The Scientific Abstract and
Proposal Summaries
Types of Summaries
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Title
Table of Contents
Outline
Executive summary
Scientific abstract
Proposal summary
Properties of the Scientific
Abstract
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It’s short
Does not use first person
Usually written as a single paragraph
(unless it is an “extended abstract”)
Written for the same audience as the
article (same level of technical language)
Summarizes the major points of the
methods, results, conclusions
Does not include bibliographic citations
When are abstracts used?
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Journal articles
Conference proceedings
Book chapters of edited,
compendium volumes
How is an abstract written?
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First identify the major points from the
article
Next, determine what information is
crucial to establish those points
Write down the conclusions
Rewrite all of the above in narrative form
in the following order:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Introductory statement
Research methodology
Results or other main points
Concluding statement that explains the
meaning of the results
The Extended Abstract
It’s like a mini-paper
 Often used for conference
proceedings
 Exceeds one page
 Has headings
 Can contain figures, bibliographic
citations, acknowledgements
Active vs. Passive Voice?
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Active: “We measured surface roughness
using airborne laser altimetry”
Passive “Surface roughness was
measured using airborne laser altimetry”
Rule of thumb:
 Use active voice unless the passive form
will save on the number of words
Index Terms
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These are the keywords that typically
follow the abstract
They are used by library and journal
search engines (not Google-style)
The terms should exactly match
terms that are used in the abstract
They should be specific
Typically you’ll want to choose 4-10
terms
The Proposal Summary
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A one-page summary
Use non-technical language that can be
understood by a well-educated nonscientist
The summary should follow the same
organizational format as the proposal itself
and can be used as a roadmap for what
follows
Use separate sections with headings
Avoid using first person