I have observed that the average length of a research paper is normally around 4000 to 6000 words. And what if you want to find anything in this pile of words? Obviously, you won’t want to go through all the text again.
Summarizing the research paper is a great way to have all the important points in one place. And the great news is that you can easily find the points you want without going through the paper from start to end.
But what’s that magical way to summarize a research paper? Let’s find out!
In this article, first I’ll guide you through the manual way of summarizing with easy steps. And then I will show you the easiest ways to summarize a research paper that you can use to help you save time and increase accuracy.
So, without further ado, let’s dive in!
How to Summarize a Research Paper Manually: Step-by-Step Guide
The conventional and most efficient way to manually write a summary is always writing it with focus and never missing out on any important points.
However, if you face any issues, here are the steps that you can follow to write the best summary of the text:
Step #1. Read Carefully & Take Notes!
As you know, the first step is to read the text carefully. Don’t just read it. Read it with your full attention. It will take you anywhere from 3-6 hours to read a research paper properly and digest it.
Other than just reading carefully, do yourself another favor and highlight or make notes of all the important points discussed in your research paper that you think are important to add to the summary.
The four major parts of a research paper include:
- Introduction
- Methods
- Results
- Discussion
Ensure you don’t miss any important points discussed in these sections.
Step #2. Create a Brief Outline
When you have the notes with you, and you have read the text, the next step is to create a brief outline or organize your notes in a proper structure.
By proper structure, I mean it should be discussing points from basic to advanced. The is usually around 300-400 words, so organize the points accordingly.
Step #3. Start Writing the Summary
When starting a summary, always start with the introduction. You can introduce the topic and dive straight into the main points. Make sure your summary is to the point.
To write the summary, here are some tips that you can follow:
- Write down the paper’s thesis
- Describe the paper’s main points
- Elaborate on your notes
- Include any stats discussed in the paper
Step #4. Write Down the Author’s Conclusion
Before you think your summary is complete, you must ensure you have added the conclusion or evaluations of the author. For example, if the research is about the excessive use of social media, and the author has written his conclusion, make sure to write those down.
These conclusions can be your point of interest or point that you argue with if you have to create an assignment or research paper of your own. Conclusions are one of the most important as well as the most interesting parts of the research paper.
Step #5. Proofread
When you are done, the final step is to proofread the summary. Proofreading is the process of giving your article a final review and correcting the errors that you might have made. It won’t take you long, but it’s important.
If there is even a small error in your summary, it could result in a whole different opinion. Here are some tips for proofreading the articles:
- Read the summary aloud
- Cross-check the stats from the research paper
- Cross-check the text from the notes you made
- Check for one type of error at a time (e.g., only check the stats, then check the conclusions, etc.)
- Proofread 2 times!
These are the 5 most important steps when writing a summary. Follow these, and your summary will be great.
The Best Shortcut to Summarize a Research Paper: Use a Tool!
Now that you know the traditional way of writing a summary let us suggest a better and more efficient way. It’s 2023, and there is a tool for almost everything you do manually. Hence, there’s a tool for summarizing research papers.
So why not use it? But first, let’s explore what it is and how it works.
Overview Of Summarizing Tools
Summarizers are AI-based tools using state-of-the-art AI technology to summarize the text you provide. These tools are a great choice for summarizing a research paper. It can do it within seconds.
These tools work by reading your text, taking out the main points, and writing those main points into a summary. For the output, you can choose between summary in bullet points or paragraphs.
The best part? Typically, these tools are free to use.
How to Use a Summarizer to Summarize a Research Paper?
If you want to summarize a research paper using a summarizing tool, here are the steps that you usually will have to follow.
- Choose a Summarizer
- Type or upload your text
- Click on the ‘Summarize Now’ button
- You’ll get the summarized text!
When you summarize the text, you can copy, download, or clear the text. Whatever you wish. These are just a few steps that you have to go, which will take you around 10-15 minutes, and you’ll be able to skip the part of reading and writing the summary yourself.
Sounds good? Go and try it out!
Conclusion
So there you have it. Everything you need to know about the best way to summarize a research paper.
We also discussed a shortcut to do it and some tips that might help you with the process.
We hope this article was helpful for you and will help you save time when writing down the summary. Good luck!
