September 2007

A well written research findings summary is an opportunity for library services to go beyond providing an information retrieval service to providing an answer to a research query.

The research findings summary is a valuable aid to the research requester, enabling them to quickly and confidently review the research presented to them.

The research findings report usually includes the following components:

Table of contents

Research topic

• Start with clearly stating the research question, for example, what have been the significant developments in the tele-health industry in Australia since 2000?
• Further information on scope of the research work may also be outlined, such as finding the key industry players, products, services and senior management.

Research results / executive summary

• The research results or executive summary is the analysis of the findings, as opposed to a summary of the information that has been retrieved.
• It will be a 1-2 page summary that highlights key findings such as trends, patterns, statistics, financial information and possibly recommendations for further research.
• The research requester may not read any the full text material that backs up the research results summary, so it is very important that it is a considered summary of findings.

Research sources

• This may be a list of the sources reviewed, links to or full text copies of the sources.