What Should An Abstract Contain
It cant assume or attempt to provoke the reader into flipping through looking for an explanation of what is meant by some vague statement.
What should an abstract contain. The abstract should be written as only one paragraph with no indentation. An abstract must be a fully self contained capsule description of the paper. When writing an abstract for research paper you should use simple language which can be understood by varied audience. Structure the abstract in the same order as your paper.
Even if is a one page abstract key components should be there just like the multi page paper. An abstract is a short summary of your published or unpublished research paper usually about a paragraph c. Regardless of how brief an abstract may be it is must display some essential aspect of quality writing. An abstract should be between 150 and 250 words.
The abstract allows you to elaborate upon each major aspect of the paper and helps readers decide whether they want to read the rest of the paper. An abstract should be as succinct as possible and readers should not have difficulty comprehending the purpose of the research. Your abstract will contain elements such as an introduction a few sentences that describe the main points and a conclusion. An abstract is not a review nor does it evaluate the work being abstracted.
Generally an abstract contains the thesis of research conducted the methods through which the thesis was tested the findings of the research and any final thoughts. It should include all the necessary sections each containing a single sentence though creativity is not limited. First an abstract does not present any new information that is not already included in your paper. In most cases this means the abstract should contain four key elements.
A well written abstract serves multiple purposes. 6 7 sentences 150 250 words long. It must some points to consider include. Therefore enough key information eg summary results observations trends etc must be included to make the abstract useful to someone who may want to examine your work.
An abstract of a humanities work may contain the thesis background and conclusion of the larger work. In order to reach many people you should avoid too technical words in your abstract for research paper. If you are writing your paper for a psychology course your professor may have specific word requirements so be sure to ask. To get a brief and attractive abstract for research paper you should only include the most important information.
An abstract lets readers get the gist or essence of your paper or article quickly in order to decide whether to read the full paper. Exact word counts vary from journal to journal. The easiest approach to writing an abstract is to imitate the structure of the larger work think of it as a miniature version of your dissertation or research paper.