Genres in academic writing: report abstracts writing an abstract

The abstract is the first section of the report. It usually comes after the title and before the introduction. In some subject areas, this section may be titled "summary". The abstract provides an overview of the study based on information from the other sections of the report.

Abstracts from almost all fields of study are written in a very similar way. The types of information included and their order are very conventional. The box that follows shows the typical information format of an abstract.

Introduction Introduce the study by describing the context Explain why the subject is important

↓ Purpose Describe the purpose of the study

↓ Methods Report how the study was undertaken

↓ Results Report the results that were found.

↓ Evaluation Briefly evaluate the results

↓ Conclusion Conclude briefly Explain what is important and why

A. J. Gillett, University of Hertfordshire Abstract 1During the last 10 years, use of the World-Wide-Web for educational purposes has increased dramatically. 2However, very little empirical research has been carried out to determine the effectiveness of this use. 3The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the effectiveness of using the World-Wide-Web on an EAP writing course. 4Two groups of students were taught writing by two different methods: one group was taught by a teacher in a traditional classroom, while a second group included use of an on-line web-site in their course. 5The two groups were assessed in the same way after a twelve-week period of instruction. 6Results of the assessment showed significant differences between the two groups, the group that used the on-line web-site performing much better on all aspects of the test. 7This suggests that the use of computer assisted learning programmes for at least some of the teaching time available can be recommended for EAP writing courses.

Strategies in abstract writing

I.

1. To limit the length: ideally 150 to 200 words.

2. To be written after the report is completed, although it is intended to be read first.

3. To include keywords and main phrases.

4. To paraphrase/summarize the main ideas to provide a logical statement.

5. To omit introductory explanation, definitions, background information, citations, etc.

6. To add no new information.

II. Steps of writing an abstract

A. Prewriting strategies

1. To reread the original article until with full understanding of its meaning.

2. To select the relevant information.

3. To look specifically for these main parts in the article: purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, etc.

B. Writing

1. To change the structure of the text.

a. identifying the dominant opinions.

b. changing the grammar of the text.

c. simplifying the text.

2. To rewrite the main ideas in complete sentences and combine your notes into a piece of continuous writing.

3. To eliminate wordiness.

4. To drop unnecessary information.