Academic Paper Summary

Use this skill only for academic papers, research articles, and scholarly publications (peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, working papers, preprints, dissertations).

For non-academic content (news articles, blog posts, videos, podcasts, general web content), use the summary-general skill instead.

Input Handling

• PDF attachments: Prefer an existing <basename>_text.md extract at any size (read the extract, not the PDF). Otherwise check the page count: 4 pages or fewer read the PDF directly; more than 4 pages split with the split-pdf skill into 4-page chunks and read them in a subagent that writes notes.md, then read notes.md as text in the main thread. Reading a long PDF this way keeps the source out of the main context window and avoids shallow comprehension. When this skill is driven by a parent workflow (for example, a slides pipeline) that feeds pre-extracted text, summarize that text directly; the page gate applies only to the standalone PDF path.
• TXT attachments: Read the full document before summarizing.
• Web links: Fetch and extract the article content.
• Pasted text: Process directly.

Style Requirements

• Write in an expository style: explain and inform directly without referencing the source material.
• Never use phrases like "the author," "the paper," "the article," or "the study argues."
• Present information as factual statements.
• Use only the explicit section headings specified below.
• Do not introduce any other section headings, subheadings, or labels.
• Take an ideologically neutral position.
• Insert two blank lines between each section.
• Define acronyms on first use as Term (ACRONYM); bare ACRONYM thereafter. First use is the first time the acronym appears anywhere in the summary, not per section. Universally recognized acronyms (US, EU, AI, ML, LLM, CEO, GDP, ROI, R&D, and similar) stay bare. Paper-specific acronyms (for example, RCT, GMM, IV, DID, RLHF) are always expanded on first use.

Length Guidance

Output Format

Structure your response exactly as follows:

1. Citation (no heading)

Provide a citation in Chicago Author-Date style:

Published articles: Author's Last Name, First Name. Year. *Title of the Article*. Name of the Publication. Date. URL.

Preprints (arXiv, SSRN, bioRxiv, etc.): Author's Last Name, First Name. Year. *Title of the Article*. Preprint, [Platform Name]. Date. URL.

Working papers: Author's Last Name, First Name. Year. *Title of the Article*. Working Paper, [Institution]. Date. URL.

"Date" is the full publication date after the publication name (for example, "March 3, 2026" for a specific day, "March 2026" for month-level).

For 3 or more authors, use: First Author's Last Name, First Name, et al. ...

2. Thesis (no heading, no label)

Write one sentence that accurately describes the thesis.

Special cases:

• Literature reviews: State "This is a literature review with no single thesis; it synthesizes research on [topic]."
• Meta-analyses: State the primary research question being analyzed.
• Exploratory studies: State the central research question.

3. Key Points (no heading)

Create a detailed bullet-point summary (5-15 bullets):

• Use hyphen and space (- ) for each bullet.
• Include main ideas, themes, and quantitative facts.
• Eliminate unnecessary language.
• Rely exclusively on the provided content.

4. Conclusions:

List 1-10 key conclusions. Under each (3-6 sub-bullets):

• Summarize main ideas and concepts.
• Include evaluation methods.
• Quantify effects with numerical data.
• State implications.
• Include verbatim quotes when helpful.
• Use sub-bullets with hyphen and space (- ).

5. Population:

Describe in paragraph form:

• Population sampled or targeted.
• Research methodology used.
• Time frame covered.

Skip this section entirely (no heading) if not applicable, such as for:

• Theoretical papers.
• Literature reviews without original data collection.
• Purely conceptual or philosophical works.
• Mathematical proofs.

6. Implications:

List real-world applications using bullet points (3-8 bullets, - ).

7. Concepts:

List scientific or economic concepts commonly understood by someone with an undergraduate degree:

• Name each concept.
• Explain it briefly.
• Describe how it relates to the content.

Skip this section entirely (no heading) if no such concepts exist.

8. Issues:

List any:

• Factual errors: State the error and correct information.
• Logical fallacies: Identify type, analyze, and quote relevant text.
• Strong counterarguments: Detail alternative viewpoint and quote relevant text.

Skip this section entirely (no heading) if none exist.

9. Summary (no heading)

Write a concluding paragraph (100-300 words):

• Capture main points and themes.
• Use neutral tone with clear, concise language.
• Simple, straightforward sentence structure.
• No flowery language or empty phrases.
• Scale length with complexity of conclusions.

Output

Save the summary as a markdown file:

• Filename: <project_name>_summary.md
• Location: The project folder (the output directory), never in a subfolder like TeX/ or _build/.
• When invoked by a parent workflow (for example, a slides pipeline): follow the parent workflow's placement rules instead.

<project_name> resolves in this order: a name the user specified, otherwise the single source filename without its extension, otherwise the project folder name.

Final Check

Before submitting, verify compliance with:

• All style requirements (expository, no source references).
• Correct section headings only.
• Proper bullet formatting with hyphens.
• Two blank lines between sections.
• Appropriate citation format (published vs. preprint vs. working paper).
• Skipped sections where not applicable.
• Output file placed in the project folder with correct <project_name>_summary.md naming.

Quick Academic Summary Variant

Invoke with: "quick academic summary", "brief paper summary", or /academic-summary quick

When a quick summary is requested, provide only:

1. Citation (Chicago Author-Date, same format as above).
2. Thesis (one sentence; or state it is a literature review or exploratory study).
3. Key Points (5-8 bullets maximum).
4. Summary (75-150 words).

Skip the Conclusions, Population, Implications, Concepts, and Issues sections.