To turn a research paper into a video summary, pull out the answers to five questions (what was asked, why it matters, what was done, what was found, and what it does not show), write each as one short paragraph in your own words with the paper's exact numbers, and paste the 500 to 700 words into a document-first tool like openCanviz. It drafts a narrated video of three to five minutes with a drawing for each part. Describe the paper's key figure in plain visual terms so the drawing shows that one comparison, check every number against the paper, and end on the limitation. A summary that leaves out the limitation is an advert for the paper, not a summary of it.

Why not paste the whole paper?

A paper is written for other researchers, in an order set by the journal: abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion. Pasting it all hands the tool eight thousand words of text that was never meant to be spoken. The methods section alone can take half the video, and the result you care about gets thirty seconds.

The abstract is closer, but it is too compressed. It gives you the finding without the question that makes the finding interesting.

The five questions below take about twenty minutes to answer from a paper, and those twenty minutes are also the most useful reading of the paper you will do.

The five questions

What was done is where most summaries go wrong by including too much. The viewer needs the design (an experiment, a survey, a trial, a model), the sample (who or what, and how many), and the measure (what was counted or compared). Nothing else from the methods, unless the paper's contribution is the method itself.

What was found needs the numbers, stated exactly as the paper states them: the effect size, the uncertainty around it, and the sample it applies to. "Reduced symptoms by 23 percent (95% confidence interval 14 to 31 percent) in 412 adults" is a finding. "Significantly reduced symptoms" is not.

What it does not show is the part presenters leave out and seminar leaders always ask about. Small sample, a single site, an unusual population, correlation rather than cause, a short follow-up. Most papers state their own limitations; use theirs.

The one figure

Most papers have one figure that carries the main result. A drawn video cannot reproduce a dense multi-panel figure, and should not try. What it can do well is redraw the one comparison that figure makes, simplified to what a viewer can take in while listening.

Describe that comparison in your "what was found" paragraph as something visible. "The treated group's line falls steadily over twelve weeks while the control group's stays flat" gives the drawing something to show. "See Figure 3" gives it nothing.

If the presentation needs the paper's actual figure, show it on a slide after the video, where people can look at it properly and ask questions.

Make it

1. 1

   Read the paper for the five answers

   Introduction first, then the main figure, then the discussion, then the methods. That order finds the answers faster than reading front to back.

2. 2

   Write each answer in your own words

   One short paragraph per question. Copy the numbers exactly; paraphrase everything else.

3. 3

   Describe the key result as a picture

   In the results paragraph, say what a viewer would see if the finding were drawn: two lines, two bars, a before and after.

4. 4

   Add the citation at the end

   Authors, year, title and journal as the last line, so it appears on the closing scene.

5. 5

   Paste it in and keep your wording

   Choose Keep my wording so the narration says exactly what you checked. Set the length to three to five minutes.

6. 6

   Check every number against the paper

   Effect sizes, sample sizes, units and dates. A wrong number in a journal club is the thing people remember.

Where this helps

Seminar and journal club presentations. A four-minute video summary shown at the start frees the rest of the slot for discussion, which is what those sessions are for. Say that you made it, and treat the questions afterwards as the real presentation.

Reading for a literature review. Making a short summary video of each key paper forces the five answers, which are exactly what a literature review needs from each source. The videos are also a quick way back into a paper months later.

Explaining a paper to people outside the field. For a general audience, replace the exact statistics with the plain version ("about a quarter fewer symptoms") but keep the limitation.

Using the paper

Summarising a paper in your own words, with a citation, is standard academic practice. Pasting its text into a tool for your own study is personal use. If the video will be published rather than shown in a class or seminar, keep the redrawn figure simplified rather than copied, and cite the paper on the closing scene.

What it costs

New accounts start with one hundred credits, roughly ten minutes of finished video, so two or three paper summaries cost nothing to make. Free videos carry a watermark. For a presentation, a one-off payment unlocks a single project permanently, so you can re-export after the questions show you what to fix.

Common questions

Can I use the abstract instead of doing the five questions? You can, and the video will be shorter and flatter. The abstract gives the finding but rarely the reason anyone should care about it, and it almost never includes the limitation.

What about a paper with several experiments? Summarise the one that carries the main claim, and mention the others in a single sentence. A video that walks through five experiments equally gives none of them enough time to land.

How do I handle a heavily statistical or mathematical paper? State what was measured and what the result means, with the key number, and leave the model itself out unless it is the contribution. If the method is the point of the paper, give "what was done" two paragraphs and describe the idea behind the method in plain words.

Can I share the video with my class? Yes, with a share link, which is usually how seminar groups pass these round. Keep the citation on the closing scene so the paper travels with the summary.