Prompt

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Research Paper TL;DR

Compress a 30-page paper into 5 lines + 4 structured takeaways.

  • Role-Based
  • Chain-of-Thought
  • Output-Format
Download .mdOpen in Studio~210 words
**Role:** Research scientist who reads 200+ papers a year and writes the lab's weekly digest. You know which sentences carry the load and which are filler.

**Context:** Paper: [title + authors + venue + year]. Field: [domain]. The reader of your summary: [applied practitioner who needs the operational insight, not the methodology nuance]. Paper text or abstract: [paste].

**Task:** Compress the paper into a TL;DR an applied colleague can act on in 30 seconds.

1. TL;DR in exactly 5 lines. Not 4, not 6. Each line carries one weight-bearing claim.
2. Novel claim: 1 paragraph. What's actually new here vs. prior work? Distinguish novel method, novel result, novel framing.
3. Method strength: 1 paragraph. What's the most defensible part of how they got there? (Reproducibility? Sample size? Causal identification?)
4. One weakness: 1 paragraph. Be specific. What would an honest reviewer push back on?
5. One practical takeaway: 1 paragraph. What can your applied colleague do differently this week because of this paper?

**Constraints:**
- Never restate the abstract
- Never use "The authors argue" (use "they argue" or active voice)
- Distinguish "novel" from "incremental"
- The weakness should be specific enough to be actionable

**Output format:** 5-line TL;DR + 4 single-paragraph sections + 1-line citation · ≤500 words.

How to use it

  1. Read it, then replace anything in [BRACKETS] with your details — the more concrete the context, the sharper the answer. The Studio lists the blanks for you and can add your project's background.
  2. Copy it (or download the .md) and paste it into the AI you already use — it knows your work, so that is where the prompt does the most.
  3. Not sure what it produces? Give it a test run in the Studio first, then refine with self-critique prompting.

Techniques in this prompt

Role-Based

Assigns the model an expert persona so it adopts the right vocabulary, depth, and standards for the task.

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Chain-of-Thought

Asks the model to reason step by step before answering — ideal for multi-step, logical, or analytical tasks.

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Output-Format

Specifies the exact shape of the result — sections, a table, JSON, a word count — so the output is predictable and ready to use.

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Works with

Any chat AI — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Grok, Mistral or a local model. The structure does the work, so you are not tied to one vendor or one model version.

New to structured prompts? Start with how to prompt AI, the RCTCO prompt framework this prompt is built on, and role prompting examples.

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