What should an abstract contain

Excessive detail is unnecessary; however, you should briefly state the key techniques used. Abstracts in biological or clinical fields should mention the organism, cell line, or population studied. For ecology papers, the location of the study is often an important piece of information.

Papers describing clinical trials should mention the sample size, patient groups, dosages, and study duration. Just as the abstract may be the most important part of your paper, the results subsection is likely the most important part of your abstract. This is because the main reason that people are reading your abstract is to learn about your findings.

Therefore, the results subsection should be the longest part of your abstract, and you should try to maximize the amount of detail you include here. The last sentences of your abstract should be devoted to the overall take-home message of your study: your conclusions.

Then, state your main finding as concisely as possible. If you have other interesting secondary findings, these can be mentioned as well. This will help readers to more clearly understand the importance of your findings. As mentioned earlier, many readers who are unable to access the full text of your manuscript will read only your abstract, and without access to your data, they will have to take your conclusions at face value.

For this reason, it is very important not to overstate your conclusions in your abstract so as not to mislead your readers. The abstract is meant to be a summary of your research; as such, it usually carries a strict word count limit. Combining all of the most important aspects of your work into a paragraph of words or less can be a challenging task. However, knowing what to avoid when writing the abstract can make the job a little easier. Once you have completed the abstract, it is important to check that all of the information you have included here agrees with the information in the main body of your paper.

After working on it for so long, it can sometimes be difficult to objectively evaluate whether your abstract is clear, especially because you are likely to be very familiar with the conventions within your discipline. Get to the point quickly and always use the past tense because you are reporting on a study that has been completed. Abstracts should be formatted as a single paragraph in a block format and with no paragraph indentations. In most cases, the abstract page immediately follows the title page.

Do not number the page. Rules set forth in writing manual vary but, in general, you should center the word "Abstract" at the top of the page with double spacing between the heading and the abstract.

Composing Your Abstract. Although it is the first section of your paper, the abstract should be written last since it will summarize the contents of your entire paper. A good strategy to begin composing your abstract is to take whole sentences or key phrases from each section of the paper and put them in a sequence that summarizes the contents. Then revise or add connecting phrases or words to make the narrative flow clearly and smoothly. Note that statistical findings should be reported parenthetically [i.

Before handing in your final paper, check to make sure that the information in the abstract completely agrees with what you have written in the paper. Think of the abstract as a sequential set of complete sentences describing the most crucial information using the fewest necessary words.

Writing Center. University of Kansas; Abstract. Department of Biology. Bates College; Abstracts. The Abstract. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Riordan, Laura. Purdue University; Writing Abstracts. Indiana University; Koltay, Tibor. Never Cite Just the Abstract! Citing to just a journal article's abstract does not confirm for the reader that you have conducted a thorough or reliable review of the literature.

If the full-text is not available, go to the USC Libraries main page and enter the title of the article [NOT the title of the journal].

If the Libraries have a subscription to the journal, the article should appear with a link to the full-text or to the journal publisher page where you can get the article. If relevant, you can briefly make suggestions for further research. If your paper will be published, you might have to add a list of keywords at the end of the abstract. These keywords should reference the most important elements of the research to help potential readers find your paper during their own literature searches.

Be aware that some publication manuals, such as APA Style , have specific formatting requirements for these keywords. These strategies can help you get started. Not all abstracts will contain precisely the same elements. If your research has a different structure for example, a humanities dissertation that builds an argument through thematic chapters , you can write your abstract through a process of reverse outlining.

For each chapter or section, list keywords and draft sentences that summarize the central point or argument.

Next, revise the sentences to make connections and show how the argument develops. The abstract should tell a condensed version of the whole story, and it should only include information that can be found in the main text. Reread your abstract to make sure it gives a clear summary of your overall argument. You probably already read lots of journal article abstracts while conducting your literature review —try using them as a framework for structure and style.

You can also find lots of dissertation abstract examples in thesis and dissertation databases. A good abstract is short but impactful, so make sure every word counts. Each sentence should clearly communicate one main point.

Avoid unnecessary filler words, and avoid obscure jargon — the abstract should be understandable to readers who are not familiar with your topic. If you are writing a thesis or dissertation or submitting to a journal, there are often specific formatting requirements for the abstract —make sure to check the guidelines and format your work correctly.

Always stick to the word limit. If you have not been given any guidelines on the length of the abstract, write no more than one double-spaced page. The abstract appears after the title page and acknowledgements and before the table of contents. I have clearly stated my research problem and objectives. I have briefly described my methodology. I have summarized the most important results. I have stated my main conclusions.

You've written a great abstract! Use the other checklists to continue improving your thesis or dissertation. An abstract is a concise summary of an academic text such as a journal article or dissertation.

It serves two main purposes:. Abstracts are often indexed along with keywords on academic databases, so they make your work more easily findable. An abstract for a thesis or dissertation is usually around — words. The abstract is the very last thing you write. You should only write it after your research is complete, so that you can accurately summarize the entirety of your thesis or paper.

Avoid citing sources in your abstract. There are two reasons for this:. There are some circumstances where you might need to mention other sources in an abstract: for example, if your research responds directly to another study or focuses on the work of a single theorist. The abstract appears on its own page, after the title page and acknowledgements but before the table of contents.