An abstract is a short summary of a research project in one paragraph. Abstracts come before papers in research journals and on the schedules of conferences for scholars. In journals, the abstract lets readers know quickly what a paper is about and what its main ideas are. It also lets other researchers know if it will be worth their time to read the whole paper. At conferences, the abstract tells the audience why they should pay attention to the paper or presentation. This article is about How to Write an Abstract.
The abstract helps people decide what to do with your project. Your professor can look at the abstract to see if your research is going well. The person in charge of the conference will use it to decide if your project meets the requirements of the conference. Faculty, administrators, peers, and the families of presenters use your abstract to decide if they want to see your presentation or not. Your abstract needs to keep all of these people in mind. Below we have mention the steps to Write an Abstract.
How to Write an Abstract
Here are the most important steps to write an abstract:
Write your paper
Since the abstract is a summary of the research paper, the first step is to write the paper. Even if you already know what you are going to write in your paper, it is best to save the abstract for the end so you can accurately describe what you found.
Review the requirements
If you are writing for a journal or as part of a work project, there may be specific length or style requirements. Before you start writing the abstract, check to see if there are any requirements.
Consider your audience and publication
Abstracts are meant to help readers quickly decide if they want to keep reading your work, so it is important to know who will be reading the abstract as you write it. For example, should it be written in a way that people in academia or the medical field can understand, or should it be written so that anyone can understand it?
Explain the problem
This is the problem or question that your research tries to answer or solve. Find your main claim or argument, as well as the scope of your study, whether it is a specific problem or a larger one.
Explain your methods
Next, you will talk about how you did your study, including what research you did, what variables you used, and how you did it. Include any proof you have to back up your claim.
Describe your results
Share the general answers and conclusions you came to after doing your research. If you can not sum up all of your results in a few sentences, you can just highlight the most important ones.
Give a conclusion
Finish your summary by talking about what your findings mean and how important the paper is. In both types of abstracts, you will have a conclusion, but only in the informative type will you talk about what your work means.
When to write an abstract
Even though the abstract is at the beginning of the paper, it should be written after the whole paper is done. It should be able to stand on its own as a summary of your whole paper, and it should be clear to someone who has not read your paper or related sources. The abstract should be on its own page and usually comes after the title page and acknowledgements but before the table of contents.
How long should an abstract be?
Most abstracts are 100–250 words long and made up of one or two paragraphs. But abstracts for more complicated papers need to be more complicated, so you may need to make it longer to cover everything. Abstracts that take up a whole page are not unusual, especially in more advanced scientific works.
FAQ
What is the format of an abstract?
Abstracts should not be longer than 250 words and should be formatted in Microsoft Word with size 12 Times New Roman font and single spacing. Abstracts show what your research was about, how you did it, what you learned, and what you came to as a result. They also explain why your research is important.
What makes a good abstract?
An abstract is a paragraph of 150 to 250 words that gives a quick overview of your essay or report and how it is put together. It should say what your main idea or thesis is and what your main points are. It should also say what the research you talk about in the paper means or how it can be used.
What are the 4 qualities of a good abstract?
An abstract should be short, clear, unbiased, and fair. It is a “just the facts” presentation of the research, with a big focus on explaining the methods and main results so that readers can understand the basis of the “take home” messages that are expressed in “conclusions.”
What are the 2 types of abstract?
There are two main kinds of abstracts: (1) a description and (2) a summary. What kind of abstract you write will depend on your field of study. Why do we have to write them? Abstracts are important parts of reports, research papers, and sometimes other school assignments.
