ABTRACT WRITING

ABTRACT WRITING The word abstract comes from the Latin abstractum, which means a condensed form of a longer piece of writing. There are two main types of abstract: the (1) Descriptive and the (2) Informative abstract. The type of abstract you write depends on your discipline area. Abstracts are important parts of reports and research papers and sometimes academic assignments. The abstract is often the last item that you write, but the first thing people read when they want to have a quick overview of the whole paper. We suggest you leave writing the abstract to the end, because you will have a clearer picture of all your findings and conclusions. (1) Descriptive abstracts: Descriptive abstracts are generally used for humanities and social science papers or psychology essays. This type of abstract is usually very short (50-100 words). Most descriptive abstracts have certain key parts in common. They are:  background  purpose  particular interest/focus of paper  overview of contents (not always included) (2) 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. The parts include:  background  aim or purpose of research  method used  findings/results  conclusion. Typically, an informative abstract answers these questions in 100-250 words: o Why did you do this study or project? o What did you do and how? o What did you find? o What do your findings mean? If your paper is about a new method or apparatus, the last two questions might be changed to: o What are the advantages (of the method or apparatus)? o How well does it work? SECTIONS OF AN ABSTRACT Although some journals still publish abstracts that are written as free-flowing paragraphs, most journals require abstracts to conform to a formal structure within a word count of, usually, 200–250 words. The usual sections defined in a structured abstract are the Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions; other headings with similar meanings may be used (eg, Introduction in place of Background or Findings in place of Results). Some journals include additional sections, such as Objectives (between Background and Methods) and Limitations (at the end of the abstract). Background This section should be the shortest part of the abstract and should very briefly outline the following information: 1. What is already known about the subject, related to the paper in question 2. What is not known about the subject and hence what the study intended to examine (or what the paper seeks to present) In most cases, the background can be framed in just 2–3 sentences, with each sentence describing a different aspect of the information referred to above; sometimes, even a single sentence may suffice. The purpose of the background, as the word itself indicates, is to provide the reader with a background to the study, and hence to smoothly lead into a description of the methods employed in the investigation. Methods The methods section is usually the second-longest section in the abstract. It should contain enough information to enable the reader to understand what was done, and how. Carelessly written methods sections lack information about important issues such as sample size, numbers of patients in different groups, doses of medications, and duration of the study. Readers have only to flip through the pages of a randomly selected journal to realize how common such carelessness is. Results The results section is the most important part of the abstract and nothing should compromise its range and quality. This is because readers who peruse an abstract do so to learn about the findings of the study. The results section should therefore be the longest part of the abstract and should contain as much detail about the findings as the journal word count permits. For example, it is bad writing to state “Response rates differed significantly between diabetic and nondiabetic patients.” A better sentence is “The response rate was higher in nondiabetic than in diabetic patients (49% vs 30%, respectively; P<0.01).” Conclusions This section should contain the most important take-home message of the study, expressed in a few precisely worded sentences. Usually, the finding highlighted here relates to the primary outcome measure; however, other important or unexpected findings should also be mentioned. It is also customary, but not essential, for the authors to express an opinion about the theoretical or practical implications of the findin0gs, or the importance of their findings for the field. Thus, the conclusions may contain three elements: 1. The primary take-home message 2. The additional findings of importance 3. The perspective SOME POINTS TO KEEP IN MIND WHILE WRITING ABSTRACTS o While drafting your abstract: look over your subject to see what disciplinary assumptions are challenged; question the significance of your ideas; emphasize the important results and address limitations in a realistic manner. o An abstract will nearly always be read along with the title, so do not repeat or rephrase your title. It will likely be read without the rest of the document, however, so make it complete enough to stand on its own. o Your readers expect you to summarize your conclusions in an abstract, as well as your purposes, methods and main findings. Emphasize the different points of your study in proportion to the emphasis they receive in the body of the document. o DO NOT refer in the abstract to information that is not in the document. This is very important and is a little like "truth in advertising." You do not want to give your reader the impression that your study covers information it does not actually contain. o Avoid using the first person "I" or "we." In addition, whenever possible, choose active verbs instead of passive ones (ex: use "the study tested" instead of "it was tested by the study" or "I tested in the study"). o Avoid, if possible, using trade names, acronyms, abbreviations or symbols in your abstract. You would have to explain these names which would take up valuable room/words. o Use non-evaluative language in your abstract; report instead of comment upon your findings. o Ease your readers/audience into your topic. Or, in other words, be sensitive to the needs and knowledge of your audience. What might seem perfectly obvious to you after working on a longer writing or research project will often be brand-new to your audience. o It is best to write the abstract immediately after you finish your project while the ideas are still fresh in your mind. o Helpful hint: Some writing instructors and experienced writers suggest writing an abstract for all of your writing projects since it makes you focus on what is important in your paper/project. It also provides a powerful way of reevaluating your logic and in defining your purpose. An abstract can be extremely helpful in your writing process if you are stuck or blocked.