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Abstracts for literature reviews and critical essays share the same spirit as research articles: that is to stand as complete and concise representations of larger works, but since the structure of these texts differ from research articles, their abstracts will also be different. These abstracts should begin by introducing the topic and problem and problem being investigated. The thesis statement, if a component of the associated article, should be clearly and completely included at near the beginning. The author should then detail the original evidence that supports the main purpose or argument of the paper. Again, the emphasis is not placed on the referenced literature but on the conclusions you made as an author based on these outside references. Finally, writing some reviews and essays involve unique methods, be they meta-analysis of statistical data or traveling to exotic locations to examine ancient texts. If the methods required to write an article are particularly novel, they should be included in the abstract in the same order as they appeared in the text. Otherwise, the methods for review should not appear in the abstract. Conference Abstracts Abstracts for conferences serve slightly different purposes than those for written articles. An individual reading an abstract in a conference booklet is deciding whether or not to attend your presentation or reading. In a sea of academic ideas, your abstract should give prospective attendees an accurate idea of the content of your presentation. After the fact, your abstract may be the only document of your research to an attendee of your presentation. Individuals will often consult conference proceedings months or years after the fact, as they recall a short presentation only now relating to their current research. A complete conference abstract allows researchers to refresh their memories about your findings. Conferences usually involve the presentation of new and in-progress research. Additionally, many conferences require abstracts months before the actual presentation. As such, abstracts for conferences are often written before the research is complete. This can complicate writing an abstract for a conference presentation. As much as possible, a conference abstract should be written as though the presentation or associated paper is completed. Your intended audience is composed of individuals at a conference hoping to get an accurate idea of the ideas that will be covered during your presentation. The atmosphere at most academic conferences is generally less formal than that in the academic publishing industry, and this relaxed atmosphere can leech into your abstracts, but it is important to maintain most of the conventions of professional communication. Conference abstracts should adhere to the format guidelines set out by the organizers. In some cases, authors are given more space than should be needed for an abstract (for example, a whole page of single spaced text). Authors should only use the amount of space needed to convey the key components of a presentation. Filling up the extra space with unnecessary details will only bore the reader. Leaving that blank space provides the attendee an opportunity to write his or her own notes regarding your presentation. Good Abstracts: Content We have talked about the characteristics of typical abstracts, and surely writing an abstract that meets these requirements should not be difficult to write after completing a whole article on your research. But what makes a good abstract? What are the characteristics of mediocre abstracts? A good abstract seamlessly blends the elements of the associated text into a coherent and powerful paragraph. Each section contains only the most relevant information. We will now go through the different components of writing an effective abstract. Good Abstracts: Topic/Purpose It is important to set the stage very early in your abstract with a clear statement of your purpose. Your thesis, hypothesis or objectives should be very clear. While the abstract is usually the first component of the text read by the audience, we forget that the title is actually the reader first exposure to the text. To save some space, information clearly laid out in the title need not be repeated in the abstract. Because your abstract should focus on the findings of your research, it should not contain any outside references. You should also use this section to introduce discipline-specific terminology essential to understanding your research. This helps researchers contextualize your article, introduces the major topic and helps the search engines place your work in relevant search fields. You should avoid using too many terms here. Just focus on the main concepts explored in your article. Good Abstracts: Methods Aside from detailing the general methods used for you study, abstracts should bring attention to any novel techniques that you employed. Unique methods are sometimes the only reason some people will read an article. Where possible, it is important to be specific when detailing the methods used. In this example, it did not take much more space to describe the exact treatments. This gives the reader a much better indication of what actions were performed. Good Abstracts: Results For content related to the results, you should only present the results that directly address your thesis, hypothesis or objective statements. Like the methods section, being specific in sentences describing your results can give the reader a much better indication of the results of your study. In this example, we see how big an effect the experiment had, not just that it had an effect. The extra words are not wasted here; they contribute to a better understanding of the findings. Good Abstracts: Writing Style While including the right content is essential for an abstract, using an appropriate writing style will help you effectively convey that content. Effective abstracts have a clear and concise writing style. Complicated ideas must be conveyed in as few words as possible. There simply isn’t the room for long and convoluted sentences. Removing or shortening any unnecessary words or phrases is at the essence of clear and concise writing. If anything can be removed while maintaining the same meaning, then your text is probably better off. About the Author Fred Holt is a United State, new jersey-based writer/broadcaster specialising in academic writing services. He is skilled in MLA, APA, and Chicago manuals of style. His work included, thesis writing, term paper, research paper, dissertation help, essay writing, buy dissertation etc.
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