How to Write the Abstract

W r i ti n g a n A b s t r a c t

Writing Centre Learning Guide

Often when asked to write a report or article, you will be required to include an abstract. This is usually a very concise summary of what the report or article is

about and is usually placed before the body of your writing. The abstract can be read to get a quick overview. It tells the reader what to expect in your work and it should be based on all you have written.

Definitions

The word abstract comes from the Latin abstractum, which means a condensed form of a longer

piece of writing. There are two main types of abstract: the (1) Descriptive and the (2) Informative abstract. The type of abstract you write depends on your discipline area.

Why do we write abstracts?

Abstracts are important parts of reports and research papers and sometimes academic

assignments. The abstract is often the last item that you write, but the first thing people read when they want to have a quick overview of the whole paper. We suggest you leave writing the abstract to the end, because you will have a clearer picture of all your findings and conclusions.

How do I write an abstract?

 First re-read your paper/report for an overview. Then read each section and condense the

information in each down to 1-2 sentences.

 Next read these sentences again to ensure that they cover the major points in your paper.  Ensure you have written something for each of the key points outlined above for either the

descriptive or informative abstract.

 Check the word length and further reduce your words if necessary by cutting out

unnecessary words or rewriting some of the sentences into a single, more succinct sentence.

 Edit for flow and expression.

What makes a good abstract?

A good abstract:

 uses one well-developed paragraph that is coherent and concise, and is able to stand alone

as a unit of information

 covers all the essential academic elements of the full-length paper, namely the background,

purpose, focus, methods, results and conclusions

 contains no information not included in the paper

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 is written in plain English and is understandable to a wider audience, as well as to your

discipline-specific audience

 often uses passive structures in order to report on findings, focusing on the issues rather

than people

 uses the language of the original paper, often in a more simplified form for the more general

reader

 usually does not include any referencing

 in publications such as journals, it is found at the beginning of the text, while in academic

assignments, it is placed on a separate preliminary page.

(1) Descriptive abstracts

Descriptive abstracts are generally used for humanities and social science papers or psychology

essays. This type of abstract is usually very short (50-100 words). Most descriptive abstracts have

certain key parts in common. They are:

 background

 purpose

 particular interest/focus of paper

 overview of contents (not always included)

(2) Informative abstracts

Informative abstracts are generally used for science, engineering or psychology reports. You must

get the essence of what your report is about, usually in about 200 words. Most informative

abstracts also have key parts in common. Each of these parts might consist of 1-2 sentences. The

parts include:

 background

 aim or purpose of research

 method used

 findings/results

 conclusion

The table below summarises the main features of, as well as the differences between, the two

types of abstracts discussed above. In both types of abstract, your lecturer/tutor may require other specific information to be included. Always follow your lecturer/tutor's instructions.

Descriptive abstract

Describes the major points of the project to the reader.

Includes the background, purpose and focus of the paper or article, but never the methods, results and

conclusions, if it is a research paper.

Is most likely used for humanities and social science papers or psychology essays.

Informative abstract

Informs the audience of all essential points of the paper.

Briefly summarises the background, purpose, focus,

methods, results, findings and conclusions of the

full-length paper.

Is concise, usually 10% of the original paper length, often just one paragraph.

Is most likely used for sciences, engineering or psychology reports

Examples of abstracts

Here are two abstracts with the key parts identified. The Descriptive abstract (1) is for a humanities

paper and the Informative abstract (2) for a psychology report.

(1) Model descriptive abstract

Abstract (Stevenson, 2004)

The opportunity to design and deliver short programs on referencing and

avoiding plagiarism for transnational UniSA students has confirmed the necessity of combating both the 'all-plagiarism-is-cheating' reaction and the 'just-give-them-a-referencing-guide' response. The notion of referencing is but the tip of a particularly large and intricate iceberg. Consequently, teaching referencing is not adequate in educating students to avoid plagiarism. In this presentation, I will use the transnational teaching experience to highlight what educating to avoid plagiarism entails.

Metalinguistic awareness contributes to effective writing at university. Writing background

is a meaning-making process where linguistic, cognitive, social and creative factors are at play. University students need to master the skills of academic writing not only for getting their degree but also for their future career. It is also significant for lecturers to know who our students are, how they think and

how we can best assist them. This study examines first-year undergraduate purpose and aim

Australian and international engineering students as writers of academic texts

in a multicultural setting at the University of Adelaide. A questionnaire and interviews were used to collect data about students' level of metalinguistic awareness, their attitudes toward, expectations for, assumptions about and motivation for writing. The preliminary results of the research show that students from different cultures initially have different concepts about the academic genres and handle writing with different learning and writing styles, but those with a more developed metalanguage are more confident and motivated. The conclusion can also be drawn that students' level of motivation for academic writing positively correlates with their opinion about

How is an abstract different to an introduction?

Students are sometimes confused about the difference between an abstract and an introduction. In

fact, they are different pieces of writing with different aims and key parts. The following table will briefly describe these differences in the case of a research paper.

Abstract Introduction

The essence of the whole paper Introduces the paper

Covers the following academic elements: Covers the following academic elements:

 background  background

 purpose and focus  purpose  methods  proposition

(also called 'point of view' or 'thesis' statement)

 results (also called 'findings')

 Outline of key issues

 conclusions

 Scope (not always relevant)

 recommendations

(or 'implications', not always relevant)