Abstract Writing: Home

What is an abstract?

• It is a brief summary of all the main points of the writing.
• Uses the same language as within the article itself
• Often follows a specific format
  • Hint--even if not required it maybe helpful to write it structurally similar to the article format
• It is concise, accurate, and comprehensive

• Write your abstract last--though thinking through or sketching an outline might help with the article itself
• A good abstract should be:  (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed., p. 25-27)
  • ACCURATE -- be sure to clearly state
    • the purpose of the article 
    • a description of the content in the article.
  • COHERENT -- write in
    • clear, concise language
    • use the active rather than the passive voice (e.g., investigated instead of investigation of).
  • CONCISE -- be brief but
    • make each sentence extremely informative, especially the first sentence.
    • begin  with the most important points. An abstract should be dense with information.

• Regardless of type, most abstracts are follow this format
  • Introduction
    • What problem did you study and why is this important
  • Body
    • What method(s) did you use?
    • What were the main results?
  • Conclusion
    • What conclusions can be made?

Subjects’ car clocks were set ten minutes fast in order to determine if deliberately setting a clock ahead will reduce lateness. One group of subjects knew their clocks had been set ahead, while a second group of subjects was not informed of the change. Over a four-week period, the subjects who were aware of the clock change regularly arrived on time or late for their scheduled appointments. Over the same period of time, the subjects who were unaware of the clock change tended to arrive early or on time for their appointments. Data suggest that intentionally setting a clock to run fast does not reduce lateness because one accounts for that extra time in his or her schedule.

A technical/scientific abstract would also include key statistical detail.

An informative abstract

• provides detail about the substance of a piece of writing
• makes clear what the research is about
• gives key information from each section of the article or report
• indicates how it was carried out
• summarizes the main findings and conclusions

Example of format

1. Identifying information (bibliographic citation or other identification of the document)
2. Concise restatement of the main point, including the initial problem or other background
3. Methodology (for experimental work) and key findings
4. Major conclusions

Informative:  Based on an exhaustive review of currently 
                    available products, this report concludes that 
                    none of the available grammar-checking software 
                    products provides any useful function to writers.

Descriptive:  This report provides conclusions and recommendations
                    on the grammar-checking software that is currently 
                    available.

From Consortium Library of UAA / UAP