Summarise a Research Paper
Question, method, finding, limitation — enough to decide whether to read the rest.
Deciding whether to read a paper properly is a decision you make dozens of times a week, and the abstract is a poor basis for it. Abstracts are written to attract readers, omit limitations, and state conclusions more confidently than the results section supports. What you actually need before committing thirty minutes is narrower: the question, the design and sample, the main finding with its magnitude, and the limitation the authors themselves acknowledged. Those four together tell you whether the paper is relevant to your argument and whether it is strong enough to carry the weight you were planning to put on it.
Why not just read the abstract?
Abstracts omit limitations and state conclusions more confidently than the results support. The gap between abstract and discussion is often large.
What should I look at before reading fully?
Question, design and sample, effect size, and the authors' stated limitations. Those four decide whether the paper is worth thirty minutes.
Does a summary replace reading?
Not for a paper you will cite as central evidence. It replaces reading the ones that turn out not to be relevant, which is most of them.