An abstract is an abbreviated, accurate representation of the contents of a document, preferably prepared by its author(s) for publication with it. (ANSI, 1979:1)The magic word is ‘abbreviated’. An abstract should be short, compact and concise. It should not contain any references to literature nor should it contain tables or diagrams or any abbreviations unless these are standard. It should not be confused with an introduction. The two serve different purposes and are, therefore, written differently.
Ideally, you should write your article first and then the abstract. Sometimes you may have finished your research but not be quite ready with your writing. It is still possible to write an abstract if you can answer the questions below.
There are four parts to an abstract and they answer these questions:
These four questions are answered in the following way:1. What did you do?
2. How did you do it?
3. What did you find?
4. What did you conclude?
1. By introducing your purpose. This can include any or all of the following:2. By describing your methodology. This should include the following:- Indicating your intention, thesis or hypothesis which form the basis of your research.- Indicating your goals or objectives of your research.- Indicating the problem you want to tackle.
- Indicating the experimental design.- Giving information about the data.- Mentioning the procedures or method(s) used.- Indicating the scope of the research (possibly).3. By summarising your results. This is the most important. You should:
- mention your observations and findings.- suggest solutions to the problem (if this formed past of the purpose).4. By presenting your conclusions. This is achieved by:
- interpreting results of your findings.- drawing inferences from your findings.- indicating implications of your findings.- indicating applications of your findings.
Language Points
1. Note the verbs are in the present tense for introducing purpose and presenting conclusions.2. Note the verbs are in the past tense for describing methodology and summarising results.
3. Note the useful phrases which you can imitiate if nothing better springs to your mind at first - you can always change them later:
This paper sets out to...
It was found that...
It is suggested that...
Summary: Writing abstracts
- self-contained (no refs. to lit., tables, diagrams)
- paper first; abstract later (if poss.)
- no abbreviations (unless standard )
- minimum 4 sentences:
- 100 – 150 words (the fewer: the better)Aim and Scope
Describe Method
Summarise Results
State Main Conclusions
