Summarise a research paper

Attach a research paper as a PDF. Get its question, method, key findings and limitations in plain language, with page references and a reference to cite.

How to use it

1. Attach the paper A PDF with selectable text. Scanned papers need to be converted to text first.
2. Say why you are reading it For an essay, a literature review or work. The summary focuses on what you need.
3. Check the numbers Every finding comes with a page reference. Check the key ones in the paper before you quote them.
4. Compare papers Attach a second paper in the chat and ask how the two differ in method and findings.

The prompt

Summarise the attached research paper for me.

Why I am reading it: [MY_PURPOSE]

My background in the field: [MY_BACKGROUND]

Referencing style I need: [REFERENCING_STYLE]

Specific questions I have about the paper: [MY_QUESTIONS]

Return:

- In three sentences: what the study asked, how, and what it found.
- Research question and why it matters.
- Method: design, sample or data (size, who, where, when), measures and analysis — in plain language.
- Key findings: 3–6 bullet points with the actual numbers and a page reference for each.
- Limitations: those the authors state, and any others a careful reader would notice (sample, design, generalisability). Label which are which.
- How I could use it for my purpose, and what it does not show.
- Answers to my questions.
- Reference in the style I named, built only from details in the paper; mark anything missing (such as a DOI) instead of inventing it.

Paraphrase, don't copy long passages. If a section is unreadable or missing from the file, say so. Don't overstate the findings: keep the authors' level of certainty.

Example result

Example based on an invented paper: Hartley, J., & Osei, K. (2024). "Rostering patterns and fatigue among hospital nurses", Journal of Clinical Nursing Practice.

In three sentences: The study asked whether rapidly rotating rosters cause more fatigue than fixed night shifts among hospital nurses. It surveyed 412 nurses in four Victorian hospitals and tracked sleep with wrist monitors for two weeks. Nurses on rapid rotation reported more fatigue and slept about 40 minutes less per day than those on fixed nights.

Research question: Does the pattern of a roster, not just the number of night shifts, affect fatigue? This matters because many Australian hospitals use rotating rosters to share nights fairly.

Method: Cross-sectional survey plus two weeks of sleep tracking. 412 registered and enrolled nurses (88% female, mean age 34) from four public hospitals in Victoria, 2022. Fatigue was measured with the Occupational Fatigue Exhaustion Recovery scale (OFER-15). Groups were compared with regression, adjusting for age, sex, dependants and years of experience.

Key findings

• Rapid rotation (two or more shift-type changes per week) was linked to higher chronic fatigue scores: mean 61 vs 48 for fixed nights (p < 0.001) (p. 7).
• Average sleep was 6 h 05 min on rapid rotation vs 6 h 46 min on fixed nights (p. 8).
• The gap stayed after adjusting for age and dependants (p. 9).
• Nurses with more than ten years' experience were less affected, but the difference was not significant (p. 9).

Limitations

• Stated by the authors: cross-sectional, so it cannot show cause; self-selected sample; only public hospitals (p. 12).
• Also worth noting: fixed-night nurses may have chosen nights because they cope well with them (selection bias); two weeks of tracking may not capture seasonal rosters.

How you could use it: As Australian evidence that roster design matters, not just night-shift exposure — useful for your argument on rostering interventions. It does not show that changing rosters reduces fatigue; you'd need an intervention study for that.

Your questions

• Age: yes, age was a control variable in the regression (p. 9).
• Australian relevance: high — Victorian public hospitals, though private hospitals and other states may differ.

Reference (APA 7) Hartley, J., & Osei, K. (2024). Rostering patterns and fatigue among hospital nurses. Journal of Clinical Nursing Practice, 18(3), 201–214. DOI not shown in the file — check the journal page.