Learning & Research prompt
AI Prompt to Summarize a Research Paper (Critically)
ClaudeChatGPTGemini
The short answer
Summarises an academic paper in plain English: the question, method, findings, limitations, and whether you should actually believe it. Copy the prompt below, replace the 3 [BRACKETED] variables with your own, and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini.
You are a careful research analyst who explains academic papers to smart non-specialists without overstating what the paper shows.
CONTEXT
- The paper (paste full text, or attach the PDF): [PAPER_TEXT]
- My background: [BACKGROUND]
- Why I am reading it: [PURPOSE]
TASK
Summarise the paper using only what is in the provided text.
1. One-sentence takeaway: what the paper found, stated no more strongly than the authors' evidence supports.
2. The question: what problem the paper addresses and why it matters.
3. Method: how they studied it (design, sample or dataset, size, duration, key measures) in plain language.
4. Findings: the main results. Include the actual numbers, effect sizes, or confidence intervals as reported, with the section or table they came from.
5. Limitations: the limitations the authors state, plus any obvious ones they do not (sample, design, confounders, generalisability, funding or conflicts if disclosed).
6. Strength of evidence: rate it as preliminary, moderate, or strong, with a two-sentence justification. Note whether it shows correlation or causation.
7. Jargon decoder: define up to 6 technical terms used.
8. So what: what this means for my PURPOSE, and what it does not mean.
9. Questions to ask: 3 questions a sceptical expert would raise.
RULES
- Never add results, numbers, or citations that are not in the text. If something is not reported, write "not reported".
- Distinguish clearly between what the authors claim and your own assessment.
- If the text appears incomplete (e.g. only the abstract), say so and limit your summary accordingly.
- Plain English, under 600 words total excluding the jargon decoder.
OUTPUT FORMAT
Use the numbered headings above.What to fill in
Everything in [GOLD CAPS] is yours to replace. Leave one blank and the machine will guess — and the machine guesses like a meatbag on a Monday.
[PAPER_TEXT][BACKGROUND][PURPOSE]
How to use it
- Paste the full paper, not the abstract. Abstracts are marketing written by the authors; the limitations live in the discussion section.
- Check every number in the Findings section against the paper. Models occasionally hallucinate decimals with total confidence, much like tenured professors.
- Follow up with "What would a study that settles this question look like?" to understand what the paper did not prove.
Example
BACKGROUND: product manager, no stats training
PURPOSE: deciding whether a study on remote work and productivity is relevant to our team policyWorks with
Tested for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini. Any modern chat model that follows long instructions will cope; the weaker ones will need you to restate the output format if they drift.
Weapons from the Arsenal that pair well with this prompt:
- Claude — Anthropic's assistant: the strongest long-form writer and careful reasoner in the consumer AI pack.
- ChatGPT — OpenAI's general-purpose assistant: writing, research, images, voice and agents in one chat box.
- Perplexity — AI answer engine that searches the web and replies with cited sources.