What makes an Abstract good?

Presented by STUDENT LEARNING SUPPORT English · Academic Skills · Maths

Level 4 HSS · learningsupport@bond.edu.au

What is an abstract?

•An abstract is a summary of a paper which is to follow. It is usually printed below the title and above (or before) an article.

•In an experimental type of paper it can either be a summary of the introduction and the main conclusions, or it can be a summary of all the sections of the paper: the introduction, materials and methods, results and discussion.

Why is it important?

•Writing a really good abstract has become even more important than it was a decade ago.

•Abstracts have always served the function of "selling" your work. But now, instead of merely convincing the reader to keep reading the rest of the attached paper, it can also be used to market your research in a conference paper, journal, or to obtain a grant or research funding.

Aim of an Abstract:

Writers should follow a checklist which consists of a number of features:

•Motivation

•Problem/Statement

•Approach

•Results

•Conclusions.

Example of a good abstract

Caffeine has been considered to be a harmless stimulant drug, however it has been found to have mixed effects on performance and to produce toxic effects and symptoms of drug dependence. Varying degrees of caffeine usage have been associated with differences in caffeine metabolism. High caffeine usage has recently been found to reduce caffeine effects. This experiment aimed to examine caffeine effects on high, medium and low caffeine users performing motor and cognitive tasks. It was hypothesised that caffeine effects would be reduced in the high user groups, and that caffeine would produce negative effects in motor performance and positive effects in cognitive performance in low caffeine users. University students (163) were divided into small, medium, high user and control groups. The cognitive task proved insensitive to changes in variables. Motor task performance supported the hypothesis. A strong user effect was found. Tolerance was implicated as a confounding variable and should be controlled in future studies. (cited by Chanock, 2007)

Example of a good abstract

Caffeine has been considered to be a harmless stimulant drug, however it has been found to have mixed effects on performance and to produce toxic effects and symptoms of drug dependence. Varying degrees of caffeine usage have been associated with differences in caffeine metabolism. High caffeine usage has recently been found to reduce caffeine effects. This experiment aimed to examine caffeine effects on high, medium and low caffeine users performing motor and cognitive tasks. It was hypothesized that caffeine effects would be reduced in the high user groups, and that caffeine would produce negative effects in motor performance and positive effects in cognitive performance in low caffeine users. University students (163) were divided into small, medium, high user and control groups. The cognitive task proved insensitive to changes in variables. Motor task performance supported the hypothesis. A strong user effect was found. Tolerance was implicated as a confounding variable and should be controlled in future studies. (cited by Chanock, 2007)

Constructing the Abstract

•Say what was done and why

•How it was done

•The major things that were found

•Why is it significant?

In short, the abstract has to be able to stand alone and be understood separately from the thesis itself.

Word count limit

•Meet the word count limitation. If your abstract runs too long, it will either be rejected, or someone will cut it down to get it to the right size.

•An abstract word limit of 150 to 200 words is standard for publications and conference papers. However, for a thesis, an abstract can be longer, such as 300-400 words.

Process of Writing an

Abstract

The actual process of writing an abstract

will force you to:

•Do it in dot point form first

•Check that you have included the following:

–justify and clearly state your aims

–show how your methodology fits the aims

–highlight the major findings

–and to determine the significance of what you have done.

Process of Writing

an Abstract

•Make the first sentence interesting and to the point

•Be careful of repetitive wording, repetition of ideas and using too many linkers.

•Concise is good

•Get a friend to read it and if they’ve got any questions you’re probably missing info

•If your abstract is too long, ignore it for a while and look at it again later

•Remember it’s a summary and it’s got to make a good first impression