Abstracts

An abstract is a single paragraph that summarizes a paper. Abstracts precede articles in scholarly journals or indexes of dissertations, and they provide readers with brief summaries that enable them to judge quickly whether an article is relevant to their own research. Usually containing about  250 words, abstracts follow specific formats determined by the discipline, the department, or the journal where they will be published. 

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Some instructors may ask for specific elements to be included, so always follow their directions.

Steps to Writing an Abstract

• Write the paper first.
  • It is difficult to write an abstract until a paper is done. 
  • In some instances, publishers will ask for an abstract as a proposal for a work you have not yet written. Do your best to be thorough.
• Provide context for the research.
  • Why was this research conducted? 
  • Was something missing from other research?
• Explain the problem.
  • What was the main goal or hypothesis going in?
• Describe the methods used to investigate the problem.
  • What evidence was gathered?
  • How was the information collected?
  • Is the research original?
  • Does this study incorporate other research (meta-analysis)? 
  • Does this study build on other research?
• Report the results.
  • What was discovered?
  • How did you back up your thesis?
• Write a conclusion.
  • What are the implications of the research?
  • What should readers take away with them?
• Finally, do not start sentences with “This essay will examine ...” or “In this research paper I will attempt to prove ...”
  • An abstract must be brief, so get right to the explanation of what the paper actually does.

Sources Used

https://www.wikihow.com/Write-an-Abstract

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