Abstract

A scientific abstract is a short description of a research effort. Abstracts are written and published for full-length journal articles, as well as for oral presentations (including seminars and poster sessions). The purpose of an abstract is to allow a person who might read your journal article or attend your seminar to find out about the research that will be presented. The abstract must contain enough information to allow someone to decide whether or not to read the article or attend the presentation.

In the abstract you should:

  1. briefly state the problem or the purpose of the research
  2. indicate the experimental plan and methods used (scope of your investigation),
  3. summarize the principal results, and
  4. point out major conclusions.

The abstract should be concisely written.  For scientific journals, the length could be two sentences, or it could be many more, depending on the subject matter and the length of the presentation.  For IB extended essays, it is 300 words.  For most of your research, you should be able to write an abstract in about 100 words.

Although the abstract appears as the first section in a research paper, most scientists write the abstract last.
 

Rules for Abstract Writing

  • Include a short, descriptive title.
  • Keep it short and concise. (1 paragraph, 100-200 words, is probably appropriate.)
  • Summarize your research—experimental methods, observations, results, and conclusions. (Summarize important information. No details. Avoid repeating information given in the title.)
  • Don’t cite sources/references in the abstract.
  • Do not refer to references, tables, figures, or parts of the research that are not part of the abstract itself.
  • Use scientific names and standard systematic nomenclature.
  • Use only standard abbreviations in your abstract.
  • Do not refer to tables or figures that are not in your abstract.
  • Use past passive voice with action verbs when appropriate.
  • Do not include personal opinion or evaluations about the research.
  • Make the abstract easy to read. Make clear connections between sentences and proof read for clarity and accuracy of language when you’re done.


Here are some examples of Abstracts.

Here is the Assessment Rubric that may be used to assess an Abstract.

Helpful web links:
http://www.washington.edu/oue/summer_institute/writing.html
http://www.pls.uni.edu/couch/abstracts.htm

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