Writing

Scientific Abstract

07/01/2010

What is an Abstract
⪢ An abstract is a very concise
statement of the major elements of
your research project. It states the
purpose, methods, and findings of
your research project.

⪢ An abstract is a condensed version

of a full scientific paper.

⪢ Summary report of scientific study

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 What is the Purpose?

• introduce scientific reports (journal

articles, thesis dissertation etc)

• inform readers about the article’s

content

• help readers decide whether or not to

read article

• overview conference programs,

abstract collections, and book
chapters

Abstract is needed…
⪢ When submitting articles to journals

⪢ When applying for research grant

⪢ When writing a book proposal

⪢ When competing the Phd or Msc

dissertation

⪢ When writing a proposal for a

conference paper

⪢ When writing a proposal for a book

chapter

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 Why Should I Know How to Write
Abstracts?

• Helps you present complex information in a

clear, concise manner

• Helps you read abstracts more effectively

• Helps you conduct research

• Helps you write abstracts for future

publications

• Helps you condense report information into a

short format for database searches

Qualities of an Effective Abstract

Effective Abstracts:
• Are one or more well-developed paragraphs, which are unified, coherent, concise, and able to stand
alone (200-300 words)

• Use an introduction-body-conclusion structure in which the parts of the report are discussed in
order: purpose, research questions, methods, findings, conclusions, recommendations

• Follow strictly the chronology of the report

• Add no new information - merely summarizes report

• Contain stand-alone qualities - the abstract can be understood without reading the paper

• Are intelligible to a wide audience

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 Four C's of Abstract Writing

⪢ Complete — it covers the major parts

of the project/case
⪢ Concise — it contains no excess
wordiness or unnecessary
information.
⪢ Clear — it is readable, well organized,
and not too jargon-laden.
⪢ Cohesive — it flows smoothly
between the parts.

Key Elements
⪢ Reason for writing
What is the importance of the research?Why would a reader be interested in the
larger work?

⪢ Problem
What does this work attempt to solve? What is the scope of the project? What is
the main argument/claim?

⪢ Methodology
An abstract of a scientific work may include specific models or approached used
in the larger study. Other abstracts may describe the types of evidence used in
the research

⪢ Results
An abstract of a scientific work may include specific data that indicates the results
of the project. Other abstracts may discuss the findings in a more general way.

⪢ Implications
What changes should be implemented as a results of the findings of the work?
How does the work add to the body of knowledge on the topic.

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 Types of Abstracts?

⪢ Descriptive ⪢ Informative

⪢ Used for humanities ⪢ Used for sciences,

and social science engineering or
papers or psychology psychology reports.
essays
⪢ Informs the audience
⪢ Describe the major
-
of all essential points
-
points of the project to
-
of the paper
a reader
⪢ About 200 works
⪢ 50-100 words

Structure

Descriptive Informative

⪢ Topic (background) ⪢ Topic (background)

⪢ Research Questions ⪢ Research Questions

(Purpose) (aim of purpose of
research)
⪢ Particular
=of paper
interest/focus ⪢ Method

⪢ Overview of the
content
=
⪢ Results/Findings

⪢ Conclusion

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 How Do I Write an Abstract?

Writing an Abstract:
1. Remember that an abstract typically contains topic,
research question, methods, results, and conclusion.

2. Read your paper in its entirety. Keep the above

categories in mind and underline key points (outlined
in #1) as you read.

3. After you finish reading, create your abstract step-by-

step based on your underlined material.

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How Do I Write an Abstract?

⪢ Read over your paper and identify the

key points for each section

⪢ Re-read each section and shrink the

information in each down to 1-2
sentences

⪢ Ensure you have written one to two

sentences for each of the key points
outline above

⪢ Connect the ideas with appropriate

transition

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 Writing the abstract

⪢ Add and remove text as needed

⪢ Check the word length and further

reduce if necessary by cutting out
unnecessary words or rewrite
some of the sentences into single
sentences

⪢ Revise and edit for flow and

expression

⪢ Proofread

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What makes a Good abstract

⪢ Used only one well-developed abstract that is

coherent and concise, and is able to stand
alone as a unit information.

⪢ Covers all the essential academic elements of

the full paper

⪢ Contains no information not included in the

paper

⪢ Usually does not include any referencing

⪢ In publication such as journals, it is found at the

beginning of the text, but in academic
assignments it is placed on a separate
preliminary page.

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 Good Abstract Writing Style

⪢ Write in plain English understandable to a wider

audience, as well as your discipline specific
audience

⪢ Use language of the original paper, often more

simplified form for the general reader, use
keywords form the document

⪢ If necessary, define unfamiliar terms, introduce

acronyms eg; Rapid eye movement (REM)

⪢ Avoid trade names, acronym, abbreviation,

symbols and jargons.…

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Voice

⪢ Modern scientific styles prefers the active voice

Eg; Gasoline was sweetened by iron bauxites in air.

Iron bausites sweetened gasoline air.

⪢ Abstracts are often an exception, but only if the

passive voice reduces the total number of letters
and words. Use passive structures in order to report
on findings, focusing on the issues for the more
general reader.

Eg; The level of sweetening was measured by….

⪢ Avoid using I or we, but choose active verb instead

of passive when possible

Eg The study tested…rather that it was tested by the

study.

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 Following Conventions -
Tense in Scientific Writing

⪢ Present tense –
○ previously published information accepted as
fact
■ In Introduction and discussion.

⪢ Past tense - methods and results

○ Rats were anesthetized with isoflurane.
○ All animals exhibited significantly diminished
learning capacity…

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Following the Rules…

⪢ Concise as possible
○ Body length determined
■ ~300 Words
■ ~2500 Characters
○ Title length may be determined

⪢ Formatting specified
○ Font used and its size
○ Title capitalization

⪢ Single spaced

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 Advice in Writing
⪢ Abstracts are short but time-consuming

⪢ Very information-dense, but simply formatted

⪢ Write “long” and pare down if needed

⪢ Analyze one sentence at a time

○ Each sentence has purpose
○ Each sentence logically follows another

⪢ Use plain English wherever you can

⪢ Use active voice when you can

⪢ State only your most important conclusion(s)

⪢ There is not good writing, only good rewriting

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Don’t’

⪢ Do not enumerate a list of topics covered; instead

convey the essential information found in your paper

⪢ Do not give equation and math

⪢ Do not mentioned information that is not in the

document

⪢ If possible do not use trade names, acronyms,

abbreviations or symbols. You would need to
explain them, and takes too much room

⪢ The abstract should be about the research not about

the act of writing.

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 Writing Parts of the Abstract

Step-by-Step Process:

1. Write 1-2 introduction sentences that explain

topic, purpose, and research question(s).
2. Write 1-2 sentences describing your research
methods (this may also include the type of data
analysis you used).
3. Write 1-2 sentences describing the results /
findings.
4. Write 1-2 sentences containing your conclusions
and recommendations.

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Revising the Abstract

• Read your abstract all the way

through:

- add transition words to tie ideas

together,

- eliminate unnecessary content and

add in things that are missing,

- correct errors in mechanics and

proofread.

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 General Abstract Format
⪢ Project Title
⪢ Author, affiliations
(university/department) and Address,
perhaps email…
⪢ Introduction – Foundation for research
& Purpose of Research (can put “overall
goal”)
⪢ Hypothesis- What you expect
⪢ Methods - How studied
⪢ Results - Principal findings
⪢ Conclusion and Discussion - Success of
hypothesis and what findings mean

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Title and Author Information

 Create a winning title

 Should be convincing
 Appealing
 Format for the title
 Following the title, the names
of all authors and their
institutional affiliations are
listed

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 Introduction

⪢ What is the general topic you

were investigating and why is it
important?
⪢ Provide supporting information
for title
⪢ Generally max 3 sentences
⪢ General information to specific

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Hypothesis
⪢ What are the specific questions
you are addressing with this
project?

⪢ Sometimes you need two

sentences, but one is better

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 Methods

⪢ How did you do this experiment?

⪢ One or two sentences are
needed for short abstract (175
words). Three for longer.
⪢ Just to give general idea

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Results
⪢ What did you find out?
⪢ One to two sentences : state
only your main point(s).
⪢ Include your most important
data that influenced your
conclusion
○ mean values, significance,
number of samples you
studied, etc.)

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 Conclusion/Discussion

⪢ How did hypothesis turn out?

⪢ What does your work mean?

⪢ What is the big point that you

want to take home?
⪢
⪢ Usually, one or two sentences

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Research Abstract

⪢ Suggested format
■ Title and Author Information
■ Introduction
■ Methods
■ Results
■ Conclusions

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 Before Finalizing
⪢ Get help from a mentor

⪢ Make revisions based upon the

feedback

⪢ Have others read your draft in order to

check for technical errors, such as
spelling and grammar mistakes

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Prior to Submission
Check Yourself did you :

⪢ Follow the instructions!!!!

⪢ Include headings exactly as stated in the

instructions/template?

⪢ Use short, clear sentences; one idea per sentence

⪢ Limit your abstract to the word count/character

count requirement

⪢ Edit, edit, edit

⪢ Check grammar, syntax and punctuation

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 Why Abstracts Not Accepted
Most common deficiencies encountered (in order
of frequency):

⪢ Poor presentation

⪢ Weak discussion

⪢ Lack of originality

⪢ Poor methods

⪢ Inappropriate statistical analysis

⪢ Inadequate results

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How to Improve
⪢ Writing is an art, you can learn

⪢ Read published manuscript and abstract

carefully in major journals and focus on
detail

⪢ Practice; practice; practice

⪢ Get help from your mentors and colleagues

⪢ Attend classes in writing skills/read books

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