At a loss for words?
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Writing Abstracts
What Is an Abstract?
A concise description of a longer document,
which…
 highlights the major points
 describes the content and scope of the
document
 reviews the contents of the document in a
restricted form
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Audience
Researchers
Conference organizers
Conference attendees
Readers of articles, posters, or
reports
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Uses for Abstracts
Researchers use databases of
abstracts to decide which documents
they should read more closely.
Organizers decide who should be on
the conference program.
Attendees read abstracts on a
program to decide what to attend.
Readers decide whether to continue
reading an article, poster,
or report.
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Not All Abstracts Are Alike
Descriptive vs. Informative
Check the style guide or the instructions
to authors for the conference or
publication you are targeting. They may
have specific guidelines and may instruct
you to include additional information.
http://images.amazon.com/image
s/P/160329024
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Descriptive
Informative
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Descriptive Abstracts
• Introduce the subject in 70-200 words
• Include the purpose, methods (or theoretical
construction), and scope of the work
• Could use the IM of IMRAD (Introduction,
Method, Results, and Discussion)
• Omit results, conclusions, recommendations
• Key phrases: “This paper reports”; “It
includes”; “It summarizes”
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This study investigated the effectiveness of
Calibrated Peer Review (CPR ) ™ in a senior-level
biochemistry class for improving students’ ability to
write scientific abstracts. The CPR process for
feedback was compared with Teaching Assistantgenerated feedback. Statistical analyses of three
assignments by 50 students and a separate analysis
of the abstract written by 256 students were used to
measure differences in writing quality for each type
of feedback.
From: “Development of Student Writing in Biochemistry Using Calibrated Peer Review,” by Yasha Hartberg, Adelet Baris
Gunersel, Nancy Simpson and Valerie Balester, Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. 2008.
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This dissertation examines the impacts of social movements through a
multi‐layered study of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement from its
peak in the early 1960s through the early 1980s. By examining this
historically important case, I clarify the process by which movements
transform social structures and the constraints movements face when they
try to do so. The time period studied includes the expansion of voting
rights and gains in black political power, the desegregation of public
schools and the emergence of white‐flight academies, and the rise and fall
of federal anti‐poverty programs. I use two major research strategies: (1) a
quantitative analysis of county‐level data and (2) three case studies. Data
have been collected from archives, interviews, newspapers, and published
reports. This dissertation challenges the argument that movements are
inconsequential. Some view federal agencies, courts, political parties, or
economic elites as the agents driving institutional change, but typically
these groups acted in response to the leverage brought to bear by the civil
rights movement. The Mississippi movement attempted to forge
independent structures for sustaining challenges to local inequities and
injustices. By propelling change in an array of local institutions,
movement infrastructures had an enduring legacy in Mississippi.
Kenneth Tait Andrews, "'Freedom is a constant struggle': The dynamics and consequences of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement,
1960‐1984" Ph.D. State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1997 DAI‐A 59/02, p. 620, Aug 1998.
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Informative Abstracts
•Include the purpose, methods (or theoretical
construction), and scope of work
•Include results, conclusions, recommendations
•Can use IMRAD as a model (Introduction,
Method, Results, and Discussion)
•Can be from a paragraph to a page or two,
depending upon the length of the original work
being abstracted
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This study investigated the effectiveness of Calibrated Peer
Review (CPR)™ in a senior-level biochemistry class to improve
students’ ability to write scientific abstracts. The writing quality
of scientific abstracts composed with feedback from CPR was
compared with the writing quality of abstracts composed with
Teaching Assistant-generated feedback. Statistical analyses of
three assignments by 50 students indicated significant
differences between CPR and Teaching Assistant feedback on
student writing quality. While scores of students who received
Teaching Assistant feedback decreased, scores of students who
used CPR improved. Students also progressed over the course of
a semester in CPR-generated measures of their reviewing
abilities.
From: “Development of Student Writing in Biochemistry Using Calibrated Peer Review,” by Yasha Hartberg, Adelet Baris
Gunersel, Nancy Simpson and Valerie Balester, Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. 2008.
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Abstract Variations
Arise from Style Requirements:
• Publisher’s Preferences
• Grant-Specific Instructions
• Conference/Organizations’ Guidelines
• Professors’ Instructions
*Check if your targeted audience has specifications
for abstracts. If so, follow those guidelines exactly!
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Abstract Variations
Ex. 1. (Journal of Nutrition)
The abstract must be a single paragraph of no more than 250 words
summarizing the relevant problem addressed by the study and the theory or
hypothesis that guided the research. The abstract should include the study
design/methodology and clear statements of the results, conclusions and
importance of the findings. Three to five key words for indexing purposes
must be listed at the end of the abstract.
Ex. 2. (Journal of Molecular and Cellular Biology)
Limit the abstract to 200 words or fewer and concisely summarize the
basic content of the paper without presenting extensive experimental
details. Avoid abbreviations and references, and do not include diagrams.
When it is essential to include a reference, use the same format as shown
for the Reference section but omit the article title. Because the abstract will
be published separately by abstracting services, it must be complete and
understandable without reference to the text.
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Texas A&M Thesis Office
Abstract Requirements
• Should be a succinct snapshot of the research.
• Should be able to stand alone, with no formal citations
or references.
• Include all of the elements of your dissertation or
thesis.
• State the problem and methods in the first paragraph.
• Subsequent paragraphs discuss research and results.
• The abstract must not be longer than 350 words.
To view a model abstract, download the Texas
A&M thesis manual found on the Texas A&M
Thesis Office web site at thesis.tamu.edu.
Guidelines for Writing Abstracts
• Make the abstract easy to read and use.
– Use familiar words. If unfamiliar words and jargon
are necessary, concisely define them.
– Only use well known abbreviations and acronyms.
– Use short sentences, but vary sentence structure so
the abstract doesn’t sound choppy.
– Use complete sentences. Don’t omit articles or other
little words in an effort to save space.
– If the abstract is more than 250 words, divide it into
several paragraphs.
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Guidelines for Writing Abstracts
• Be concise, exact, and unambiguous.
– Rephrase ideas from the original document to
condense the idea into fewer words.
– Use standard abbreviations.
– Give information only once.
– Use the past tense, unless otherwise instructed.
– Avoid prepositional phrases. Use adjectives/adverbs &
precise nouns/verbs to replace prepositional phrases.
– Use lists and parallel clauses.
• Avoid citing the work of others in the abstract,
unless the study is a replication or evaluation of
their work.
– If you must include the work of others in the abstract,
be sure to properly cite it.
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Key Words
Abstracts must contain key words about
what is essential in the main document.
Key words are used to search databases.
These are the terms the database uses to file and
retrieve the abstract.
Review your abstract for potential key words that
someone researching the topic can use.
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Qualities of a Good Abstract
• Presents the document’s purpose, method,
results, conclusion, and recommendations, in
that order
• Provides logical connections or transitions
between sentences
• Is comprehensible to a wide audience
• Is direct, concise, and clear
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Write the Draft
1. Check style guidelines.
2. Re-read the original document.
3. In each major section, highlight key information.
4. Create a single paragraph using your own words.
5. Smooth it out with transitions.
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Revise the Draft
7. Be sure you’ve included all necessary
parts. Check the abstract against the
original for accuracy.
8. Edit for wordiness. Check organization
and transitions.
9. Double check guidelines and
instructions.
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Checklist
Have you included the following?
Subject
Scope
Purpose
Methods (or other disciplinary
research process)
 Results (if required)
 Recommendations, implications, or
significance (if required)
 Key words




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Webliography
Phillip Koopman.“How to Write an Abstract.”
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/essays
abstract.html
University of Toronto.“The Abstract.”
http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/specifictypes-of-writing/abstract
University Writing Center TAMU. “Abstracts.”
http://writingcenter.tamu.edu/content/view/2/76/
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For More Help…
Visit our website or
call us to schedule
an appointment.
We can help you
write an abstract for
any context or
discipline.
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214 Evans Library | 205 West Campus Library
writingcenter.tamu.edu | 979-458-1455
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