In some academic institutions or scientific journals, however, recommendations are not incorporated in the abstract. That is because anyone can make recommendations based on the conclusion/s of the study.
- state clearly the objectives of the study
The information provided in the abstract must be sufficient to help the researcher decide whether the work is relevant to his interest or not. It should be brief but not lacking in important elements necessary for understanding of the research conducted. The abstract will also help the researcher decide whether to read the research paper in its entirety or not.
Normally, abstracts should not exceed 250 words but this number could vary depending on the prescribed number of words, say, when you would like to submit your research paper to a popular scientific journal. Brevity is emphasized.
Number of Words
How do you write a good abstract? Here are four elements of a good abstract.
Specifically, you should write the abstract to meet its intended purpose. The abstract should:
Generally, an informational abstract should give a brief summary of the main sections of the research paper, i.e., the introduction, the materials and/or methods used, the findings, discussion, conclusions, and recommendations.
The limited number of words required for the abstract means that every word included in the abstract is necessary and that this should be presented in a coherent manner. Important information should fit into one paragraph so this requires a little bit of thinking challenge and practice to the beginning researcher.
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
This section should be the shortest part of the abstract and should very briefly outline the following information:
The abstract of a paper is the only part of the paper that is published in conference proceedings. The abstract is the only part of the paper that a potential referee sees when he is invited by an editor to review a manuscript. The abstract is the only part of the paper that readers see when they search through electronic databases such as PubMed. Finally, most readers will acknowledge, with a chuckle, that when they leaf through the hard copy of a journal, they look at only the titles of the contained papers. If a title interests them, they glance through the abstract of that paper. Only a dedicated reader will peruse the contents of the paper, and then, most often only the introduction and discussion sections. Only a reader with a very specific interest in the subject of the paper, and a need to understand it thoroughly, will read the entire paper.
Some authors publish papers the abstracts of which contain a lengthy background section. There are some situations, perhaps, where this may be justified. In most cases, however, a longer background section means that less space remains for the presentation of the results. This is unfortunate because the reader is interested in the paper because of its findings, and not because of its background.
Background
Department of Psychopharmacology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Thus, for the vast majority of readers, the paper does not exist beyond its abstract. For the referees, and the few readers who wish to read beyond the abstract, the abstract sets the tone for the rest of the paper. It is therefore the duty of the author to ensure that the abstract is properly representative of the entire paper. For this, the abstract must have some general qualities. These are listed in Table 1 .
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
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. Table 3 lists important questions to which the methods section should provide brief answers.
An informative abstract is a detailed summary of the research itself. There are instances when readers rely on the abstract itself as a source of information. Therefore, it is extremely important to include all the specifics from a certain study. A well-presented, informative abstract can almost substitute the rest of the paper by itself.
In the conclusion part of your abstract, you should focus on the argument you started off with and connect it to the results you received. It is crucial to give the reader a complete picture of what insights you've discovered in regards to the subject, but also whether you have found the solution for the problem you addressed. Explain, whether your research is sufficient to convince people to be more responsible in regards to their plastic consumption? Will it alter their behavior and their everyday habits? Your conclusion should tie it all together and not leave any uncertainties. After you’ve got all the structural details down, let’s move on to some helpful tips.
An abstract is a brief summary of a research paper. Usually, an abstract is about 6-7 sentences long (approx. 150-250 words). There are many purposes that an abstract may serve. First and foremost, it gives readers a glimpse of your paper. This gives your readers an opportunity to make a decision whether or not your study is worth their full attention. Another purpose of an abstract is to prepare your audience for the details from your research, your arguments and your supporting evidence. And lastly, an abstract introduces the key points of your paper so that readers can keep them in mind while reading your research.
- just summarizes the job, but some researchers consider it to be more of an outline
Types of Abstract
- First, you can read through the entire article and have all the information fresh in your mind. Then you will be well able to condense the information into the abstract without forgetting important points.
- Second, you can design the abstract to fit around your results — to demonstrate that you have achieved what you hoped to.
- has a length that can vary, depending on the topic—but cannot be longer than 300 words
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Scientist // Dr. Karen L. McKee is a Scientist Emeritus (retired) with the U.S. Geological Survey and an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences at Louisiana State University. She received both a master’s degree and doctorate in botany and has conducted research in the field of wetland plant ecology for forty years. While working for the U.S. Geological Survey, she studied the effects of climate change, sea-level rise, and hurricanes on wetlands in the Mississippi River Delta (Louisiana, USA) as well as in other wetlands around the world. Her work has been published in over 100 journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports. A strong proponent of science communication, Karen has also produced several peer-reviewed videos that describe her research and why it’s important to society (USGS Multimedia Gallery). She authored the book, The Scientist Videographer, which promotes science communication by teaching scientists and students how to use video to tell their science stories. Karen continues to share her insights and offers tutorials in video-making for scientists on her website and YouTube channel. Website: thescientistvideographer.com/wordpress Twitter: @scivideographer More Content by Karen McKee
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One of the most important parts of a scientific article is the abstract. Successful authors put substantial effort into crafting their abstracts, which act like advertisements for their papers.
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Writing a decent abstract is not difficult—if you know what information needs to be included and how to structure it. If you’ve never written an abstract before, you may be uncertain about what exactly goes into one. Essentially, an abstract should reflect all the parts of your paper, but in shortened form. In other words, a person reading only your abstract should be able to understand why you conducted the study, how you conducted it, what you found, and why your work is important. In general, avoid the novice’s cut-and-paste approach when crafting your abstract and instead write a unique, standalone summary. Although inclusion of data is acceptable, report only those numbers that represent the most important information. Some authors include citations or URLs in their abstracts, but many journals discourage or prohibit such additions. Be sure to stay within the word limit, which most journals and conferences set for abstracts.
3. What were your key findings? When describing your results, strive to focus on the main finding(s) and list no more than two or three points. Also, avoid ambiguous or imprecise wording, which is a common mistake found in conference abstracts written before the data have been completely collected or analyzed. If your data are incomplete or still being analyzed, you are not ready to present your paper.
The editors of the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning discuss the benefits of offering Registered Reports to increase trust in research
Informative abstracts are more common than descriptive ones. It is a result of their larger content that relates to the subject specifically. It is also suggested to use different types of abstracts for papers depending on their size: informative abstracts for longer and more complicated ones, and descriptive abstracts for shorter and simpler research papers.
An informative abstract usually follows a certain format. First, the author includes identifying information, supported by citations and other identifications of the documents. Next, all the main points are restated to ensure a better understanding of the research. This section is followed by the methodology and all the key findings of the study. Lastly, a conclusion presents the final findings of the research and concludes the informative abstract.
Briefly, an informative abstract:It usually focuses on the importance and significance of the subject of a paper. Going back to our topic regarding the importance of plastic recycling, the importance of the paper is to reduce plastic waste contamination by recycling your own plastic waste. Here, you need to answer the question – what problem does your study help to resolve on a global scale? Is it preventing global warming by reducing the amount of plastic that ends up in oceanic waters? Is it assessing global warming issues? Is it a solution for sea-life conservation? The possibilities are endless, so make sure to take the right direction to appeal to any audience, regardless of their background and interests. In this section, it is important to address the problem itself, indicate whether it covers something broad or specific, and present your argument.
An abstract is a brief summary of a research paper. Usually, an abstract is about 6-7 sentences long (approx. 150-250 words). There are many purposes that an abstract may serve. First and foremost, it gives readers a glimpse of your paper. This gives your readers an opportunity to make a decision whether or not your study is worth their full attention. Another purpose of an abstract is to prepare your audience for the details from your research, your arguments and your supporting evidence. And lastly, an abstract introduces the key points of your paper so that readers can keep them in mind while reading your research.
Purpose and Motivation
Very often, abstracts are found as descriptions for books and scholarly articles. They include the main ideas of a book or an article and give a general understanding of its contents and purpose. Sometimes, professors provide students with very specific guidelines for how to write an abstract. Make sure you follow these instructions, if they are available, in order to satisfy all the requirements.
- just summarizes the job, but some researchers consider it to be more of an outline
- what is the goal of your study
- just summarizes the job, but some researchers consider it to be more of an outline
- just summarizes the job, but some researchers consider it to be more of an outline