’s health research. These additional investments—across a wide range of agencies—will support innovation and open new doors to breakthroughs in women’s health.
• Galvanize New Research on Women’s Midlife Health .  To narrow research gaps on diseases and conditions associated with women’s midlife health or that are more likely to occur after menopause, such as rheumatoid arthritis, heart attack, and osteoporosis, the President is directing HHS to: expand data collection efforts related to women’s midlife health; launch a comprehensive research agenda that will guide future investments in menopause-related research; identify ways to improve management of menopause-related issues and the clinical care that women receive; and develop new resources to help women better understand their options for menopause-related symptoms prevention and treatment. The Executive Order also directs the DoD and VA to study and take steps to improve the treatment of, and research related to, menopause for Service women and women veterans.
• Assess Unmet Needs to Support Women’s Health Research . The Executive Order directs the Office of Management and Budget and the Gender Policy Council to lead a robust effort to assess gaps in federal funding for women’s health research and identify changes—whether statutory, regulatory, or budgetary—that are needed to maximally support the broad scope of women’s health research across the federal government. Agencies will also be required to report annually on their investments in women’s health research, as well as progress towards their efforts to improve women’s health.

Today, agencies are also announcing new actions they are taking to promote women’s health research , as part of their ongoing efforts through the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. Agencies are announcing actions to:

Prioritize and Increase Investments in Women’s Health Research

• Launch an NIH-Cross Cutting Effort to Transform Women’s Health Throughout the Lifespan. NIH is launching an NIH-wide effort to close gaps in women’s health research across the lifespan. This effort—which will initially be supported by $200 million from NIH beginning in FY 2025—will allow NIH to catalyze interdisciplinary research, particularly on issues that cut across the traditional mandates of the institutes and centers at NIH. It will also allow NIH to launch ambitious, multi-faceted research projects such as research on the impact of perimenopause and menopause on heart health, brain health and bone health. In addition, the President’s FY25 Budget Request would double current funding for the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health to support new and existing initiatives that emphasize women’s health research.

This coordinated, NIH-wide effort will be co-chaired by the NIH Office of the Director, the Office of Research on Women’s Health, and the institute directors from the National Institute on Aging; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the National Institute on Drug Abuse; the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; the National Institute on Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

• Invest in Research on a Wide Range of Women’s Health Issues. The bipartisan Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP), led out of DoD, funds research on women’s health encompassing a range of diseases and conditions that affect women uniquely, disproportionately, or differently from men. While the programs and topic areas directed by Congress differ each year, CDMRP has consistently funded research to advance women’s health since its creation in 1993. In Fiscal Year 2022, DoD implemented nearly $490 million in CDMRP investments towards women’s health research projects ranging from breast and ovarian cancer to lupus to orthotics and prosthetics in women.  In Fiscal Year 2023, DoD anticipates implementing approximately $500 million in CDMRP funding for women’s health research, including in endometriosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and chronic fatigue.
• Call for New Proposals on Emerging Women’s Health Issues . Today, NSF is calling for new research and education proposals to advance discoveries and innovations related to women’s health. To promote multidisciplinary solutions to women’s health disparities, NSF invites applications that would improve women’s health through a wide range of disciplines—from computational research to engineering biomechanics. This is the first time that NSF has broadly called for novel and transformative research that is focused entirely on women’s health topics, and proposals will be considered on an ongoing basis.
• Increase Research on How Environmental Factors Affect Women’s Health. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is updating its grant solicitations and contracts to ensure that applicants prioritize, as appropriate, the consideration of women’s exposures and health outcomes. These changes will help ensure that women’s health is better accounted for across EPA’s research portfolio and increase our knowledge of women’s environmental health—from endocrine disruption to toxic exposure.
• Create a Dedicated, One-Stop Shop for NIH Funding Opportunities on Women’s Health. Researchers are often unaware of existing opportunities to apply for federal funding. To help close this gap, NIH is issuing a new Notice of Special Interest that identifies current, open funding opportunities related to women’s health research across a wide range of health conditions and all Institutes, Centers, and Offices. The NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health will build on this new Notice by creating a dedicated one-stop shop on open funding opportunities related to women’s health research. This will make it easier for researchers and institutions to find and apply for funding—instead of having to search across each of NIH’s 27 institutes for funding opportunities.

Foster Innovation and Discovery in Women’s Health

• Accelerate Transformative Research and Development in Women’s Health. ARPA-H’s Sprint for Women’s Health launched in February 2024 commits $100 million to transformative research and development in women’s health. ARPA-H is soliciting ideas for novel groundbreaking research and development to address women’s health, as well as opportunities to accelerate and scale tools, products, and platforms with the potential for commercialization to improve women’s health outcomes.
• Support Private Sector Innovation Through Additional Federal Investments in Women’s Health Research. The NIH’s competitive Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program is committing to further increasing—by 50 percent—its investments in supporting innovators and early-stage small businesses engaged in research and development on women’s health. These programs will solicit new proposals on promising women’s health innovation and make evidence-based investments that bridge the gap between performance of basic science and commercialization of resulting innovations. This commitment for additional funds builds on the investments the Administration has already made to increase innovation in women’s health through small businesses, including by increasing investments by sevenfold between Fiscal Year 2021 and Fiscal Year 2023.
• Advance Initiatives to Protect and Promote the Health of Women. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeks to advance efforts to help address gaps in research and availability of products for diseases and conditions that primarily impact women, or for which scientific considerations may be different for women, and is committed to research and regulatory initiatives that facilitate the development of safe and effective medical products for women. FDA also plans to issue guidance for industry that relates to the inclusion of women in clinical trials and conduct outreach to stakeholders to discuss opportunities to advance women’s health across the lifespan. And FDA’s Office of Women’s Health will update FDA’s framework for women’s health research and seek to fund research with an emphasis on bridging gaps in knowledge on important women’s health topics, including sex differences and conditions that uniquely or disproportionately impact women.
• Use Biomarkers to Improve the Health of Women Through Early Detection and Treatment of Conditions, such as Endometriosis. NIH will launch a new initiative dedicated to research on biomarker discovery and validation to help improve our ability to prevent, diagnose, and treat conditions that affect women uniquely, including endometriosis. This NIH initiative will accelerate our ability to identify new pathways for diagnosis and treatment by encouraging multi-sector collaboration and synergistic research that will speed the transfer of knowledge from bench to bedside.
• Leverage Engineering Research to Improve Women’s Health . The NSF Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA) is convening national experts to identify high-impact research opportunities in engineering that can improve women’s health. ERVA’s Transforming Women’s Health Outcomes Through Engineering visioning event will be held in June 2024, and will bring together experts from across engineering—including those in microfluidics, computational modeling, artificial intelligence/imaging, and diagnostic technologies and devices—to evaluate the landscape for new applications in women’s health. Following this event, ERVA will issue a report and roadmap on critical areas where engineering research can impact women’s health across the lifespan.
• Drive Engineering Innovations in Women’s Health Discovery . NSF awardees at Texas A&M University will hold a conference in summer 2024 to collectively identify challenges and opportunities in improving women’s health through engineering. Biomedical engineers and scientists will explore and identify how various types of engineering tools, including biomechanics and immuno-engineering, can be applied to women’s health and spark promising new research directions.

Expand and Leverage Data Collection and Analysis Related to Women’s Health

• Help Standardize Data to Support Research on Women’s Health. NIH is launching an effort to identify and develop new common data elements related to women’s health that will help researchers share and combine datasets, promote interoperability, and improve the accuracy of datasets when it comes to women’s health. NIH will initiate this process by convening data and scientific experts across the federal government to solicit feedback on the need to develop new NIH-endorsed common data elements—which are widely used in both research and clinical settings. By advancing new tools to capture more data about women’s health, NIH will give researchers and clinicians the tools they need to enable more meaningful data collection, analysis, and reporting and comprehensively improve our knowledge of women’s health.
• Reflect Women’s Health Needs in National Coverage Determinations. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will strengthen its review process, including through Coverage with Evidence Development guidance, to ensure that new medical services and technologies work well in women, as applicable, before being covered nationally through the Medicare program. This will help ensure that Medicare funds are used for treatments with a sufficient evidence base to show that they actually work in women, who make up more than half of the Medicare population.
• Leverage Data and Quality Measures to Advance Women’s Health Research. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) are building on existing datasets to improve the collection, analysis, and reporting of information on women’s health. The CDC is expanding the collection of key quality measures across a woman’s lifespan, including to understand the link between pregnancy and post-partum hypertension and heart disease, and plans to release the Million Hearts Hypertension in Pregnancy Change Package. This resource will feature a menu of evidence-informed strategies by which clinicians can change care processes. Each strategy includes tested tools and resources to support related clinical quality improvement. HRSA is modernizing its Uniform Data System in ways that will improve the ability to assess how women are being served through HRSA-funded health centers. By improving the ability to analyze data on key clinical quality measures, CDC and HRSA can help close gaps in women’s health care access and identify new opportunities for high-impact research.  

Strengthen Coordination, Infrastructure, and Training to Support Women’s Health Research

• Launch New Joint Collaborative to Improve Women’s Health Research for Service Members and Veterans. DoD and VA are launching a new Women’s Health Research collaborative to explore opportunities that further promote joint efforts to advance women’s health research and improve evidence-based care for Service members and veterans. The collaborative will increase coordination with the goal of helping improve care across the lifespan for women in the military and women veterans. The Departments will further advance research on key women’s health issues and develop a roadmap to close pressing research gaps, including those specifically affecting Service women and women veterans.
• Coordinate Research to Advance the Health of Women in the Military. DoD will invest $10 million, contingent on available funds, in the Military Women’s Health Research Partnership. This Partnership is led by the Uniformed Services University and advances and coordinates women’s health research across the Department. The Partnership is supporting research in a wide range of health issues affecting women in the military, including cancers, mental and behavioral health, and the unique health care needs of Active Duty Service Women. In addition, the Uniformed Services University established a dedicated Director of Military Women’s Health Research Program, a role that is responsible for identifying research gaps, fostering collaboration, and coordinating and aligning a unified approach to address the evolving needs of Active Duty Service Women.
• Support EPA-Wide Research and Dissemination of Data on Women’s Health. EPA is establishing a Women’s Health Community of Practice to coordinate research and data dissemination. EPA also plans to direct the Board of Scientific Counselors to identify ways to advance EPA’s research with specific consideration of the intersection of environmental factors and women’s health, including maternal health.
• Expand Fellowship Training in Women’s Health Research. CDC, in collaboration with the CDC Foundation and American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, is expanding training in women’s health research and public health surveillance to OBGYNs, nurses and advanced practice nurses. Through fellowships and public health experiences with CDC, these clinicians will gain public health research skills to improve the health of women and children exposed to or affected by infectious diseases, mental health and substance use disorders. CDC will invite early career clinicians to train in public health and policy to become future leaders in women’s health research.

Improve Women’s Health Across the Lifespan

• Create a Comprehensive Research Agenda on Menopause. To help women get the answers they need about menopause, NIH will launch its first-ever Pathways to Prevention series on menopause and the treatment of menopausal symptoms. Pathways to Prevention is an independent, evidence-based process to synthesize the current state of the evidence, identify gaps in existing research, and develop a roadmap that can be used to help guide the field forward. The report, once completed, will help guide innovation and investments in menopause-related research and care across the federal government and research community.
• Improve Primary Care and Preventive Services for Women . The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) will issue a Notice of Intent to publish a funding opportunity announcement for research to advance the science of primary care, which will include a focus on women’s health. Through this funding opportunity, AHRQ will build evidence about key elements of primary care that influence patient outcomes and advance health equity—focusing on women of color—such as care coordination, continuity of care, comprehensiveness of care, person-centered care, and trust. The results from the funding opportunity will shed light on vital targets for improvements in the delivery of primary healthcare across a woman’s lifespan, including women’s health preventive services, prevention and management of multiple chronic diseases, perinatal care, transition from pediatric to adult care, sexual and reproductive health, and care of older adults.
• Promote the Health of American Indian and Alaska Native Women. The Indian Health Service is launching a series of engagements, including focus groups, to better understand tribal beliefs related to menopause in American Indian and Alaska Native Women. This series will inform new opportunities to expand culturally informed patient care and research as well as the development of new resources and educational materials.
• Connect Research to Real-World Outcomes to Improve Women’s Mental and Behavioral Health. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is supporting a range of health care providers to address the unique needs of women with or at risk for mental health and substance use disorders. Building on its current efforts to provide technical assistance through various initiatives , SAMHSA intends, contingent on available funds, to launch a new comprehensive Women’s Behavioral Health Technical Assistance Center. This center will identify and improve the implementation of best practices in women’s behavioral health across the life span; identify and fill critical gaps in knowledge of and resources for women’s behavioral health; and provide learning opportunities, training, and technical assistance for healthcare providers.
• Support Research on Maternal Health Outcomes. USDA will fund research to help recognize early warning signs of maternal morbidity and mortality in recipients of Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and anticipates awarding up to $5 million in Fiscal Year 2023 to support maternal health research through WIC. In addition, research being conducted through the Agricultural Research Service’s Human Nutrition Research Centers is focusing on women’s health across the lifespan, including the nutritional needs of pregnant and breastfeeding women and older adults.

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Apple researchers achieve breakthroughs in multimodal AI as company ramps up investments

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Apple researchers have developed new methods for training large language models on both text and images, enabling more powerful and flexible AI systems, in what could be a significant advance for artificial intelligence and for future Apple products.

The work, described in a research paper titled “ MM1: Methods, Analysis & Insights from Multimodal LLM Pre-training ” that was quietly posted to arxiv.org this week, demonstrates how carefully combining different types of training data and model architectures can lead to state-of-the-art performance on a range of AI benchmarks.

“We demonstrate that for large-scale multimodal pre-training using a careful mix of image-caption, interleaved image-text, and text-only data is crucial for achieving state-of-the-art few-shot results across multiple benchmarks,” the researchers explain. By training models on a diverse dataset spanning visual and linguistic information, the MM1 models were able to excel at tasks like image captioning, visual question answering, and natural language inference.

Scaling visual components is key

The researchers also found that the choice of image encoder and the resolution of input images had a major impact on model performance. “We show that the image encoder together with image resolution and the image token count has substantial impact, while the vision-language connector design is of comparatively negligible importance,” they said. This suggests that continued scaling and refinement of the visual components of these multimodal models will be key to unlocking further gains.

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Surprisingly, the largest 30 billion parameter MM1 model exhibited strong in-context learning abilities, allowing it to perform multi-step reasoning over multiple input images using few-shot “chain-of-thought” prompting. This points to the potential for large multimodal models to tackle complex, open-ended problems that require grounded language understanding and generation.

Apple’s billion-dollar AI bet

The MM1 research comes as Apple has been ramping up its investments in artificial intelligence in an effort to catch up with rivals like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon who have raced ahead in integrating generative AI capabilities into their products. The company is on track to spend $1 billion per year on AI development, according to a recent Bloomberg report .

Sources say Apple is working on a large language model framework called “Ajax” as well as a chatbot known internally as “Apple GPT.” The goal is to integrate these technologies into Siri, Messages, Apple Music and other apps and services. For example, AI could be used to auto-generate personalized playlists, assist developers in writing code, or engage in open-ended conversation and task completion.

“We view AI and machine learning as fundamental technologies, and they’re integral to virtually every product that we ship,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said during a recent earnings call . “I’m not going to get into details about what it is, because — as you know, we don’t — we really don’t do that. But you can bet that we’re investing, we’re investing quite a bit, we’re going to do it responsibly and it will — you will see product advancements over time that where the — those technologies are at the heart of them.”

The high stakes of the AI arms race

Apple has a history of being a fast follower rather than a first mover when it comes to major technology shifts. But with AI poised to transform every aspect of the digital landscape, the stakes are high for the iPhone maker to stay competitive. The MM1 research shows that Apple has the talent and resources to make cutting-edge advances. But it remains to be seen if the notoriously secretive company can move quickly enough to keep pace in the escalating AI arms race.

Many eyes will be on Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June, where the company is expected to unveil new AI-powered features and developer tools. In the meantime, smaller AI advances like the Keyframer animation tool and performance enhancements coming out of Apple’s research labs show steady progress is being made behind the scenes. 

As Cook hinted during a recent earnings call : “We’re excited to share details of our ongoing work in AI later this year.” That work, it is now clear, includes ambitious efforts to master multimodal intelligence at the largest scales. The age of pervasively helpful and human-like AI may arrive sooner than we think — and Apple intends to play a major part in shaping it.

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ECE Assistant in Research S24 (Student Temp)

How to apply.

Apply through http://careers.umich.edu/ (click on “APPLY NOW” box on the upper right corner of this page). Applications will only be accepted from current undergraduate ECE - Electrical & Computer Engineering Department  students. Include your resume.

An undergraduate student in the ECE - Electrical & Computer Engineering Department i s sought for assistance on collaborative projects. An assistant in research will have the opportunity to work on faculty-generated projects. Students are paid bi-weekly at an hourly rate determined by the faculty project sponsor.

Responsibilities*

Selected candidates will assist with experimental procedures and in the preparation of reports, perform simple calculations or measurements, code and/or record data.  Specific activities are dependent upon the faculty research. Perform other duties as assigned or requested by your direct supervisor. Weekly meetings with the faculty supervisor may be required in this position.

Required Qualifications*

Must be a current undergraduate student in the ECE - Electrical & Computer Engineering Department at UM-Dearborn

Self-motivation and willingness to learn new applications and the ability to work independently

Good communication skills

Good organizational and documentation skills for keeping track of data and multiple analysis steps

Proficient in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, internet search engines, internet and mobile devices

Background Screening

The University of Michigan conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer and may use a third party administrator to conduct background checks.  Background checks are performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

The University of Michigan participates with the federal EVerify system.  Individuals hired into positions that are funded by a federal contract with the FAR EVerify clause must have their identity and work eligibility confirmed by the EVerify system.  This position is identified as a position that may include the EVerify requirement.

U-M EEO/AA Statement

The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

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Abusing the DHCP Administrators Group to Escalate Privileges in Windows Domains

March 20, 2024

Ori David is a Security Researcher at Akamai. His research is focused on offensive security, malware analysis, and threat hunting.

Editorial and additional commentary by Tricia Howard

Executive summary

Akamai researchers discovered a new privilege escalation technique affecting Active Directory (AD) environments that leverages the DHCP administrators group.

In cases where the DHCP server role is installed on a Domain Controller (DC), this could enable them to gain domain admin privileges .

The technique is based on abuse of legitimate features and doesn’t rely on any vulnerability. Therefore, a fix for it doesn’t exist.

In addition to providing a privilege escalation primitive, the same technique could also be used to create a stealthy domain persistence mechanism.

Microsoft DHCP server is very popular; it was observed running in 40% of the networks monitored by Akamai. Any environment running this server could be vulnerable.

We provide detailed steps that can drastically reduce the risk from this technique, identify potential exploitation of it, as well as a way to identify the configuration that enables it.

Introduction

From Google Docs to Active Directory, access management affects just about every role in an organization. Minimizing employee frustrations without adding unnecessary risk is a delicate balance when discussing permissions and access control — a plight security teams are painfully aware of.

As such, the “just enough access” sweet spot is a critical element of any access strategy. It boils down to this: Every user should be granted a set of privileges that are required to perform their duties, but they should be as limited as possible in any other aspect. This can reduce the impact of a compromise of any single user, preventing lateral movement and additional exploitation.

Although it would remove the most risk, managing access on an identity-by-identity basis is not realistic or feasible, especially at the enterprise level. Instead, user access groups provide generalized permissions based on job function — a concept most commonly seen in AD. For example, Microsoft provides the “DNS Admins” group, which is an AD group in charge of managing DNS servers. Following the “just enough access” principle, its members do not have permissions over the machine hosting the DNS server, but rather only for DNS service-related configuration.

Although that all works in theory — in practice, it’s a different story. Shay Ber’s 2017 research demonstrated how members of the “DNS Admins” group could abuse one of the group’s privileges to execute code on DNS servers, which would almost always result in a privilege escalation to domain admins.

Microsoft DHCP provides a similar security group called “DHCP administrators.” While working on our recent research into Microsoft DHCP, the question of finding a similar primitive using this group came to mind: Can a DHCP administrator become a domain administrator? Well, as it turns out, sometimes it sure can. 🥴

In this blog post, we will cover the DHCP administrators group and show how one of its privileges could be abused to compromise DHCP servers, including a full domain takeover in cases where the DHCP server is installed on a DC .

We will also show how this same technique can be used to establish an interesting domain persistence mechanism, and provide the details to implement a “ DHCP backdoor .”

Since this technique uses legitimate privileges and options that are available to DHCP administrators, there isn’t a simple solution like a patch — because there is no vulnerability. To help reduce the risk from this technique, we’ve included detailed mitigation and detection steps in this blog post.

What are DHCP administrators?

The DHCP administrators group is an AD group of users that are intended to manage Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) servers. It allows its members to query and modify the configuration of the DHCP service on remote servers.

Importantly, its members have no permissions over the DHCP server machine itself, but only for the DHCP service configuration. This means that a DHCP administrator should not be able to execute code on a DHCP server, but only modify DHCP-related configurations. One of the configurations that is controlled by DHCP administrators is DHCP options .

Abusing DHCP options

Network clients require a set of configurations to participate in a network, including an IP address and a subnet mask, a default gateway address, and a DNS server, just to name a few. DHCP servers advertise these configurations to their clients in the form of DHCP options — different configurations are coupled with a defined option ID and are queried by clients (Figure 1).

DHCP clients request their required options and modify their network configuration according to the responses. With the ability to control the values of these options on the server, each option that is requested by a client could potentially be abused by an attacker to inject malicious configuration .

To understand the potential attack surface on Windows clients, we can examine the options that are requested by default (Figure 2).

Proxy autodiscovery

We can see that one of the configurations requested is the “ Proxy autodiscovery ” option (highlighted in blue in Figure 2), which is used to automatically configure a web proxy ( WPAD ). This option enables a DHCP server to specify the URL of a “ wpad.dat ” file, which contains the proxy settings to be used by the client.

We can configure this option and specify our address as the proxy by running the following PowerShell commands:

After setting this option, we see that Windows clients receive our configuration when leasing an address from the DHCP server(Figure 3).

After receiving this configuration, the DHCP client will connect to our machine over HTTP and attempt to fetch the “ wpad.dat ” file (Figure 4).

The ability to impersonate a WPAD server opens up the opportunity for several attacks that can allow compromising client credentials.

There are other DHCP options we can target to achieve a similar result. This capability is certainly by design, and is not really a security problem. DHCP administrators can, well … administer DHCP. The impact of this capability, however, can be broader than expected.

DHCP DNS Server option

While analyzing the different DHCP options that could be abused, another one caught our attention — the DNS Server option. In a similar manner to the previous attack, a DHCP administrator can spoof the DNS server address and spoof DNS responses to achieve a machine-in-the-middle (MITM) position. But, as it turns out, there's more to this option.

Normally, DHCP options are used to serve data to requesting clients. Interestingly, the DNS Server option serves another purpose — its value will be used as the destination of DHCP DNS Dynamic Updates (Figure 5).

Why is this interesting? Microsoft DNS server and Windows DNS clients support a feature of Dynamic Updates called secure dynamic updates . With this feature enabled (and it is, by default), DNS clients are required to authenticate before performing DNS updates on the server. This authentication is performed by using Kerberos over DNS.

With a DHCP administrator account, we can control the DNS Server option on the DHCP server and make it authenticate to an address of our choice. The steps in Figure 6 show how this is achieved.

On the target DHCP server, we configure our IP address (172.25.14.19) as the DNS Server option.

From our machine, we lease an IP address while specifying the FQDN option . In this example, we specify the FQDN “ aaa.aka.test ”. This triggers a DHCP DNS Dynamic Update.

The DHCP server sends a DNS “Start of Authority” (SOA) query to our machine (thinking it’s the DNS server). This query is used by the DHCP server to check which DNS server is authoritative over “ aaa.aka.test ”. 

We respond to the SOA query, specifying our machine as the authoritative DNS server for the record “ aaa.aka.test” .

The DHCP server attempts to create the record by sending a DNS Dynamic Update to our machine. This update attempt is unauthenticated.

We refuse the unauthenticated update to trigger an authentication attempt by the server.

The DHCP server authenticates to our machine using Kerberos authentication over DNS, implemented by sending a TKEY query.

 Figure 7 shows an example capture of this technique in action.

This technique, which we’ve dubbed DHCP Coerce , grants us a Kerberos authentication coercion primitive, as we can make any DHCP server authenticate to our machine.

Have questions about DHCP security?

DHCP Coerce to Kerberos relay

DHCP Coerce opens an opportunity for a Kerberos relay attack — we can coerce authentication to our machine and then perform a relay attack, allowing us to impersonate the DHCP server machine account. This would allow full control over the server itself instead of the more limited permissions included in the DHCP administrators group.

Kerberos relay targets are somewhat limited, but we still have a good option, as was described in a blog post by Dirk Jan , Kerberos relay can be used to target Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS).

AD CS are a set of services that provide a PKI solution for Active Directory environments. In the context of AD, the main use of this PKI is to enable certificate-based authentication — with AD CS, users can issue certificates for themselves, and use them to authenticate to resources in the domain.

One of the ways these certificates are issued is the Web Enrollment service — a web service that can be used by clients to request certificates. By default, this service is vulnerable to Kerberos relay attacks, as it does not verify message integrity. This problem is described as ESC8 in the AD CS research performed by Will Schroeder and Lee Christensen of SpecterOps.

By combining our coercion primitive with ESC8, we can create an attack chain (Figure 8) that will enable us to compromise the DHCP server.

Use a DHCP Administrator to coerce Kerberos authentication to our machine as described in the previous section.

Use Krbrelayx.py to relay the authentication to AD CS and get a certificate for the DHCP server machine account.

Use the certificate to obtain the NTLM hash of the DHCP server machine account, a technique described in SpecterOps’s research as THEFT5 .

Use the NTLM hash to authenticate as the DHCP server machine account and execute code.

For a deeper dive on steps 2–4, please refer to Dirk Jan’s Relaying Kerberos over DNS using krbrelayx and mitm6 blog post. 

To summarize, if AD CS is used in the environment, a DHCP administrator account can execute code on any DHCP server. Yikes.

DHCP servers are very often installed on DCs — among the networks that we observed using Microsoft DHCP server, 57% have a DHCP server installed on a DC. In these cases, a DHCP administrator can compromise the entire domain by taking over the DC machine account.

A note on DNS credential

The attack we just described relies on the DHCP server authenticating with its own machine account when performing DNS updates. One of the best practices recommended by Microsoft is to configure a weak user as the DNS credential for the DHCP server — an alternative credential to be used instead of the machine account when performing updates.

This configuration could nullify our relay attack. Instead of compromising the machine account of the server, we will get the permissions of a weak user.

Luckily for us, we are DHCP administrators! A DHCP administrator can remove an existing DNS credential without any knowledge of the credential itself. The Remove-DhcpServerDnsCredential PowerShell command could be used to do this. After removing the DNS credential, the DHCP server reverts to the default and uses its machine account to perform updates.

DHCP domain persistence

In addition to abusing the DHCP administrators group to execute code on DHCP servers, the technique that we just described could be weaponized to create an interesting domain persistence mechanism.

Once the DNS Server option is set up, no credentials are required to coerce authentication — an attacker only needs to lease an IP address from the DHCP server. This can allow an attacker to perform a DHCP coerce attack from outside the domain without any credentials.

DHCP backdoor scope

A DHCP scope is a defined set of IP addresses in a specific subnet that the DHCP can lease. DHCP options can be configured on a per-scope basis, allowing for different configurations for various subnets.

To perform a DHCP coerce, we need to change the DNS Server option on one of the DHCP scopes. Obviously, we don't want to use an existing scope for this — if we modify an existing scope’s DNS Server option, this configuration would be passed down to DHCP clients, causing communication issues and potentially lead to the detection of our backdoor.

Instead, we want to create a dedicated scope, with an address range that is not used in any subnet of the network (Figure 9).

But there’s a problem with this approach, rooted in the DHCP server scope-selection logic. When a client leases an IP address, the server determines the DHCP scope to use based on the source subnet of the client. This subnet is identified by the network interface that received the DHCP Discover message (Figure 10).

To trigger the backdoor, we need to lease an IP address from our malicious scope. To do that, we must be present in a subnet that is linked to this scope. At the same time, we want our scope not to be linked to an existing subnet in the network, to avoid breaking client connectivity. These two requirements, however, contradict each other — if a scope is not linked to an existing subnet, we can't reach it. If it is, other clients can reach it as well. Luckily, DHCP relay agent comes to the rescue.

DHCP relay agent

A solution to this problem comes with the DHCP relay agent feature. A DHCP relay agent is a server that is meant to allow clients to lease IP addresses from a DHCP server even if one is not present in their local network (Figure 11).

The relay agent listens to DHCP broadcast messages from clients and relays them to the DHCP server on behalf of the clients. The DHCP relay agent informs the DHCP server of the source subnet of the client via the Relay Agent Information DHCP option, allowing the server to determine the correct scope to use when leasing an IP address.

We noticed that this feature enables a DHCP relay agent to request an IP address from any scope, regardless of the interface on the DHCP server. An attacker can act as a relay agent and indicate any subnet in the Relay Agent Information option, enabling them to lease an IP address from any scope (Figure 12).

There is one final caveat to consider: The IP address of the relay server itself has to be part of an existing scope on the server. This is meant to prevent rogue clients from accessing the server. To overcome this, we can follow Microsoft’s recommendation and create a dedicated scope that will include our external IP address, illegitimately “authorizing” it to act as a relay.

Abusing the DHCP relay agent option

A potential backdoor (Figure 13) will consist of 2 scopes:

Authorization scope . A scope that is meant to authorize our attacking machine to act as a DHCP relay agent. Its IP range will include the IP address of our external attacking machine.

• Coercion scope . A scope that will be used to lease an IP address, triggering a Kerberos authentication attempt to our attacking machine. Its DNS Server option would be configured with our external attacking machine IP, and its IP range can be any arbitrary range that is not used in the network.

The following PowerShell code shows how these scopes could be created:

To trigger the backdoor, we lease an address from the DHCP server with the following adjustments:

We use our IP address in the relay agent IP address ( giaddr ) DHCP field. This field is used to inform the DHCP server of the relay agent IP address. This IP is required to be inside the “authorization scope.”

We include the Relay Agent Information option, with an IP address inside the “coercion scope.”

In Figure 14, our authorization scope includes the IP address 172.25.14.18, and our coercion scope includes the address 66.66.66.66.

We added relay agent support to DDSpoof , our DHCP DNS spoofing toolkit , and created a proof of concept script called dhcp_coerce.py that enables the performance of this attack. The script acts as a DHCP relay agent and requests an IP address from our requested scope, enabling us to trigger authentication coercion through our coercion scope (Figure 15).

Mitigations

Defensive measures against this threat include:

Identifying risky DHCP configuration

Mitigating relay attacks against AD CS 

Practicing DHCP administrators group hygiene

Using segmentation to reduce the attack surface, identifying dns anomalies.

Invoke-DHCPCheckup.ps1 can help you identify risky DHCP configuration. The most severe risk in the context of the DHCP coerce attack chain is an installation of a DHCP server on a DC — a configuration that we recommend you avoid.

Run Invoke-DHCPCheckup to list all active Microsoft DHCP servers, and identify any that are installed on DCs (Figure 16). If possible, disable the DHCP server service on all DCs.

Mitigating relay attacks against AD CS

The most effective way to prevent this attack chain is to mitigate relay attacks against AD CS servers, which would thwart the ability to abuse the authentication coercion primitive.

The risk of relay attacks and the variation against AD CS are not new, and are known to Microsoft. Extended Protection for Authentication (EPA) is a feature that was introduced to prevent such attacks, but is not enabled by default for AD CS. To mitigate the risk of relay attacks to AD CS, disable HTTP and enable the EPA feature on all AD CS servers .

Members of the DHCP administrators group can potentially compromise DHCP clients and servers, so this group should be treated as a high-value asset and monitored accordingly. Limit membership of the DHCP administrators group as much as possible to reduce the risk of an administrator user compromise. Consider using the more limited DHCP users group in applicable cases .

In addition to the previous defensive measures, network segmentation could be used to mitigate the attack and reduce the attack surface, potentially preventing potential similar attacks.

By using Akamai Guardicore Segmentation , defenders can:

Block RPC traffic to DHCP servers from nonadministrator endpoints, preventing the ability to modify DHCP options: Create a label that contains the endpoints used by DHCP administrators, then allow only this label to communicate with DHCP servers over non-DHCP ports. 

Block access to AD CS enrollment servers for endpoints that do not require it, which reduces the ability to perform relay attacks: Create a label that contains endpoints that require issuing certificates using AD CS, then allow only this label to communicate with the web enrollment servers.

Block DHCP traffic to and from the internet, preventing external machines’ ability to coerce DHCP authentication: Create a label for all DHCP servers, then block all communication with internet addresses.

The attack relies on forcing the DHCP server to send a DNS update request to an address that’s different from the standard AD DNS server. This type of traffic is usually static in nature, so this behavior is highly anomalous. This anomalous traffic behavior can serve as a detection opportunity for this attack, or any other attack that abuses Kerberos authentication over DNS.

To identify such anomalies, create a list of legitimate DNS servers that should be receiving DNS updates — either by querying AD or by monitoring DNS traffic. This list should be fairly limited and it should be used as a baseline for legitimate traffic. Any deviation from this list should be investigated — especially if it involves internet addresses.

Akamai Hunt , Akamai’s managed threat hunting service, offers its customers protection in the form of a large set of anomaly detection techniques that constantly monitor the environment in an attempt to detect the unknown.

Malicious privilege escalation can be disastrous, especially when it leverages legitimate processes. Juggling strong security controls with minimal inconvenience to the user presents a major quandary for the modern security professional. With the introduction of the Internet of Things, a distributed mobile workforce, and the constant onslaught of both new and old vulnerability exploitation, there has never been a more critical time to get a handle on your access strategy.

The DHCP administrators group is a striking example of this concept. It provides its members with a strong set of permissions, but those permissions may also be abused by attackers. Especially in security, even the most well-intentioned features can be abused.

Defenders should be aware of this potential risk, and treat this group with the appropriate caution. We hope this post has provided context and defensive measures against this threat.

For additional information about risks related to Microsoft DHCP, please refer to our other blog posts on the subject:

Spoofing DNS Records by Abusing DHCP DNS Dynamic Updates

Weaponizing DHCP DNS Spoofing — A Hands-On Guide

The Akamai Security Intelligence Group will continue to monitor this threat and others like it and publish our findings. To keep up with DHCP updates and other security research, you can follow us on X (formerly Twitter).

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