Systematic TextRank Optimization in Extractive Summarization

Morris Zieve, Anthony Gregor, Frederik Juul Stokbaek, Lewis Hunter, Ellis Marie Mendoza, Benyamin Ahmadnia

Abstract: With the ever-growing amount of textual data, extractive summarization has become increasingly crucial for efficiently processing information. The TextRank algorithm, a popular unsupervised method, offers excellent potential for this task. In this paper, we aim to optimize the performance of TextRank by systematically exploring and verifying the best preprocessing and fine-tuning techniques. We extensively evaluate text preprocessing methods, such as tokenization, stemming, and stopword removal, to identify the most effective combination with TextRank. Additionally, we examine fine-tuning strategies, including parameter optimization and incorporation of domain-specific knowledge, to achieve superior summarization quality.