Research brief where every claim has a source
researchSeparates what is known, what is inferred, and what is unknown — with citations on the first two.
Summarise a paper without overclaiming
Separates what the paper shows, what it suggests, and what everyone will misquote.
When to use it
Before repeating a finding in a meeting or a post.
The prompt
Copy into your assistant
Summarise this paper for someone who will cite it.
Produce:
1. The claim the authors make, in their own terms.
2. What the experiment or analysis actually supports, and what it does not.
3. The three limitations the authors state.
4. The limitations they do not state but that a reviewer would raise.
5. The sentence most likely to be quoted out of context, and how to quote it honestly.
Rules:
- Do not add your own evaluation as though it were the authors'.
- Distinguish correlation from causation wherever the paper does.
- If the paper is a benchmark paper, say what benchmark and what it measures.
Paper:
<paper or abstract>What to change
Paste the abstract plus the limitations section if you have space — the model's own limitations list benefits from the authors'.
Why it works
Item 5 is the one that prevents embarrassment. Most overclaiming happens when someone repeats the cleanest sentence in the abstract.
More research prompts
- Customer interview to requirementsTurns a transcript into problems and constraints, and separates them from proposed solutions.
- Research brief where every claim has a sourceSeparates what is known, what is inferred, and what is unknown — with citations on the first two.
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Going deeper
- How to know your agent got worseRunning agents in production · Level 3
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- Judging a server before you install itMCP servers · Level 2