Abstract

Purpose

To provide an overview of the paper

• Main story + a few essential details

Provide enough information so a reader can decide whether to continue reading

Should make sense when read alone and with the paper

What motivates you to read an abstract? Why are they important?

• They are the first thing people read in a paper or at a conference

• They are used in searchable databases

• The abstract should grab attention and create a desire to read on

• They determine readership

Structure

• A single paragraph or Structured with subheadings

• Containing 4 to 10 full sentences (around 200 words)

• Explicitly and very succinctly summarise the purpose, findings and value of the paper.

Content of an Abstract

An abstract should answer these “What” questions:

1. What was your problem/question?

2. What did you do?

3. What did you learn?

knitr::include_graphics("content of abstract.png")

Organisation

Organisation varies based on the type of paper:

1. Hypothesis-testing paper

   a. background information

   b. states the question

   c. the experiments that answered the question

   d. the results that were found that answer that question

   e. the answer to the question

   f. implication of the answer

   g. speculation/recommendation based on answer

2. Descriptive paper

   a. background information

   b. the message of the paper

   c. the results that support the message (methods are included)

   d. implication of the message

3. Methods paper

   a. the name/category term of the method, apparatus or material

   b. the purpose

   c. (the animal, population, sample)

   d. The key features of the apparatus/material or how the method/apparatus works or both

   e. The advantages

   f. How the method/apparatus/material was tested and how well it works

Drafting Considerations

Why is it important?

What is the gap in knowledge?

What is the specific research question you are asking?

What did you do to find these results?

What is the key result that supports your main message?

What is the main take away message you want the audience to learn?

Revision Considerations

The abstract must be extremely well written.

Each sentence must contribute content about the paper, and the connections between sentences must be crystal clear.

The point of the research should be clear to a non-specialist in your field.

The abstract gives an overview of the main story: it should be clear both to readers who read the entire paper and to readers who do not read the entire paper.

Writing Conventions

Use your key terms early; repeat key terms exactly (especially for the variables)

Use short sentences, especially if there are long technical names

Make the research question/purpose clear & specific

Match the answer to the question (same key terms, same verb, same point of view)

Length: adhere to restrictions (usually word limits)

• If shorter than word limit, do not fill with unnecessary information/words

knitr::include_graphics("writing convention.png")

What not to do

Don’t:

• Omit the question/purpose

• Provide a vague purpose

  Plasma cholesterol metabolism was studied.

Include finer details (except for significant results)

knitr::include_graphics("how much detail.png")

Include empty/generic sentences

• Remove “dead weight words and phrases”

  As it is well known

  It has been shown that

  It should be emphasized that

• Remove long words and phrases

  muscular and cardiorespiratory performance = fitness

• Remove repetitive words / phrases

  Successful solutions

  Combined together

  Absolutely necessary

  Manually by hand

• Long words / phrases that can be shortened

  A number of -> Many

  The majority of -> Most

  Less frequently occurring -> Rare

  Give rise to -> Cause

  Have an effect on -> Affect

  Are known to be -> Are

  Has been suggested to -> May

Write it first and fail to return to it

Use abbreviations and “jargon” (language that will cause unnecessary confusion)

Make it excessively long

Reducing the abstract

To reduce the word number of your abstract, you can combine or even omit some stages:

• Omit the Background stage

• Combine the Purpose and Method stages

• Omit Implications

Remember to emphasise your Results.

Abstract Checklist

Is the aim of the project obvious?

Methodology briefly described?

Most important results summarised?

Is there a main conclusion?

How long is each section? Are they in appropriate proportion?

Is there any important information missing?

Can any information be removed?

Can the abstract be understood by someone without background knowledge?