This paper should be written as if you were presenting it to the decision-makers at your organization. As such, it should be brief (3-5 pages of text) and contain only the essential elements of the point you want to make. Creativity is encouraged. The summary paper does not need to be written as a formal APA style paper; however, appropriate citations must be provided throughout in APA format.

The following content must be included in your summary paper:

• What is the problem?
o Convince the audience of the importance of addressing it. From their perspective, what is important and what is not important?
• How did you investigate a solution to this problem?
o This should convey that your methods were rigorous and provide validation to your work.
• What did your investigation find?
o Provide only the essential details from your evidence base
o A table that summarizes the findings of the articles may be useful to include (see Table 3 in AJN series #7 article for example)
• How confident can they be in these results?
o What are the major strengths?
o What are the major weaknesses/caveats?
• Summarize the solution you propose
o This solution should include some course of action to be taken by your audience.
o Doing nothing is a sometimes valid course of action.

Additional considerations for writing a successful briefing document:

• Short: Your audience will not have an attention span for a long document.
• Succinct: Be brief and clear; avoid empty rhetoric and sweeping generalizations.
• Persuasive: You are aiming to convince your audience on the best course of action.
• Evidence-based: Cite specifics, and use empirical data wherever possible.
• Accessible: Incorporate critical technical facts and trends without jargon, in a fashion understandable to a non-technical audience.
• Realistic: Be careful with the assumptions you make. State the important ones.

Grading Rubric for Research Synthesis Summary Paper

Points Comments
1. Description of the clinical problem
a. Description of problem is accurate
b. Importance of problem is convincing and appropriate for audience
5

2. Methodology to investigate the clinical problem
a. Clear description of methodology
b. Demonstrates rigor and validity of methods
6

3. Results of investigation
a. Clear summary of results
b. Only essential details are provided
6
4. Confidence in results
a. Description of strengths and weaknesses is accurate
b. Statement of overall confidence in results is supported by results
6

5. Summary of proposed solution
a. Clear course of action is presented
b. Course of action is supported by results
6

6. Follows the style of a successful briefing document
(short, succinct, persuasive, evidence-based, accessible, realistic)
3

7. Paper Quality
a. Free from typos, grammatical errors, etc.
b. Appropriate citations are used in APA-style
3

Total 35