Critical abstracts are generally words in length due to the additional interpretive commentary. These types of abstracts are used infrequently. Descriptive Abstract A descriptive abstract indicates the type of information found in the work. It makes no judgments about the work, nor does it provide results or conclusions of the research.
It does incorporate key words found in the text and may include the purpose, methods, and scope of the research. Essentially, the descriptive abstract only describes the work being summarized.
Some researchers consider it an outline of the work, rather than a summary. Descriptive abstracts are usually very short, words or less. Informative Abstract The majority of abstracts are informative. While they still do not critique or evaluate a work, they do more than describe it. A good informative abstract acts as a surrogate for the work itself. That is, the researcher presents and explains all the main arguments and the important results and evidence in the paper.
An informative abstract includes the information that can be found in a descriptive abstract [purpose, methods, scope] but it also includes the results and conclusions of the research and the recommendations of the author.
The length varies according to discipline, but an informative abstract is usually no more than words in length. In that a highlight abstract cannot stand independent of its associated article, it is not a true abstract and, therefore, rarely used in academic writing. Writing Style. Use the active voice when possible , but note that much of your abstract may require passive sentence constructions. Regardless, write your abstract using concise, but complete, sentences.
Get to the point quickly and always use the past tense because you are reporting on a study that has been completed. This is because readers who peruse an abstract do so to learn about the findings of the study. The results section should therefore be the longest part of the abstract and should contain as much detail about the findings as the journal word count permits. Important information that the results should present is indicated in Table 5.
Examples of acceptably written abstracts are presented in Table 6 ; one of these has been modified from an actual publication. This section should contain the most important take-home message of the study, expressed in a few precisely worded sentences.
Usually, the finding highlighted here relates to the primary outcome measure; however, other important or unexpected findings should also be mentioned. It is also customary, but not essential, for the authors to express an opinion about the theoretical or practical implications of the findings, or the importance of their findings for the field. Thus, the conclusions may contain three elements:. Despite its necessary brevity, this section has the most impact on the average reader because readers generally trust authors and take their assertions at face value.
For this reason, the conclusions should also be scrupulously honest; and authors should not claim more than their data demonstrate. Hypothetical examples of the conclusions section of an abstract are presented in Table 7. Citation of references anywhere within an abstract is almost invariably inappropriate. Other examples of unnecessary content in an abstract are listed in Table 8. It goes without saying that whatever is present in the abstract must also be present in the text.
Likewise, whatever errors should not be made in the text should not appear in the abstract eg, mistaking association for causality. As already mentioned, the abstract is the only part of the paper that the vast majority of readers see. Therefore, it is critically important for authors to ensure that their enthusiasm or bias does not deceive the reader; unjustified speculations could be even more harmful.
Misleading readers could harm the cause of science and have an adverse impact on patient care. However, nowhere in the abstract did the authors mention that these conclusions were based on just 5 cases and 12 controls out of the total sample of cases and controls. As a parting note: Most journals provide clear instructions to authors on the formatting and contents of different parts of the manuscript. These instructions often include details on what the sections of an abstract should contain.
Authors should tailor their abstracts to the specific requirements of the journal to which they plan to submit their manuscript. It could also be an excellent idea to model the abstract of the paper, sentence for sentence, on the abstract of an important paper on a similar subject and with similar methodology, published in the same journal for which the manuscript is slated. Source of Support: Nil. Conflict of Interest: None declared. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U.
Journal List Indian J Psychiatry v. Indian J Psychiatry. Chittaranjan Andrade. Each sentence should clearly communicate one main point. Avoid unnecessary filler words, and avoid obscure jargon — the abstract should be understandable to readers who are not familiar with your topic. If you are writing a thesis or dissertation or submitting to a journal, there are often specific formatting requirements for the abstract —make sure to check the guidelines and format your work correctly.
Always stick to the word limit. If you have not been given any guidelines on the length of the abstract, write no more than one double-spaced page.
The abstract appears after the title page and acknowledgements and before the table of contents. I have clearly stated my research problem and objectives. I have briefly described my methodology. I have summarized the most important results. I have stated my main conclusions. You've written a great abstract! Use the other checklists to continue improving your thesis or dissertation.
An abstract is a concise summary of an academic text such as a journal article or dissertation. It serves two main purposes:. Abstracts are often indexed along with keywords on academic databases, so they make your work more easily findable. An abstract for a thesis or dissertation is usually around — words. The abstract is the very last thing you write. You should only write it after your research is complete, so that you can accurately summarize the entirety of your thesis or paper.
Avoid citing sources in your abstract. There are two reasons for this:. There are some circumstances where you might need to mention other sources in an abstract: for example, if your research responds directly to another study or focuses on the work of a single theorist. The abstract appears on its own page, after the title page and acknowledgements but before the table of contents.
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APA Citation Generator. Ask your colleague whether the study is clear based solely on the abstract. This can help you to determine which areas of the abstract will require revisions, either to clarify your meaning or to better highlight your major findings. We invite you to share your research with the community by posting it online as a preprint. Our sister company, Research Square , is a trusted preprint platform that lets you get credit for your unpublished research early, increase your citations, and get feedback from the community.
Section-By-Section Writing Tips. Tips for writing a good Materials and Methods section, improving credibility and reproducibility of your manuscript. Read More ». Toggle navigation Toggle navigation. News, tips, and resources from the academic publishing experts at AJE.
Follow these 6 tips to make the most of a small amount of space. Provide clear conclusions but avoid overselling your work. Popular Categories Writing a manuscript Finishing touches Choosing a journal Peer review and publication Sharing your research Research process Publication ethics. Share with your colleagues.
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