HOW TO WRITE AN

ABSTRACT
IN THIS LESSON
 WHAT IS AN ABSTRACT
 WHO WRITES IT
 FOR WHAT PURPOSES
 WHO READS IT
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF ABSTRACT
 WHAT TO INCLUDE
 WHAT NOT TO INCLUDE
 SOME EXAMPLES
Definition

 An abstract is a succinct summary of a longer

piece of work, usually academic in nature,
which is published in isolation from the main
text and should therefore stand on its own and
be understandable without reference to the
longer piece. It should report the latter's
essential facts, and should not exaggerate or
contain material that is not there.
WHAT IS AN ABSTRACT?

 A short, self-contained, powerful summary

of an article, paper or thesis;
 Length: between 150 and 300 words;
 Layout: usually one single paragraph; font
size is different from the main text;
 Position: usually at the beginning of the
paper (but it can appear elsewhere, e.g. in
book of abstracts or on-line);
WHAT IS AN ABSTRACT?
(continued)
 An abstract is an original document, not a
collection of quotations taken from the text
it summarizes, i.e. it must be able to stand
alone.
 It does not contain vague statements which
force the reader to refer to the main text.
WHO WRITES IT?

 Usually the author of the paper, because

they have a first hand knowledge their piece
of research;

 Sometimes professional writers, who

abstract books and articles for a wide
audience.
Abstracts are usually required
for
 submission of articles to journals
 application for research grants
 completion and submission of theses
 submission of proposals for conference
papers
WHO READS IT?

 Same-field professionals (e.g. linguists,

psychologists, biologists) looking for
further information;
 Teachers having to evaluate future
specialists’ achievements;
 Students charting research in a given
area.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF
ABSTRACT
 Abstracts are genre-sensitive
genre-sensitiv (i.e. components
vary according to discipline)
 an abstract of a social science or scientific
work may contain the scope, purpose,
results, and contents of the work.
 an abstract of a humanities work may contain
the thesis, background, and conclusion of
the larger work. An abstract is not a review,
nor does it evaluate the work being abstracted.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF
ABSTRACT (continued)

 Abstracts are usually divided into two

main categories:
 DESCRIPTIVE AND INFORMATIVE
DESCRIPTIVE ABSTRACTS

 Descriptive abstracts are generally used

for humanities and social science
papers or psychology essays. This
type of abstract is usually (not always)
very short (50-100 words). Most
descriptive abstracts have certain key
parts in common.
DESCRIPTIVE ABSTRACTS

They are:
 background
 purpose
 particular interest/focus of paper
 overview of contents (not always
included)
Model Descriptive abstract
INFORMATIVE ABSTRACTS

Informative abstracts are generally used

for science, engineering or psychology
reports. You must get the essence of
what your report is about, usually in
about 200 words. Most informative
abstracts also have key parts in
common. Each of these parts might
consist of 1-2 sentences.
INFORMATIVE ABSTRACTS

The parts include:

 background

 aim or purpose of the research

 method used

 findings/results

 conclusion
 DESCRIPTIVE ABSTRACTS INFORMATIVE ABSTRACTS

•Describe the major points of •Inform the audience of all

the project to the reader. essential points of the paper.
•Include the background, •Briefly summarize the
purpose and focus of the background, purpose, focus,
paper or article, but never the methods, results, findings and
methods, results and conclusions of the full-length
conclusions, if it is a research paper.
paper. • Are concise, usually 10% of
• Are most likely used for the original paper length, often
humanities and social just one paragraph.
science papers or •Are most likely used for
psychology essays. sciences, engineering or
psychology reports.
Sample Informative Abstract
DIFFERENT TYPES OF
ABSTRACT (continued)
 The format of your abstract will depend
on the work being abstracted;
 An abstract of a scientific research paper
will contain elements not found in an
abstract of a literature article, and vice
versa;
 However, all abstracts share several
mandatory components.
WHAT TO INCLUDE

 Reason for writing:

What is the importance of the research?
Why would a reader be interested in the
larger work?
 Problem:
What problem does this work attempt to
solve? What is the scope of the project?
What is the main argument/thesis/claim?
WHAT TO INCLUDE (continued)

 Methodology:
An abstract of a scientific work may
include specific models or approaches
used in the larger study. Other abstracts
may describe the types of evidence used
in the research (e.g. qualitative
interviews, book reviews, etc.)
WHAT TO INCLUDE (continued)
 Results:
Again, 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
result of the findings of the work? How does
this work add to the body of knowledge on the
topic?
WHAT TO INCLUDE (continued)

 To put it simple:
 What the author did;
 How the author did it;

 What the author found;

 What the author concluded.

WHAT NOT TO INCLUDE
 Information not contained in the original work;
 References to other work;
 Quotations from the original work or from other
works;
 Lengthy explanations of words and concepts;
 Unexplained acronyms or abbreviations;
 Tables and maps.
How do I write a good abstract?

 First re-read your paper/report for an

overview. Then read each section and
condense the information in each down to
1-2 sentences.
 Next read these sentences again to ensure
that they cover the major points in your
paper.
How do I write a good abstract?

 Ensure you have written something for each of

the key points outlined above for either the
descriptive or informative abstract.
 Check the word length and further reduce your
words if necessary by cutting out unnecessary
words or rewriting some of the sentences into
a single, more succinct sentence.
 Edit for flow and expression.
Qualities of a good abstract

 Well developed paragraphs are unified,

coherent, concise, and able to stand alone;
 Uses an introduction/body/conclusion
structure which presents the article, paper,
or report's purpose, results, conclusions,
and recommendations in that order;
 Follows strictly the chronology of the article,
paper, or report;
Qualities of a good abstract

 Provides logical connections (or transitions)

between the information included;
 Adds no new information, but simply
summarizes the report;
 Is understandable to a wide audience;
 Uses passive verbs to downplay the author
and emphasize the information.
How is an abstract different
from an introduction?
 ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION

The essence of the whole Introduces the paper

paper
Covers the following academic Covers the following academic
elements: elements:
•background •background
•purpose and focus •purpose
•methods •proposition (also called ‘point of
•results (also called ‘findings’) view’ or ‘thesis’ statement)
•conclusions •outline of key issues
•recommendations (or •scope (not always relevant)
‘implications’, not always relevant)

Summarizes briefly the whole paper Introduces the paper and foregrounds
including the conclusions. issues for discussion.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!