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An executive summary is a thorough overview of a research report or other type of document that synthesizes key points for its readers, saving them time and preparing them to understand the study's overall content. It is a separate, stand-alone document of sufficient detail and clarity to ensure that the reader can completely understand the contents of the main research study. An executive summary can be anywhere from 1-10 pages long depending on the length of the report, or it can be the summary of more than one document [e.g., papers submitted for a group project].

Bailey, Edward, P. The Plain English Approach to Business Writing . (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 73-80.

Importance of a Good Executive Summary

Although an executive summary is similar to an abstract in that they both summarize the contents of a research study, there are several key differences. With research abstracts, the author's recommendations are rarely included, or if they are, they are implicit rather than explicit. Recommendations are generally not stated in academic abstracts because scholars operate in a discursive environment, where debates, discussions, and dialogs are meant to precede the implementation of any new research findings. The conceptual nature of much academic writing also means that recommendations arising from the findings are distributed widely and not easily or usefully encapsulated. Executive summaries are used mainly when a research study has been developed for an organizational partner, funding entity, or other external group that participated in the research . In such cases, the research report and executive summary are often written for policy makers outside of academe, while abstracts are written for the academic community. Professors, therefore, assign the writing of executive summaries so students can practice synthesizing and writing about the contents of comprehensive research studies for external stakeholder groups.

When preparing to write, keep in mind that:

  • An executive summary is not an abstract.
  • An executive summary is not an introduction.
  • An executive summary is not a preface.
  • An executive summary is not a random collection of highlights.

Christensen, Jay. Executive Summaries Complete The Report. California State University Northridge; Clayton, John. "Writing an Executive Summary that Means Business." Harvard Management Communication Letter (July 2003): 2-4; Keller, Chuck. "Stay Healthy with a Winning Executive Summary." Technical Communication 41 (1994): 511-517; Murphy, Herta A., Herbert W. Hildebrandt, and Jane P. Thomas. Effective Business Communications . New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997; Vassallo, Philip. "Executive Summaries: Where Less Really is More." ETC.: A Review of General Semantics 60 (Spring 2003): 83-90 .

Structure and Writing Style

Writing an Executive Summary

Read the Entire Document This may go without saying, but it is critically important that you read the entire research study thoroughly from start to finish before you begin to write the executive summary. Take notes as you go along, highlighting important statements of fact, key findings, and recommended courses of action. This will better prepare you for how to organize and summarize the study. Remember this is not a brief abstract of 300 words or less but, essentially, a mini-paper of your paper, with a focus on recommendations.

Isolate the Major Points Within the Original Document Choose which parts of the document are the most important to those who will read it. These points must be included within the executive summary in order to provide a thorough and complete explanation of what the document is trying to convey.

Separate the Main Sections Closely examine each section of the original document and discern the main differences in each. After you have a firm understanding about what each section offers in respect to the other sections, write a few sentences for each section describing the main ideas. Although the format may vary, the main sections of an executive summary likely will include the following:

  • An opening statement, with brief background information,
  • The purpose of research study,
  • Method of data gathering and analysis,
  • Overview of findings, and,
  • A description of each recommendation, accompanied by a justification. Note that the recommendations are sometimes quoted verbatim from the research study.

Combine the Information Use the information gathered to combine them into an executive summary that is no longer than 10% of the original document. Be concise! The purpose is to provide a brief explanation of the entire document with a focus on the recommendations that have emerged from your research. How you word this will likely differ depending on your audience and what they care about most. If necessary, selectively incorporate bullet points for emphasis and brevity. Re-read your Executive Summary After you've completed your executive summary, let it sit for a while before coming back to re-read it. Check to make sure that the summary will make sense as a separate document from the full research study. By taking some time before re-reading it, you allow yourself to see the summary with fresh, unbiased eyes.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Length of the Executive Summary As a general rule, the correct length of an executive summary is that it meets the criteria of no more pages than 10% of the number of pages in the original document, with an upper limit of no more than ten pages [i.e., ten pages for a 100 page document]. This requirement keeps the document short enough to be read by your audience, but long enough to allow it to be a complete, stand-alone synopsis. Cutting and Pasting With the exception of specific recommendations made in the study, do not simply cut and paste whole sections of the original document into the executive summary. You should paraphrase information from the longer document. Avoid taking up space with excessive subtitles and lists, unless they are absolutely necessary for the reader to have a complete understanding of the original document. Consider the Audience Although unlikely to be required by your professor, there is the possibility that more than one executive summary will have to be written for a given document [e.g., one for policy-makers, one for private industry, one for philanthropists]. This may only necessitate the rewriting of the introduction and conclusion, but it could require rewriting the entire summary in order to fit the needs of the reader. If necessary, be sure to consider the types of audiences who may benefit from your study and make adjustments accordingly. Clarity in Writing One of the biggest mistakes you can make is related to the clarity of your executive summary. Always note that your audience [or audiences] are likely seeing your research study for the first time. The best way to avoid a disorganized or cluttered executive summary is to write it after the study is completed. Always follow the same strategies for proofreading that you would for any research paper. Use Strong and Positive Language Don’t weaken your executive summary with passive, imprecise language. The executive summary is a stand-alone document intended to convince the reader to make a decision concerning whether to implement the recommendations you make. Once convinced, it is assumed that the full document will provide the details needed to implement the recommendations. Although you should resist the temptation to pad your summary with pleas or biased statements, do pay particular attention to ensuring that a sense of urgency is created in the implications, recommendations, and conclusions presented in the executive summary. Be sure to target readers who are likely to implement the recommendations.

Bailey, Edward, P. The Plain English Approach to Business Writing . (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 73-80; Christensen, Jay. Executive Summaries Complete The Report. California State University Northridge; Executive Summaries. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Clayton, John. "Writing an Executive Summary That Means Business." Harvard Management Communication Letter , 2003; Executive Summary. University Writing Center. Texas A&M University;  Green, Duncan. Writing an Executive Summary.   Oxfam’s Research Guidelines series ; Guidelines for Writing an Executive Summary. Astia.org; Markowitz, Eric. How to Write an Executive Summary. Inc. Magazine, September, 15, 2010; Kawaski, Guy. The Art of the Executive Summary. "How to Change the World" blog; Keller, Chuck. "Stay Healthy with a Winning Executive Summary." Technical Communication 41 (1994): 511-517; The Report Abstract and Executive Summary. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing Executive Summaries. Effective Writing Center. University of Maryland; Kolin, Philip. Successful Writing at Work . 10th edition. (Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2013), p. 435-437; Moral, Mary. "Writing Recommendations and Executive Summaries." Keeping Good Companies 64 (June 2012): 274-278; Vassallo, Philip. "Executive Summaries: Todorovic, Zelimir William, PhD. and Frye, Marietta Wolczacka,B.A., B.B.A. "Writing Effective Executive Summaries: An Interdisciplinary Examination." United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 2009; " Where Less Really is More." ETC.: A Review of General Semantics 60 (Spring 2003): 83-90 .

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Grad Coach

How To Write A High-Impact Executive Summary

By Derek Jansen | January 2018

exec summary is your first impression

In this post, I’ll deconstruct the often-misunderstood executive summary and show you how to develop a high-impact executive summary for your assignment, research report or even your dissertation or thesis.

So, what is an executive summary?

An executive summary (sometimes called an abstract ) is quite simply a summary of summaries. In other words, an executive summary provides a concise summary of each of your assignment or report chapters/sections . More specifically, it should communicate the key points/insights/findings/suggestions from the following chapters:

  • Introduction
  • Recommendations
  • Implementation (if applicable)
  • Reflection (if applicable)

I’ll discuss which key points from each section need to be addressed a bit later. On a separate note – if you’re writing an executive summary for a dissertation or thesis, all of the concepts described in this post will still apply to you, however, you’ll include an additional paragraph about your methodology, and you’ll likely spend more word count discussing your analysis findings.

The 4 Important Attributes Of An Exec Summary

Before I discuss what goes into the executive summary, let’s quickly look at 4 attributes that make for a strong executive summary:

#1 – It should be able to stand alone.

The executive summary should be able to stand independently as an informative document . In other words, the reader should be able to grasp your broad argument without having to read the full document. Further reading should be purely for attaining more detail. Simply put, the executive summary should be a “Mini-Me” of the assignment.

This independence means that anything you write in the executive summary will need to be re-stated in the body of your assignment. A common mistake that students make is to introduce key points in the executive summary and then not discuss them again in the document – accordingly, the marker must view the main document as missing these key points. Simply put – make sure you discuss key points in both the executive summary and the main body . It will feel repetitive at times – this is normal.

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#2 – It should be written for the intelligent layman.

When crafting your executive summary, its useful to keep the intelligent layman front of mind. What I mean by this is that you should write your summary assuming that your reader (i.e. the marker) will be intelligent but won’t be familiar with your topic and/or industry. This means that you should explain any technical concepts, avoid jargon and explain acronyms before using them.

#3 – It should be concise.

Typically, your executive summary should be a one-pager (one and a half pages at worst). To summarise a 3000 – 5000-word document into one page is no easy task, so you’ll need to:

  • Present only the most important information (key insights, recommendations, etc).
  • Write concisely – i.e. with brevity and completeness.

To the first point, I’ll explain what the “most important” information is for each chapter shortly. To the second point (writing concisely), there are various ways to do this, including:

  • Using simple, straightforward language.
  • Using the active voice.
  • Removing bloaty adverbs and adjectives.
  • Reducing prepositional phrases.
  • Avoiding noun strings.

Does this sound like gibberish to you? Don’t worry! The Writing Center at the University of Wisconson-Madison provides a practical guide to writing more concisely, which you can download here.

On a related note, you typically would not include headings, citations or bulleted/numbered lists in your executive summary. These visual components tend to use a lot of space, which comes at a premium, as you know.

#4 – It should be written last.

Given that your executive summary is a summary of summaries, it needs to be written last , only once you’ve identified all your key insights, recommendations and so on. This probably sounds obvious, but many students start writing the summary first (potentially because of its position in the document) and then end up re-writing it multiple times, or they don’t rewrite it and consequently end up with an executive summary which is misaligned with the main document.

Simply put, you should leave this section until everything else is completed. Once your core body content is completed, you should read through the entire document again and create a bullet-point list of all the key points . From this list, you should then craft your executive summary . The approach will also help you identify gaps, contradictions and misalignments in your main document.

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So, what goes into an executive summary?

Right, let’s get into the meat of it and consider what exactly should go into your executive summary. As I’ve mentioned, you need to present only the absolutely key point points from each of your chapters, but what does this mean exactly?

Each chapter will typically take the form of 1 paragraph (with no headings) in your executive summary. So, 5 chapters means 5 paragraphs. Naturally, some will be longer than others (let this be informed by the mark allocation), but assuming one page contains 500 words, you’re aiming for roughly 100 words per paragraph (assuming a 5-paragraph structure). See why conciseness is key!

Now, let’s look at what the key points are for each chapter in the case of a typical MBA assignment or report. In the case of a dissertation or thesis, the paragraph structure would still mimic the chapter structure – you’d just have more chapters, and therefore, more paragraphs.

Paragraph 1: Introduction

This paragraph should cover the following points:

  • A very brief explanation of the business (what does it do, for whom and where?).
  • Clear identification and explanation of the problem or opportunity that will be the focus of the assignment/report.
  • A clear statement of the purpose of the assignment (i.e. what research questions will you seek to answer?).
  • Brief mention of what data sources were utilised (i.e. secondary research) and any fieldwork undertaken (i.e. primary research ).

In other words, your first paragraph should introduce the business, the problem/opportunity to be addressed, why it’s important, and how you approached your analysis. This paragraph should make it clear to the reader what the assignment is all about at a broad level. Here’s a practical example:

This assignment focuses on ABC Ltd, a XXX business based in XXX, which provides XXX to XXX customers. To date, the firm has relied almost exclusively on XXX marketing channel. Consequently, ABC Ltd has little understanding of consumer segments, wants, and needs. This marketing channel is now under regulatory threat due to XXX.  The core challenge, therefore, is that whilst ABC Ltd seeks to grow its market share, it has little understanding of its market characteristics or competitive set, and its sole marketing channel under regulatory threat. Accordingly, the objective of this assignment is XXX. The assignment draws on survey, interview, and industry data.

Paragraph 2: Analysis and findings

In this paragraph, you should discuss the following:

  • What exactly did you analyse? For example, you might have analysed the macro context (i.e. PESTLE analysis), followed by the meso (i.e. competitor or industry analysis) and then the micro (i.e. internal organisational analysis).
  • What were your key findings in relation to the purpose of the assignment? For example, you may have identified 4 potential causes of a problem and would then state them.

In other words, your second paragraph should concisely explain what you analysed and what your main findings were . An example of this:

Segmentation analysis, consisting of macro, industry and firm-level analyses, revealed a strong segmentation variable in the form of XXX, with distinct needs in each segment. Macro analysis revealed XXX, while industry and firm-level analyses suggested XXX. Subsequently, three potential target segments were established, namely XXX, XXX and XXX.  These were then evaluated using the Directional Policy Matrix, and the results indicated XXX.

From a presentation perspective, you might structure this section as:

  • Analysis 1, findings from analysis 1.
  • Analysis 2, findings from analysis 2.
  • Analysis 3, findings from analysis 3.

Importantly, you should only discuss the findings that are directly linked to the research questions (i.e. the purpose of the assignment) – don’t digress into interesting but less relevant findings. Given that the analysis chapter typically counts for a large proportion of marks, you could viably write 2-3 paragraphs for this. Be guided by the mark allocation.

Lastly, you should ensure that the findings you present here align well with the recommendations you’ll make in the next paragraph. Think about what your recommendations are, and, if necessary, reverse engineer this paragraph to create a strong link and logical flow from analysis to recommendations.

exec summary components

Paragraph 3: Recommendations

With the key findings from your analysis presented in the preceding paragraph, you should now discuss the following:

  • What are your key recommendations?
  • How do these solve the problems you found in your analysis?
  • Were there any further conclusions?

Simply put, this paragraph (or two) should present the main recommendations and justify their use (i.e. explain how they resolve the key issue). As mentioned before, it’s critically important that your recommendations tightly align with (and resolve) the key issues that you identified in the analysis. An example:

Based on the Directional Policy Matrix analysis, it is recommended that the firm target XXX segment, because of XXX. On this basis, a positioning of XXX is proposed, as this aligns with the segment’s key needs. Furthermore, a provisional high-level marketing mix is proposed. The key aspects of the marketing mix include XXX, XXX and XXX, as these align with the firm’s positioning of XXX. By adopting these recommendations, the key issue of XXX will be resolved.

Also, note that (typically) the tone changes from past to present tense when you get to the recommendations section.

Paragraph 4: Implementation

If your assignment brief requires an implementation/project plan-type section, this paragraph will typically include the following points:

  • Time requirements (how long will it take?)
  • People requirements (what skills are needed and where do you find them?)
  • Money requirements (what budget is required?)
  • How will the project or change be managed? (i.e. project management plan)
  • What risks exist and how will these be managed?

Depending on what level of detail is required by your assignment brief, you may need to present more, less or other details in this section. As always, be guided by the assignment brief.

A practical example:

A high-level implementation plan is proposed, including a stakeholder analysis, project plan and business case. Resource requirements are presented, detailing XXX, XXX and XXX requirements. A risk analysis is presented, revealing key risks including XXX, XXX and XXX. Risk management solutions are proposed, including XXX and XXX.  

executive summary of research paper sample

Paragraph 5: Reflection

As with the implementation chapter, the need for a reflection chapter/section will vary between assignments and universities. If your assignment has this requirement, it’s typically good to cover the following points:

  • What were your key learnings? What were your ah-ha moments?
  • What has changed in the real world as a consequence of these learnings? I.e. how has your actual behaviour and approach to “X” changed, if any?
  • What are the benefits and/or disadvantages of this change, if any?

This section is very personal, and so each person’s reflections will be different. Don’t take the above points as gospel.

Time to test it out.

Once you’ve written up your executive summary and feel confident that it’s in good shape, it’s time to test it out on an unsuspecting intelligent layman. This is a critically important step, since you, as the writer, are simply too close to the work to judge whether it all makes sense to a first-time reader. In fact, you are the least suitable person on the planet!

So, find someone who is not familiar with your assignment topic (and ideally, not familiar with your industry), and ask them to have a read through your executive summary. Friends and family will usually tell you its great, regardless of the quality, so you need to test them on their understanding. Do this by asking them to give the details back to you in their own words. Poke and prod – can they tell you what the key issues and recommendations were (in their own words!). You’ll quickly spot the gaps this way, and be able to flesh out any weak areas.

  Wrapping up.

In this post, I’ve discussed how to write the all too often undercooked executive summary. I’ve discussed some important attributes of a strong executive summary, as well as the contents that typically go into it. To recap on the key points:

The key attributes of a high-impact executive summary:

  • It should be able to stand alone.
  • It should be written for the intelligent layman.
  • It should be concise.
  • It should be written last.

The key contents of a high-impact executive summary:

Each paragraph should cover a chapter from the document. For example, In the case of a typical assignment, it would be something like:

  • Summary of the introduction chapter.
  • Summary of the analysis chapter.
  • Summary of the recommendations and/or conclusions chapter.
  • Depending – summary of the implementation and reflection.

Lastly, don’t forget to test out your executive summary on an unsuspecting layman or two. This is probably the most important step of them all!

If you have any questions or suggestions, we’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch here or leave a comment below.

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Quantitative results chapter in a dissertation

Thanks so much for your methodical process and explanation of Executive Summary. It is exactly what I was researching for.

Regards Saane

Derek Jansen

It’s a pleasure!

kemba franklyn

This was really helpful with how to structure my assignment.

Peter Neba

Thank you so much for the step by step process. It’s so helpful for beginners like me.

Anna H. Smith

Great! This post is very informative and gives clear guidance on to write an executive summary. Thanks very much for sharing this information, it’s very helpful.

Derek Jansen

Thanks for the feedback, Anna. Best of luck with your writing 🙂

Sheldon

Thank you for the great article, really helped explain what was needed.

Sandy

Great insight and tips . Thanks

Ruhi

Thank you so much for sharing this. It was exactly what I was looking for.

Thank you for your help

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Common assignments: executive summaries, basics of executive summaries.

Executive summaries are common in the Walden MBA program, but they are also found as part of some government and business documents. As a student, you should complete an executive summary when specifically requested to do so. An executive summary is a comprehensive review of a larger document. For example, a 35-page report may begin with a single-page executive summary all of the main information in the longer report. Any findings, conclusions, recommendations, or other details that appear in the larger document must be touched on in the executive summary. Readers should be able to read the executive summary alone and have a complete understanding of the larger document in its entirety.

How to Write an Executive Summary

It is important to meet all length and content expectations, so be sure to review the specific directions for your assignment. Also remember that the executive summary can only be written after the full-length document is complete.

Tips for completing the executive summary from Walden University (2013) include:

  • List all of the main points in the same order in which they occur in the paper that you are summarizing.
  • Take each point and turn it into a sentence.
  • Add additional sentences to clarify or explain each point.
  • Add a short introduction and a short conclusion. Include the name of the article, report, etc. and the author(s) in the introduction.
  • Check grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
  • Check for plagiarism.
  • Read the summary slowly and carefully to make sure it covers all of the main points clearly, yet concisely. Also, check to be sure it is interesting. You want to catch your reader’s attention.
  • Set it aside. Let some time pass and read it again. Often, you will catch items that you did not see the first time.

For academic writing, be sure to include appropriate citations and a reference. This is typically not part of a business executive summary but should be included for purposes of this program.

Walden University. (2013). How to write an executive summary [Course handout]. https://class.waldenu.edu

Executive Summary Versus Abstract

Like an executive summary, an abstract is a short summary of a larger text. Both executive summaries and abstracts are meant to capture the main ideas, findings, and conclusions of a longer document.  Executive summaries, however, tend to include more details than abstracts. An abstract includes enough information for readers to decide if they want to read the full-length document. Executive summaries must include enough information for readers to understand the full-length document without reading it.

Another difference between executive summaries and abstracts are the fields where they are used. Generally, executive summaries are common in business and government, while abstracts are more common in academia and at Walden, especially when seeking publication in a professional journal.

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20 throwing games for kids’ hand-eye coordination skills, 13 marvelous moon phase activities for students, 19 reflective new year’s resolution activities, 26 adventurous dragon books for tweens, 20 fun and inventive games for three-year-olds, 22 memorable back-to-school night ideas, 20 middle school newspaper ideas: how to start one, 20 love activities for students: building positive relationships and fostering a supportive learning environment, 20 engaging tree activities for preschoolers, how to write an executive summary for a research paper (with template).

executive summary of research paper sample

Writing an executive summary for a research paper can be a daunting task for many students. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to make the process easier. By following some simple tips and using a template, you can write an effective executive summary for your research paper.

First, it is important to understand what an executive summary is. An executive summary is a short overview of a research paper’s main points. It should provide readers with a brief description of the paper’s purpose, main findings, and conclusions. The executive summary should not include any new information or data; instead, it should serve as a summary of the paper’s key points.

When writing the executive summary, it is important to use the same language and tone that was used in the research paper. This will ensure that the executive summary is a cohesive and effective summary of the paper’s main points.

It is also important to keep the executive summary brief. You should strive to make the executive summary no longer than one page long. This will ensure that readers are able to quickly understand the main points of your paper without having to read through a long and complex document.

Before writing the executive summary, you should read through the entire research paper. This will ensure that you have a clear understanding of the paper’s main points and that you capture them effectively in the executive summary.

To help you write an effective executive summary, you might find it helpful to use a template. Below is an example of an executive summary template for a research paper:

[Paper Title]

This paper examines [brief description of paper’s main points]. The research found that [main finding]. It was concluded that [conclusion].

Based on these findings, it is recommended that [recommendation].

Overall, the research shows that [summary of main findings]. This paper provides valuable insight into [brief description of research’s purpose].

By following these guidelines and using a template, you can write an effective executive summary for your research paper. Writing an executive summary can be a daunting task, but with the right steps and guidance, it can be a simple and straightforward process.  

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Executive Summary

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Paper Format

A typical Executive Summary gives a complete overview of the entire report. It should state the subject matter of the report, and it should explain the methods used to gather data. In explaining the methods, indicate what kinds of primary and secondary research were used in the paper. An Executive Summary usually also includes a brief statement of the paper's findings and conclusions. It may also include recommendations based on the findings and limitations of the research.

The Executive Summary should be written in the present tense, except when discussing the methods used and findings, which should be in the past tense.

The Executive Summary should be placed

on a separate page and

immediately after the Table of Contents and before the body.

The title of your Executive summary should be centered and bold using a level 1 heading.

The format of the Executive Summary should

have double spaced lines and

be usually no longer than one page.

Remember to check with your instructor for any specific requirements for a particular assignment.

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Naval Postgraduate School

Graduate Writing Center

Executive summaries and abstracts - graduate writing center.

  • Citations / Avoiding Plagiarism
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  • Introductions, Thesis Statements, and Roadmaps
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Executive Summaries and Abstracts

  • Punctuation
  • Style: Clarity and Concision
  • Writing Process
  • Writing a Thesis
  • Quick Clips & Tips
  • Presentations and Graphics

Executive summaries and abstracts both capture the essence of a project in a shorter form, but with differing levels of detail: an abstract is a highly condensed overview of the document, while an executive summary is a standalone version of the thesis in miniature.

See our handout on " What Goes in a Thesis Abstract? An Executive Summary? " for an overview of standard content and length—then, for more information and examples, read on!

For a more detailed explanation of abstracts, check out our infographics, tailored to your discipline:

  • Defense management
  • Social sciences

An abstract is a brief encapsulation of a document. Abstracts are quite limited in length (often about 200 words) and thus must be very concise, clear statements that convey a few key ideas:

  • The topic and significance of the research
  • The research question driving the inquiry
  • The methods used to answer the question
  • The findings and implications of the research

Understanding how an abstract is structured can also help you as a researcher. When conducting research , get in the habit of reading abstracts carefully to determine which documents closely fit your research needs.

Not all documents require an abstract, and most of your class papers won't. However, all NPS theses must have an abstract, and abstracts are often required for conference papers and articles submitted for publication .

Executive Summaries

Executive summaries are longer than abstracts, often running 2–5 pages. They summarize a larger document's purpose, methods, results, conclusions, and recommendations such that someone who reads  only the summary can glean a solid understanding of the research as a whole. Unlike abstracts, executive summaries can include citations and references .

Not all theses require an executive summary, so check with your advisor or department for guidance. The links below contain further information on the differences between abstracts and executive summaries.

In order to make your research easier to find by other researchers, it is a good idea to think about what searchable keywords are associated with your project. Make sure to include them in your abstract and executive summary!

Executive Summaries and Abstracts Links

  • " What Goes in a Thesis Abstract? An Executive Summary? , " GWC and TPO
  • " Abstracts ," University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Writing Center
  • " How to Write an Abstract ," Phil Koopman, Carnegie Mellon University
  • " Executive Summaries ," Colorado State University
  • Layering Reports: The Executive Summary 1 " (6:35), Zachery Koppleman, Purdue OWL
  • Layering Reports: The Executive Summary A Closer Look Part 1 " (5:53), Zachery Koppleman, Purdue OWL
  • Chapter from a book: " Technical Reports, Executive Summaries, and Abstracts , " Robert Shenk, The Naval Institute Guide to Naval Writing

Writing Topics A–Z

This index makes findings topics easy and links to the most relevant page for each item. Please email us at [email protected] if we're missing something!

A    B    C    D    E    F    G    H    I    J   K   L    M    N    O    P    Q   R    S    T    U    V    W   X  Y   Z

Research Paper Executive Summary Template

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  • Ready-to-use, fully customizable Doc
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In the fast-paced world of research, it's crucial to communicate your findings quickly and effectively. That's where ClickUp's Research Paper Executive Summary Template comes in handy!

This template is designed to help you create a concise and impactful executive summary for your research paper by:

  • Summarizing the key findings and results of your study
  • Outlining the methodology and approach used in your research
  • Highlighting the implications and potential impact of your findings

With ClickUp's Research Paper Executive Summary Template, you can save time and ensure that your research is easily understood by busy executives and decision-makers. Get started today and make your research stand out!

Benefits of Research Paper Executive Summary Template

When using the Research Paper Executive Summary Template in ClickUp, you'll experience the following benefits:

  • Saves time by providing a pre-designed format for creating an executive summary
  • Ensures consistency and professionalism in your research paper summaries
  • Makes it easier for busy executives to quickly grasp the main findings and implications of your research
  • Helps you effectively communicate the value and impact of your study
  • Streamlines the process of creating executive summaries, allowing you to focus on the research itself

Main Elements of Research Paper Executive Summary Template

ClickUp's Research Paper Executive Summary template is designed to help you create professional and concise summaries of your research papers. Here are the main elements of this template:

  • Doc Template: Use the pre-designed Research Paper Executive Summary template to easily structure and format your executive summary.
  • Custom Statuses: Track the progress of your executive summary with custom statuses such as In Progress, Review, and Complete.
  • Custom Fields: Add custom fields to capture important information about your research paper, such as Research Methodology, Key Findings, and Recommendations.
  • Different Views: Access different views to review and collaborate on your executive summary, including the Document Outline view, where you can quickly navigate through different sections, and the Comments view, where you can easily leave and respond to feedback.

How to Use Executive Summary for Research Paper

Writing an executive summary for a research paper can be a daunting task, but with the help of ClickUp's Research Paper Executive Summary Template, you can simplify the process. Just follow these four steps to create a concise and impactful summary:

1. Understand the purpose and scope of your research

Before you begin writing your executive summary, it's important to have a clear understanding of the purpose and scope of your research paper. What problem are you addressing, and what key findings or conclusions did you arrive at? This will help you determine what information to include in your summary.

Use the Docs feature in ClickUp to review your research paper and identify the main points that need to be highlighted in the executive summary.

2. Craft a compelling introduction

Start your executive summary with a strong and engaging introduction that captures the reader's attention. Provide a brief overview of the research topic, its significance, and any relevant background information. Clearly state the main objective of your research and why it is important.

Utilize the custom fields in ClickUp to create a section for the introduction and ensure that it is well-crafted and impactful.

3. Summarize the key findings and conclusions

In this section, summarize the main findings and conclusions of your research paper. Highlight the most important results and insights that you have discovered. Be concise and use clear language to convey your key points. Avoid unnecessary technical jargon that may confuse the reader.

Use the custom fields in ClickUp to organize and prioritize the key findings and conclusions, ensuring that they are presented in a logical and coherent manner.

4. Provide recommendations and next steps

End your executive summary by providing recommendations based on your research findings. Offer practical suggestions for further action or areas that require further investigation. This shows the reader the potential impact and value of your research.

Create tasks in ClickUp to outline the recommendations and next steps, assigning them to relevant team members if necessary. This will help ensure that your research is put into action and that the necessary follow-up is carried out.

By following these four steps and utilizing ClickUp's Research Paper Executive Summary Template, you can effectively summarize your research paper in a clear and concise manner, allowing readers to quickly grasp the main points and understand the significance of your work.

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Get Started with ClickUp’s Research Paper Executive Summary Template

Researchers and academics can use this Research Paper Executive Summary Template to create effective executive summaries for their research papers.

First, hit “Add Template” to sign up for ClickUp and add the template to your Workspace. Make sure you designate which Space or location in your Workspace you’d like this template applied.

Next, invite relevant members or guests to your Workspace to start collaborating.

Now you can take advantage of the full potential of this template to create impactful executive summaries:

  • Use the Summary View to provide a concise overview of the key findings, methodology, and implications of the research
  • The Visuals View will help you incorporate visual elements such as graphs or charts to enhance understanding
  • Use the Recommendations View to provide actionable suggestions based on the research findings
  • The References View will help you list all the sources and citations used in the research paper
  • Customize the template by adding sections such as Introduction, Methodology, Results, and Conclusion
  • Update the executive summary as you refine your research paper to ensure it accurately reflects the final version
  • Review and proofread the executive summary to ensure clarity and coherence.

Related Templates

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How to Write an Executive Summary for a Research Paper

6 December 2023

last updated

When people work on organizing their research papers, they need effective guidelines on how to write an executive summary. This article provides insights students should grasp to create high-standard texts, including defining what is an executive summary, its meaning, and its basic structure. About the structure, the guideline teaches students all the sections of an executive summary (introduction, purpose statement, methods, findings, recommendations, limitations, implementation, and conclusion), the contents of each part, and how to write each element. Other insights include 20 tips for producing a high-standard executive summary, including 10 dos and 10 don’ts. Lastly, the article gives a sample outline template for writing a good executive summary and a practical example of this section of a research paper.

How to Write an Outstanding Executive Summary for a Research Paper & Examples

A habit of reading different types of papers is helpful to students’ mental preparation for course assessments but, more importantly, to their intellectual development. Reading various types of essays , reports, and research papers also induces the mental faculties of intellect, reason, imagination, and intuition, which are essential for academic discourse. Indeed, one can tell a writer who reads habitually by how they construct and defend arguments and ideas in their works. Basically, this guideline for writing an effective executive summary includes essential insights into what students should and should not do when writing this type of academic document. The article also defines what is an executive summary and its meaning, outlines its distinctive features, shows how to write each part of this section of a research paper , explains concepts, and gives helpful tips for producing a high-standard document. In turn, this guideline gives a sample outline of a project paper and an example of an executive summary.

How to Write an Executive Summary for a Research Paper & Examples

Definition of What Is an Executive Summary and Its Meaning

From a simple definition, an executive summary is a text that accounts for the main points of a longer text, mainly a market study report, project report, and business proposal. In this respect, it serves the same purpose as an abstract , the only difference being that it is not used in research papers. Ideally, an abstract is a short and descriptive section of the essential details of a research paper, such as background, methodology, results , and conclusion . In contrast, an executive summary means writing a comprehensive overview of a report, research proposal , or project that explains the main points, including recommendations. Practically, an abstract is between 0.5-1 page, while an executive summary is about 5-10% of the document’s total word count. Since the purpose of an executive summary is to summarize the entire research paper comprehensively, it precedes the introduction of a report, proposal, or business plan.

Distinctive Features of an Executive Summary

An executive summary is identifiable by specific features that distinguish it from other texts, including essays and research papers. Essentially, all scholarly documents require the same level of mental preparation by writers to produce high-quality work. However, students must understand that some papers are demanding because of their contents, which underscore the basic essay outline . The main contents that earmark the distinctive features of an executive summary are an introduction, a purpose statement, methods, findings, recommendations, limitations, an implementation plan, and a conclusion.

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1️⃣ Introduction

The introduction of an executive summary highlights the document’s topic, which emphasizes the type of paper it is, such as a business proposal, project report, or market research report. In this respect, it must be short and precise. Because the focus is the topic, one should use a bridge sentence or short paragraph for the introduction.

2️⃣ Purpose Statement

The purpose statement of an executive summary communicates the document’s primary objective. In this respect, it provides a brief background of the topic to enhance the reader’s understanding of the essence of the document. The language in this part reflects an expected end, while common terms include ‘aim,’ ‘goal,’ ‘purpose,’ or ‘objective.’

3️⃣ Methods

In an executive summary, methods outline the writer’s approach to achieving the primary objective, such as examining official data, conducting a field study, reviewing the literature, or interviewing stakeholders. Students need to understand that this component differs from the research methodology of research papers. In this respect, it does not detail the methods one has used to complete the work. In essence, it outlines the strategies that help writers to better understand critical issues, such as challenges to a sector, stakeholder sentiments, industry insights, or potential barriers.

4️⃣ Findings

Findings in an executive summary are the outcomes of the methods, meaning it is what the writer has discovered about an issue, such as an industry, stakeholders, or a project. This component is crucial to readers because it offers a sneak peek into the outcomes that underscore the primary purpose of the entire document: project report, market research report, or business proposal.

5️⃣ Recommendations

Recommendations in an executive summary underscore the writer’s perspective regarding the issues that a research paper addresses as a challenge or problem. For example, if the paper is a report about healthcare status, the challenges or problems it identifies may be nursing shortages or medical errors. The recommendations should highlight what stakeholders, like the government and health institutions, must do to overcome these challenges or problems. In other words, the recommendations address what must be done to rectify a situation or make it possible to achieve specific outcomes.

6️⃣ Limitations

Like a research paper, an executive summary must point out the limitations that the document’s author encountered in reporting about a project or business plan. For example, these limitations may include a lack of goodwill among stakeholders, sufficient time to investigate a matter, or resources to execute the task. This information is essential to the audience because it indicates the dynamics influencing the primary objective.

7️⃣ Implementation Plan

The implementation plan is the component in an executive summary that provides a framework for adopting and implementing the recommendations. Typically, this information includes claims and activities, people responsible, the timeframe, and budget allocation. Sometimes, an evaluation plan is also part of the implementation plan.

8️⃣ Conclusion

The conclusion part of an executive summary is a call to action about the project report, market research report, or business proposal. Unlike conclusion examples in other academic papers and essays that summarize the paper’s main points, the conclusion of an executive summary gives a direction about the document. Essentially, writers use this component to call to action the audience to adopt the recommendations or compel stakeholders to adopt a particular perspective. In turn, it persuades the audience to adopt a particular stance regarding the report or proposal.

The Length of an Executive Summary

Students should know the length of each of the above sections, except the introduction and conclusion parts, depending on the document’s total length, which determines the word count of an executive summary. For example, a long and robust project report or business proposal requires a long executive summary with an extended purpose statement, methods, findings, recommendations, limitations, and implementation, which means the length of 4-10 double spaced pages, or 2-5 single spaced pages, or 1000–2500 words, depending on the volume of the work. Typically, the introduction and conclusion sections take a statement or short paragraph of 0.5-1 double spaced page or 125-250 words, irrespective of a research paper or executive summary’s length. However, if a research paper is a long work of more than 10 double spaced pages, 5 single spaced page, or 2500 words, the introduction and conclusion parts should not exceed 5-10% of the whole word count. Besides, the body section of an executive summary must take 80-90% of the total word count of a research paper, not less. The word count of a title page, a table of contents , an abstract, a reference page, and appendix is not considered since these parts are technical and do not mean writing itself.

How to Write Each Section of an Executive Summary for a Research Paper

Writing an executive summary requires students to demonstrate an understanding of its purpose. This understanding means students should know when to write it, what to talk about, and how to write each of the sections above. Therefore, writing an executive summary is essential to approach carefully and with the utmost focus.

1️⃣ Writing an Executive Summary as a Last Action

Because an executive summary overviews the entire research paper, students should write this part after finishing their market research reports, project reports, or business proposals. However, one should read and reread the whole research paper to know the most significant points forming part of the summary. By writing an executive summary as a last item, one can have a mental picture of what to address to give the audience a comprehensive sneak peek into a research paper document.

2️⃣ Making Notes of Important Aspects

While reading and rereading a research paper, students should take notes of the most critical aspects of their work that must appear in an executive summary. These aspects must address each section above. Moreover, one should identify crucial information in an introduction, a purpose statement, methods, findings, recommendations, limitations, an implementation plan, and a conclusion.

A. Writing an Introduction Part of an Executive Summary

When writing a college essay introduction , students must refrain from going into details about the purpose of the text because they will have an opportunity to do so later. While one may mention the document’s background, one should make it concise to contextualize the topic. The most crucial detail is that the introduction part of an executive summary should be a sentence or brief paragraph.

B. Writing a Purpose Statement Part of an Executive Summary

When writing the research paper’s purpose, students should communicate the type of document, such as a business proposal, a market research report, or a project report. The next thing is to state the background; provide the reason for writing, like sourcing funds; recommend solutions; or report progress and challenges. However, one should avoid going into detail because they will do so later in an executive summary of a research paper.

C. Writing a Methods Part of an Executive Summary

When writing a methods section, one should focus on giving the audience a sense of the strategy that helps achieve the outcomes. However, writers should approach this part differently than the methodology section of a research paper. Instead, they should mention what they did to execute the work, such as interviewing stakeholders or analyzing official data. The best way to approach this section is to list everything one did to make a research paper.

D. Writing a Findings Part of an Executive Summary

Since the purpose of the findings section in a research paper is to narrate outcomes, students should write it in the past tense. Therefore, when writing this section of an executive summary, authors should see themselves as reporters educating the audience about what they have learned in executing the task. An essential detail students should note when writing the section is to refer to credible sources of information that lead to the findings. These reliable sources can be documents, organizations, individuals in leadership, or industry experts.

E. Writing a Recommendations Part of an Executive Summary

When writing a recommendations section in an executive summary for a research paper, students should focus on giving a clear summary of what should happen after the findings. Essentially, one should address the key decision-makers or stakeholders because they are responsible for creating change through policy. The best approach to writing recommendations is to interrogate each challenge or problem and related findings to understand what must happen to create positive outcomes.

F. Writing a Limitations Part of an Executive Summary

The best approach to writing a limitations section in an executive summary for a research paper is to interrogate the challenges one has faced in the project, such as a lack of goodwill among stakeholders or sufficient time, resources, or support. Ideally, writers aim to inform the audience of the factors that have complicated their work or may complicate the implementation of the recommendations.

G. Writing an Implementation Plan Part of an Executive Summary

When writing an implementation plan in an executive summary, students should focus on telling the audience the procedure for actualizing the recommendations. In this respect, the best approach to writing this section is to interrogate the recommendations to determine what must happen to actualize each. For example, some issues to consider may include people in charge of implementation, such as an organization’s human resource director, the time it would take to actualize (timeline), the budget, and how to measure success (evaluation).

H. Writing a Conclusion Part of an Executive Summary

When writing a conclusion part, students should aim to persuade the audience to adopt a particular stance regarding a research paper or proposal. Although one might reiterate the topic, it is not necessary to mention each of the preceding sections. Instead, writers should focus on sending a strong communication regarding it. The best approach to writing the conclusion section is to influence the audience’s perspective on the topic and the recommendations and implementation.

3️⃣ Explaining Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Key Terms

Since an executive summary is an overview of a market research paper, project report, or business plan, authors should write it clearly and precisely. The best approach is to use simple language and define all acronyms, abbreviations, and key terms. In turn, students should not assume that readers know what each acronym, abbreviation, and key term means when they read research papers.

4️⃣ Proofreading, Revising, and Editing an Executive Summary Section of a Research Paper

After completing writing a research paper, students should proofread it to identify grammatical and formatting mistakes and inconsistent arguments and ideas. For example, the best way to fix these mistakes and flaws is to revise the whole research paper by fixing mistakes, like missing punctuation and wrong citations, and editing it by adding or deleting words and sentences to create a logical order of thoughts and ideas. In turn, writers must be factual, not use word count fillers, and avoid unnecessary repetitions. Besides, students should know that the audience is not interested in stories but in factual communication that makes logical sense.

Sample Paper Template for Writing a Good Executive Summary

Like essays, executive summaries have a specific structure students should demonstrate in their writing. The sections above underscore this outline template, meaning students should know what each section of writing an executive summary for a research paper entails and how to write it. The best way to write a high-quality executive summary is to create a template and populate it with ideas for a project, a business plan, a proposal, or a report. This preparation helps writers to have a mental picture of the kind of document they want to have and the right attitude when writing.

I. Introduction: [Introduce the topic and state the kind of document, such as a market research paper, project report, or business plan].

II. Purpose Statement: [Explain the primary objective of a research paper, such as investigating a problem, souring some funds, or reporting its progress].

III. Methods: [Enumerate how the task is accomplished, such as examining official data, interviewing stakeholders, or reviewing the literature].

IV. Findings: [Provide the outcomes of the methods, such as what official data reveals, stakeholders’ sentiments, or what research says].

V. Recommendations: [State clearly what stakeholders or key decisions must do to address the challenges or problems that the findings reveal].

VI. Limitations: [Discuss the challenges or problems that were encountered in completing the task, such as poor time management, a lack of support, or absent goodwill by stakeholders].

VII. Implementation Plan: [Include what stakeholders or key decision-makers must do to actualize the recommendations, such as identifying a person responsible and establishing a budget and timeline].

VIII. Conclusion: [Persuade the audience to adopt the recommendations and work toward creating change by facilitating an implementation plan].

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Example of an Executive Summary for an 8000-Word Research Paper

Topic: A Need for Proactive Climate Change Initiatives

I. Example of an Introduction Section in an Executive Summary

Stakeholders in the climate change discourse must shift focus from discourse to practical, proactive measures to demonstrate seriousness in tackling the biggest threat of the millennium.

II. Example of a Purpose Statement Section in an Executive Summary

The purpose of writing this executive study is to examine the status of the climate change discourse, interrogate dynamics that make it unpromising as a practical solution to the crisis, and recommend what stakeholders must do to restore hope to millions globally who are afraid that climate change poses the biggest threat to the existence of current and future generations.

III. Example of a Methods Section in an Executive Summary

An executive report employs several data-gathering methods to achieve these objectives, including examining the climate change discourse over the decades to identify key themes: environmental policies, greenhouse gases, industrial pollution, natural disasters, weather forecasts, and others. Another method is interrogating research and official data on climate change by government agencies in the last three decades. The report also considers interviews with environmentalists, social justice advocates, government officials, and leaders of organizations that dedicate their mission to creating awareness about the need for environmental conservation and preservation.

IV. Example of a Findings Section in an Executive Summary

Overall, the methods above reveal worrying findings about the climate change discourse:

  • Human activities, including industries and deforestation, have increased global warming to 1.1 degrees C, triggering unprecedented changes to the Earth’s climate. The lack of consensus on reversing human-induced global warming among the most industrialized countries suggests that the trend will worsen in the coming decades.
  • The impacts of climate change are evident on people and ecosystems. Without urgent practical interventions, these impacts will become more widespread and severe with every additional degree of global warming.
  • Developing and implementing adaptation measures in communities can effectively build and foster the resilience of people and ecosystems. However, stakeholders must interrogate their climate change funding priorities for effective proactive interventions.
  • Communities will continue recording climate-induced losses and damages as long as communities cannot adapt to some impacts of this global problem. An example is 1.1 degrees C of global warming.
  • Projections indicate global greenhouse gas (GHC) emissions will peak at 1.5 degrees C before 2025 in selected at-risk pathways.
  • Burning fossil fuels remains the leading cause of the global climate crisis.
  • Carbon removal is the most effective and practical solution to limiting global warming from peaking at 1.5 degrees C.
  • There is a lack of commitment by key stakeholders to finance climate change mitigation and adaptation.
  • Climate change and the collective efforts to mitigate and adapt to its impacts will exacerbate global inequity if stakeholders do not prioritize just transition.

These findings of a research paper confirm that the climate change discourse is alive to the threat the global problem poses to people and ecosystems and the weaknesses in the current interventions.

V. Example of a Recommendations Section in an Executive Summary

This executive report recommends that key stakeholders, including governments, communities, policy experts, and financiers, must adopt to prioritize practical solutions to the global climate crisis.

  • Stakeholders must target a net-zero climate-resilient future through urgent, systemwide transformations.
  • Adopt policies that enhance access to fresh produce by establishing a relationship between farmers and consumers.
  • Improve awareness about the critical benefits of organic foods.
  • Consider policies that promote regenerative farm practices to eliminate toxins and revitalize soils.
  • Create infrastructures for transforming waste into compost manure for farm use.
  • Develop policies that encourage communities to embrace a green neighborhood.

VI. Example of a Limitations Section in an Executive Summary

This executive report recognizes several limitations that have made the fight against climate change unproductive and threaten current and future endeavors to arrest the crisis. For example, stakeholders need to note that these limitations may undermine the implementation of the recommendations in this report. One limitation is a lack of goodwill among key stakeholders. The four leading industrial powers, namely the United States, China, India, and Brazil, contribute to significant global atmospheric temperature increases. Traditionally, these countries have refused to agree on how to cut back on industries primarily because they are the main drivers of their economies. Another limitation is the mis-prioritization of financing, where much focus is on theoretical interventions, such as agreements and seminars, at the expense of practical solutions like building infrastructures for transforming waste into usable products. While stakeholders agree on the essence of the 3R (reuse, reduce, and recycle) framework, there is little practical implementation at the community level.

VII. Example of an Implementation Plan Section in an Executive Summary

The implementation plan for the recommendations above recognizes government agencies as the most suitable implementers because official bodies are the key stakeholders who finance climate change initiatives. The business plan considers that, to shift the climate change fight from mere discourse to practical evidence, stakeholders must prioritize the following:

  • A budget of at least $50 million annually at the country level;
  • A period of between 2-5 years; and
  • Periodic evaluation of progress through at least one annual seminar or conference.

VIII. Example of a Conclusion Section in an Executive Summary

This executive research paper calls on all stakeholders in the climate change discourse to reconsider the current focus by recognizing its failure to create meaningful change as evidence shows the crisis continues to worsen. Instead, they should focus on practical, proactive interventions focusing on communities because that is where much environmental damage happens. It is also where the adversities of the crisis manifest most powerfully.

4 Easy Steps for Writing an Executive Summary

Writing an executive summary is a technical undertaking requiring writers to consider each section’s basic structure and essential details. When writing a research paper, one must know when to write each section and what to say. In this respect, preparation, stage setup, writing a first draft of an executive section, and wrap-up are essential steps students should follow to produce a research paper document that meets quality standards.

Step 1: Preparation

As the first step in writing an executive summary, preparation helps writers to develop a proper mindset that involves knowing the basic structure and what to write in each section of a research paper. Therefore, the critical task for students in this stage is constructing the basic structure and stating what must happen in each section.

Step 2: Stage Setup

Setting up the stage is the second step in writing an executive summary. It involves reading and rereading the document to identify critical details to address in each section of the basic structure. The best approach to achieve this outcome is to make notes of the most vital data when reading a research paper.

Step 3: Writing a First Draft of an Executive Summary

The third step is to create a first draft of an executive summary by putting all the critical data into relevant sections. Ideally, people must start with a clear introduction where they point out the focal point of a research paper and then move to a study’s purpose statement, methods, findings, recommendations, limitations, implementation plan, and conclusion. Each research section must summarize and not explain the most critical data.

Step 4: Wrap-Up

Wrapping a first draft into a final version of a research paper is the last step in writing an executive summary. This stage involves proofreading, revising, and editing a first version of an executive summary to eliminate grammar mistakes and inconsistent statements. As a result, authors must perfect their executive summaries of research papers by fixing errors and flaws that affect the logical progression of ideas and thoughts and the overall quality of the text.

20 Tips for Writing an Effective Executive Summary

Writing an executive summary can be demanding, particularly for students who do not prepare well or do not know what is most important. The following tips can be helpful: begin an executive summary by explaining why the topic is important; state the purpose of a research paper by outlining the problem and why it is essential or relevant to the audience; explain the methods that help to execute the task; state the findings; enumerate the limitations by addressing dynamics that undermine the implementation of solutions; consider the recommendations and list them using numbers or bullet points; outline an implementation plan that identifies the person or entity that oversee the implementation, the budget allocation, and how to evaluate progress; and write a conclusion that persuades the audience to adopt a particular perspective about the topic. In turn, 10 dos and 10 don’ts that writers should consider when writing their executive summaries in their research papers are:

10 things to do when writing an executive summary include:

  • reading a research paper thoroughly to identify the primary objective, methods for collecting data, key findings, recommendations, significant limitations, and an implementation strategy;
  • considering the audience of an executive summary to determine whether to use simple or technical language;
  • writing formally and avoiding jargon;
  • outlining the structure that considers all the main sections (introduction, purpose statement, methods, key findings, recommendations, limitations, implementation, and conclusion);
  • organizing an executive summary in a summary format;
  • using a short, clear, precise, and captivating opening statement to hook readers;
  • including each section to state the most critical details;
  • focusing on summarizing a research paper rather than explaining its contents;
  • reviewing a research paper for incorrect information;
  • proofreading, revising, and editing an executive summary to eliminate all mistakes.

10 things not to do when writing an executive summary include:

  • using jargon to simplify complex terms and phrases;
  • explaining rather than summarizing a research paper;
  • creating too many grammar mistakes, such as missing punctuation and confusing words with a similar pronunciation;
  • ignoring the basic outline of an executive summary;
  • writing a lengthy introduction;
  • concentrating on some sections more than others;
  • explaining ideas or concepts not discussed in the main research paper;
  • providing a very short or long summary that does not align with the document’s total word count;
  • beginning an executive summary with anecdote or irrelevant information;
  • placing an executive summary at the end of a research paper.

Summing Up on How to Write a Perfect Executive Summary

  • Tell an interesting story. Writers should approach an executive summary as a platform for inducing the reader’s interest in reading a research paper. As such, one should use each section to tell what is most crucial to the audience.
  • Highlight critical data. Writers should focus on what is most critical in each section of an executive summary, emphasizing statistical data because it is visually captivating.
  • Maintain a formal tone from beginning to end. Writers should avoid using jargon to simplify complex concepts or terminologies.
  • Write an executive summary after completing an actual research paper. Writing an executive summary as the last element of a research paper helps one to approach this paper as a final summary of the main points. In turn, the mistake of starting an executive summary before writing an actual research paper is that authors can write about details they fail to address in the final version of a document.

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How to write an executive summary people will read

Executive summary

Executive summaries remind me of phrases like “actionable insights.” These buzzwords are vague enough to know they are essential, but it is impossible to determine what they mean. For years, I heard about how critical it is to include executive summaries in research presentations. They give the reader the ability to understand the report quickly and get the most important information at a glance. 

Since I come from academia, I likened the executive summary to an abstract. An abstract summarizes the larger research paper by highlighting the significant points and reasons behind the research. I struggled with this concise roundup of my work in my previous academic papers. And I fought just as much with writing executive summaries. I agonized, trying to find examples online (which are few and far between), and eventually forced myself to write something I knew wasn’t an accurate executive summary. 

After much trial and error, I decided to end my misery. I dreaded writing reports, made worse by the anxiety-inducing executive summary slide, which I would stare at for hours. How should I pick the most crucial information from all my findings? And how do I distill the entire study into a few headers and bullet points? Eventually, the lightbulb clicked. I began to ask stakeholders to give me feedback on these summaries, asking them what they thought, what was missing, or what was too much information. I A/B tested different formats, gathering more feedback and honing, until I landed on something that seemed to work across organizations. 

It just goes to show you, when in doubt, do some research!

The ingredients of a successful executive summary

An executive summary shows readers the findings or insights they need to know if they just read one slide. Now, this isn’t the best principle. We want people to read our full reports because we can’t possibly encapsulate all of the data into an executive summary. However, no matter how hard we try, some people won’t read entire reports, so we still have to find ways to get the most important information across.

This summary enables teams to see the most impactful details from a particular study. If someone were to read the slide, they should be able to take something away to help them make decisions. As user researchers, we must learn how to be concise. The executive summary gives us the chance to surface the most critical information teams need to know from a given project. 

I’ve seen executive summaries that span several pages. I have even seen one that was ten slides long. As I mentioned, the purpose of an executive summary is to highlight the essential information as efficiently as possible. Typically, this means one page, at the absolute most, two pages. But I would say, always strive for one page.

Within this one page, my structure for an executive summary highlights the top three to five findings or insights in my study. In general, I will cover:

One surprising finding/insight 

One to two things that went badly

If space, an additional finding/insight

While this structure is helpful, it is the frustratingly vague type of structure I referenced when trying to write these summaries. How do you know which is the most positive insight? Or what went poorly? Or what information to include and what to talk about later. Let’s dive deeper.

Questions to ask yourself

At first, I went about writing executive summaries without much direction. I wasn’t sure how to find the correct information to put into this synopsis of my study. Over time, I developed a list of questions I would ask myself to pull out the most valuable information from the rest. Here are the questions I ask myself when creating an executive summary:

Surprising finding:

Which of our assumptions or hypotheses were validated?

What were we risking, and how did that risk play out well?

What information could have a considerable positive impact on users?

What is something that changed the way we think about users?

What is something new we discovered that we didn’t know before?

Negative findings:

What issues did we uncover?

Which of our hypotheses or assumptions were invalidated?

What information has a considerable negative impact on users?

What information makes us question the direction we are going?

Other findings:

What happened that was completely unexpected?

What information could help a team make a better decision moving forward?

My executive summaries all look pretty much the same. Through keeping this consistency, it makes it easier for me to write the summary. I use the following structure and template for each insight:

A header that is a few words long

A concise one to two sentences of what you learned

An example that demonstrates what you learned, such as a quote

The consequence of what you learned

If relevant or possible, a small recommendation

Putting it together

As I mentioned, this is easier said than done. It takes some practice writing executive summaries before you become more confident and comfortable. When I was learning this skill, I felt I lacked a concrete example. So, let’s dive into one to demonstrate the ingredients and structure of an executive summary. 

In this example project, we were trying to understand how different groups of people plan travel. We looked at student travelers (e.g., students traveling home) and business travelers (e.g., business trips) and how they make decisions to travel. 

Executive summary

Insight one : Cheaper prices are not the only deciding factor

Although lower prices are enticing for students and business travelers, they are not the only factors at play. Instead, these travelers weigh and balance a triangle of information: price, comfort (duration, number of changeovers), and trust in the booking platform.

“Yes, cheap tickets are great, but I am not going to take an eleven-hour trip with three changeovers to get to a place I know is two or three hours away if I pay a bit more. Plus, these third-party websites selling tickets always ask for more money.”

By surfacing the cheapest tickets first and assuming this is the trigger for purchase, we are not giving users the best results for their search, considering their decision-making process. We may be losing trust and revenue through this experience. 

Recommendation: Include trips that may be more expensive, but get the user to their destination more quickly (still within a suitable price range). Also, ensure all charges are transparent for the user.

Insight two: Flexibility in dates leads to multiple searches

These travelers can be relatively flexible with their traveling dates, which gives them the space to search within a date range to find the best trip. However, this concludes in many different searches and comparing prices/trips across multiple tabs, frustrating the user. 

“I wanted to see if it was cheaper to take the train on a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, and it just got so complicated to do and compare all of these searches—it was frustrating.” 

By forcing our users to compare different date possibilities across tabs, we put them in a difficult situation. They may go to another product or competitor that makes this experience easier for them. Ultimately, this could end in us losing revenue and retention. 

Recommendation: Allow users to search with flexible calendar dates within one search to compare their different options on one screen easily.

Insight three: Lack of trust when booking through a third-party

Although it is easy for travelers to see all options when looking up travel on a third-party website, there is an inherent lack of trust. Extra fees, lost luggage, and lack of customer support have burned many travelers when they’ve booked through a third-party website.

“As much as I want to trust these websites, I can’t. Once I bought a ticket through a website, they canceled my seat last minute, didn’t offer me a refund, and the flight provider couldn’t do anything about it. It just makes me not trust all the smoke and mirrors. Plus, I end up paying so much in fees that I should go directly to the provider.”

With the lack of trust in third-party websites, there are times we are a search engine rather than a booking platform. They use our website to compare travel options and then go directly to the provider to purchase tickets. With this process, we end up losing money and customers. 

One last note

Take the time to practice these executive summaries. It took me a while to get to the stage where I could pinpoint the vital information and distill it into one concise slide. Start by asking yourself those questions about your study, do a brain dump, and then work your way down to the top three to five insights. It is well worth it when your research becomes more digestible and read by people who don’t have enough time to take on the full report!

Looking for some advice on how to create awesome reports in Dovetail? Check out our Guides for a great rundown on reporting using Insights. Or come join us and 3000 other research-obsessed people on Slack to continue the conversation.

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How to Write an Executive Summary (Example & Template Included)

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Here’s the good news: an executive summary is short. It’s part of a larger document like a business plan, business case or project proposal and, as the name implies, summarizes the longer report.

Here’s the bad news: it’s a critical document that can be challenging to write because an executive summary serves several important purposes. On one hand, executive summaries are used to outline each section of your business plan, an investment proposal or project proposal. On the other hand, they’re used to introduce your business or project to investors and other stakeholders, so they must be persuasive to spark their interest.

Writing an Executive Summary

The pressure of writing an executive summary comes from the fact that everyone will pay attention to it, as it sits at the top of that heap of documents. It explains all that follows and can make or break your business plan or project plan . The executive summary must know the needs of the potential clients or investors and zero in on them like a laser. Fortunately, we’ll show you how to write and format your executive summary to do just that.

Getting everything organized for your executive summary can be challenging. ProjectManager can help you get your thoughts in order and collaborate with your team. Our powerful task management tools make it easy to get everything prioritized and done on time. Try it free today.

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What Is an Executive Summary?

An executive summary is a short section of a larger document like a business plan , investment proposal or project proposal. It’s mostly used to give investors and stakeholders a quick overview of important information about a business plan like the company description, market analysis and financial information.

It contains a short statement that addresses the problem or proposal detailed in the attached documents and features background information, a concise analysis and a conclusion. An executive summary is designed to help executives and investors decide whether to go forth with the proposal, making it critically important. Pitch decks are often used along with executive summaries to talk about the benefits and main selling points of a business plan or project.

Unlike an abstract, which is a short overview, an executive summary format is a condensed form of the documents contained in the proposal. Abstracts are more commonly used in academic and research-oriented writing and act as a teaser for the reader to see if they want to read on.

executive summary of research paper sample

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Executive Summary Template

Use this free Executive Summary Template for Word to manage your projects better.

How to Write an Executive Summary

Executive summaries vary depending on the document they’re attached to. You can write an executive summary for a business plan, project proposal, research document, or business case, among other documents and reports.

However, when writing an executive summary, there are guidelines to ensure you hit all the bases.

Executive Summary Length

According to the many books that have been written about executive summaries, as well as training courses, seminars and professional speakers, the agreed-upon length for an executive summary format should be about five to 10 percent of the length of the whole report.

Appropriate Language

The language used should be appropriate for the target audience. One of the most important things to know before you write professionally is to understand who you’re addressing. If you’re writing for a group of engineers, the language you’ll use will differ greatly from how you would write to a group of financiers.

That includes more than just the words, but the content and depth of explanation. Remember, it’s a summary, and people will be reading it to quickly and easily pull out the main points.

Pithy Introduction

You also want to capture a reader’s attention immediately in the opening paragraph. Just like a speech often opens with a joke to break the tension and put people at ease, a strong introductory paragraph can pull a reader in and make them want to read on. That doesn’t mean you start with a joke. Stick to your strengths, but remember, most readers only give you a few sentences to win them over before they move on.

Don’t forget to explain who you are as an organization and why you have the skills, personnel and experience to solve the problem raised in the proposal. This doesn’t have to be a lengthy biography, often just your name, address and contact information will do, though you’ll also want to highlight your strengths as they pertain to the business plan or project proposal .

Relevant Information

The executive summary shouldn’t stray from the material that follows it. It’s a summary, not a place to bring up new ideas. To do so would be confusing and would jeopardize your whole proposal.

Establish the need or the problem, and convince the target audience that it must be solved. Once that’s set up, it’s important to recommend the solution and show what the value is. Be clear and firm in your recommendation.

Justify your cause. Be sure to note the key reasons why your organization is the perfect fit for the solution you’re proposing. This is the point where you differentiate yourself from competitors, be that due to methodology, testimonials from satisfied clients or whatever else you offer that’s unique. But don’t make this too much about you. Be sure to keep the name of the potential client at the forefront.

Don’t neglect a strong conclusion, where you can wrap things up and once more highlight the main points.

Related: 10 Essential Excel Report Templates

What to Include in an Executive Summary

The content of your executive summary must reflect what’s in the larger document which it is part of. You’ll find many executive summary examples on the web, but to keep things simple, we’ll focus on business plans and project proposals.

How to Write an Executive Summary for a Business Plan

As we’ve learned above, your executive summary must extract the main points of all the sections of your business plan. A business plan is a document that describes all the aspects of a business, such as its business model, products or services, objectives and marketing plan , among other things. They’re commonly used by startups to pitch their ideas to investors.

Here are the most commonly used business plan sections:

  • Company description: Provide a brief background of your company, such as when it was established, its mission, vision and core values.
  • Products & services: Describe the products or services your company will provide to its customers.
  • Organization and management: Explain the legal structure of your business and the members of the top management team.
  • SWOT analysis: A SWOT analysis explains the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of your business. They describe the internal and external factors that impact your business competitiveness.
  • Industry & market analysis: This section should provide an overview of the industry and market in which your business will compete.
  • Operations: Explain the main aspects of your business operations and what sets it apart from competitors.
  • Marketing plan: Your marketing plan describes the various strategies that your business will use to reach its customers and sell products or services.
  • Financial planning: Here, you should provide an overview of the financial state of your business. Include income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements.
  • Funding request: If you’re creating your business plan to request funding, make sure to explain what type of funding you need, the timeframe for your funding request and an explanation of how the funds will be used.

We’ve created an executive summary example to help you better understand how this document works when using it, to sum up a business plan.

To put all of that information together, here’s the basic format of an executive summary. You can find this same information in our free executive summary template :

  • Introduction, be sure to know your audience
  • Table of contents in the form of a bulleted list
  • Explain the company’s role and identify strengths
  • Explain the need, or the problem, and its importance
  • Recommend a solution and explain its value
  • Justify said solution by explaining how it fits the organization
  • A strong conclusion that once more wraps up the importance of the project

You can use it as an executive summary example and add or remove some of its elements to adjust it to your needs. Our sample executive summary has the main elements that you’ll need project executive summary.

Executive summary template for Word

Executive Summary Example

For this executive summary example, we’ll imagine a company named ABC Clothing, a small business that manufactures eco-friendly clothing products and it’s preparing a business plan to secure funding from new investors.

Company Description We are ABC Clothing, an environmentally-friendly manufacturer of apparel. We’ve developed a unique method of production and sourcing of materials that allows us to create eco-friendly products at a low cost . We have intellectual property for our production processes and materials, which gives us an advantage in the market.

  • Mission: Our mission is to use recycled materials and sustainable methods of production to create clothing products that are great for our customers and our planet.
  • Vision: Becoming a leader in the apparel industry while generating a positive impact on the environment.

Products & Services We offer high-quality clothing products for men, women and all genders. (Here you should include pictures of your product portfolio to spark the interest of your readers)

Industry & Market Analysis Even though the fashion industry’s year-over-year growth has been affected by pandemics in recent years, the global apparel market is expected to continue growing at a steady pace. In addition, the market share of sustainable apparel has grown year-over-year at a higher pace than the overall fashion industry.

Marketing Plan Our marketing plan relies on the use of digital marketing strategies and online sales, which gives us a competitive advantage over traditional retailers that focus their marketing efforts on brick-and-mortar stores.

Operations Our production plant is able to recycle different types of plastic and cotton waste to turn it into materials that we use to manufacture our products . We’ve partnered with a transportation company that sorts and distributes our products inside the United States efficiently and cost-effectively.

Financial Planning Our business is profitable, as documented in our balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement. The company doesn’t have any significant debt that might compromise its continuity. These and other financial factors make it a healthy investment.

Funding Request We’re requesting funding for the expansion of our production capacity, which will allow us to increase our production output in order to meet our increasing customer demand, enter new markets, reduce our costs and improve our competitiveness.

If you’d like to see more executive summary examples for your business plan, you can visit the U.S. small business administration website. They have business plans with executive summary examples you can download and use.

Executive summaries are also a great way to outline the elements of a project plan for a project proposal. Let’s learn what those elements are.

How to Write an Executive Summary for a Project Proposal

An executive summary for your project proposal will capture the most important information from your project management plan. Here’s the structure of our executive summary template:

  • Introduction: What’s the purpose of your project?
  • Company description: Show why you’re the right team to take on the project.
  • Need/problem: What is the problem that it’s solving?
  • Unique solution: What is your value proposition and what are the main selling points of your project?
  • Proof: Evidence, research and feasibility studies that support how your company can solve the issue.
  • Resources: Outline the resources needed for the project
  • Return on investment/funding request: Explain the profitability of your project and what’s in for the investors.
  • Competition/market analysis: What’s your target market? Who are your competitors? How does your company differentiate from them?
  • Marketing plan: Create a marketing plan that describes your company’s marketing strategies, sales and partnership plans.
  • Budget/financial planning: What’s the budget that you need for your project plan?
  • Timeline: What’s the estimated timeline to complete the project?
  • Team: Who are the project team members and why are they qualified?
  • Conclusions:  What are the project takeaways?

Now that we’ve learned that executive summaries can vary depending on the type of document you’re working on, you’re ready for the next step.

What to Do After Writing an Executive Summary

As with anything you write, you should always start with a draft. The first draft should hit all the marks addressed above but don’t bog yourself down in making the prose perfect. Think of the first draft as an exploratory mission. You’re gathering all the pertinent information.

Next, you want to thoroughly review the document to ensure that nothing important has been left out or missed. Make sure the focus is sharp and clear, and that it speaks directly to your potential client’s needs.

Proofread for Style & Grammar

But don’t neglect the writing. Be sure that you’re not repeating words, falling into cliché or other hallmarks of bad writing. You don’t want to bore the reader to the point that they miss the reason why you’re the organization that can help them succeed.

You’ve checked the content and the prose, but don’t forget the style. You want to write in a way that’s natural and not overly formal, but one that speaks in the manner of your target audience . If they’re a conservative firm, well then, maybe formality is called for. But more and more modern companies have a casual corporate culture, and formal writing could mistakenly cause them to think of you as old and outdated.

The last run should be proofing the copy. That means double-checking to ensure that spelling is correct, and there are no typos or grammatical mistakes. Whoever wrote the executive summary isn’t the best person to edit it, however. They can easily gloss over errors because of their familiarity with the work. Find someone who excels at copy-editing. If you deliver sloppy content, it shows a lack of professionalism that’ll surely color how a reader thinks of your company.

Criticism of Executive Summaries

While we’re advocating for the proper use of an executive summary, it’d be neglectful to avoid mentioning some critiques. The most common is that an executive summary by design is too simple to capture the complexity of a large and complicated project.

It’s true that many executives might only read the summary, and in so doing, miss the nuance of the proposal. That’s a risk. But if the executive summary follows the guidelines stated above, it should give a full picture of the proposal and create interest for the reader to delve deeper into the documents to get the details.

Remember, executive summaries can be written poorly or well. They can fail to focus on results or the solution to the proposal’s problem or do so in a vague, general way that has no impact on the reader. You can do a hundred things wrong, but if you follow the rules, then the onus falls on the reader.

ProjectManager Turns an Executive Summary Into a Project

Your executive summary got the project approved. Now the real work begins. ProjectManager is award-winning project management software that helps you organize tasks, projects and teams. We have everything you need to manage each phase of your project, so you can complete your work on time and under budget.

Work How You Want

Because project managers and teams work differently, our software is flexible. We have multiple project views, such as the kanban board, which visualizes workflow. Managers like the transparency it provides in the production cycle, while teams get to focus only on those tasks they have the capacity to complete. Are you more comfortable with tasks lists or Gantt charts? We have those, too.

A screenshot of the Kanban board project view

Live Tracking for Better Management

To ensure your project meets time and cost expectations, we have features that monitor and track progress so you can control any deviations that might occur. Our software is cloud-based, so the data you see on our dashboard is always up to date, helping you make better decisions. Make that executive summary a reality with ProjectManager.

ProjectManager’s dashboard view, which shows six key metrics on a project

You’ve now researched and written a persuasive executive summary to lead your proposal. You’ve put in the work and the potential client sees that and contracts you for the project. However, if you don’t have a reliable set of project management tools like Gantt charts , kanban boards and project calendars at hand to plan, monitor and report on the work, then all that preparation will be for nothing.

ProjectManager is online project management software that gives you real-time data and a collaborative platform to work efficiently and productively. But don’t take our word for it, take a free 30-day trial.

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How to write an executive summary in 10 steps

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Whether presenting a business plan, sharing project updates with stakeholders, or submitting a project proposal, an executive summary helps you grab attention and convey key insights.

Think of it as a condensed version of a document, report, or proposal that highlights the most important information clearly and concisely. It's like a "cheat sheet" that gives you a snapshot of the main points without reading the entire thing.

Throughout the article, we'll explore some examples of executive summaries to give you a better understanding of how they can be applied. Plus, we'll provide you with ready-to-use templates and best practices for writing compelling executive summaries.

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What is an executive summary?

An executive summary is a concise overview of a longer document or report. It is typically written for busy executives or decision-makers who may not have the time to read the entire document but still need to grasp its key points and recommendations. 

An effective executive summary should capture the essence of the document, highlighting the most important information in a brief and easily understandable way. It should provide a snapshot of the document's purpose, methodology, major findings, and key recommendations. The summary should be written in a way that allows the reader to quickly grasp the main ideas and make informed decisions based on the information presented.

Why do you need to write one?

For a business owner , an executive summary is one of the most important documents you will have. Like a business plan , they help you lay out the potential value of your business and your potential for success. 

Unlike a business proposal, however, an executive summary is designed to be read in a brief amount of time. That makes them ideal for a variety of uses, like project proposals and research summaries. Sending your strategic plan to a prospective investor or stakeholder likely won’t get you far. But a brief report that clearly states your key findings and what’s in it for them might help you — and your proposal — stand out. It isn't all the details. It's what gets you the meeting to share more.

An executive summary is also a business document that can travel without you. It may be presented to other leaders and potential investors. If it’s written well, it will take on a life of its own. You may find that you get support and resources from places you never imagined.

What should be included in an executive summary?

Your executive summary should include brief descriptions of who your product, service, or proposal is for and your competitive advantage. Be sure to introduce your report concisely yet clearly . Note the most important points and its overall purpose––what do you hope to achieve with this report? 

Also, include any necessary background information and statistics about the industry, high-level information about your business model, necessary financial information, or other insights you discuss in the report. Depending on your proposal, you may want to consider summarizing a market analysis of your target market.

Typically, an executive summary follows a structured format, including sections such as:

  • Introduction: Provides a brief background and context for the document.
  • Objective or purpose: Clearly states the goal of the document and what it aims to achieve.
  • Methodology: Briefly describes the approach, data sources, and methods used to conduct the research or analysis.
  • Findings: Summarizes the main findings, conclusions, or results derived from the document.
  • Recommendations: Outlines the key recommendations or proposed actions based on the findings.
  • Conclusion: Provides a concise wrap-up of the main points and emphasizes the significance of the document.

presenting-to-board-meeting-executive-summary-example

How do you write an executive summary?

When tackling an executive summary, it's all about following a structured approach to ensure you effectively communicate those crucial points, findings, and recommendations. Let’s walk through some steps and best practices to make it a breeze:

Step 1: Get to know the document

Take the time to dive into the full document or report that your executive summary will be based on. Read it thoroughly and identify the main objectives, key findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

Step 2: Know your audience

Think about who you're writing the executive summary for. Consider their knowledge level, interests, and priorities. This helps you tailor the summary to their needs and make it relevant and impactful.

Step 3: Outline the structure

Create an outline for your executive summary with sections like introduction, objective, methodology, findings, recommendations, and conclusion. This way, you'll have a logical flow that's easy to follow.

Step 4: Start strong

Kick off your executive summary with a captivating opening statement. Make it concise, engaging, and impactful to hook the reader and make them want to keep reading.

Step 5: Summarize objectives and methodology

Give a brief overview of the document's objectives and the methodology used to achieve them. This sets the context and helps the reader understand the approach taken.

Step 6: Highlight key findings

Summarize the main findings, conclusions, or results. Focus on the juiciest and most relevant points that support the document's purpose. Keep it clear and concise to get the message across effectively.

Step 7: Present key recommendations

Outline the important recommendations or proposed actions based on the findings. Clearly state what needs to be done, why it matters, and how it aligns with the document's objectives. Make those recommendations actionable and realistic.

Step 8: Keep it snappy

Remember, an executive summary should be short and sweet. Skip unnecessary details, jargon, or technical language . Use straightforward language that hits the mark.

Step 9: Review and polish

Once you've written the executive summary, give it a careful review for clarity, coherence, and accuracy. Make sure it captures the essence of the full document and represents its content faithfully. Take the extra step to edit out any fluff or repetition.

Step 10: Dress to impress

Consider formatting and presentation. Use headings, bullet points, and formatting styles to make it visually appealing and easy to skim. If it makes sense, include some graphs, charts, or visuals to highlight key points.

Tips for writing an effective executive summary

  • Adapt your language and tone to suit your audience.
  • Keep things concise and crystal clear—say no to jargon.
  • Focus on the most important info that packs a punch.
  • Give enough context without overwhelming your reader.
  • Use strong and persuasive language to make your recommendations shine.
  • Make sure your executive summary makes sense even if the full document isn't read.
  • Proofread like a pro to catch any pesky grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors.

Executive summary template for business plans

Here's a general template for creating an executive summary specifically for business plans:

[Your Company Name]

[Business Plan Title]

Business overview

Provide a brief introduction to your company, including its name, location, industry, and mission statement . Describe your unique value proposition and what sets your business apart from competitors.

Market analysis

Summarize the key findings of your market research. Provide an overview of the target market, its size, growth potential, and relevant trends. Highlight your understanding of customer needs, preferences, and behaviors.

Product or service offering

Outline your core products or services, including their key features and benefits. Emphasize how your offerings address customer pain points and provide value. Highlight any unique selling points or competitive advantages.

Business model

Explain your business model and revenue generation strategy. Describe how you will generate revenue, the pricing structure, and any distribution channels or partnerships that contribute to your business's success.

Marketing and sales strategy

Summarize your marketing and sales approach. Highlight the key tactics and channels you will use to reach and attract customers. Discuss your promotional strategies, pricing strategies, and customer acquisition plans.

Management team

Introduce the key members of your management team and their relevant experience. Highlight their expertise and how it positions the team to execute the business plan successfully. Include any notable advisors or board members.

Financial projections

Summarize your financial projections, including revenue forecasts, expected expenses, and projected profitability. Highlight any key financial metrics or milestones. Briefly mention your funding needs, if applicable.

Funding requirements

If seeking funding, outline your funding requirements, including the amount needed, its purpose, and the potential sources of funding you are considering. Summarize the expected return on investment for potential investors.

Reiterate the vision and potential of your business. Summarize the key points of your business plan, emphasizing its viability, market potential, and the expertise of your team. Convey confidence in the success of your venture.

Note: Keep the executive summary concise and focused, typically within one to two pages. Use clear and compelling language, emphasizing the unique aspects of your business. Tailor the template to suit your specific business plan, adjusting sections and details accordingly.

Remember, the executive summary serves as an introduction to your business plan and should pique the reader's interest, conveying the value and potential of your business in a concise and persuasive manner.

Executive summary examples

Every executive summary will be unique to the organization's goals, vision, and brand identity. We put together two general examples of executive summaries to spark your creativity and offer some inspiration. 

These are not intended to be used as-is but more to offer ideas for how you may want to put your own executive summary together. Be sure to personalize your own summary with specific statistics and relevant data points to make the most impact.

Example 1: executive summary for a communications business plan

Introduction:

We're thrilled to present our innovative [insert product] that aims to revolutionize the way people connect and engage. Our vision is to empower individuals and businesses with seamless communication solutions that break barriers and foster meaningful connections.

Market opportunity:

The communications industry is evolving rapidly, and we've identified a significant opportunity in the market. With the proliferation of remote work, the need for reliable and efficient communication tools has skyrocketed. Our extensive market research indicates a demand for solutions that prioritize user experience, security, and flexibility.

Product offering:

At [Company Name], we've developed a suite of cutting-edge communication tools designed to meet the diverse needs of our customers. Our flagship product is a unified communication platform that integrates voice, video, messaging, and collaboration features into a seamless user experience. We also offer customizable solutions for businesses of all sizes, catering to their unique communication requirements.

Unique value proposition:

What sets us apart from the competition? Our user-centric approach and commitment to innovation. We prioritize user experience by creating intuitive interfaces and seamless interactions. Our solutions are scalable, adaptable, and designed to keep up with evolving technological trends. By combining ease of use with advanced features, we deliver unparalleled value to our customers.

Target market:

Our primary focus is on small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that require efficient and cost-effective communication tools. We also cater to individuals, remote teams, and larger enterprises seeking reliable and secure communication solutions. Our target market encompasses industries such as technology, finance, healthcare, and professional services.

Business model:

To generate revenue, we employ a subscription-based business model. Customers can choose from different plans tailored to their specific needs, paying a monthly or annual fee. We also offer additional services such as customization, integration, and customer support, creating additional revenue streams and fostering long-term customer relationships.

Marketing and sales strategy:

Our marketing strategy centers around building brand awareness through targeted digital campaigns, content marketing, and strategic partnerships. We'll leverage social media, industry influencers, and online communities to reach our target audience. Additionally, our sales team will engage in proactive outreach, nurturing leads and providing personalized consultations to convert prospects into loyal customers.

Team and expertise:

Our team is composed of experienced professionals with a deep understanding of the communications industry. Led by our visionary founder and supported by a skilled and diverse team, we have the expertise to drive innovation, develop robust products, and deliver exceptional customer service. We're passionate about our mission and dedicated to making a lasting impact in the market.

Financial projections:

Based on extensive market research and financial analysis, we anticipate strong growth and profitability. Our financial projections indicate steady revenue streams, with increasing customer adoption and market share. We're committed to managing costs effectively, optimizing our resources, and continuously reinvesting in research and development.

Funding requirements:

To fuel our ambitious growth plans and accelerate product development, we're seeking [funding amount] in funding. These funds will be allocated towards expanding our team, scaling our infrastructure, marketing efforts, and ongoing product innovation. We believe this investment will position us for success and solidify our market presence.

Conclusion:

In summary, [Company Name] is poised to disrupt the communications industry with our innovative solutions and customer-centric approach. We're ready to make a positive impact by empowering individuals and businesses to communicate effectively and effortlessly. Join us on this exciting journey as we redefine the future of communication. Together, we'll shape a connected world like never before.

Example 2: executive summary for a project proposal

[Project Name]

[Project Proposal Date]

Hello! We're thrilled to present our project proposal for [Project Name]. This executive summary will provide you with a high-level overview of the project, its objectives, and the value it brings.

Project overview:

Our project aims to [describe the project's purpose and scope]. It's a response to [identify the problem or opportunity] and has the potential to bring significant benefits to [stakeholders or target audience]. Through meticulous planning and execution, we're confident in our ability to achieve the desired outcomes.

Objectives:

The primary goal of our project is to [state the overarching objective]. In addition, we have specific objectives such as [list specific objectives]. By accomplishing these goals, we'll create a positive impact and drive meaningful change.

Our proposed approach for this project is based on a thorough analysis of the situation and best practices. We'll adopt a structured methodology that includes [describe the key project phases or activities]. This approach ensures efficient utilization of resources and maximizes project outcomes.

The benefits of this project are truly exciting. Through its implementation, we anticipate [describe the anticipated benefits or outcomes]. These benefits include [list specific benefits], which will have a lasting and positive effect on [stakeholders or target audience].

Implementation timeline:

We've devised a comprehensive timeline to guide the project from initiation to completion. The project is divided into distinct phases, with well-defined milestones and deliverables. Our timeline ensures that tasks are executed in a timely manner, allowing us to stay on track and deliver results.

Resource requirements:

To successfully execute this project, we've identified the key resources needed. This includes [list the resources required, such as human resources, technology, equipment, and funding]. We're confident in our ability to secure the necessary resources and allocate them effectively to ensure project success.

A project of this nature requires a well-planned budget. Based on our analysis, we've estimated the required funding to be [state the budget amount]. This budget encompasses all project-related costs and aligns with the anticipated benefits and outcomes.

Our project proposal is an exciting opportunity to address [the problem or opportunity] and create tangible value for [stakeholders or target audience]. With a clear vision, defined objectives, and a robust implementation plan, we're ready to embark on this journey. Join us as we bring this project to life and make a lasting impact. 

person-holding-one-sheet-executive-summary-example

Is an executive summary the same as a project plan?

While both are important components of project management and documentation , they serve different purposes and contain distinct information.

An executive summary, as discussed earlier, is a concise overview of a longer document or report. It provides a snapshot of the key points, findings, and recommendations. It focuses on high-level information and aims to provide an overview of the document's purpose, methodology, findings, and recommendations.

On the other hand, a project plan is a detailed document that outlines the specific activities, tasks, timelines, resources, and milestones associated with a project. It serves as a roadmap for project execution, providing a comprehensive understanding of how the project will be carried out.

A project plan typically includes objectives, scope, deliverables, schedule, budget, resource allocation, risk management, and communication strategies. It is intended for project team members, stakeholders, and those directly involved in the execution.

In summary, an executive summary offers a condensed overview of a document's key points, while a project plan provides a comprehensive and detailed roadmap for executing a project.

Executive summaries vs. abstracts

An executive summary is not the same as an abstract. Executive summaries focus on the main points of a proposal. They highlight when and why a reader should invest in the company or project.

An abstract, on the other hand, concentrates on what the business does and its marketing plan. It typically doesn’t include detailed information about finances.

While it is usually compelling, it’s less of an elevator pitch and more of a summary. The goal of an abstract is to inform, not to persuade. On the other hand, the goal of an executive summary is to give readers who are pressed for time just enough information that they’ll want to look further into your proposition.

When do you use an executive summary?

An executive summary is used in various situations where there is a need to present a condensed overview of a longer document or report. Here are some common instances when an executive summary is used:

  • Business proposals: When submitting a business proposal to potential investors, partners, or stakeholders, an executive summary is often included. It provides a concise overview of the proposal, highlighting the key aspects such as the business idea, market analysis, competitive advantage, financial projections, and recommended actions.
  • Reports and research studies: Lengthy reports or research studies often include an executive summary at the beginning. This allows decision-makers, executives, or other stakeholders to quickly understand the purpose, methodology, findings, and recommendations of the report without going through the entire document.
  • Project updates: During the course of a project, project managers may prepare executive summaries to provide updates to stakeholders or higher-level management. These summaries give a brief overview of the project's progress, achievements, challenges, and upcoming milestones.
  • Strategic plans: When developing strategic plans for an organization, an executive summary is often included to provide an overview of the plan's goals, objectives, strategies, and key initiatives. It allows executives and stakeholders to grasp the essence of the strategic plan and its implications without reading the entire document.
  • Funding requests: When seeking funding for a project or venture, an executive summary is commonly used as part of the funding proposal. It provides a succinct summary of the project, highlighting its significance, potential impact, financial requirements, and expected outcomes.

In general, an executive summary is used whenever there is a need to communicate the main points, findings, and recommendations of a document concisely and efficiently to individuals who may not have the time or inclination to read the entire content. It serves as a valuable tool for understanding and facilitates quick decision-making.

5 ways project managers can use executive summaries

Project managers can use executive summaries in various ways to effectively communicate project updates, status reports, or proposals to stakeholders and higher-level management. Here are some ways project managers can use executive summaries:

  • Project status updates: Project managers can provide regular executive summaries to stakeholders and management to communicate the current status of the project. The summary should include key achievements, milestones reached, challenges encountered, and any adjustments to the project plan. It allows stakeholders to quickly grasp the project's progress and make informed decisions or provide guidance as needed.
  • Project proposals: When pitching a project idea or seeking approval for a new project, project managers can prepare an executive summary to present the essential aspects of the project. The summary should outline the project's objectives, scope, anticipated benefits, resource requirements, estimated timeline, and potential risks. It helps decision-makers understand the project's value and make an informed choice about its initiation.
  • Project closure reports: At the end of a project, project managers can prepare an executive summary as part of the project closure report. The summary should highlight the project's overall success, key deliverables achieved, lessons learned, and recommendations for future projects. It provides a concise overview of the project's outcomes and acts as a valuable reference for future initiatives.
  • Steering committee meetings: When project managers present updates or seek guidance from a steering committee or governance board, an executive summary can be an effective tool. The summary should cover the important aspects of the project, such as progress, issues, risks, and upcoming milestones. It ensures that decision-makers are well-informed about the project's status and can provide relevant guidance or support.
  • Change requests: When submitting a change request for a project, project managers can include an executive summary to summarize the proposed change, its impact on the project, potential risks, and benefits. It helps stakeholders and decision-makers quickly assess the change request and make informed decisions about its implementation.

Using executive summaries, project managers can efficiently communicate project-related information to stakeholders, executives, and decision-makers. The summaries provide a concise overview of the project's status, proposals, or closure reports, allowing stakeholders to quickly understand the key points and take appropriate action.

When should you not use an executive summary?

While executive summaries are widely used in many situations, there are some cases where they may not be necessary or suitable. Here are a few scenarios where an executive summary may not be appropriate, along with alternative approaches:

  • Highly technical documents: If the document contains highly technical or specialized information that requires a detailed understanding, an executive summary alone may not be sufficient. In such cases, it is better to provide the complete document and supplement it with explanatory materials, presentations , or meetings where experts can explain and discuss the technical details.
  • Personal or creative writing: Executive summaries are typically used for informational or analytical documents. If the content is more personal in nature, such as a memoir, novel, or creative piece, an executive summary may not be relevant. Instead, focus on providing an engaging introduction or book blurb that entices readers and conveys the essence of the work.
  • Short documents: If the document itself is already concise and can be easily read in its entirety, an executive summary may be redundant. In these cases, it is more effective to present the complete document without an additional summary.
  • Interactive presentations: In situations where you can present information interactively, such as in meetings, workshops, or conferences, it may be more effective to engage the audience directly rather than relying solely on an executive summary. Use visual aids, demonstrations, discussions, and Q&A sessions to convey the necessary information and capture the audience's attention.

Final thoughts on writing a compelling executive summary

An executive summary isn’t the kitchen sink — it’s the bells and whistles. Geared toward busy decision-makers, these one-pagers communicate your case for action and proposed solutions. When it’s written well, your audience will walk away with an understanding of what needs to be done, why it needs to happen, and why they should help it move forward. 

But writing it well doesn’t just mean spell-checking. It means tailoring your communication to an influential, yet busy and distracted audience. To be effective, you’ll need to write your proposal with empathy and an understanding of what matters to them .

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Organizing Academic Research Papers: Executive Summary

  • Purpose of Guide
  • Design Flaws to Avoid
  • Glossary of Research Terms
  • Narrowing a Topic Idea
  • Broadening a Topic Idea
  • Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
  • Academic Writing Style
  • Choosing a Title
  • Making an Outline
  • Paragraph Development
  • Executive Summary
  • Background Information
  • The Research Problem/Question
  • Theoretical Framework
  • Citation Tracking
  • Content Alert Services
  • Evaluating Sources
  • Primary Sources
  • Secondary Sources
  • Tertiary Sources
  • What Is Scholarly vs. Popular?
  • Qualitative Methods
  • Quantitative Methods
  • Using Non-Textual Elements
  • Limitations of the Study
  • Common Grammar Mistakes
  • Avoiding Plagiarism
  • Footnotes or Endnotes?
  • Further Readings
  • Annotated Bibliography
  • Dealing with Nervousness
  • Using Visual Aids
  • Grading Someone Else's Paper
  • How to Manage Group Projects
  • Multiple Book Review Essay
  • Reviewing Collected Essays
  • About Informed Consent
  • Writing Field Notes
  • Writing a Policy Memo
  • Writing a Research Proposal
  • Acknowledgements

An executive summary is an overview of a research report or other type of document that summarizes key points for its readers, saving them time and preparing them for the upcoming content. It must be a separate, stand-alone document, with sufficient content to ensure that the reader can completely understand the contents of the longer research study. An executive summary can be anywhere from 1-10 pages long, depending on the research report's length and may summarize more than one document [e.g., papers submitted for a group project].

Importance of a Good Executive Summary

Although an executive summary is similar to an abstract in that they both summarize the contents of a research study, there are several key differences. With research abstracts, the author's recommendations are rarely included, or if they are, they are implicit rather than explicit. Recommendations are generally not stated in academic abstracts because scholars operate in a discursive environment, where debates, discussions and dialogue are meant to precede the implementation of any new research findings. The conceptual nature of much academic writing also means that recommendations arising from the findings are widespread and not easily or usefully encapsulated. Executive summaries are used mainly when a research study has been developed for an organizational partner, funding entity, or other external group that participated in the research . In such cases, the research report and executive summary are often written for policy makers outside of academe, while abstracts are written for the academic community. Professors, therefore, assign the writing of executive summaries so students can practice writing about and summarizing comprehensive research studies for external stakeholder groups.

When preparing to write, keep in mind that:

  • An executive summary is not an abstract.
  • An executive summary is not an introduction.
  • An executive summary is not a preface.
  • An executive summary is not a random collection of highlights.

Christensen, Jay. Executive Summaries Complete The Report. California State University Northridge.

Structure and Writing Style

I.  Writing an Executive Summary

Read the Entire Document This may go without saying, but it is critically important that you read your entire research study thoroughly from start to finish before beginning to write the executive summary. This will better prepare you for how to organize and summarize the key points of your study. Remember this is not a brief abstract of 300 words or less but, essentially, a mini-paper of your paper, with a focus on recommendations.

Isolate the Major Points Within the Original Document Choose which parts of the document are the most important to those who will read it. These points must be included within the executive summary in order to provide a thorough and complete explanation of what the document is trying to convey.

Separate the Main Sections Closely examine each section of the original document and discern the main differences in each. After you have a firm understanding about what each section offers in respect to the other sections, write a few sentences for each section describing the main ideas. Although the format may vary, the main sections of an executive summary likely will include the following:

  • the opening statement, brief background information,
  • the purpose of research study,
  • the method of data gathering and analysis,
  • an overview of findings, and,
  • a description of each recommendation, accompanied by a justification. Note that the recommendations are sometimes quoted verbatim from the research study.

Combine the Information Use the information gathered to combine them into an executive summary that is no longer than 10% of the original document. Be concise! The purpose is to provide a brief explanation of the entire document with a focus on the recommendations that have emerged from your research. How you word this will likely differ depending on your audience and what they care most about. If necessary, selectively incorporate bullet points for emphasis and brevity. Re-read the Executive Summary After you've completed your executive summary, let it sit for a while before coming back to re-read it. Check to make sure that the summary will make sense as a separate document from the full research study. By taking some time before re-reading it, you allow yourself to see the summary with unbiased eyes.

II.  Common Mistakes to Avoid

Length of the Executive Summary As a general rule, the correct length of an executive summary is that it meets the criteria of no more pages than 10% of the number of pages in the original document, with an upper limit of ten pages. This requirement keeps the document short enough to be read by your audience, but long enough to allow it to be a complete, stand-alone document. Cutting and Pasting With the exception of specific recommendations made in the study, do not simply cut and paste whole sections of the original document into the executive summary. You should paraphrase information from the longer document. Avoid taking up space with excessive subtitles and lists, unless they are absolutely necessary for the reader to have a complete understanding of the original document. Consider the Audience Although unlikely to be required by your professor, there is the possibility that more than one executive summary will have to be written for a given document [e.g., one for policy-makers, one for private industry]. This may only necessitate the rewriting of the conclusion, but it may require rewriting the entire summary in order to fit the needs of the reader. If necessary, be sure to consider the types of audiences who may benefit from your study and make adjustments accordingly. Clarity in Writing One of the biggest mistakes you can make is related to the clarity of your executive summary. Always note that your audience [or audiences] are likely seeing your research study for the first time. The best way to avoid a disorganized or cluttered executive summary is to write it after the study is completed. Always follow the same strategies for proofreading that you would for any research paper. Use Strong and Positive Language Don’t weaken your executive summary with passive, imprecise language. The executive summary is a stand-alone document intended to convince the reader to make a decision concerning whether to implement the recommendations you make. Once convinced, it is assumed that the full document will provide the details needed to implement the recommendations. Although you should resist the tempation to pad your summary with pleas or biased statements, do pay particular attention to ensuring that a sense of urgency is created in the implications, recommendations, and conclusions presented in the executive summary. Be sure to target readers who are likely to implement the recommendations.

Christensen, Jay. Executive Summaries Complete The Report. California State University Northridge; Executive Summaries . Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Executive Summary. University Writing Center. Texas A&M University; Guidelines for Writing an Executive Summary. Astia.org; Markowitz, Eric. How to Write an Executive Summary . Inc. Magazine, September, 15, 2010; Kawaski, Guy. The Art of the Executive Summary. "How to Change the World" blog; The Report Abstract and Executive Summary . The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing Executive Summaries. Effective Writing Center. University of Maryland.

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Executive summary

Business reports usually have an ‘executive summary’ instead of an abstract. They are similar, as they both give an overview of the main purpose, methods, findings, and conclusions of the investigation. However, an executive summary usually includes specific recommendations for the business based on the findings. 

Scroll down for our recommended strategies and resources. 

Executive summaries are normally read by busy managers who may not have time to read the whole report; they want the essential overview of all the key areas. This short guide outlines the parts of an executive summary and gives a colour coded example:

What is an executive summary? (RMIT University)

Have a look at these examples of good and bad executive summaries. Usually poor executive summaries lack specific detail about the findings and recommendations:

Examples of executive summaries (The University of Newcastle, Australia)

Abstracts often do a similar job to an executive summary but are more common in science and social science research. If you are unsure which you need, do ask your lecturer, and see our guide for more on abstracts:

Abstracts resources (Centre for Academic Development)

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How to Write an Executive Summary for a Grant Proposal

Every successful grant proposal starts with an engaging executive summary. It stresses the significance of the proposed research, and it makes a compelling case for your grant request in a short and readable passage. Here we explain the value of the executive summary and what should (and should not) go into it.

Updated on June 15, 2022

a Post-Doctoral Fellow writing an executive summary for a grant proposal

Every successful grant proposal starts with an executive summary. The executive summary presents the key elements of your application in a condensed and engaging form. It's also sometimes called a project description, abstract, or summary.

A grant proposal's executive summary introduces your research project goals, preliminary findings, and the personnel involved. It stresses the significance of the proposed research. It makes a compelling case for your grant request in a short and readable passage.

This article explains the value of the executive summary and what should (and should not) go into it if you want to get your funding.

Why is an executive summary important for a grant proposal?

Grant proposals are organized into distinct sections. The executive summary is often the most important section because it's the first thing reviewers will read, just like an abstract is often what readers read first when searching for useful research.

Some granting agency reviewers may base their opinion on the abstract alone. “The abstract must sell the grant,” says a US-based grant evaluator . “If I don't get interested by the first page, the proposal is lost,” says another .

Even when evaluators read the entire proposal, those first impressions are critical. If these decision-makers come across a poorly written executive summary, they might start reading the following pages with a negative bias—this may be difficult to overcome. Or they might stop right there. However, if the executive summary is well written, evaluators will likely approach your proposal with a more welcoming attitude.

There are also administrative reasons why the executive summary matters. Some granting agencies, like the U.S. National Institutes of Health ( NIH ), use the grant proposal title and executive summary to assign proposals to a specialist review panel. Your executive summary should reflect the key elements of your proposal so it ends at the hands of those who will see its value.

two researchers collaborating on a grant proposal

Strictly follow the granting agency's requirements

Before you start drafting the executive summary, learn everything there is about the sponsoring agency.

Start by perusing funded grant applications. How is their summary structured? How much did they score in this section?

Requirements differ across granting agencies. Many have a word limit for the executive summary (~500). Others ask for a more comprehensive description of the project (2–3 pages).

Some ask you to mention the type and amount of funding or other support you're after. And yet others want the budget to be submitted separately from the technical proposal. Picky picky, but they make the rules you have to play by.

Let the sponsor's mission and funding proprieties shape your executive summary.

What should you include in the executive summary?

Certainly, the granting agency's funding priorities, mission, and specific guidelines will inform the content of your executive summary. There are also general best practices that work across different fields.

Here, we'll give you a basic structure. Then keep reading to see a real example.

General concept

Try to structure your executive summary like an abstract—only with more emphasis on your (and your research project team's) ability to do the research.

Regardless of the summary length—ranging from one paragraph up to two full pages—you need to answer the following questions:

  • What is the broader context in which your research is situated?
  • What is the gap in the knowledge base that your research project will address?
  • Why are you ideally suited to deliver this project?
  • What do you intend to do (project objectives) and how (methodology)?
  • Why is this research project worthy of funding?

Executive summary structure

This is the typical order you might follow, though it's not always as strictly defined as a research abstract.

Background and problem/need assessment

At the start of your executive summary, briefly contextualize your proposed research in the overall landscape of existing scholarly work. Then mention the unmet need(s) or knowledge gap(s) creating the need for your research. To make these points, you can use phrases like “It is still unclear how...”, “…has not been determined”, or “there is currently limited research on…”

Research project team's abilities and experience

Next, mention who you and the rest of the research project staff are, including any external collaborators. Describing your competencies and previous research record can convince the evaluators that you deserve this funding.

Your executive summary should stress your unique capacity to get work done and meet the sponsor's needs. If you have a website for your project, link to it in a footnote or with an embedded link.

Goal and objectives

Present your project's overall goal and particular. For policy-related research, this may also cover the aim to develop interventions that solve the real-world problem you are researching. You can make these points with phrases like “Our overarching aim is...”, “We propose to explore…”, or “We will investigate the…”

Strategy/methodology

After stating the purpose of your research project, briefly describe your research design or methods used to conduct the work. This includes possible barriers or shortcomings. To do so, use phrases like “We will show this, drawing on X/Y theories” or “We will achieve this goal by…”

Preliminary results/outcomes

It's good to refer to the initial or expected findings of your research. This builds the reviewers' confidence in the feasibility of your work.

Research project significance/impact

Conclude by addressing the (positive) impact of your proposed research.

  • Why does the problem you're trying to solve matter?
  • How will the expected outcomes benefit society and/or serve the funder's mission?

Useful phrases here include: “has important implications for …”, “will shed critical light into…”, and “These results will contribute greatly/play a key role in…”

Sample executive summary

Background : The cumulative intensity of human stressors has led to degradation of marine ecosystems and the deterioration of biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea.

Gap in the field, need for this research : Practical conservation measures are required to shield threatened marine ecosystems from intrusive human activity. Conservation must involve social views supported by human values that differ significantly between Mediterranean countries. Social, financial, and political differences increase the challenge of balancing sea conservation with sustainable use. Extensive cross-regional cooperation is urgently needed to secure adequate protection of this region's marine ecosystems and biodiversity.

Research project goals : This research project aims to promote collaborative research to support marine management and conservation design and influence policymaking.

Methodology, team's abilities : We will devise innovative approaches and mechanisms to reduce knowledge gaps and promote marine conservation science.

This project involves collaboration between the Marine Conservation Department of Big Fish University and the G. W. Sharque Center for Applied Research. The project team comprises a multidisciplinary group of internationally renowned experts in marine biodiversity conservation. These members have collaborated successfully in the past on two funded projects.

Expected project activities and outcomes : This partnership is uniquely positioned to support the development of cross-regional and national policies through four key activities:

  • Develop analytical tools to explore cumulative human impacts on the Mediterranean marine ecosystem
  • Determine key scientific and technical gaps in existing conservation actions.
  • Coordinate marine conservation policy across national borders in the Mediterranean.
  • Identify adequate governance procedures to establish and manage marine protected areas.

Practical applications, research impact : Meeting these research aims will have important practical applications. It will enable integration of marine conservation policy into cross-regional maritime planning agendas for the Mediterranean seas. In this way, it will help counter the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in this region.

a researcher in a lab filling a test tube

What should the tone be?

Grant evaluators read dozens, even hundreds, of grant proposals every week. The executive summary should capture their interest to convince them to read the entire application. To achieve this:

  • Give a clear and concise account of who you are, what you need the money for, and how you'll use them. The executive summary should be a clear road map for your proposal.
  • Write in an instructive manner to explain your topic and be understood by people working in the same or related fields. The executive summary should stand in its own right.
  • Be convincing (but also pragmatic) about your research project team's ability to carry out the research. As noted, you can do this by mentioning your research record of accomplishment.

What to avoid when writing an executive summary

Naturally, as there are best practices, there are things to avoid. These are the main ones when writing your executive summary.

  • Don't address the funder directly . Only do this in the cover letter (if requested).
  • Don't give out too much . Don't go too deep into what your project will accomplish or how you'll manage it. And don't use too many citations; about five is enough. You'll have space for this later.
  • Don't write in the first person . Aim to sound objective and persuasive. But note that a different tone may be needed for grants in areas like the arts and philosophy, where the researcher's subjectivity is often a key factor.
  • Don't give any confidential information . Funding agencies might publish parts of the executive summary of the funded project on their website. You don't want your competitors to read any sensitive information.
  • Don't focus more on problems than the proposed solutions . This might make reviewers think your project isn't feasible.

Expert insider tips

Hopefully, after reading this, you saw the executive summary is all about quality over quantity. A precise and specific summary beats a wordy and redundant one. So how can you use the limited space provided to the greatest effect? We'd like to offer a few experience-based tips.

  • While the summary is the first section in the proposal document, it's often best to write it at the end . It will be easier to outline the most critical points in a condensed form when you have a complete picture of your project. (Double hint: take the same approach for writing your manuscript abstracts.)
  • If your executive summary is longer than one page, use subheadings for each section to make it easier to read (just like we did in this article) . You can also include bulleted lists where possible. Avoid “walls of text.”
  • The executive summary should follow the logical flow of the main points in your proposal . It should only reference topics and information explained in detail in the main body of your submission.
  • If the call for grant proposals includes evaluation criteria, keep these in mind as you write the executive summary . For example, it might state that the project impact subsection carries more weight than the personnel. In this case, you could dedicate more attention to the significance and broader impact of the proposed research in the executive summary than to the team's competencies.

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executive summary of research paper sample

Free Executive Summary Template [PDF + Masterful Examples]

Use these templates to craft an effective executive summary for your business or project.

According to Time Magazine, 55% of people only read a piece of content for 15 seconds. Attention spans across the board are at an all-time low —  including those of potential investors and project stakeholders. If you want to capture and hold interest, then you need to craft an engaging executive summary that can effectively hold someone’s focus.

Before you dive into the details of your business plan or project proposal,  your first step should be an executive summary that captures the attention of those in a position to give buy-in.

Think of the executive summary as the back cover of your book. It convinces readers to purchase a copy because the storyline is worth their time. An investor or C-level executive with limited time probably won’t feel motivated to read a full business or product plan without a compelling executive summary.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to write a captivating executive summary, what to include in the document, and jumpstart yours with customizable templates.

What is an executive summary? 

An executive summary is a brief synopsis of a larger document such as a report or business plan. It provides a quick overview of your business plan with details like a description of your company, financial information, and market analysis.

The executive summary is made for lenders, investors, and busy executives who don’t have time to read the full proposal.

Done right, it zeroes in on what your prospective investor or project sponsor wants to hear and clearly communicates the value of your business or plan. Many investors or stakeholders will only read the executive summary during the first contact with your business, so all the information they need should be included. 

The goals of an executive summary include:

  • Grab the reader’s attention
  • Tell them what to expect in the business plan so they are motivated to keep reading
  • Provide a high-level overview of your company, your short-term and long-term goals
  • Acts as an elevator pitch

What is an executive summary in a business plan?

An executive summary in a business plan is a concise overview that provides a snapshot of the key elements of the plan as it pertains to the business overall. It outlines the business concept, objectives, market analysis, financial projections, and other essential information. The executive summary serves as a summary and introduction to the entire business plan, allowing lenders, investors, and decision-makers to quickly grasp the main points and make informed decisions.

What is an executive summary in project management?

An executive summary in project management is a summary of the most critical information of your project proposal. It’s everything that management needs to know when they land on your project before they review your project plan .

An executive summary in project management shouldn’t be confused with a project overview. While they have similar elements, an executive summary can stand alone as a document, while a project overview needs to be attached to your project.

Executive summary vs abstract

An abstract summarizes a document like a journal article while an executive summary sums up a longer document.

An abstract is mostly used in academia as a requirement when submitting conference papers, book proposals, or applying for a research grant. The abstract is not an excerpt but an original document that is self-sufficient.

An executive summary is aimed at a business audience. It contains information to help executives make funding decisions. Where the language in an abstract is technical, the language of an executive summary is non-technical. An executive summary is written as a condensed version of a project plan to secure buy-in while an abstract is written for orientation.

Executive summary vs introduction

The introduction is the first part of your project plan or business plan. It explains what the project is about and the goals you want to achieve. On the other hand, the executive summary is a standalone document condensed into a few paragraphs. It is thorough and high-level. Decision-makers can choose to read only the executive summary and still get the gist of the entire project proposal.

Think of the introduction as the first few pages of a long book with many chapters and an executive summary like a short book with only one chapter. You can understand both context and storyline when you read a short book. 

What should an executive summary include? 

For a project .

What is the problem you’re going to solve? What product plan, customer feedback, or insight led to this project? Why should it happen now ? These are questions to lead with in the opening paragraph of your executive summary.

What steps or methods are you taking to solve the problems you’ve listed in the opening paragraph? What are the goals and objectives you’ll achieve at the end of the project? Detail the answers in this section.

Value proposition

This is an important section where you briefly explain the value of the outcome. What is the ROI of the solution you’ve proposed? How will it improve service delivery and customer experience?

In a few sentences reiterate why it’s important to solve the problem now and the next steps or actions you want the reader to take.

For a business plan 

Introduction  .

For a business plan, the introduction is an opening statement that explains the purpose of the document. Your goal is to grab and hold the reader’s attention by clearly communicating the value of the business and the desired outcome. 

Company description

Include the following details in the company description:

  • Business name and location
  • Contact information
  • Description of the purpose
  • Leadership, founders, and current investors at your company
  • The team responsible for the project

Products and services

Briefly explain the problem you’re going to solve. If you’ve conducted research that shows a need for the proposal, include your findings here. Also, explain how you’ll accomplish the project goals and what you’ll need for success.

Market analysis

A few questions to answer in this section include:

  • Is there a market opportunity for the problem? 
  • How do you plan to grow your customer base and expand your market share? 
  • What is the five-year growth plan for this product/service? 
  • What is the most interesting thing you’ve learned about your target audience that the reader should know?

Competitive analysis

Questions to answer as part of your competitive analysis include:

  • Who are your competitors?
  • What are the present and future opportunities?
  • What is the unique value proposition of the product or service?
  • Do you have experience with competitors?
  • What are the risks particular to this niche or line of product?
  • What roadblocks do you expect to address?

Funding request and use

Use this section to sweeten the pot for investors. How much will you need to fund your business? What is the profitability of your business? How will investors benefit?

Financial projections 

Include financial data that supports your research such as:

  • The budget baseline for your business plan
  • Your projected revenue for the first three years
  • Your plan to manage finances
  • Your current and future business finances

Conclusion  

The conclusion is a recap of the problem and the solution. Ask about the decision you want the reader to take. The outcomes should be obvious but leave room for intrigue so they feel compelled to read the rest of the business proposal.

Executive summary examples 

Executive summary presentation.

Often, executive summaries are presented to stakeholders in addition to the document. Get the templates below to snag these PowerPoint executive summary presentation templates.

Executive Summary PPT Template

One-page executive summary template  

A one-page executive summary is a short document with a big impact. You’ll present it as a mini version of a project plan during a meeting with decision-makers or as a business plan when pitching investors.

A few details to include in a one-page executive summary:

  • Business name
  • Financial information
  • Use of funding
  • Management team
  • Business model
  • Unique value proposition
  • Competitive advantage
  • Go-to-market strategy

Executive Summary Template One-Pager

Startup executive summary template

Your startup executive summary could be the difference between getting a pitch meeting or not. Venture capitalists and investors and overwhelmed with pitches from startups looking for a partnership. 

An executive summary is the fastest way for them to learn about your company and evaluate its potential. It’s usually a one-page document that is concise, yet detailed and engaging. Before writing your startup executive summary, determine the goal and ensure it matches what potential investors want to see.

Details to include in your startup executive summary:

  • A description of your product or service
  • The value proposition
  • Market analysis showing the merit of the project
  • Your current business model and future plans
  • An explanation of your market and customer base
  • Financial projections and funding request
  • Other special information that could sway a decision in your favor

Executive Summary for Business or Startup

Business plan executive summary template

The business plan executive summary shouldn’t exceed two pages. Make sure you’ve tailored it to your audience to show why the opportunity is special. An executive summary for a business plan should include:

  • Mission statement
  • Company information with details about your services or product
  • Business highlights describing how you’ve grown over the years. Include details of revenue increase, number of customers, profitability, revenue increase, and market share
  • Future goals
  • Financial summary
  • A closing sentence that reassures the value of the plan

Project executive summary template

The goal of a project executive summary is to show what life will look like after you’ve executed the project. Your executive summary should tell a story that helps the reader visualize the solution and inspire them to choose you.

The executive summary should be written as the final step of your project proposal template. This way, you save time revising the content.

Details to include in a project executive summary:

  • Summary of the challenge the client wants to solve
  • Description of how you’ll solve the pain point
  • Overview explaining how you’ve solved similar problems in the past
  • Unique value that competitors don’t offer

Marketing plan executive summary template

An executive summary for a marketing plan offers an overview of how you’ll reach your intended audience and drive conversions.

Details to include in a marketing plan executive summary:

  • Introduction
  • Brief description of your company and key leaders
  • Project goals and objectives
  • Your product or services and the major features and benefits
  • Description of market factors and trends affecting them
  • Who is your audience and how will you reach them?
  • Financial projections

Healthcare executive summary template

A healthcare executive summary template is used in formal communications for hospitals, government health agencies, and nonprofits. The template accommodates longer-research proposal plans targeted at a wider audience of the general public, external investors, and management.

Details to include in healthcare executive summary:

  • Project topic
  • Overview of the organization
  • Two to three key problems that have a profound impact on quality care, operations, or regulatory compliance
  • A proposed solution to each identified problem
  • Obstacles and opportunities
  • Policy changes and program proposal
  • Vision and recommendation

Executive summary report template

An executive summary for a research or analyst report offers an overview of key points from the research.

Details to include in a report executive summary report:

  • Brief description of your company
  • Analysis findings
  • Why these findings matter

Here's an example: 

Report Executive Summary Example

How to write an executive summary

1. write a problem-based introduction.

Use the opening paragraph to explain why your project matters. Outline the problem with supporting research or customer feedback to strengthen your claim. The reader should understand why it’s important to solve the problem now and the relevance to your customer base. 

A powerful way to grab attention is to open with a customer quote or thought-provoking statistic that forces the reader to sit up and listen.

For example:

“I wish this camera had a longer battery life span so I could record an entire football game on 4K without switching to full HD when the battery is low .” - Customer review
In a recent survey, 70% of our customers expressed a desire for a camera with a longer battery life that could last up to six hours while recording in 4k. 80% said they wouldn’t mind paying more for the convenience of not having to log extra battery packs when going out. To serve our existing clientele and improve our market share, we need to create a camcorder that performs at optimal levels while using fewer resources on battery life.

2. Tell your story

Use storytelling to explain the mission statement of your organization. Explain how you’ll use your skill and experience to solve the problem you’ve highlighted in the introduction. Storytelling sets the tone and gets the reader excited about reading the project plan.

3. Make sure you’ve done the research 

While an executive summary is short, it’s loaded with research. Research shows that you know your competitors, understand your target audience, and have a plan for capturing a significant market share.

Think of your executive summary like an elevator pitch. If an investor only read your executive summary without making it to the project proposal or business plan, what would you want them to know?

4. Outline the solution

After telling the reader the pain points and explaining your business credentials, use a bullet list to outline the solution. Your goal is to convince the reader that your solution is the best fit. Save deliverables and milestones for the project proposal. Instead, describe what will happen during the project so the user can picture the outcome working for them.

5. Show the value of the solution 

This is where you get into more details about the impact of the solution. Explain how the results provide relief and improve ROI for the company. include potential risks that may arise and relevant financial information such as income projections.

6. Formal or informal tone?

While an executive summary usually has a formal tone, your decisions should be based on your audience. 

Presenting to your C-level executives in your company? What language do they respond to? Don’t be afraid to break the mold if it gets the desired results. However, avoid clichés as they rub readers the wrong way.

If you’re presenting to investors, use language that resonates with your audience. Use personal pronouns like “I”, “you” and “we” over impersonal pronouns like “they” or “the company.

7. Make sure the summary can stand alone 

If you follow the clearly defined structure we’ve listed above, your executive summary can stand on its own merit. Keep revising the document until you’ve achieved this goal. The introduction, problem, solution, and conclusion should be detailed, yet concise. 

After writing, take a second look and read from the viewpoint of the decision-maker. Is there any section where more context is needed to clear confusion and help the reader understand the summary? Consider linking to a relevant section in the project proposal or explaining briefly in the summary.

8. Be concise

Every word in your executive summary must have an impact. The executive summary is not the place to brainstorm new ideas as it could jeopardize the project plan. 

Avoid using jargon words. Readers without prior knowledge of your company or niche should understand key findings by reading the executive summary alone.

 When you find yourself going deep into details, pull back and ask yourself if this belongs in the project proposal or executive summary. The goal is to keep the executive summary engaging and actionable.

9. Proofread for errors 

Before sending it off to executives or potential investors, read through the document three times in order to catch errors. It also helps to send it to a colleague to review with a fresh pair of eyes in case you missed a typo here and there.

10. Write the executive summary last

It takes longer to write an executive summary when you haven’t yet written the project proposal or business plan. Instead, wait to create a summary until you’ve written the full document, then pull details. This ensures that your executive summary captures the information you’ve detailed in the project plan.

Manage your executive summary templates with Guru

An executive summary is a quick and easy way to bring stakeholders up to speed on your project proposal. In a few paragraphs, you can communicate the problem, why it matters now and the key information they need to make a decision.

Rather than creating a new executive summary from scratch, these templates will add impact to your report and speed up the process. Use Guru’s knowledge management software to store your templates, collaborate remotely, and work efficiently on projects.

FAQ for executive summaries

Where does an executive summary go in a report.

Place the executive summary before the table of contents and after the title page. Include a page break before and after the executive summary.

How long should an executive summary be?

Most executive summaries are 5-10% of the length of the project proposal. Ideally, aim for one page for a 20-page project proposal.

Who is the audience of an executive summary?

The audience of an executive summary can include:

  • Project stakeholders
  • Management personnel who make decisions on funding
  • Venture capitalists
  • C-level executives

What is included in an executive summary?

Elements to include in an executive summary are:

  • A summary of the key points of the project proposal report
  • Major points of the report you want the reader to remember
  • The goal of the report
  • Results and recommendations from the report
  • Other details that enable the executive summary to function as a standalone document

executive summary of research paper sample

APA Executive Summary Example

An executive summary is a concise, comprehensive synopsis of a longer document, such as a research paper. Its primary purpose is to provide readers, like avid students and scholars, with a quick yet thorough overview of the main points and findings of the larger work. Writing an executive summary is crucial as it helps readers decide whether to delve into the full document and offers a clear, condensed version of the research’s most significant aspects.

Supercharge your learning and teaching with AI!

Click here to experience to check out mindgrap's free trial.

This article, tailored for the engaged readers and students of Mindgrasp, serves as a guide and example for crafting effective executive summaries, particularly in APA format. Here’s what we’ll cover:

  • Executive Summary for Research Paper: Understanding the role and key elements of an executive summary in the context of research papers.
  • How to Write an Executive Summary for a Research Paper: Step-by-step instructions to draft a compelling summary, focusing on clarity, conciseness, and coherence.
  • Do You Reference in Executive Summary: Guidelines on the inclusion and formatting of references in an executive summary according to APA standards.
  • Example of Executive Summary APA: A practical example to illustrate the correct application of APA formatting in an executive summary.
  • Conclusion: Tips and strategies to critically assess and enhance the quality of your executive summaries for academic and professional success.

By the end of this article, you’ll have a clear understanding of how to create impactful executive summaries that adhere to APA guidelines, elevating the effectiveness of your academic and professional communications.

apa executive summary example

 apa executive summary example

  • To know more about our suite of resources for professionals and researchers, read our other articles:
  • Building a Research Summary with AI
  • Using Your AI Researcher

Executive Summary for Research Paper

An executive summary for a research paper serves several key purposes, which are crucial for both the writer and the reader:

  • Highlighting the Main Points
  • The executive summary distills the most important aspects of the research paper. 
  • It focuses on the core findings, arguments, or theories presented, allowing readers to grasp the essence of the paper without reading the entire document. 
  • This is especially useful for time-pressed readers who need to quickly understand the primary content.
  • Facilitating Quick Decision Making
  • Readers often use the executive summary to decide whether the full research paper is relevant to their needs.
  • It acts as a decision-making tool, helping them determine the paper’s applicability and importance to their own research or area of interest.
  • Serving as a Standalone Document
  • In some cases, the executive summary might be the only part of the paper a reader engages with. 
  • Therefore, it needs to be comprehensive enough to function as a standalone document, providing all necessary information in a condensed form.
  • Enhancing Accessibility and Understanding
  • The summary makes complex research more accessible to a broader audience, including those who may not have expertise in the field. 
  • By simplifying and highlighting key points, it aids in better understanding and retention of the research’s main ideas.

executive summary of research paper sample

 executive summary for research paper

Mindgrasp as Your Research Paper Summarizer

At the end of your research journey, Mindgrasp steps in as an invaluable tool. It acts as a personal research paper summarizer, helping you distill your comprehensive work into a concise, effective executive summary. By understanding the core elements of your paper, Mindgrasp helps ensure that your summary captures the essence of your research, making it more accessible and impactful for your target audience. Whether you’re a student striving for academic excellence or a researcher aiming to communicate your findings effectively, Mindgrasp is designed to assist in creating summaries that resonate with and inform your readers.

“Upload everything from powerpoint's to books or videos and generate anything from summaries to notes, flash cards and quizzes.”

executive summary of research paper sample

How to Write an Executive Summary for a Research Paper

Writing an effective executive summary for a research paper involves several key steps. Each step ensures that the summary is concise, informative, and reflective of the main research work:

  • Read and Understand the Full Paper
  • Before attempting to write the summary, thoroughly read and understand the entire research paper. 
  • Grasping the main arguments, methodologies, results, and conclusions is crucial. 
  • This comprehensive understanding allows you to accurately represent the essence of the paper in the summary.
  • Identify Key Points and Arguments
  • Focus on identifying the most critical points and arguments of the research.
  • This includes the research question, hypothesis, methodology, major findings, and conclusions. 
  • These elements are the backbone of your executive summary and should be clearly and succinctly presented.
  • Write Clearly and Concisely
  • The language of the summary should be clear and to the point. 
  • Avoid technical jargon unless it is essential to the understanding of the research. 
  • Aim for brevity while ensuring that all crucial information is included. 
  • The summary should be understandable even to those who are not experts in the field.
  • Follow the Structure of the Original Paper
  • While condensing the information, maintain the same flow and structure as the original research paper. 
  • This includes starting with the introduction or background, followed by methods, results, and concluding with the discussion or conclusions. 
  • This familiar structure helps readers follow the summary more easily.

By adhering to these guidelines, the executive summary will serve as a clear, concise, and accurate reflection of the research paper, making it an invaluable tool for readers and researchers alike.

how to write an executive summary for a research paper

how to write an executive summary for a research paper

Do You Reference in Executive Summary

Incorporating references in an executive summary can be a nuanced aspect of academic writing. This section explores whether and how to use references effectively in an executive summary:

  • Assessing the Need for References
  • Typically, an executive summary is designed to be a standalone document that synthesizes the main points of the research paper without detailed referencing. 
  • However, if the summary includes specific data, theories, or direct quotes that are central to the paper’s argument and not common knowledge, referencing these sources might be necessary.
  • Minimizing Reference Usage
  • If references are deemed essential, use them sparingly. 
  • The goal of the executive summary is to provide a concise overview. 
  • Extensive referencing can clutter this overview and distract from the summary’s primary purpose.
  • Instead, focus on summarizing the findings and arguments in your own words.
  • Using In-text Citations
  • When references are used, follow the appropriate citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, etc.) as per the research paper’s guidelines. 
  • In-text citations should be brief, typically including only the author’s last name and the year of publication, to maintain the summary’s conciseness.
  • Reference List Consideration
  • Generally, a separate reference list is not included with an executive summary. 
  • Instead, the detailed references will be found in the main body of the research paper. 
  • If the executive summary is being disseminated separately from the main paper, provide a note indicating where the full list of references can be found.

Adhering to these guidelines ensures that your executive summary remains clear and focused while providing necessary credit for specific data or direct quotes. Remember, the primary aim is to summarize the key points of your research in a digestible format for the reader.

do you reference in executive summary

do you reference in executive summary

Example of Executive Summary APA

Finding and utilizing examples of executive summaries in APA format can be incredibly beneficial for understanding how to effectively condense and present research papers. Here are some key sources and reasons why these examples are useful:

  • Academic Journals and Databases
  • Many academic journals and online databases provide research papers with executive summaries in APA format.
  • These are excellent resources for seeing how experts in various fields condense complex research into a concise summary. Journals related to your field of study are particularly useful.
  • University Writing Centers and Libraries
  • University writing centers and libraries often offer guides and examples of executive summaries in APA format. 
  • These resources are tailored for academic writing and provide insights into the nuances of APA style and structure.
  • Online Academic Resources
  • Websites dedicated to academic writing and research methodologies frequently provide examples and templates for executive summaries in APA format. 
  • These resources can be particularly helpful for understanding the formatting and stylistic requirements of APA.
  • Why APA Executive Summary Examples are Useful
  • Studying examples helps in grasping the correct APA formatting, including how to cite sources within the summary.
  • Examples illustrate the balance between conciseness and completeness, showing how to include all necessary information without unnecessary detail.
  • They provide a real-world context, helping writers understand how theoretical guidelines are applied in practice.

By exploring these resources, writers can gain a solid understanding of how to craft effective executive summaries that adhere to APA guidelines, ensuring their research is presented clearly and professionally.

executive summary of research paper sample

example of executive summary apa

Evaluate & Improve Your Research Paper Summaries

In summarizing the key points covered:

  • Understand the full paper before drafting the executive summary .
  • Highlight main point s and arguments concisely.
  • Use clear, jargon-free language for accessibility.
  • Maintain the structure of the original research paper.
  • Reference sparingly and appropriately in APA format .
  • Utilize examples for a better grasp of APA executive summary style.

The process of creating an effective executive summary for a research paper involves a deep understanding of the content, clear and concise writing, and adherence to academic standards like the APA format. AI tools are revolutionizing this process, offering significant benefits in drafting and refining research summaries. They can analyze complex texts, identify key themes, and present them in a digestible format, saving time and enhancing accuracy.

Mindgrasp emerges as an efficient and effective solution in this realm. By harnessing AI capabilities, it aids in distilling complex research into clear, concise summaries that adhere to academic standards, including the APA format. Whether you’re streamlining your research process or seeking to make your findings more accessible, Mindgrasp stands as a valuable helper, ensuring your executive summaries are not just summaries, but impactful representations of your extensive work.

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  1. 31 Executive Summary Examples (Guide + Free Templates)

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  2. Proposal Executive Summary

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  3. 38+ Research Paper Samples

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  4. FREE 10+ Research Executive Summary Templates in PDF

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  5. Example Of Executive Summary : 10+ Proposal Executive Summary Examples

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  6. Definition Essay: Summary research paper

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COMMENTS

  1. How To Write an Executive Summary for a Research Paper (With Template

    The executive summary briefly describes the study's key points and suggests changes, actions and implementation strategies for the business. You can use the following steps to write an executive summary for a research paper: 1. Read the entire research paper.

  2. Executive Summary

    Executive summaries are used mainly when a research study has been developed for an organizational partner, funding entity, or other external group that participated in the research. In such cases, the research report and executive summary are often written for policy makers outside of academe, while abstracts are written for the academic ...

  3. How To Write A High-Impact Executive Summary

    Typically, your executive summary should be a one-pager (one and a half pages at worst). To summarise a 3000 - 5000-word document into one page is no easy task, so you'll need to: Present only the most important information (key insights, recommendations, etc). Write concisely - i.e. with brevity and completeness.

  4. PDF How to Write an Executive Summary

    How to Write an Executive Summary . An executive summary is a concise document, demonstrating the problem, findings and recommendation of a longer policy report. Writing an executive summary will help your audience quickly understand the policy problem and proposed solution of your report. It is intended for a busy reader; and is a

  5. How to Write an Executive Summary for a Research Paper

    The Executive Summary Length and Placement. In the majority of cases, your summary should not exceed 5-10% of the total length of your report. For example, if your research paper is about forty pages, your executive summary should fit within two pages of text. As it appears after the table of contents, the length is critical and should play a ...

  6. Common Assignments: Executive Summaries

    Executive summaries are common in the Walden MBA program, but they are also found as part of some government and business documents. As a student, you should complete an executive summary when specifically requested to do so. An executive summary is a comprehensive review of a larger document. For example, a 35-page report may begin with a ...

  7. How To Write an Executive Summary for a Research Paper (With Template

    Below is an example of an executive summary template for a research paper: [Paper Title] [Date] This paper examines [brief description of paper's main points]. The research found that [main finding]. It was concluded that [conclusion]. Based on these findings, it is recommended that [recommendation]. Overall, the research shows that [summary ...

  8. Library & Learning Services: APA @ Conestoga: Executive Summary

    A typical Executive Summary gives a complete overview of the entire report. It should state the subject matter of the report, and it should explain the methods used to gather data. In explaining the methods, indicate what kinds of primary and secondary research were used in the paper. An Executive Summary usually also includes a brief statement ...

  9. Executive Summaries and Abstracts

    Executive summaries are longer than abstracts, often running 2-5 pages. They summarize a larger document's purpose, methods, results, conclusions, and recommendations such that someone who reads only the summary can glean a solid understanding of the research as a whole. Unlike abstracts, executive summaries can include citations and references.

  10. Writing an Executive Summary

    An executive summary should summarize the key points of the report. It should restate the purpose of the report, highlight the major points of the report, and describe any results, conclusions, or recommendations from the report. It should include enough information so the reader can understand what is discussed in the full report, without ...

  11. How to write an executive summary

    Offer up an identifiable goal. 4. Pay close attention to detail. 5. Use a template to get it done more quickly. 6. Write your executive summary last. Try PandaDoc. Ask business owners and professionals what their most valuable resource is, and you're likely to hear the same answer repeated often; time.

  12. Research Paper Executive Summary Template

    This template is designed to help you create a concise and impactful executive summary for your research paper by: Summarizing the key findings and results of your study. Outlining the methodology and approach used in your research. Highlighting the implications and potential impact of your findings. With ClickUp's Research Paper Executive ...

  13. How to Write an Executive Summary for a Research Paper

    How to Write an Outstanding Executive Summary for a Research Paper & Examples. A habit of reading different types of papers is helpful to students' mental preparation for course assessments but, more importantly, to their intellectual development. Reading various types of essays, reports, and research papers also induces the mental faculties of intellect, reason, imagination, and intuition ...

  14. How to write an executive summary people will read

    Since I come from academia, I likened the executive summary to an abstract. An abstract summarizes the larger research paper by highlighting the significant points and reasons behind the research. I struggled with this concise roundup of my work in my previous academic papers. And I fought just as much with writing executive summaries.

  15. How to Write an Executive Summary (Example & Template Included)

    Here's the good news: an executive summary is short. It's part of a larger document like a business plan, business case or project proposal and, as the name implies, summarizes the longer report. Here's the bad news: it's a critical document that can be challenging to write because an executive summary serves several important purposes.

  16. How to write an executive summary in 10 steps

    In summary, an executive summary offers a condensed overview of a document's key points, while a project plan provides a comprehensive and detailed roadmap for executing a project. Executive summaries vs. abstracts. An executive summary is not the same as an abstract. Executive summaries focus on the main points of a proposal.

  17. Organizing Academic Research Papers: Executive Summary

    Definition. An executive summary is an overview of a research report or other type of document that summarizes key points for its readers, saving them time and preparing them for the upcoming content. It must be a separate, stand-alone document, with sufficient content to ensure that the reader can completely understand the contents of the ...

  18. Executive summary

    Executive summary. Business reports usually have an 'executive summary' instead of an abstract. They are similar, as they both give an overview of the main purpose, methods, findings, and conclusions of the investigation. However, an executive summary usually includes specific recommendations for the business based on the findings.

  19. PDF How to Write Executive Summaries

    If it is a short executive summary for an internal docu-ment, you can use "we." Length As with other aspects of executive summaries, guidelines on length vary. Your executive summary should be at most 10 percent of the final document. Therefore, a 10-page white paper would have a 1-page executive summary; a 100-page report should have a 10-page

  20. How To Write an Executive Summary (With Example)

    Here are several general steps to consider when writing an executive summary: 1. Research effective executive summaries. Before you write your own executive summary, it may be helpful to review summaries written by others. This is especially true for those writing an executive summary for the first time.

  21. How to Write an Executive Summary for a Grant Proposal

    A grant proposal's executive summary introduces your research project goals, preliminary findings, and the personnel involved. It stresses the significance of the proposed research. It makes a compelling case for your grant request in a short and readable passage. This article explains the value of the executive summary and what should (and ...

  22. Free Executive Summary Template [PDF + Masterful Examples]

    Use personal pronouns like "I", "you" and "we" over impersonal pronouns like "they" or "the company. 7. Make sure the summary can stand alone. If you follow the clearly defined structure we've listed above, your executive summary can stand on its own merit. Keep revising the document until you've achieved this goal.

  23. APA Executive Summary Examples and More

    An executive summary is a concise, comprehensive synopsis of a longer document, such as a research paper. Its primary purpose is to provide readers, like avid students and scholars, with a quick yet thorough overview of the main points and findings of the larger work. Writing an executive summary is crucial as it helps readers decide whether to ...