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How to write a winning research proposal: a step-by-step guide.

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When learning how to write a research proposal, it is important to start with a detailed plan that outlines the objectives, methodology, and significance of a research project. A research proposal is a crucial document for securing funding, gaining approval from academic committees, or outlining a structured plan for personal research endeavours. Crafting a compelling research proposal requires a clear understanding of the subject matter, a well-defined research question, and a meticulous approach to planning and presenting your research. This article will explore how to write a winning research proposal and how to navigate the challenges associated with it.

Understanding the Components of a Research Proposal

A well-structured research proposal typically includes several key components. Each section serves a specific purpose and contributes to the overall coherence and persuasiveness of the proposal.

The title of your research proposal should be concise, descriptive, and indicative of the main research question or hypothesis. A well-crafted title captures the essence of the study and draws the reader’s attention.

2. Abstract

The abstract is a brief summary of the research proposal, usually no more than 250 words. It should provide an overview of the research problem, objectives, methodology, and potential implications. The abstract should be clear and succinct, giving readers a quick understanding of what the proposal entails.

3. Introduction

The introduction sets the stage for your research by providing background information on the topic, outlining the research problem, and stating the research objectives. This section should:

• Introduce the topic: Provide context and explain why the topic is important.
• State the research problem: Clearly define the issue or gap in knowledge that your research aims to address.
• Outline the research objectives: Specify the aims of your research and the questions you intend to answer.

4. Literature Review

The literature review demonstrates your understanding of the existing research on your topic. This section should:

• Summarise relevant studies: Discuss key findings from previous research that relate to your topic.
• Identify gaps: Highlight areas where further research is needed.
• Justify your research: Explain how your study will contribute to the existing body of knowledge.

5. Research Methodology

The methodology section outlines the research design and the methods you will use to collect and analyse data. This section should include:

• Research design: Describe whether your study is qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods.
• Data collection methods: Detail how you will gather data (e.g., surveys, interviews, experiments).
• Data analysis methods: Explain how you will analyse the data (e.g., statistical analysis, thematic analysis).
• Ethical considerations: Address any ethical issues related to your research and how you will handle them.

6. Research Plan and Timeline

Provide a detailed plan of the research activities and a timeline for completing each phase of the project. This section should demonstrate that your research is feasible within the given timeframe.

7. Budget (if applicable)

If you are seeking funding, include a budget that outlines the estimated costs of your research. Be specific about how funds will be allocated (e.g., equipment, travel, participant incentives).

8. Expected Outcomes and Impact

Discuss the potential outcomes of your research and its significance. Explain how your findings could contribute to the field, inform policy, or have practical applications.

9. References

List all the sources you cited in your proposal. Use a consistent and appropriate citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago).

Tips for Writing a Strong Research Proposal

Be clear and concise.

Use clear and straightforward language. Avoid jargon and complex sentences that might confuse readers. Aim for clarity and precision in explaining your research.

Stay Focused

Ensure that your proposal remains focused on the research question and objectives. Avoid including irrelevant information that does not contribute to the understanding of your proposed study.

Demonstrate Feasibility

Provide a realistic assessment of what can be achieved within the given timeframe and resources. Be honest about the scope of your research and any potential limitations.

Edit and Proofread

Your proposal must be clear, concise, and logically organised, following all rules of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and referencing. Adhere to the specific format and style required by your funding source or institution. Proofread your proposal multiple times, ideally with the help of a colleague or mentor, to identify and correct any mistakes or inconsistencies. Enhance the proposal’s structure, flow, and language to improve its overall quality. Ensure your proposal is compelling, engaging, and professionally presented.

Writing a research proposal is a critical step in the research process. It requires careful planning, a thorough understanding of the topic, and a clear presentation of your research plan. By following the structure outlined in this guide and paying attention to detail, you can craft a compelling research proposal that effectively communicates your ideas and secures the necessary support for your research.

At Unicaf , we offer comprehensive courses and resources to help you develop your research skills and succeed in your academic and professional endeavours. Explore our programmes today and take the next step in your research journey.

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How to Start a Research Paper: A Comprehensive Guide

Starting a research paper can feel overwhelming, especially if you're new to the process. This guide will walk you through each step, from picking a topic to polishing your final draft. By breaking down the process into manageable parts, you'll find it easier to stay organized and focused. Let's dive in and make your research paper a success!

Key Takeaways

• Choose a topic that interests you and has enough resources available.
• Formulate a clear research question to guide your study.
• Conduct a thorough literature review to understand existing research.
• Develop a detailed research plan, including methodology and timeline.
• Ensure proper citation to maintain academic integrity.

Choosing a Research Topic

Choosing a research topic is a crucial first step in writing a research paper. It sets the foundation for your entire project . Here are some key steps to help you choose the right topic.

Formulating a Research Question

Understanding the Importance of a Research Question

A well-defined research question is the cornerstone of any successful research paper. It acts as a compass, guiding your study and ensuring that you stay on track. Without a clear research question, your paper may lack focus and coherence. This question helps you narrow down your topic and provides a clear direction for your research.

Techniques for Crafting a Strong Research Question

To craft a strong research question, start by identifying a specific issue or problem within your topic. Use the following steps:

• Identify a gap in the existing literature or a problem that needs solving.
• Make sure your question is clear and concise, avoiding vague terms.
• Ensure that your question is researchable within the scope of your resources and time.
• Align your question with your research objectives to maintain focus.

Aligning the Research Question with Objectives

Your research question should align closely with your research objectives. This alignment ensures that every part of your study is interconnected and supports your overall goals. A well-aligned research question not only clarifies your study's purpose but also helps in structuring your paper effectively.

Conducting a Literature Review

Gathering relevant sources.

Start by collecting sources that are related to your research topic. Use libraries, online databases, and academic journals to find books, articles, and papers. Skimming sources instead of reading each one fully can save you time. If a source seems useful, set it aside for a more in-depth read later.

Analyzing Existing Research

Once you have gathered your sources, read through them and take notes on key points. Pay attention to different viewpoints and how they relate to your research question. This will help you understand the current state of research in your field. To elevate your essay , start with a comprehensive literature review to ground your work in relevant scholarship.

Identifying Research Gaps

Look for areas that haven't been explored or questions that haven't been answered in the existing research. These gaps can provide a direction for your own research and make your thesis more valuable. Defining your research question and following a methodical process to synthesize findings is crucial. This step is essential in the steps in the literature review process .

Developing a Research Plan

Creating a solid research plan is crucial for the success of your thesis. It helps you stay organized and ensures that you cover all necessary aspects of your research.

Writing the Thesis Introduction

Starting your thesis introduction can be daunting, but it's crucial for setting the stage for your research. Establishing the context for your study helps readers understand the background and significance of your work. This section should provide a clear overview of what your thesis will cover, making it easier for readers to follow your arguments.

Establishing Context

Begin by providing some background information on your topic. This helps to set the stage and gives your readers a sense of what to expect. Make sure to include relevant literature and previous studies to show how your research fits into the existing body of work. This is essential for demonstrating the importance of your research .

Crafting a Thesis Statement

Your thesis statement is the heart of your introduction. Typically, it is placed at the end of the introductory paragraph. This statement should succinctly present the main argument or focus of your thesis, guiding the reader on what to expect. A clear and concise thesis statement is crucial for a strong introduction.

Providing an Overview of the Study

Finally, outline the structure of your thesis. This roadmap will help readers navigate through your work, knowing what each section will address. By clearly presenting the layout, you reduce thesis anxiety and make your research more accessible.

Choosing a Research Methodology

Choosing the right research methodology is crucial for the success of your study. It determines how you will collect and analyze data, and ultimately, how you will answer your research question. Here are some key points to consider when selecting a methodology.

Qualitative vs. Quantitative Methods

First, decide whether your research will be qualitative, quantitative, or a mix of both. Qualitative research focuses on understanding concepts, thoughts, or experiences. It often involves interviews, focus groups, or content analysis. On the other hand, quantitative research aims to quantify the problem by way of generating numerical data or data that can be transformed into usable statistics. This often involves surveys, experiments, or secondary data analysis.

Selecting Data Collection Tools

Once you've chosen between qualitative and quantitative methods, the next step is to select the appropriate data collection tools. For qualitative research, you might use interviews, focus groups, or observational methods. For quantitative research, consider surveys, experiments, or existing datasets. The choice of tools should align with your research objectives and the type of data you need to collect.

Justifying Methodological Choices

Finally, it's essential to justify your methodological choices. Explain why the selected methods are suitable for your research and how they will help you achieve your objectives. This step is crucial for gaining approval from stakeholders and ensuring the success of your project. Make sure to address any potential limitations and how you plan to mitigate them.

Organizing Research Materials

Creating a categorization system.

To start, you need a system to categorize your research materials. This can be as simple as using folders on your computer or as advanced as specialized software. Organizing your notes into categories helps you find information quickly. You can use sticky notes or a mind map to group related ideas. This step is crucial for keeping your research structured and accessible.

Using Reference Management Software

Using reference management software like Zotero or Mendeley can save you a lot of time. These tools help you keep track of your sources and format citations correctly. They also allow you to create a library of references that you can easily search through. This is especially useful when you need to cite sources in your paper.

Synthesizing Information

Synthesizing information means combining ideas from different sources to create a comprehensive understanding of your topic. Look for common themes, debates, and gaps in the literature. This will help you formulate a strong research question and provide a solid foundation for your thesis. Summarizing and integrating findings from various sources will make your research more robust and credible.

Drafting the Research Paper

Writing the First Draft

Once your outline is ready, it's time to start writing your first draft. This is the longest step, but if you've prepared well, it should go smoothly. Begin with your thesis statement and then fill out the introduction with secondary information. The body of your paper will contain the bulk of your research, divided into sections with headers for easy navigation. Don't worry about perfection at this stage ; focus on getting your ideas down .

Incorporating Feedback

After completing your first draft, seek feedback from your supervisor and peers . Their insights can help you see your work from different perspectives and identify areas for improvement. Revising is a continuous process of re-seeing your writing, considering larger issues like focus, organization, and audience.

Polishing the Final Draft

Finally, polish your final draft. Pay attention to grammar, punctuation, and formatting. Ensure that your thesis is clear, concise, and free of errors. This step is crucial for making a strong impression and effectively communicating your research findings.

Maintaining Academic Integrity

Proper citation practices.

Proper citation is essential to uphold academic integrity. Always give credit to the original authors of the sources you use. This not only helps you avoid plagiarism but also strengthens your arguments by backing them up with credible sources. Citing your sources correctly is a fundamental aspect of academic writing.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious offense in the academic world. It involves using someone else's work without giving them credit. To avoid plagiarism, make sure to paraphrase correctly and use quotation marks when directly quoting someone. Utilize plagiarism detection tools to ensure your work is original.

Ensuring Credibility of Sources

Using credible sources is crucial for the integrity of your research. Evaluate the reliability of your sources by checking the author's credentials and the publication's reputation. Credible sources add weight to your arguments and help you build a strong foundation for your research.

Effective Data Collection and Analysis

Choosing data collection methods.

Selecting the right data collection methods is crucial for the success of your research. Consider methods such as surveys, interviews, or experiments based on your research needs. Aligning data collection techniques with research needs ensures relevant and robust findings.

Analyzing Collected Data

Once you have gathered your data, the next step is to analyze it accurately . Use statistical tools and software to help you interpret the data. Create tables and graphs to illustrate your findings clearly. This will help you present your results in a structured and understandable way.

Interpreting Results

Interpreting your results is an essential part of your thesis. Discuss how your findings relate to your research questions and the existing literature. Highlight the significance of your analyses and the reliability of your findings. This will help you draw meaningful conclusions and provide valuable insights into your research topic.

Revising and Editing the Research Paper

Reviewing for clarity and coherence.

When revising your research paper, focus on ensuring that your ideas are clear and logically organized. Each section should flow smoothly into the next, and your arguments should be well-structured. Reading your paper out loud can help you catch issues that you might miss when reading silently. Additionally, consider having someone else review your paper to provide a fresh perspective.

Addressing Feedback

Incorporating feedback is a crucial part of the revision process. Share your draft with peers, mentors, or advisors and be open to their suggestions. Addressing feedback can help you identify areas for improvement and strengthen your arguments. Remember, revising is a continuous process of refining your work.

Final Proofreading

The final step in the editing process is proofreading. This involves checking for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Use tools like spellcheckers or digital writing assistants to help with this task. Ensure that your paper follows the required formatting guidelines and that all citations are correctly formatted. A well-proofread paper enhances the credibility of your research.

Revising and editing your research paper can be a daunting task, but it doesn't have to be. Our step-by-step guides make the process simple and stress-free. Whether you're stuck on where to start or need help polishing your final draft, we've got you covered. Visit our website to discover how our resources can help you achieve academic success.

Starting a research paper might seem overwhelming, but breaking it down into manageable steps can make the process much easier. From selecting a topic that interests you to organizing your research and drafting your paper, each step is crucial for success. Remember to stay focused on your research question, use reliable sources, and keep your writing clear and concise. By following these guidelines, you'll be well on your way to crafting a compelling and informative research paper. Good luck, and don't hesitate to seek help if you need it!

Frequently Asked Questions

How do i choose a research topic.

Start by thinking about what interests you. Pick a topic that you find fun and fulfilling. This will keep you motivated throughout your research. Make a list of subjects you enjoy and see how they can relate to your field of study.

Why is a research question important?

A research question guides your study and keeps you focused. It helps you set specific goals and determine the direction of your research.

What is a literature review?

A literature review involves gathering and analyzing existing research on your topic. It helps you understand what has already been studied and identify gaps that your research can fill.

How do I create a research plan?

Start by outlining your methodology, creating a timeline, and allocating resources effectively. A solid plan helps you stay organized and ensures you cover all necessary aspects of your research.

What should be included in a thesis introduction?

Your introduction should establish the context for your study, present your thesis statement, and provide an overview of what your thesis will cover.

How do I choose the right research methodology?

Decide whether to use qualitative or quantitative methods, select appropriate data collection tools, and justify your choices based on your research goals.

What are proper citation practices?

Always give credit to the original authors of the sources you use. Use a consistent citation style and ensure all sources are properly cited to avoid plagiarism.

How do I revise and edit my research paper?

Review for clarity and coherence, address feedback from peers or advisors, and do a final proofreading to catch any errors.

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How to Publish a Research Paper in a Journal (According to Published High Schoolers)

By Tom Gurin

Fulbright Scholar; music composer, historian, and educator

10 minute read

SCHOLARS IN THIS ARTICLE:

Abigail Bogdanovsky - Published in Curieux Academic Journal

Claire Loftus - Published in Curieux Academic Journal

Suraga Nallan - Published in the Journal of Emerging Investigators

Surabi Bhaskar - Published in Curieux Academic Journal

“As a rising sophomore, I didn’t have any experience publishing papers. The thought of publishing a paper seemed daunting to me, but ultimately it was not. My mentor was able to share his expertise and experience with me in publishing papers.” -Claire

The double process of writing a research paper and then getting it published can feel terrifying, especially your first time going through it. But research shouldn’t be scary, it should be about finding and diving into your academic passions! Conducting and publishing research contributes valuable knowledge to a global community of scholars. High school students who sign up for Polygence benefit from dual-pronged support in conducting research and showcasing their hard work through peer-reviewed journals, such as the National High School Journal of Science .

In this article, we’ll hear from real high schoolers as they break down the step-by-step process for conducting and publishing your own original research. It’s not easy, but it’s less intimidating than you might think!

Do your own research through Polygence!

Polygence pairs you with an expert mentor in your area of passion. Together, you work to create a high quality research project that is uniquely your own.

Step 1: Connect with a Mentor

“My mentor was very helpful in guiding me in the right direction, accessing papers for me, simplifying things I didn't understand and making sure I was never overwhelmed with the project… Polygence was super helpful with publishing. I had no idea what I was doing and without a mentor, I would have definitely been a lot more stressed…. I also had no idea what this project entailed when I started and my mentor explained everything thoroughly and helped walk me through what was required step by step.” -Abigail

Importance of Mentors for Research

If you’re reading this article, then you’re ready to take your first step toward publishing your research paper by finding and connecting with a mentor! While there is no universal rule stating that research can’t be a solo mission, 99% of the time, researchers are not working in a vacuum on their own. Researchers have support from teammates and colleagues, and, most importantly, they receive guidance from mentors. Undergraduates, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, even accomplished professional researchers, and tenured faculty receive guidance from mentors within their fields. High school research is no different in this respect. Even though it’s possible to conduct and showcase original research on your own as a high schooler, receiving high-quality mentorship will take your research to the next level, empowering you to produce and publish an original research paper that you will be proud of for years to come.

Tips for Finding and Connecting with a Great Mentor

Identifying and connecting with a dedicated mentor who is also an expert in your field can be challenging. When contacting potential mentors, keep in mind what you are hoping to get out of that mentor/mentee relationship. Communicate the aspects of research where you feel confident, as well as the areas where you feel less sure and could use some support. Demonstrating that you are excited about contributing original research to your field and that you are eager for constructive feedback is a great way to set the right tone. If you are still looking for your perfect mentor, Polygence works with hundreds of expert researchers, all of whom are passionate about supporting young scholars. Let us connect you with your mentor match!

Your Own Engineering Project - Ready, Set, Go!

Polygence pairs you with an expert engineering mentor in your area of passion. Together, you work to create a high quality research project that is uniquely your own. We also offer options to explore multiple topics, or to showcase your final product!

Step 2: Develop Your Research Question

“I have become adept at identifying and analyzing literature for my work… My experience with Polygence was immensely helpful in developing both my research and writing skills. Now, as a college student working in a lab, I am able to apply these skills in both classroom and lab settings.” -Sarubi

Understand Existing Research

The very last thing you want is to find yourself halfway amid your final round of experiments, only to realize that the research topic you chose was too broad, or that others have studied it before in great depth. To make sure this doesn’t happen, and to set yourself up for a successful project in general, it’s important to familiarize yourself with existing research before designing your own experiments. Your mentor can help you find, access, and understand relevant and recent literature within your field. 

Select a Research Topic

Once you and your mentor have explored the existing literature and understand the current state of the field, it’s time to develop a research question or find a gap in the research or an opportunity to contribute your own data. For example, many research papers conclude with ideas or suggestions for further research. If you read any articles from the past two or three years that interest you, take a look at their conclusions and ask your mentor whether it would be feasible to accomplish a portion of what the authors suggest. A great research topic should be:

The goal is to contribute new information or novel connections to the scholarly community.

Robust but feasible

Your topic should be significant but not overwhelming. The research should be important but possible to accomplish within your time frame.

Something you are passionate about

Selecting a topic that you are deeply interested in will make the entire process much more meaningful and enjoyable.

Step 3: Research!

This step will depend on your chosen topic and the plan that you and your mentor develop together. Once complete, we can move on to step 4!

Step 4: Write a Draft of Your Manuscript

“The publication process was quite long... My mentor really helped me figure out how to design an experiment, how to write a paper, and how to make edits.” -Suraga

“One tip I would give is: don’t go into a project hoping to publish in a specific journal. Being able to publish in any journal is an accomplishment that you should be proud of. Additionally, I think that it is important that students write what they want to, and not to impress these journals.” -Claire

“In AP Bio, we had to write many lab reports and the format was very similar to my research paper. It made the lab reports feel not too difficult because I understood the step-by-step process of how to write them.” -Abigail

Once you've completed the research, experimentation, and/or data collection phase of your project, it’s time to start writing. After all, scholarship is a community, and it’s important to clearly communicate your findings so that others can continue to make progress in your field. During manuscript preparation, you will need to carefully organize and present your research data in a way that is both clear and compelling. Some scholars recommend going ahead and identifying your top choice through an academic journal before you even begin writing your paper. That strategy has the advantage in terms of familiarization with the preferred style, format, length, etc., and of the journal you wish to publish in. However, based on input from high school scholars who have been published in these journals, having a particular publication in mind can distract from the writing process, particularly if it’s your first time putting together an original research paper. They suggest taking the process one step at a time, focusing on writing the best manuscript possible and getting frequent feedback from your mentor. Once you have a draft of your manuscript, there will be time to tailor your academic paper to a specific journal during the revision process.

Manuscript Writing Tips for Clarity and Impact

Each field is different. Consult peer-reviewed journals in your field for ideas on how to structure your writing, how to perform data analyses, and how to present your findings.

For scientific papers, your hypothesis should always be constructed based on results from published literature.

The style of writing in most research papers is very dry. Use simple sentence structures, and don’t be afraid to say the same thing twice — in the same way — if that’s what you mean. If you catch yourself reaching for synonyms in search of new ways to rephrase the same idea, remember that academic writing prioritizes clarity above all else. Unnecessarily mixing up your wording can be confusing and obstruct readers’ comprehension of your meaning.

Step 5: Select Your Top Choice Journal During the Revision Process

“My mentor helped me make a list of different places I could send my paper too. Polygence has a platform which shows a bunch of journals to which you can publish and which can align with the subject of the paper you wrote.” -Abigail

Once you feel that your paper is coming into focus, it may be helpful to begin looking for journals that would be good matches for your submission. Remember: ethical research practices dictate that you should only submit your work to one journal at a time. 

Choosing the Right Journal

With your mentor, browse the recent issues from various publications that accept submissions from high schoolers conducting research work in your field. For each publication, learn about the journal’s scope, its audience, its impact factor, and its acceptance rate. Next, create a ranking of your top three or four that seem to be well-aligned with your work and your goals. Make note of the submission requirements for your top choice journal (for instance, some journals specify a maximum number of works cited per article) and the types of papers that they tend to publish. As you fine-tune your paper, keep in mind their stated requirements and your own observations from recent issues.

Step 6: Submit Your Manuscript

“A takeaway would be to be patient because the process to hear back can be kind of long and it is stressful not knowing. But always know that you can resubmit somewhere else if your first attempt doesn't work out.” -Abigail

“It was definitely a strenuous process, but I learned that the reality for any level researcher, from amateur to seasoned, is ultimately that your work is bound to be rejected, but as long as you revise and keep submitting, eventually your work will align with the interests of a publication. Thanks to Polygence, I had my mentor to support me through the process and encourage me to keep pushing until we found success…” -Sarubi

Patience is Key

Waiting is arguably the hardest part of the publication process. Once you submit your paper to a suitable journal, typical response times vary from a few weeks to a few months, depending on their publication timeline, their backlog, and their review process. Stay patient and stay positive. If your article is not accepted, don’t be discouraged. Resilience and openness to feedback are crucial ingredients to finding success in academic publishing. There are plenty of reasons for a journal to reject a paper, even if the research is solid and the article is well-written. If your top choice journal passes on your article, simply work with your mentor to prepare it for submission in another one on your list.

Step 7: Your Article’s Been Accepted — Congrats! Now What?

Having your article accepted by a journal is a great accomplishment, but the process is still not over! Be prepared to go through a few more rounds of revision and editing, which can take several more weeks or even months. Throughout this final revision and editing process, expect to receive detailed feedback from peer reviewers and other scholars. Depending on the journal, these readers could be high schoolers, undergraduate students, graduate students, or and/or professional researchers.

Responding to Critical Feedback

Receiving and responding to critical feedback on your work can be challenging, especially when the paper has been finished — in your opinion — for months. Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind if and when you receive comments on your paper that you disagree with.

Do not respond immediately. If possible, take some time to reflect on the criticisms. Sleep on it, if you can.

Remember that your reviewers are on your team. Sometimes, direct feedback can come across as harsh, but don’t take it personally. Their goal is simply to help you publish the best possible version of your article.

Keep an open mind. Openness to feedback is necessary when engaging with the scholarly community, and the best writers tend to be the ones who genuinely welcome and take advantage of the constructive criticism they receive.

Try your best to understand where the suggestions are coming from. Even if you disagree with a critique, understanding why a reviewer perceives a weak point in your paper can give you ideas to strengthen your work throughout.

Say, thank you. Always respond to feedback graciously and politely.

Long-Term Benefits of Publishing a Research Paper

“The biggest benefit of publishing my work is knowing that my research paper is out in the world helping others learn. Through this project, I have also gotten more familiar with the process of writing a research paper. Specifically, what content to include, how it should be structured, and editing. I know that this skill will serve me throughout the rest of my life.” -Claire

Publishing a research paper in high school can have a lasting positive impact. In addition to the satisfaction that comes with active participation in the scholarly community, you’ll learn from your mentor about the process of conducting research in your chosen field, as well as how to write effective journal articles in an academic style. These skills will be beneficial throughout your academic career, particularly if you are interested in continuing to conduct research at the undergraduate level. Finally, authoring an article that is published in an academic journal can help demonstrate intellectual curiosity and resilience in your applications to colleges and universities.

Polygence Scholars Are Also Passionate About

How polygence can help.

Polygence supports high schoolers throughout the entire process of conducting and publishing original, independent research. Over your chosen timeline, you’ll develop and accomplish your own original research project with personalized guidance from a dedicated expert mentor in your field. Once you’ve completed your research, you’ll receive tailored feedback as you draft, revise, and edit a research paper that you’ll be proud to show off. Polygence also offers premium showcasing support , giving you a boost of confidence as you and your manuscript step into the world of academic publishing.

Original research is about stepping into the unknown. For high schoolers, producing and publishing an original research paper on your own can feel overwhelming. Having the right mentor on your team can give you confidence that you’re going in the right direction as you discover, explore, and share your passion for research.

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• How to Write an Abstract | Steps & Examples

How to Write an Abstract | Steps & Examples

Published on February 28, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on July 18, 2023 by Eoghan Ryan.

An abstract is a short summary of a longer work (such as a thesis ,  dissertation or research paper ). The abstract concisely reports the aims and outcomes of your research, so that readers know exactly what your paper is about.

Although the structure may vary slightly depending on your discipline, your abstract should describe the purpose of your work, the methods you’ve used, and the conclusions you’ve drawn.

One common way to structure your abstract is to use the IMRaD structure. This stands for:

• Introduction

Abstracts are usually around 100–300 words, but there’s often a strict word limit, so make sure to check the relevant requirements.

In a dissertation or thesis , include the abstract on a separate page, after the title page and acknowledgements but before the table of contents .

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Table of contents

Abstract example, when to write an abstract, step 1: introduction, step 2: methods, step 3: results, step 4: discussion, tips for writing an abstract, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about abstracts.

Hover over the different parts of the abstract to see how it is constructed.

This paper examines the role of silent movies as a mode of shared experience in the US during the early twentieth century. At this time, high immigration rates resulted in a significant percentage of non-English-speaking citizens. These immigrants faced numerous economic and social obstacles, including exclusion from public entertainment and modes of discourse (newspapers, theater, radio).

Incorporating evidence from reviews, personal correspondence, and diaries, this study demonstrates that silent films were an affordable and inclusive source of entertainment. It argues for the accessible economic and representational nature of early cinema. These concerns are particularly evident in the low price of admission and in the democratic nature of the actors’ exaggerated gestures, which allowed the plots and action to be easily grasped by a diverse audience despite language barriers.

Keywords: silent movies, immigration, public discourse, entertainment, early cinema, language barriers.

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You will almost always have to include an abstract when:

• Completing a thesis or dissertation
• Submitting a research paper to an academic journal
• Writing a book or research proposal
• Applying for research grants

It’s easiest to write your abstract last, right before the proofreading stage, because it’s a summary of the work you’ve already done. Your abstract should:

• Be a self-contained text, not an excerpt from your paper
• Be fully understandable on its own
• Reflect the structure of your larger work

Start by clearly defining the purpose of your research. What practical or theoretical problem does the research respond to, or what research question did you aim to answer?

You can include some brief context on the social or academic relevance of your dissertation topic , but don’t go into detailed background information. If your abstract uses specialized terms that would be unfamiliar to the average academic reader or that have various different meanings, give a concise definition.

After identifying the problem, state the objective of your research. Use verbs like “investigate,” “test,” “analyze,” or “evaluate” to describe exactly what you set out to do.

This part of the abstract can be written in the present or past simple tense  but should never refer to the future, as the research is already complete.

• This study will investigate the relationship between coffee consumption and productivity.
• This study investigates the relationship between coffee consumption and productivity.

Next, indicate the research methods that you used to answer your question. This part should be a straightforward description of what you did in one or two sentences. It is usually written in the past simple tense, as it refers to completed actions.

• Structured interviews will be conducted with 25 participants.
• Structured interviews were conducted with 25 participants.

Don’t evaluate validity or obstacles here — the goal is not to give an account of the methodology’s strengths and weaknesses, but to give the reader a quick insight into the overall approach and procedures you used.

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Next, summarize the main research results . This part of the abstract can be in the present or past simple tense.

• Our analysis has shown a strong correlation between coffee consumption and productivity.
• Our analysis shows a strong correlation between coffee consumption and productivity.
• Our analysis showed a strong correlation between coffee consumption and productivity.

Depending on how long and complex your research is, you may not be able to include all results here. Try to highlight only the most important findings that will allow the reader to understand your conclusions.

Finally, you should discuss the main conclusions of your research : what is your answer to the problem or question? The reader should finish with a clear understanding of the central point that your research has proved or argued. Conclusions are usually written in the present simple tense.

• We concluded that coffee consumption increases productivity.
• We conclude that coffee consumption increases productivity.

If there are important limitations to your research (for example, related to your sample size or methods), you should mention them briefly in the abstract. This allows the reader to accurately assess the credibility and generalizability of your research.

If your aim was to solve a practical problem, your discussion might include recommendations for implementation. If relevant, you can briefly make suggestions for further research.

If your paper will be published, you might have to add a list of keywords at the end of the abstract. These keywords should reference the most important elements of the research to help potential readers find your paper during their own literature searches.

Be aware that some publication manuals, such as APA Style , have specific formatting requirements for these keywords.

It can be a real challenge to condense your whole work into just a couple of hundred words, but the abstract will be the first (and sometimes only) part that people read, so it’s important to get it right. These strategies can help you get started.

Read other abstracts

The best way to learn the conventions of writing an abstract in your discipline is to read other people’s. You probably already read lots of journal article abstracts while conducting your literature review —try using them as a framework for structure and style.

You can also find lots of dissertation abstract examples in thesis and dissertation databases .

Reverse outline

Not all abstracts will contain precisely the same elements. For longer works, you can write your abstract through a process of reverse outlining.

For each chapter or section, list keywords and draft one to two sentences that summarize the central point or argument. This will give you a framework of your abstract’s structure. Next, revise the sentences to make connections and show how the argument develops.

Write clearly and concisely

A good abstract is short but impactful, so make sure every word counts. Each sentence should clearly communicate one main point.

To keep your abstract or summary short and clear:

• Avoid passive sentences: Passive constructions are often unnecessarily long. You can easily make them shorter and clearer by using the active voice.
• Avoid long sentences: Substitute longer expressions for concise expressions or single words (e.g., “In order to” for “To”).
• Avoid obscure jargon: The abstract should be understandable to readers who are not familiar with your topic.
• Avoid repetition and filler words: Replace nouns with pronouns when possible and eliminate unnecessary words.
• Avoid detailed descriptions: An abstract is not expected to provide detailed definitions, background information, or discussions of other scholars’ work. Instead, include this information in the body of your thesis or paper.

If you’re struggling to edit down to the required length, you can get help from expert editors with Scribbr’s professional proofreading services or use the paraphrasing tool .

Check your formatting

If you are writing a thesis or dissertation or submitting to a journal, there are often specific formatting requirements for the abstract—make sure to check the guidelines and format your work correctly. For APA research papers you can follow the APA abstract format .

Checklist: Abstract

The word count is within the required length, or a maximum of one page.

The abstract appears after the title page and acknowledgements and before the table of contents .

I have clearly stated my research problem and objectives.

I have briefly described my methodology .

I have summarized the most important results .

I have stated my main conclusions .

I have mentioned any important limitations and recommendations.

The abstract can be understood by someone without prior knowledge of the topic.

You've written a great abstract! Use the other checklists to continue improving your thesis or dissertation.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or research bias, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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An abstract is a concise summary of an academic text (such as a journal article or dissertation ). It serves two main purposes:

• To help potential readers determine the relevance of your paper for their own research.
• To communicate your key findings to those who don’t have time to read the whole paper.

Abstracts are often indexed along with keywords on academic databases, so they make your work more easily findable. Since the abstract is the first thing any reader sees, it’s important that it clearly and accurately summarizes the contents of your paper.

An abstract for a thesis or dissertation is usually around 200–300 words. There’s often a strict word limit, so make sure to check your university’s requirements.

The abstract is the very last thing you write. You should only write it after your research is complete, so that you can accurately summarize the entirety of your thesis , dissertation or research paper .

Avoid citing sources in your abstract . There are two reasons for this:

• The abstract should focus on your original research, not on the work of others.
• The abstract should be self-contained and fully understandable without reference to other sources.

There are some circumstances where you might need to mention other sources in an abstract: for example, if your research responds directly to another study or focuses on the work of a single theorist. In general, though, don’t include citations unless absolutely necessary.

The abstract appears on its own page in the thesis or dissertation , after the title page and acknowledgements but before the table of contents .

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McCombes, S. (2023, July 18). How to Write an Abstract | Steps & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved August 30, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/abstract/

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What is an Abstract?

An abstract is a summary of a document, highlighting the full text's main ideas, key points, methodology, results, and conclusions. Its purpose is to quickly understand the document's content without reading the entire text. Abstracts are commonly used in academia and research to help readers assess the relevance and significance of a work.

What are the various structures of an Abstract?

Abstracts can have two main structures:

Structured Abstract:

It follows a specific format with sections like background/objective, methods, results, and conclusion.

Unstructured Abstract:

This format allows more flexibility and is often used in humanities and social sciences.

Both structures serve the purpose of providing a concise overview of the document's main content and findings.

How SpinBot's AI Abstract Generator Tool works?

To use SpinBot's AI Abstract Generator APA, follow the steps below:

Copy and paste the content or upload the document you want to generate an abstract from.

For more accuracy click on Advance Summarize

Remember that SpinBot's Free AI Abstract Generator APA utilizes advanced natural language processing techniques to generate abstracts, but it is always a good idea to review and refine the generated abstract to ensure it accurately represents the original document's content and meets your specific requirements.

Who are the users of SpinBot's Ai Abstract Generator?

SpinBot's AI Abstract Generator is a versatile tool that caters to a wide range of users seeking to create concise and informative abstracts. They include:

SpinBot's AI Abstract Generator assists students in creating well-structured abstracts for their academic assignments, research papers, and projects.

 ... Read More

It supports teachers in guiding students to develop clear and concise abstracts, enhancing their understanding of abstract writing conventions and facilitating effective communication.

Researchers

Researchers can generate informative abstracts for their studies, enabling them to quickly and accurately summarize their research and share key insights.

It provides bloggers with a convenient tool to create engaging abstracts for their blog posts, captivating readers and giving them a preview of the content.

News Writers and Columnists

SpinBot's AI Abstract Generator helps news writers and columnists craft compelling abstracts for articles, ensuring readers can quickly grasp the main points.

It supports podcasters in creating concise and attention-grabbing abstracts for their episodes, enticing listeners, and summarizing the topics covered.

What are the features of SpinBot's AI Abstract Generator?

Besides its impressive speed, SpinBot's Abstract Creator offers the advantage of being highly accessible. It has been optimized for mobile and desktop usage, allowing users to access the tool from anywhere. Furthermore, the AI abstract generator has the following features:

Generates Abstracts Instantly

SpinBot's AI Abstract Generator allows users to generate abstracts instantly, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual summarization and accelerating the abstract creation process, saving valuable time and effort.

Increases Productivity

By automating the abstract generation process, SpinBot's AI Abstract Generator boosts productivity, enabling users to quickly create high-quality abstracts and focus their time and energy on other important tasks.

Uses AI & ML Technology

Powered by advanced AI and ML technologies, the tool ensures accurate analysis and extraction of key information, resulting in well-crafted abstracts that effectively summarize the content.

Protects Data Privacy

SpinBot prioritizes data privacy and security. The AI Abstract Generator provides a secure platform where users can generate abstracts without worrying about their confidential or sensitive information being compromised or stored.

Remains Free to Use

SpinBot's AI Abstract Generator is available for free, offering accessibility to all users without any cost involved. Users can take advantage of its features and generate abstracts without any financial barriers or restrictions.

How users can create Abstracts for research papers?

Here is a step-by-step guide to writing an abstract:

Step 1: Draft your research paper

Begin by writing your paper, saving the abstract for the end so you can accurately summarize the findings.

Step 2: Review abstract requirements

Familiarize yourself with any specific requirements, such as length or style, if you're writing for publication or a work project.

Step 3: Tailor the abstract to your target audience

Take into account your audience and the intended publication. Adapt the language and level of detail accordingly.

Step 4: Introduce the problem

Start by explaining the problem your research addresses or aims to solve, including the main claim or argument and the scope of your study.

Step 5: Outline your research methods

Describe the methods you employed in your study, including the research conducted, variables considered, and approach taken. Support your assertions with evidence.

Step 6: Highlight the research findings

Share the general findings and answers derived from your study. If necessary, highlight the most significant results.

Step 7: Summarize

Conclude your summary by discussing the meaning of your findings and emphasizing the paper's importance. In the case of an informative abstract, also address the implications of your work.

By following these steps, you can effectively write an abstract that provides a concise and informative overview of your research paper.

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What not to say in an abstract?

It is important to avoid providing excessive background information, detailed methodology, extensive citations, subjective statements, personal opinions, or ambiguous language in an abstract. The abstract should focus on conveying the key findings, main arguments, and implications of the research concisely and objectively.

What are the 4 C's of abstract writing?

The 4 C's of abstract writing are clarity, conciseness, completeness, and coherence. Clarity ensures that the abstract is easy to understand, conciseness involves presenting information succinctly, completeness includes covering all key aspects, and coherence ensures that the abstract flows logically and cohesively.

Why is writing an abstract so hard?

Writing an abstract can be challenging due to the inherent difficulty of condensing a complex and detailed content into a concise and coherent summary. It requires careful selection of information, balancing brevity with clarity, and effectively capturing the essence of the work while maintaining its relevance and significance.

What tense should be used in an abstract?

The present tense is commonly used in abstracts to describe the research findings, methodology, and conclusions. However, the specific tense usage may vary depending on the field or journal guidelines. It is recommended to consult the specific guidelines or conventions of the target publication for precise tense usage.

What is the first step in writing an abstract?

The first step in writing an abstract is thoroughly reading and understanding the entire document. Familiarize yourself with the research question, objectives, methodology, major findings, and conclusions. These steps help you identify the key elements that must be included in the abstract and ensure a comprehensive and accurate summary.

What are other tools by SpinBot?

Apart from the free abstract generator, SpinBot offers several other useful tools. These include the Article Rewriter, which helps paraphrase and rewrite text; the Grammar Checker, which identifies grammar and spelling errors; and the Word Counter, which provides accurate word and character counts for text.

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Step 01. upload your pdf to the ai abstract generator., step 02. ai analyzes pdf and generates summaries., step 03. effortlessly revise the generated abstract with ai., make ai abstract generator work efficiently for you, summarize academic studies effortlessly..

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FAQs about Using AI Abstract Generator

What is an abstract.

An abstract is a concise summary that provides an overview of the main points or key elements of a document, research paper, or article.

What makes a good abstract in a research paper?

A good abstract in a research paper should effectively convey the study's purpose, methodology, results, and conclusion concisely and clearly. It should provide a quick overview of the essential information.

Can ChatGPT create abstracts for documents?

ChatGPT can assist in creating abstracts for documents by summarizing text-based content. However, it has a character limit, and for longer documents, it's recommended to use specialized AI tools designed for document summarization.

Is there a free online AI tool that generates abstracts for articles?

Yes, there are free online AI tools that generate abstracts for articles. HiPDF's AI Abstract Generator is one such tool that allows users to create abstracts for articles and other written materials.

What is the best AI abstract generator?

Determining the best AI abstract generator depends on specific needs and preferences. HiPDF's AI Abstract Generator, ChatGPT, and other tools like Sharly AI are among the popular choices, each with unique features.

Is there an AI abstract generator that can craft abstracts for scanned PDFs?

Certainly! For effective abstract generation from scanned PDFs, consider tools equipped with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and summarization capabilities. PDFelement is a reliable option, utilizing OCR to extract text from scanned documents accurately and then using AI to analyze the PDF for abstract generation. This ensures precise and meaningful abstracts from your scanned PDFs.

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Free Abstract Generator

Prepostseo’s Abstract Generator is an online tool that uses AI technology to help you automatically generate abstracts for your thesis, articles, or research papers. Our abstract maker uses accurate AI and language models to collect the most important phrases from a given content, to generate accurate abstracts.

How to Write Abstract By the Free AI Abstract Generator?

Below are the steps to generate abstracts with the help of our AI abstract maker tool:

Type or paste your writing into the input box of our AI abstract maker.

Simply, hit the “ Generate ” button.

The tool will write the abstract in the output box of the tool.

Finally, “ Copy ” or “ Download ” your abstract.

Research Paper Abstract Generator

Writing the abstract for your research paper, dissertation, or book chapter is usually one of the final steps before you submit your work. It’s also the activity that many students and researchers find most difficult. A strong abstract must be clear, succinct and informative, but how do you decide what to include?

Structuring your abstract

Many journals require the abstract to be structured according to

whereas the abstract for your dissertation or chapter may just be a short narrative paragraph. Either way, the abstract should contain key information from the study and be easy to read. Creating an abstract is as much an art as a science.

Happily, Scholarcy can help by identifying exactly the right information to include in your abstract.

Abstract in numbers

4 steps to generate an abstract with scholarcy, upload your article.

Simply upload your article to Scholarcy Library to generate a summary flashcard that outlines your research and contains the information needed to create your abstract.

View Scholarcy Highlights

The Scholarcy Highlights tab contains 5-7 bullet points comprising the background to the study, the key findings, and the conclusion.

View Scholarcy Summary

If your paper contains standard IMRaD sections, then the Scholarcy Summary will automatically be structured to follow these headings and will include any study objectives that you have written.

And the Study subjects and participants tab extracts key information about study participants, interventions, and quantitative results. Perfect for your abstract!

Try Smart Synopsis

Alternatively, for your dissertation or book chapter, you can use our Smart Synopses tool to create a more naturally flowing, narrative abstract.

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Writing an Abstract for Your Research Paper

Definition and Purpose of Abstracts

An abstract is a short summary of your (published or unpublished) research paper, usually about a paragraph (c. 6-7 sentences, 150-250 words) long. A well-written abstract serves multiple purposes:

• 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;
• an abstract prepares readers to follow the detailed information, analyses, and arguments in your full paper;
• and, later, an abstract helps readers remember key points from your paper.

It’s also worth remembering that search engines and bibliographic databases use abstracts, as well as the title, to identify key terms for indexing your published paper. So what you include in your abstract and in your title are crucial for helping other researchers find your paper or article.

If you are writing an abstract for a course paper, your professor may give you specific guidelines for what to include and how to organize your abstract. Similarly, academic journals often have specific requirements for abstracts. So in addition to following the advice on this page, you should be sure to look for and follow any guidelines from the course or journal you’re writing for.

The Contents of an Abstract

Abstracts contain most of the following kinds of information in brief form. The body of your paper will, of course, develop and explain these ideas much more fully. As you will see in the samples below, the proportion of your abstract that you devote to each kind of information—and the sequence of that information—will vary, depending on the nature and genre of the paper that you are summarizing in your abstract. And in some cases, some of this information is implied, rather than stated explicitly. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , which is widely used in the social sciences, gives specific guidelines for what to include in the abstract for different kinds of papers—for empirical studies, literature reviews or meta-analyses, theoretical papers, methodological papers, and case studies.

Here are the typical kinds of information found in most abstracts:

• the context or background information for your research; the general topic under study; the specific topic of your research
• the central questions or statement of the problem your research addresses
• what’s already known about this question, what previous research has done or shown
• the main reason(s) , the exigency, the rationale , the goals for your research—Why is it important to address these questions? Are you, for example, examining a new topic? Why is that topic worth examining? Are you filling a gap in previous research? Applying new methods to take a fresh look at existing ideas or data? Resolving a dispute within the literature in your field? . . .
• your research and/or analytical methods
• your main findings , results , or arguments
• the significance or implications of your findings or arguments.

Your abstract should be intelligible on its own, without a reader’s having to read your entire paper. And in an abstract, you usually do not cite references—most of your abstract will describe what you have studied in your research and what you have found and what you argue in your paper. In the body of your paper, you will cite the specific literature that informs your research.

When to Write Your Abstract

Although you might be tempted to write your abstract first because it will appear as the very first part of your paper, it’s a good idea to wait to write your abstract until after you’ve drafted your full paper, so that you know what you’re summarizing.

What follows are some sample abstracts in published papers or articles, all written by faculty at UW-Madison who come from a variety of disciplines. We have annotated these samples to help you see the work that these authors are doing within their abstracts.

Choosing Verb Tenses within Your Abstract

The social science sample (Sample 1) below uses the present tense to describe general facts and interpretations that have been and are currently true, including the prevailing explanation for the social phenomenon under study. That abstract also uses the present tense to describe the methods, the findings, the arguments, and the implications of the findings from their new research study. The authors use the past tense to describe previous research.

The humanities sample (Sample 2) below uses the past tense to describe completed events in the past (the texts created in the pulp fiction industry in the 1970s and 80s) and uses the present tense to describe what is happening in those texts, to explain the significance or meaning of those texts, and to describe the arguments presented in the article.

The science samples (Samples 3 and 4) below use the past tense to describe what previous research studies have done and the research the authors have conducted, the methods they have followed, and what they have found. In their rationale or justification for their research (what remains to be done), they use the present tense. They also use the present tense to introduce their study (in Sample 3, “Here we report . . .”) and to explain the significance of their study (In Sample 3, This reprogramming . . . “provides a scalable cell source for. . .”).

Sample Abstract 1

From the social sciences.

Reporting new findings about the reasons for increasing economic homogamy among spouses

Gonalons-Pons, Pilar, and Christine R. Schwartz. “Trends in Economic Homogamy: Changes in Assortative Mating or the Division of Labor in Marriage?” Demography , vol. 54, no. 3, 2017, pp. 985-1005.

Sample Abstract 2

From the humanities.

Analyzing underground pulp fiction publications in Tanzania, this article makes an argument about the cultural significance of those publications

Emily Callaci. “Street Textuality: Socialism, Masculinity, and Urban Belonging in Tanzania’s Pulp Fiction Publishing Industry, 1975-1985.” Comparative Studies in Society and History , vol. 59, no. 1, 2017, pp. 183-210.

Sample Abstract/Summary 3

From the sciences.

Reporting a new method for reprogramming adult mouse fibroblasts into induced cardiac progenitor cells

Lalit, Pratik A., Max R. Salick, Daryl O. Nelson, Jayne M. Squirrell, Christina M. Shafer, Neel G. Patel, Imaan Saeed, Eric G. Schmuck, Yogananda S. Markandeya, Rachel Wong, Martin R. Lea, Kevin W. Eliceiri, Timothy A. Hacker, Wendy C. Crone, Michael Kyba, Daniel J. Garry, Ron Stewart, James A. Thomson, Karen M. Downs, Gary E. Lyons, and Timothy J. Kamp. “Lineage Reprogramming of Fibroblasts into Proliferative Induced Cardiac Progenitor Cells by Defined Factors.” Cell Stem Cell , vol. 18, 2016, pp. 354-367.

Sample Abstract 4, a Structured Abstract

Reporting results about the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy in managing acute bacterial sinusitis, from a rigorously controlled study

Note: This journal requires authors to organize their abstract into four specific sections, with strict word limits. Because the headings for this structured abstract are self-explanatory, we have chosen not to add annotations to this sample abstract.

Wald, Ellen R., David Nash, and Jens Eickhoff. “Effectiveness of Amoxicillin/Clavulanate Potassium in the Treatment of Acute Bacterial Sinusitis in Children.” Pediatrics , vol. 124, no. 1, 2009, pp. 9-15.

“OBJECTIVE: The role of antibiotic therapy in managing acute bacterial sinusitis (ABS) in children is controversial. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of high-dose amoxicillin/potassium clavulanate in the treatment of children diagnosed with ABS.

METHODS : This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Children 1 to 10 years of age with a clinical presentation compatible with ABS were eligible for participation. Patients were stratified according to age (<6 or ≥6 years) and clinical severity and randomly assigned to receive either amoxicillin (90 mg/kg) with potassium clavulanate (6.4 mg/kg) or placebo. A symptom survey was performed on days 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 20, and 30. Patients were examined on day 14. Children’s conditions were rated as cured, improved, or failed according to scoring rules.

RESULTS: Two thousand one hundred thirty-five children with respiratory complaints were screened for enrollment; 139 (6.5%) had ABS. Fifty-eight patients were enrolled, and 56 were randomly assigned. The mean age was 6630 months. Fifty (89%) patients presented with persistent symptoms, and 6 (11%) presented with nonpersistent symptoms. In 24 (43%) children, the illness was classified as mild, whereas in the remaining 32 (57%) children it was severe. Of the 28 children who received the antibiotic, 14 (50%) were cured, 4 (14%) were improved, 4(14%) experienced treatment failure, and 6 (21%) withdrew. Of the 28children who received placebo, 4 (14%) were cured, 5 (18%) improved, and 19 (68%) experienced treatment failure. Children receiving the antibiotic were more likely to be cured (50% vs 14%) and less likely to have treatment failure (14% vs 68%) than children receiving the placebo.

CONCLUSIONS : ABS is a common complication of viral upper respiratory infections. Amoxicillin/potassium clavulanate results in significantly more cures and fewer failures than placebo, according to parental report of time to resolution.” (9)

Some Excellent Advice about Writing Abstracts for Basic Science Research Papers, by Professor Adriano Aguzzi from the Institute of Neuropathology at the University of Zurich:

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Free Abstract Generator

Make an abstract for your paper in 4 steps:

• Choose between a simple and an advanced option
• Paste the text or add the details
• Click “Generate”
• Check and copy the result

Your abstract may be:

• ⭐️ The Tool’s Benefits
• 🤔 Why Use Our Tool?

📝 What Is an Abstract?

• ✍️ How to Write It
• ✨ Abstract Example

🔗 References

⭐️ abstract generator: the benefits.

🤔 Why Use Online Abstract Generator?

Having trouble writing an abstract? You’re not alone.

Crafting an abstract can be problematic, especially when dealing with voluminous work. After all, converting a 100-page academic paper into 150 words is not an easy task. And this is where an abstract maker can help you immensely.

The amount of time you’ll save by relying on a machine to do the work for you is huge. Not to mention the result will be entirely error-free. No logical, grammatical, or other mistakes will spoil your piece.

Sounds interesting? Then, keep reading to learn more about abstracts and our generator.

An abstract is a brief summary of a work. Usually, it's a single paragraph containing 150 to 250 words. It describes all the key points and elements of an article, essay, or work of any other format.

Keep in mind that an abstract merely describes a text. It shouldn’t be an evaluation or an attempt to defend the paper. Instead, it’s just an overview.

Structure of an Abstract

An abstract is not a simple summary. It has a specific structure and should contain the following elements:

• The main issue . Describe the problem you are trying to solve with your research.
• The background . Include everything the reader needs to know before delving into your text.
• The goal . Don’t forget to describe the reasons behind your work.
• The methods . Tell the readers how exactly you performed your research.
• The results . What did you discover? If no particular result comes to mind, you can list your arguments here instead.
• The implications . Show the reader how significant your work is.

Remember that an abstract is separate from the rest of the paper. For the reader to get the complete picture of your research, your abstract must include everything listed above.

✍️ How to Write an Abstract

It can be tempting to go and write an abstract right away. But make sure to finish the planning of your work first. You want to write your abstract about your piece's contents, not build the contents around your abstract.

To make the writing process easier, divide it into 5 manageable steps:

• Check the requirements. First off, you need to know how much you are allowed to write. An average abstract is about 150-250 words long, but there is often a strict limit. Make sure to stay within it!
• Establish the goal and the problems of the research. The reader needs to know what your paper will be about right from the get-go. That’s why you need to formulate your thesis and showcase it first.
• Establish the methods. Tell the reader how you did your research. Don’t go in too deep: simply describe the methods without unnecessary details.
• Describe the results. Write a couple of sentences about the outcome of your investigation.
• Write a conclusion. Address the issue you established in the second step. You might also want to mention your work’s limitations regarding your research samples or methods. Try to give the reader a clear understanding of your goal and how you achieved it.

Want to make the process even easier? Use our abstract tool! Online generators like ours will help you craft an excellent paragraph in a matter of seconds.

Abstract Writing Tips

Finally, we want to help you make your abstract truly amazing. Check out our best tips below:

• It's best to get to the point immediately and without adding any filler or unnecessary details.
• The less specific your abstract is, the better.
• Check out some examples before you start writing. Sometimes the best way to learn something is to watch how everyone else does it.
• Avoid long sentences or bizarre vocabulary to make an abstract paragraph as concise as possible.
• It’s a great idea to single out some keywords from your outline and put them into your abstract.
• Don't forget about formatting. Any serious academic work has its requirements. Make sure you check them before writing your piece.

Following these simple tips will make you a master of abstract writing.

✨ Free Abstract Sample

As an example, check out this abstract of the article “Bioeffcacy of Mentha piperita essential oil against dengue fever mosquito” by Sarita Kumar:

The Mentha balsamea, or peppermint plant, is a result of cross-breeding between spearmint and water mint. These plants are most commonly used in the area of repelling insects. The following research revolves around peppermint oil insect repellent and its development. As a part of an experiment, we obtained 25 grams of fresh peppermint and, after grinding it, put it in a glass jar with olive oil. The jar was then left for two days in a warm temperate. Next, the oil was strained with a cheesecloth, gathered, and diluted at 70%. It then got separated into three different spray bottles. The test was to put the spray sample into a jar with mosquitoes and equate the result to the same test with a commercial repellant. Thus, we challenged the stereotype of synthetic repellents being more efficient than their analogs made from natural materials.

That will be the end of our guide on abstract writing. Thank you for reading, and make sure to try out our abstract writer tool to get the best results!

❓ Abstract Generator FAQ

❓ how do you write an abstract for a research paper.

You may use an abstract tool and make the writing process entirely automatic. If you can’t use it, write an abstract yourself by describing the following:

• The main problem.
• Background information.
• The end goal.
• Description of methods you used.
• The results of the research.

❓ What are the 5 parts of an abstract?

Parts of an abstract depend on the contents and limitations of your research. The 5 main elements are:

• The introduction
• Research significance
• Method description

❓ What makes a good abstract in a research paper?

A good abstract is one that:

• Meets all the requirements.
• Establishes the problem and main issues of the research.
• Describes the methods you used during the analysis.
• Showcases results of the study.
• Provides a clear conclusion.

❓ How long should my abstract be?

An average abstract is about 150-250 words long. You may often get strict limits that can go above or beyond these numbers. Your supervisor should provide the exact requirements for abstract length. So, make sure to double-check them.

Updated: Jun 18th, 2024

• Writing an Abstract: George Mason University
• Writing an Abstract for Your Research Paper: University of Wisconsin - Madison
• Writing an Abstract: Australian National University
• The Abstract: The University of Toronto

Free Abstract Generator for Research Papers

• 🚀 Meet Our Abstract Generator

📃 What Is an Abstract?

• ✍️ How to Write an Abstract
• 🫣 7 Mistakes You Should Avoid

🔗 References

🚀 meet our abstract generator for research papers.

The abstract provides a brief overview of the research assignment. So, this part gives a general assessment of the work and encourages the reader to explore it further. Almost every student dealt with the difficult task of condensing their research results into several hundred words. But that’s not a problem anymore!

We used artificial intelligence to make a tool that will make your academic life more enjoyable . You can get an excellent example of an abstract specifically for your research paper in minutes. To do this, you need to specify the reason for the research, the problems, and the goals. Also, we recommend mentioning the methodology and your findings to ensure the outcome is accurate. After that, the AI abstract maker will do the rest for you!

Key Reasons to Use Our Online Abstract Generator

Students juggle various assignments and obligations. Research papers are among the most challenging tasks they have to complete. What makes them so difficult is the sheer volume of information and study involved. Dealing with large amounts of material often leaves students drained and incapable of summarizing their work correctly.

Our abstract generator for research papers makes this process more straightforward thanks to several factors:

Abstracts provide short summaries of larger works, including research papers and dissertations. Readers scan them to decide whether or not they wish to continue reading the rest of the paper. In about 150–200 words, you should state the problem and provide the research goal, results, implications, and used methods.

One should write research abstracts only after the rest of the work is ironed out and ready. While this part of research may seem insignificant, students should take the time to write the abstract well. Doing so lets them identify any flaws in the research methodology and results.

Types of Research Paper Abstracts

Many students believe that abstracts come only in one type. In reality, there are several versions of summaries used in academic circles.

• Critical Abstract . These are the most extensive abstracts, at around 450 words. Unlike other entries on this list, they encourage deep analysis: for example, a discussion about the validity or reliability of their studies. It’s mostly used in social science research .
• Descriptive Abstract . This format is quite similar to informative abstracts but much shorter. On average, this type is only 100 words long and covers the main focus of the studies. Descriptive summaries offer no conclusions or recommendations for further research.
• Highlight Abstract . Students rarely get to use this type, as its primary goal is to get the reader’s attention. Highlight abstracts don’t helpfully summarize papers . Instead, they concentrate on the unique parts of the research, such as its results and conclusions.
• Informative Abstract . This is the most common type used by researchers and writers. It provides primary information about research concepts, methodology, findings, and recommendations. Sometimes, informative research abstracts have keywords listed at the bottom, but this practice is mainly reserved for professional publications.

✍️ How to Write an Abstract in 5 Steps

Despite the incredible versatility of our abstract generator, it’s still important to learn how to make abstracts on your own. We’ve dedicated this part of the guide to the five steps of writing these summaries. So, these instructions will help you create an abstract for any academic paper.

• Write the paper . To create an abstract, you first need a research paper. Create an outline of the study detailing the problem and methods you’ll use to address it. Explain the research methodology, state what information can be extracted from it, and show how the findings apply to the overall field of study.
• Review paper requirements . Once you’re done with the draft, review the criteria provided by the educational institution. Use the supporting documents with instructions, as they can clarify the requirements for the work's style, formatting, and length. Different disciplines require specific styles, so read this information carefully.
• Consider the audience . When working on an abstract, it’s crucial to identify who will be reading it afterward. For example, students often adjust their language to reach the general public and not only their respective professors.
• Write the abstract . Now, write the abstract based on the provided requirements. Use the body of the research to summarize the problem, explain the methods used in the paper , and show what their results were. Finish the summary by telling why your findings are valuable to the study field and what can be done in further research.
• Iron it out . Like with all writing pieces, it's essential to review the abstract and check if it has all the necessary components. The text should be easy to follow, cover all points, and be informative. As the abstract creates the first impression, make it a good one.

Abstract Formats: MLA & APA Styles

Abstract types aren’t the only things students should look out for. In academic settings, several formatting styles detail how the text should look on paper. The majority of US colleges use two popular methods: MLA and APA . Here, we discuss how abstracts look in each of them.

• Abstracts have their own page directly after the title or cover pages.
• In the APA style, the first line on the page is the word “Abstract” in the center without quotation marks.
• The following line in APA abstracts summarizes the critical points of the research. It introduces the main topic, questions, methodology, findings, and conclusions.
• Use double spaces and make the abstract under 250 words.
• Include keywords after the summary in APA format to help people find the work in various databases.
• Start with a sentence that contains the thesis statement and reason for readers to care about the research.
• Use short and simple sentences with precise words and phrases, as the abstract needs to be easy-to-understand.
• Use transitional words and phrases to make the writing flow and connect ideas more efficiently.
• Edit the abstract until it is 5-7 sentences long or under 250 words.
• Avoid using footnotes and citations.

🫣 7 Mistakes You Should Avoid When Writing an Abstract

Writing abstracts is a pretty straightforward process. But it doesn’t mean that everybody is immune from making mistakes, especially after spending days toiling away on a research paper.

There are seven common errors everybody should check before submitting an abstract.

• Making it too long . A summary should concisely describe the whole paper. Avoid repetition and details that have little to do with the research.
• Using chopped-up sentences . Ensure that your paper contains only complete sentences. It makes the work more professional and easier to comprehend.
• Adding too much technical jargon . Keep things simple so that anyone reading the abstract understands what it’s about. It will also make more people check out your paper.
• Not correcting the text . Sometimes, students want to finish a work without editing it too much. Take the time and comb the document for errors and factual mistakes.
• Failing to explain the significance of the research . The first couple of sentences should give readers a clear understanding of why the study is essential.
• Using the wrong tense . It’s recommended that abstracts be written in the past tense. Some academic institutions won’t accept papers with improperly written abstracts.
• Too many adjectives and hyperboles . You aren’t writing a 19th-century novel but an academic paper. The work should reflect that, so avoid using too many literary devices .

We hope you’ve found this article interesting and helpful in your academic pursuits. We also suggest taking a look at our guide for creating an excellent research paper . If you have any more questions about the art of writing abstracts, check out the FAQ section below.

❓ Research Abstract Generator – FAQ

• It’s written for the right audience.
• It's in the past tense and third person.
• Stands alone on the page.
• Has keywords and critical references.
• Reason for writing it and the importance of the research.
• Problematics the work attempts to solve.
• Methodology behind the study.
• Results backed by specific data.
• Practical and theoretical applications of the findings.

Updated: Oct 25th, 2023

• What Exactly is an Abstract? – Regents of the University of Michigan
• Abstract and Keywords Guide. – American Psychological Association
• Writing an Abstract. – The University of Melbourne
• Six Steps to Write an Abstract. – The University of Alabama
• How To Write an Abstract in 7 Steps (With an Example). – Indeed
• MLA Formatting: How Do I Do: An Abstract. – Warner Pacific University Library
• Abstracts. – The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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With IvyPanda's free abstract generator, you can craft perfect abstracts that capture the essence of your research. Enter the necessary details, and our online tool will provide you with a clear and engaging summary. Try it now and make your research stand out from the start!

Abstract Generator

This Abstract Generator is basically a guideline for writing abstracts. We have also written an article on how to write abstracts. Go through the post and use our tools to create properly formatted abstracts. Note: An abstract should be between 100 - 250 words.

Reference management. Clean and simple.

How to write an abstract

What is an abstract?

General format of an abstract, the content of an abstract, abstract example, abstract style guides, frequently asked questions about writing an abstract, related articles.

An abstract is a summary of the main contents of a paper.

The abstract is the first glimpse that readers get of the content of a research paper. It can influence the popularity of a paper, as a well-written one will attract readers, and a poorly-written one will drive them away.

➡️ Different types of papers may require distinct abstract styles. Visit our guide on the different types of research papers to learn more.

Tip: Always wait until you’ve written your entire paper before you write the abstract.

Before you actually start writing an abstract, make sure to follow these steps:

• Read other papers : find papers with similar topics, or similar methodologies, simply to have an idea of how others have written their abstracts. Notice which points they decided to include, and how in depth they described them.
• Double check the journal requirements : always make sure to review the journal guidelines to format your paper accordingly. Usually, they also specify abstract's formats.
• Write the abstract after you finish writing the paper : you can only write an abstract once you finish writing the whole paper. This way you can include all important aspects, such as scope, methodology, and conclusion.

➡️ Read more about  what is a research methodology?

The general format of an abstract includes the following features:

• Between 150-300 words .
• An independent page , after the title page and before the table of contents.
• Concise summary including the aim of the research, methodology , and conclusion .
• Keywords describing the content.

As mentioned before, an abstract is a text that summarizes the main points of a research. Here is a break down of each element that should be included in an abstract:

• Purpose : every abstract should start by describing the main purpose or aim of the research.
• Methods : as a second point, the methodology carried out should be explained.
• Results : then, a concise summary of the results should be included.
• Conclusion : finally, a short outline of the general outcome of the research should be given.
• Keywords : along with the abstract, specific words and phrases related to the topics discussed in the research should be added. These words are usually around five, but the number can vary depending on the journal's guidelines.

This abstract, taken from ScienceDirect , illustrates the ideal structure of an abstract. It has 155 words, it's concise, and it clearly shows the division of elements necessary to write a successful abstract.

This paper explores the implicit assumption in the growing body of literature that social media usage is fundamentally different in business-to-business (B2B) companies than in the extant business-to-consumer (B2C) literature. Sashi's (2012) customer engagement cycle is utilized to compare organizational practices in relation to social media marketing in B2B, B2C, Mixed B2B/B2C and B2B2C business models. Utilizing 449 responses to an exploratory panel based survey instrument, we clearly identify differences in social media usage and its perceived importance as a communications channel. In particular we identify distinct differences in the relationship between social media importance and the perceived effectiveness of social media marketing across business models. Our results indicate that B2B social media usage is distinct from B2C, Mixed and B2B2C business model approaches. Specifically B2B organizational members perceive social media to have a lower overall effectiveness as a channel and identify it as less important for relationship oriented usage than other business models.

The exact format of an abstract depends on the citation style you implement. Whether it’s a well-known style (like APA, IEEE, etc.) or a journal's style, each format has its own guidelines, so make sure you know which style you are using before writing your abstract.

APA is one of the most commonly used styles to format an abstract. Therefore, we created a guide with exact instructions on how to write an abstract in APA style, and a template to download:

📕 APA abstract page: format and template

Additionally, you will find below an IEEE and ASA abstract guide by Purdue Online Writing Lab :

📗 IEEE General Format - Abstract

📘 ASA Manuscript Formatting - Abstract

No. You should always write an abstract once you finish writing the whole paper. This way you can include all important aspects of the paper, such as scope, methodology, and conclusion.

The length of an abstract depends on the formatting style of the paper. For example, APA style calls for 150 to 250 words. Generally, you need between 150-300 words.

No. An abstract has an independent section after the title page and before the table of contents, and should not be included in the table of contents.

Take a look at APA abstract page: format and template for exact details on how to format an abstract in APA style.

You can access any paper through Google Scholar or any other search engine; pick a paper and read the abstract. Abstracts are always freely available to read.

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In academic writing, learning how to create a brief and informative abstract for your research paper is really important. An abstract serves as a sneak peek into your research, giving readers a quick look to decide if they want to read more.

But what exactly is an abstract in a research paper, and how to write an abstract for a research paper that captures the essence of your study effectively? Let’s dive into the nuances of writing a standout research paper abstract!

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Let’s start by understanding what is an abstract in a research paper:

What is an abstract in a research paper?

A research paper abstract is a summary that outlines the key points of your research paper. It serves as a condensed version of your work, allowing readers to quickly grasp the purpose, methodology , results, implications, and conclusion of your study. Think of it as a mini-version of your paper, where you highlight the most critical information to entice further reading.

What is the purpose of an abstract in a research paper?

The primary purpose of an abstract in a research paper is to inform potential readers about the essential contents of the document. It will help them decide whether it aligns with their own research interests or objectives. Also, it’s important because it helps your paper show up in academic databases, making it easier for people to find and read.

Where does the abstract go in a research paper?

Typically, the abstract is placed right after the title page and before the main body of the research paper . This arrangement guarantees that it is the first in-depth synopsis of your work that readers will come across. 

How long should an abstract be for a research paper?

The length of an abstract for a research paper typically ranges from 150 to 250 words. This short length summarizes the research’s main aspects clearly and briefly. Sticking within this word range is important to maintain clarity and brevity so that readers can quickly grasp the important information. You can use academic ChatGPT prompts to reduce your abstract’s length if it exceeds the word count. 

What does the abstract of a research paper contain?

A research paper abstract usually contains the following key elements:

• Purpose of the study: Clearly states the main goal or issue addressed by the research, providing insight into its importance.
• Methodology: Concisely explains the methods or approaches employed in the research, including the type of study conducted (e.g., experimental, observational, qualitative) and specific techniques or tools utilized.
• Results: Summarizes the primary findings or outcomes of the research, highlighting key data points, trends, or discoveries relevant to the research question and objectives.
• Conclusions: Outlines the implications of the findings. This could involve discussing the significance of the results in the context of the field, potential applications, or future research directions. If your study has significant limitations, it’s advisable to briefly note them in the abstract.
• Keywords: Often, research paper abstracts include a list of keywords that help categorize the paper and make it easier for others to find through searches. Select words that are directly related to your research topic. Typically, 5-7 keywords are sufficient. Check the journal’s guidelines for specific requirements.

How to write an abstract for a research paper?

Use the following steps to write your research paper abstract perfectly:

1. Start with clarity and precision

Begin your abstract by clearly stating the research problem or the main objective of the study. This should address the ‘what’ of your study—what was your research trying to find or prove? 

• Avoid vague phrases and focus on delivering a specific and concise statement that encapsulates the essence of your research .
• Use active voice and confident language to state your research aim. For example, instead of saying “This research attempts to explore,” you could say, “This research explores.”
• Ensure that the first one or two sentences encapsulate the critical motivation behind the study.

Poor example: “This paper looks at climate change.”

Improved example: “This study quantifies the impact of industrial emissions on urban air quality, addressing a critical gap in environmental policy formulation.”

• Avoid filler words or overly complex sentences that do not add value to the core understanding of your research.

2. Describe your methodology

Provide a concise overview of the methods you employed for your research. This part should give readers a clear understanding of your approach and techniques. The goal is to provide enough information to understand the foundation of your findings.

• Focus on including only the most crucial methods used in your research. Typically, this would be the overall approach (e.g., qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods), significant techniques or instruments used, and the type of analysis conducted.
• Avoid jargon or overly technical terms that might be unfamiliar to a broader audience, aiming instead for clear, accessible language.
• If specific tools, software, or technologies are central to the results, mention them by name.

Example: “Data was analyzed using SPSS software.”

• Abstracts do not allow for extensive methodological descriptions. Provide enough detail to understand the framework briefly.

For example: Instead of saying, “We conducted several tests to analyze the samples,” specify briefly, “Samples were analyzed using X-ray diffraction and gas chromatography.”

3. Highlight key findings

Briefly summarize the most significant results of your study . Make sure to capture the importance and implications of your results. This part typically grabs the most attention from readers.

• Focus on mentioning quantifiable results if applicable, as these often convey the impact of your findings more powerfully.
• Use phrases that summarize significant trends rather than complex data details. For example, “Results show a 50% increase in efficiency” or “Findings indicate a significant reduction in incidence rates.”
• Use strong, positive adjectives to describe your findings, such as “significant,” “substantial,” “robust,” etc., where appropriate and accurate.
• Include critical statistics such as p-values or confidence intervals to support the significance of your findings.

4. Discuss the implications

In a few sentences, describe the broader implications of your findings. How does your research contribute to the field? What are the practical or theoretical implications?

• Consider questions like, “Why does this matter?” and “Who will benefit from this research?”
• This can be framed as, “These findings suggest new pathways for clinical treatment,” or “This research informs policy by demonstrating…”
• Clearly state how your findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge in your field. Do they extend, contradict, or refine previous theories?

Example: “These findings challenge the conventional understanding of X, suggesting a revised model for Y.”

• Use strong action verbs to describe the effect of your research, such as “transforms,” “enables,” “revolutionizes,” or “underscores.”

5. Keep it concise

Focus on writing within the word limit and keeping the information that is required to be showcased or highlighted. 

• After drafting your abstract, review it specifically for redundancy and verbosity. You can edit your research paper abstract using content editors and grammar checker tools to ensure an error-free research paper abstract.
• Word counter tools like QuillBot, Semrush, Word Count, etc. can help ensure you stay within the typical 150-250 word range. 
• Additionally, asking a colleague to review your abstract format can provide insights into any unnecessary details or unclear wording. Proofreading your research paper abstract is a crucial step.

Research paper abstract example

To solidify your understanding, let’s look at a research paper abstract example:

In this study, we explored the impact of climate change on Arctic marine life. Using a combination of satellite imagery and direct observation methods over five years, we observed a significant decrease in sea ice coverage and its direct effects on the indigenous marine populations. Notably, the reduction in ice has led to altered migration patterns and decreased population stability in polar bears and seals. These findings highlight the urgent need for policies aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change in polar regions.

Creating a strong research paper abstract goes beyond simply summarizing your work. It involves offering a clear, concise, and captivating overview that sparks interest and showcases the significance of your research. By adhering to these tips, you can develop an abstract that meets academic requirements while also engaging your target audience effectively.

To refine your abstract, consider PaperTrue’s expert editing and proofreading services . Our team of professionals can help ensure that your abstract—and your entire research paper—meets the highest standards of academic excellence and is ready to make a lasting impression in the scholarly community!

Here are some more research-related articles for you:

• Research Paper Outline: Templates & Examples
• Primary vs. Secondary Sources: Definition, Types & Examples

Frequently Asked Questions

What should be included in a research paper abstract, how does one write an effective research paper abstract, can a research paper abstract include citations.

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Best Abstract Generator: Generate Abstracts For Research Papers 

In the ever-evolving landscape of academic research, AI-powered tools are revolutionising the art of abstract writing. Abstrazer, Scholarcy, WriteFull, and ChatGPT are leading the charge, offering students and researchers efficient ways to condense extensive research into concise summaries.

Harnessing advanced AI algorithms, these tools ensure clarity, grammatical accuracy, and relevance, catering to a diverse range of academic needs. Which of these tools are best for you? Let’s find out.

Best Online Abstract Generator Tool

Abstrazer offers students and researchers a unique platform to automatically generate abstracts for their research papers, cutting down the arduous process of abstract writing.

Given the specific requirements of abstracts, which typically hover between 150 to 250 words, this tool ensures conciseness without omitting key information.

The strength of Abstrazer lies in its advanced AI technology, which streamlines the abstract generation process.

If you’re grappling with summarizing your paper’s key findings and methods, Abstrazer provides a concise summary by eliminating unnecessary details and highlighting only the pivotal points.

It’s been designed to cater to a wide range of users, ensuring a well-structured abstract irrespective of the academic paper’s complexity.

What sets Abstrazer apart is its versatility. For instance, if one’s specific requirement revolves around APA formatting, the abstract generator utilizes advanced AI feature ensures accurate formatting with spot-on language edits.

This online abstract maker is especially handy when the task of abstract creation seems daunting. With a few inputs, Abstrazer simplifies the process of creating compelling abstracts that resonate with the intended audience.

Additionally, this AI-based tool is also available within various academic platforms through plugins, making it a handy tool on both mobile and desktop interfaces.

For those aiming for error-free, high-quality abstracts, Abstrazer is the go-to tool. It promises efficiency, saving precious time and effort, while still ensuring the final output gives the reader an apt snapshot of the research, making the academic journey a tad easier.

Scholarcy, an online abstract generator, offers a solution for students and researchers grappling with the challenge of abstract writing.

With the increasing demand for a tool to create concise summaries, this AI-powered abstract generator has risen to the occasion. While writing an abstract can be challenging, this tool simplifies the process of creating engaging and compelling abstracts for your research paper.

To use this tool, simply upload your academic paper. Within seconds, Scholarcy automatically generates an abstract that’s well-structured and caters to a wide range of users.

Its AI-based technology reads the entire paper, from introduction to conclusion, and provides a concise summary, highlighting key findings and key points without unnecessary details. The resulting abstract is typically between 150 to 250 words, making it apt for publication guidelines.

What makes Scholarcy stand out is its advanced AI technology. This abstract generator APA utilizes advanced algorithms to ensure abstracts are grammatically correct and error-free.

The abstract generator is a versatile tool, ideal for:

• Literature reviews
• Academic articles

For those with specific requirements, Scholarcy offers language edits to ensure conciseness and accuracy. Additionally, the abstract creator offers plugins for both mobile and desktop, making it accessible to a vast audience.

This free abstract generator saves time and effort, eliminating the struggle to write abstracts manually. 

One notable feature is the daily quota for free abstract generation, ensuring users can create abstracts without any cost. However, for those requiring more, premium options are also available within the platform. 

Writefull is an AI-powered tool designed to aid researchers in creating well-structured abstracts for their academic papers.

It’s no secret that generating an abstract can be challenging; after all, summarizing months or even years of research into a concise summary isn’t easy.

This is where the Writefull’s abstract generator steps in, simplifying the process of creating compelling abstracts by using advanced AI technology.

The online abstract maker allows you to paste content from your research paper – from the introduction to the conclusion – and automatically generates an abstract, honing in on the key points and findings of your work.

The beauty of this tool is its ability to produce high-quality abstracts without any cost. The abstract generator online not only ensures accurate and concise summaries but also saves time and effort, especially for students and researchers who have a tight daily quota or are on tight deadlines.

In addition to abstract writing, Writefull also offers a title generator to help craft the perfect headline for your research paper. The tool caters to a wide range of users, providing a concise summary while removing unnecessary details, ensuring grammatical accuracy and an error-free result.

But Writefull’s features don’t end there. This versatile tool also offers:

• Paraphrasing option
• Aids in language edits, and
• An ‘Academizer’ feature that turns informal text into formal academic language. 

Fascinatingly, the abstract generator APA utilizes advanced AI to distinguish content generated by AI from original text, ensuring the authenticity of your work.

Moreover, the platform is accessible both on mobile and desktop and even offers plugins for instant access. For those who prioritize conciseness and accuracy, Writefull is the go-to solution, ready to serve specific requirements and create engaging abstracts within seconds.

ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is a potent abstract generator that, when used right, can provide a high-quality abstract tailored to your academic paper.

Its development process is grounded on extensive datasets, which allows the tool to create abstracts that are not only coherent but original.

This AI-powered abstract generator is a versatile tool that can cater to a wide range of users, from students trying to generate an abstract for their thesis to seasoned researchers working on extensive literature reviews.

One of the unique features of ChatGPT is its ability to generate abstracts based on specific prompts provided by the user.

With just a few clicks, ChatGPT automatically generates an abstract, streamlining the abstract writing process and ensuring conciseness. Users have found it helpful, especially when dealing with specific requirements for their abstracts, which often must be between 150 to 250 words.

This AI-based tool ensures the elimination of unnecessary details, highlighting only the key points that give the reader a well-structured summary of the research.

It’s like having an AI writing assistant that helps you write abstracts efficiently.

While ChatGPT simplifies the process of creating abstracts, it’s essential to note that this AI tool should supplement and not replace the expertise of the researcher. It saves time and effort, but the output should always be reviewed for grammatical accuracy and relevance.

In an ever-evolving academic landscape, the introduction of tools like ChatGPT, powered by advanced AI, is a testament to how technology can assist students and researchers in producing error-free, compelling abstracts for their work.

Wrapping Up: Generate An Abstract From A Research Paper Easily

Navigating the realm of academic research, tools like Abstrazer, Scholarcy, WriteFull, and ChatGPT are leveraging advanced AI to simplify abstract creation. Each offers unique features, from automatic abstract generation to specific formatting like APA.

Designed to cater to various users, from students to seasoned researchers, these platforms streamline the abstract-writing process, ensuring concise and coherent summaries. They highlight the potential of AI in academic writing, merging efficiency with quality.

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

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What this handout is about

This handout provides definitions and examples of the two main types of abstracts: descriptive and informative. It also provides guidelines for constructing an abstract and general tips for you to keep in mind when drafting. Finally, it includes a few examples of abstracts broken down into their component parts.

What is an abstract?

An abstract is a self-contained, short, and powerful statement that describes a larger work. Components vary according to discipline. An abstract of a social science or scientific work may contain the scope, purpose, results, and contents of the work. An abstract of a humanities work may contain the thesis, background, and conclusion of the larger work. An abstract is not a review, nor does it evaluate the work being abstracted. While it contains key words found in the larger work, the abstract is an original document rather than an excerpted passage.

Why write an abstract?

You may write an abstract for various reasons. The two most important are selection and indexing. Abstracts allow readers who may be interested in a longer work to quickly decide whether it is worth their time to read it. Also, many online databases use abstracts to index larger works. Therefore, abstracts should contain keywords and phrases that allow for easy searching.

Say you are beginning a research project on how Brazilian newspapers helped Brazil’s ultra-liberal president Luiz Ignácio da Silva wrest power from the traditional, conservative power base. A good first place to start your research is to search Dissertation Abstracts International for all dissertations that deal with the interaction between newspapers and politics. “Newspapers and politics” returned 569 hits. A more selective search of “newspapers and Brazil” returned 22 hits. That is still a fair number of dissertations. Titles can sometimes help winnow the field, but many titles are not very descriptive. For example, one dissertation is titled “Rhetoric and Riot in Rio de Janeiro.” It is unclear from the title what this dissertation has to do with newspapers in Brazil. One option would be to download or order the entire dissertation on the chance that it might speak specifically to the topic. A better option is to read the abstract. In this case, the abstract reveals the main focus of the dissertation:

This dissertation examines the role of newspaper editors in the political turmoil and strife that characterized late First Empire Rio de Janeiro (1827-1831). Newspaper editors and their journals helped change the political culture of late First Empire Rio de Janeiro by involving the people in the discussion of state. This change in political culture is apparent in Emperor Pedro I’s gradual loss of control over the mechanisms of power. As the newspapers became more numerous and powerful, the Emperor lost his legitimacy in the eyes of the people. To explore the role of the newspapers in the political events of the late First Empire, this dissertation analyzes all available newspapers published in Rio de Janeiro from 1827 to 1831. Newspapers and their editors were leading forces in the effort to remove power from the hands of the ruling elite and place it under the control of the people. In the process, newspapers helped change how politics operated in the constitutional monarchy of Brazil.

From this abstract you now know that although the dissertation has nothing to do with modern Brazilian politics, it does cover the role of newspapers in changing traditional mechanisms of power. After reading the abstract, you can make an informed judgment about whether the dissertation would be worthwhile to read.

Besides selection, the other main purpose of the abstract is for indexing. Most article databases in the online catalog of the library enable you to search abstracts. This allows for quick retrieval by users and limits the extraneous items recalled by a “full-text” search. However, for an abstract to be useful in an online retrieval system, it must incorporate the key terms that a potential researcher would use to search. For example, if you search Dissertation Abstracts International using the keywords “France” “revolution” and “politics,” the search engine would search through all the abstracts in the database that included those three words. Without an abstract, the search engine would be forced to search titles, which, as we have seen, may not be fruitful, or else search the full text. It’s likely that a lot more than 60 dissertations have been written with those three words somewhere in the body of the entire work. By incorporating keywords into the abstract, the author emphasizes the central topics of the work and gives prospective readers enough information to make an informed judgment about the applicability of the work.

When do people write abstracts?

• when submitting articles to journals, especially online journals
• when applying for research grants
• when writing a book proposal
• when completing the Ph.D. dissertation or M.A. thesis
• when writing a proposal for a conference paper
• when writing a proposal for a book chapter

Most often, the author of the entire work (or prospective work) writes the abstract. However, there are professional abstracting services that hire writers to draft abstracts of other people’s work. In a work with multiple authors, the first author usually writes the abstract. Undergraduates are sometimes asked to draft abstracts of books/articles for classmates who have not read the larger work.

Types of abstracts

There are two types of abstracts: descriptive and informative. They have different aims, so as a consequence they have different components and styles. There is also a third type called critical, but it is rarely used. If you want to find out more about writing a critique or a review of a work, see the UNC Writing Center handout on writing a literature review . If you are unsure which type of abstract you should write, ask your instructor (if the abstract is for a class) or read other abstracts in your field or in the journal where you are submitting your article.

Descriptive abstracts

A descriptive abstract indicates the type of information found in the work. It makes no judgments about the work, nor does it provide results or conclusions of the research. It does incorporate key words found in the text and may include the purpose, methods, and scope of the research. Essentially, the descriptive abstract describes the work being abstracted. Some people consider it an outline of the work, rather than a summary. Descriptive abstracts are usually very short—100 words or less.

Informative abstracts

The majority of abstracts are informative. While they still do not critique or evaluate a work, they do more than describe it. A good informative abstract acts as a surrogate for the work itself. That is, the writer presents and explains all the main arguments and the important results and evidence in the complete article/paper/book. An informative abstract includes the information that can be found in a descriptive abstract (purpose, methods, scope) but also includes the results and conclusions of the research and the recommendations of the author. The length varies according to discipline, but an informative abstract is rarely more than 10% of the length of the entire work. In the case of a longer work, it may be much less.

Here are examples of a descriptive and an informative abstract of this handout on abstracts . Descriptive abstract:

The two most common abstract types—descriptive and informative—are described and examples of each are provided.

Informative abstract:

Abstracts present the essential elements of a longer work in a short and powerful statement. The purpose of an abstract is to provide prospective readers the opportunity to judge the relevance of the longer work to their projects. Abstracts also include the key terms found in the longer work and the purpose and methods of the research. Authors abstract various longer works, including book proposals, dissertations, and online journal articles. There are two main types of abstracts: descriptive and informative. A descriptive abstract briefly describes the longer work, while an informative abstract presents all the main arguments and important results. This handout provides examples of various types of abstracts and instructions on how to construct one.

Which type should I use?

Your best bet in this case is to ask your instructor or refer to the instructions provided by the publisher. You can also make a guess based on the length allowed; i.e., 100-120 words = descriptive; 250+ words = informative.

How do I write an abstract?

The format of your abstract will depend on the work being abstracted. An abstract of a scientific research paper will contain elements not found in an abstract of a literature article, and vice versa. However, all abstracts share several mandatory components, and there are also some optional parts that you can decide to include or not. When preparing to draft your abstract, keep the following key process elements in mind:

• Reason for writing: What is the importance of the research? Why would a reader be interested in the larger work?
• Problem: What problem does this work attempt to solve? What is the scope of the project? What is the main argument/thesis/claim?
• Methodology: An abstract of a scientific work may include specific models or approaches used in the larger study. Other abstracts may describe the types of evidence used in the research.
• Results: Again, an abstract of a scientific work may include specific data that indicates the results of the project. Other abstracts may discuss the findings in a more general way.
• Implications: What changes should be implemented as a result of the findings of the work? How does this work add to the body of knowledge on the topic?

(This list of elements is adapted with permission from Philip Koopman, “How to Write an Abstract.” )

All abstracts include:

• A full citation of the source, preceding the abstract.
• The most important information first.
• The same type and style of language found in the original, including technical language.
• Key words and phrases that quickly identify the content and focus of the work.
• Clear, concise, and powerful language.

Abstracts may include:

• The thesis of the work, usually in the first sentence.
• Background information that places the work in the larger body of literature.
• The same chronological structure as the original work.

How not to write an abstract:

• Do not refer extensively to other works.
• Do not add information not contained in the original work.
• Do not define terms.

If you are abstracting your own writing

When abstracting your own work, it may be difficult to condense a piece of writing that you have agonized over for weeks (or months, or even years) into a 250-word statement. There are some tricks that you could use to make it easier, however.

Reverse outlining:

This technique is commonly used when you are having trouble organizing your own writing. The process involves writing down the main idea of each paragraph on a separate piece of paper– see our short video . For the purposes of writing an abstract, try grouping the main ideas of each section of the paper into a single sentence. Practice grouping ideas using webbing or color coding .

For a scientific paper, you may have sections titled Purpose, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Each one of these sections will be longer than one paragraph, but each is grouped around a central idea. Use reverse outlining to discover the central idea in each section and then distill these ideas into one statement.

Cut and paste:

To create a first draft of an abstract of your own work, you can read through the entire paper and cut and paste sentences that capture key passages. This technique is useful for social science research with findings that cannot be encapsulated by neat numbers or concrete results. A well-written humanities draft will have a clear and direct thesis statement and informative topic sentences for paragraphs or sections. Isolate these sentences in a separate document and work on revising them into a unified paragraph.

If you are abstracting someone else’s writing

When abstracting something you have not written, you cannot summarize key ideas just by cutting and pasting. Instead, you must determine what a prospective reader would want to know about the work. There are a few techniques that will help you in this process:

Identify key terms:

Search through the entire document for key terms that identify the purpose, scope, and methods of the work. Pay close attention to the Introduction (or Purpose) and the Conclusion (or Discussion). These sections should contain all the main ideas and key terms in the paper. When writing the abstract, be sure to incorporate the key terms.

Highlight key phrases and sentences:

Instead of cutting and pasting the actual words, try highlighting sentences or phrases that appear to be central to the work. Then, in a separate document, rewrite the sentences and phrases in your own words.

Don’t look back:

After reading the entire work, put it aside and write a paragraph about the work without referring to it. In the first draft, you may not remember all the key terms or the results, but you will remember what the main point of the work was. Remember not to include any information you did not get from the work being abstracted.

Revise, revise, revise

No matter what type of abstract you are writing, or whether you are abstracting your own work or someone else’s, the most important step in writing an abstract is to revise early and often. When revising, delete all extraneous words and incorporate meaningful and powerful words. The idea is to be as clear and complete as possible in the shortest possible amount of space. The Word Count feature of Microsoft Word can help you keep track of how long your abstract is and help you hit your target length.

Example 1: Humanities abstract

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

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.

Now let’s break down this abstract into its component parts to see how the author has distilled his entire dissertation into a ~200 word abstract.

What the dissertation does 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.

How the dissertation does it The time period studied in this dissertation 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.

What materials are used Data have been collected from archives, interviews, newspapers, and published reports.

Conclusion 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 movement demands and 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.

Keywords social movements Civil Rights Movement Mississippi voting rights desegregation

Example 2: Science Abstract

Luis Lehner, “Gravitational radiation from black hole spacetimes” Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh, 1998 DAI-B 59/06, p. 2797, Dec 1998

The problem of detecting gravitational radiation is receiving considerable attention with the construction of new detectors in the United States, Europe, and Japan. The theoretical modeling of the wave forms that would be produced in particular systems will expedite the search for and analysis of detected signals. The characteristic formulation of GR is implemented to obtain an algorithm capable of evolving black holes in 3D asymptotically flat spacetimes. Using compactification techniques, future null infinity is included in the evolved region, which enables the unambiguous calculation of the radiation produced by some compact source. A module to calculate the waveforms is constructed and included in the evolution algorithm. This code is shown to be second-order convergent and to handle highly non-linear spacetimes. In particular, we have shown that the code can handle spacetimes whose radiation is equivalent to a galaxy converting its whole mass into gravitational radiation in one second. We further use the characteristic formulation to treat the region close to the singularity in black hole spacetimes. The code carefully excises a region surrounding the singularity and accurately evolves generic black hole spacetimes with apparently unlimited stability.

This science abstract covers much of the same ground as the humanities one, but it asks slightly different questions.

Why do this study The problem of detecting gravitational radiation is receiving considerable attention with the construction of new detectors in the United States, Europe, and Japan. The theoretical modeling of the wave forms that would be produced in particular systems will expedite the search and analysis of the detected signals.

What the study does The characteristic formulation of GR is implemented to obtain an algorithm capable of evolving black holes in 3D asymptotically flat spacetimes. Using compactification techniques, future null infinity is included in the evolved region, which enables the unambiguous calculation of the radiation produced by some compact source. A module to calculate the waveforms is constructed and included in the evolution algorithm.

Results This code is shown to be second-order convergent and to handle highly non-linear spacetimes. In particular, we have shown that the code can handle spacetimes whose radiation is equivalent to a galaxy converting its whole mass into gravitational radiation in one second. We further use the characteristic formulation to treat the region close to the singularity in black hole spacetimes. The code carefully excises a region surrounding the singularity and accurately evolves generic black hole spacetimes with apparently unlimited stability.

Keywords gravitational radiation (GR) spacetimes black holes

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Belcher, Wendy Laura. 2009. Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Press.

Koopman, Philip. 1997. “How to Write an Abstract.” Carnegie Mellon University. October 1997. http://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/essays/abstract.html .

Lancaster, F.W. 2003. Indexing And Abstracting in Theory and Practice , 3rd ed. London: Facet Publishing.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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How to Write an Abstract (With Examples)

By Sarah Oakley

Table of Contents

What is an abstract in a paper, how long should an abstract be, 5 steps for writing an abstract, examples of an abstract, how prowritingaid can help you write an abstract.

If you are writing a scientific research paper or a book proposal, you need to know how to write an abstract, which summarizes the contents of the paper or book.

When researchers are looking for peer-reviewed papers to use in their studies, the first place they will check is the abstract to see if it applies to their work. Therefore, your abstract is one of the most important parts of your entire paper.

In this article, we’ll explain what an abstract is, what it should include, and how to write one.

An abstract is a concise summary of the details within a report. Some abstracts give more details than others, but the main things you’ll be talking about are why you conducted the research, what you did, and what the results show.

When a reader is deciding whether to read your paper completely, they will first look at the abstract. You need to be concise in your abstract and give the reader the most important information so they can determine if they want to read the whole paper.

Remember that an abstract is the last thing you’ll want to write for the research paper because it directly references parts of the report. If you haven’t written the report, you won’t know what to include in your abstract.

If you are writing a paper for a journal or an assignment, the publication or academic institution might have specific formatting rules for how long your abstract should be. However, if they don’t, most abstracts are between 150 and 300 words long.

A short word count means your writing has to be precise and without filler words or phrases. Once you’ve written a first draft, you can always use an editing tool, such as ProWritingAid, to identify areas where you can reduce words and increase readability.

If your abstract is over the word limit, and you’ve edited it but still can’t figure out how to reduce it further, your abstract might include some things that aren’t needed. Here’s a list of three elements you can remove from your abstract:

Discussion : You don’t need to go into detail about the findings of your research because your reader will find your discussion within the paper.

Definition of terms : Your readers are interested the field you are writing about, so they are likely to understand the terms you are using. If not, they can always look them up. Your readers do not expect you to give a definition of terms in your abstract.

References and citations : You can mention there have been studies that support or have inspired your research, but you do not need to give details as the reader will find them in your bibliography.

Good writing = better grades

ProWritingAid will help you improve the style, strength, and clarity of all your assignments.

If you’ve never written an abstract before, and you’re wondering how to write an abstract, we’ve got some steps for you to follow. It’s best to start with planning your abstract, so we’ve outlined the details you need to include in your plan before you write.

Remember to consider your audience when you’re planning and writing your abstract. They are likely to skim read your abstract, so you want to be sure your abstract delivers all the information they’re expecting to see at key points.

1. What Should an Abstract Include?

Abstracts have a lot of information to cover in a short number of words, so it’s important to know what to include. There are three elements that need to be present in your abstract:

Your context is the background for where your research sits within your field of study. You should briefly mention any previous scientific papers or experiments that have led to your hypothesis and how research develops in those studies.

Your hypothesis is your prediction of what your study will show. As you are writing your abstract after you have conducted your research, you should still include your hypothesis in your abstract because it shows the motivation for your paper.

Throughout your abstract, you also need to include keywords and phrases that will help researchers to find your article in the databases they’re searching. Make sure the keywords are specific to your field of study and the subject you’re reporting on, otherwise your article might not reach the relevant audience.

2. Can You Use First Person in an Abstract?

You might think that first person is too informal for a research paper, but it’s not. Historically, writers of academic reports avoided writing in first person to uphold the formality standards of the time. However, first person is more accepted in research papers in modern times.

If you’re still unsure whether to write in first person for your abstract, refer to any style guide rules imposed by the journal you’re writing for or your teachers if you are writing an assignment.

3. Abstract Structure

Some scientific journals have strict rules on how to structure an abstract, so it’s best to check those first. If you don’t have any style rules to follow, try using the IMRaD structure, which stands for Introduction, Methodology, Results, and Discussion.

Following the IMRaD structure, start with an introduction. The amount of background information you should include depends on your specific research area. Adding a broad overview gives you less room to include other details. Remember to include your hypothesis in this section.

The next part of your abstract should cover your methodology. Try to include the following details if they apply to your study:

What type of research was conducted?

How were the test subjects sampled?

What were the sample sizes?

What was done to each group?

How long was the experiment?

How was data recorded and interpreted?

Following the methodology, include a sentence or two about the results, which is where your reader will determine if your research supports or contradicts their own investigations.

The results are also where most people will want to find out what your outcomes were, even if they are just mildly interested in your research area. You should be specific about all the details but as concise as possible.

The last few sentences are your conclusion. It needs to explain how your findings affect the context and whether your hypothesis was correct. Include the primary take-home message, additional findings of importance, and perspective. Also explain whether there is scope for further research into the subject of your report.

Your conclusion should be honest and give the reader the ultimate message that your research shows. Readers trust the conclusion, so make sure you’re not fabricating the results of your research. Some readers won’t read your entire paper, but this section will tell them if it’s worth them referencing it in their own study.

4. How to Start an Abstract

The first line of your abstract should give your reader the context of your report by providing background information. You can use this sentence to imply the motivation for your research.

You don’t need to use a hook phrase or device in your first sentence to grab the reader’s attention. Your reader will look to establish relevance quickly, so readability and clarity are more important than trying to persuade the reader to read on.

5. How to Format an Abstract

Most abstracts use the same formatting rules, which help the reader identify the abstract so they know where to look for it.

Here’s a list of formatting guidelines for writing an abstract:

Stick to one paragraph

Use block formatting with no indentation at the beginning

Put your abstract straight after the title and acknowledgements pages

Use present or past tense, not future tense

There are two primary types of abstract you could write for your paper—descriptive and informative.

An informative abstract is the most common, and they follow the structure mentioned previously. They are longer than descriptive abstracts because they cover more details.

Descriptive abstracts differ from informative abstracts, as they don’t include as much discussion or detail. The word count for a descriptive abstract is between 50 and 150 words.

Here is an example of an informative abstract:

A growing trend exists for authors to employ a more informal writing style that uses “we” in academic writing to acknowledge one’s stance and engagement. However, few studies have compared the ways in which the first-person pronoun “we” is used in the abstracts and conclusions of empirical papers. To address this lacuna in the literature, this study conducted a systematic corpus analysis of the use of “we” in the abstracts and conclusions of 400 articles collected from eight leading electrical and electronic (EE) engineering journals. The abstracts and conclusions were extracted to form two subcorpora, and an integrated framework was applied to analyze and seek to explain how we-clusters and we-collocations were employed. Results revealed whether authors’ use of first-person pronouns partially depends on a journal policy. The trend of using “we” showed that a yearly increase occurred in the frequency of “we” in EE journal papers, as well as the existence of three “we-use” types in the article conclusions and abstracts: exclusive, inclusive, and ambiguous. Other possible “we-use” alternatives such as “I” and other personal pronouns were used very rarely—if at all—in either section. These findings also suggest that the present tense was used more in article abstracts, but the present perfect tense was the most preferred tense in article conclusions. Both research and pedagogical implications are proffered and critically discussed.

Wang, S., Tseng, W.-T., & Johanson, R. (2021). To We or Not to We: Corpus-Based Research on First-Person Pronoun Use in Abstracts and Conclusions. SAGE Open, 11(2).

Here is an example of a descriptive abstract:

From the 1850s to the present, considerable criminological attention has focused on the development of theoretically-significant systems for classifying crime. This article reviews and attempts to evaluate a number of these efforts, and we conclude that further work on this basic task is needed. The latter part of the article explicates a conceptual foundation for a crime pattern classification system, and offers a preliminary taxonomy of crime.

Farr, K. A., & Gibbons, D. C. (1990). Observations on the Development of Crime Categories. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 34(3), 223–237.

If you want to ensure your abstract is grammatically correct and easy to read, you can use ProWritingAid to edit it. The software integrates with Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and most web browsers, so you can make the most of it wherever you’re writing your paper.

Before you edit with ProWritingAid, make sure the suggestions you are seeing are relevant for your document by changing the document type to “Abstract” within the Academic writing style section.

You can use the Readability report to check your abstract for places to improve the clarity of your writing. Some suggestions might show you where to remove words, which is great if you’re over your word count.

We hope the five steps and examples we’ve provided help you write a great abstract for your research paper.

Sarah Oakley

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How to Write an Abstract for a Research Paper | Examples

What is a research paper abstract?

Research paper abstracts summarize your study quickly and succinctly to journal editors and researchers and prompt them to read further. But with the ubiquity of online publication databases, writing a compelling abstract is even more important today than it was in the days of bound paper manuscripts.

Abstracts exist to “sell”  your work, and they could thus be compared to the “executive summary” of a business resume: an official briefing on what is most important about your research. Or the “gist” of your research. With the majority of academic transactions being conducted online, this means that you have even less time to impress readers–and increased competition in terms of other abstracts out there to read.

The APCI (Academic Publishing and Conferences International) notes that there are  12 questions or “points” considered in the selection process  for journals and conferences and stresses the importance of having an abstract that ticks all of these boxes. Because it is often the ONLY chance you have to convince readers to keep reading, it is important that you spend time and energy crafting an abstract that faithfully represents the central parts of your study and captivates your audience.

With that in mind, follow these suggestions when structuring and writing your abstract, and learn how exactly to put these ideas into a solid abstract that will captivate your target readers.

Before Writing Your Abstract

How long should an abstract be.

All abstracts are written with the same essential objective: to give a summary of your study. But there are two basic styles of abstract: descriptive and informative . Here is a brief delineation of the two:

Of the two types of abstracts, informative abstracts are much more common, and they are widely used for submission to journals and conferences. Informative abstracts apply to lengthier and more technical research and are common in the sciences, engineering, and psychology, while descriptive abstracts are more likely used in humanities and social science papers. The best method of determining which abstract type you need to use is to follow the instructions for journal submissions and to read as many other published articles in those journals as possible.

Research Abstract Guidelines and Requirements

As any article about research writing will tell you, authors must always closely follow the specific guidelines and requirements indicated in the Guide for Authors section of their target journal’s website. The same kind of adherence to conventions should be applied to journal publications, for consideration at a conference, and even when completing a class assignment.

Each publisher has particular demands when it comes to formatting and structure. Here are some common questions addressed in the journal guidelines:

• Is there a maximum or minimum word/character length?
• What are the style and formatting requirements?
• What is the appropriate abstract type?
• Are there any specific content or organization rules that apply?

There are of course other rules to consider when composing a research paper abstract. But if you follow the stated rules the first time you submit your manuscript, you can avoid your work being thrown in the “circular file” right off the bat.

Identify Your Target Readership

The main purpose of your abstract is to lead researchers to the full text of your research paper. In scientific journals, abstracts let readers decide whether the research discussed is relevant to their own interests or study. Abstracts also help readers understand your main argument quickly. Consider these questions as you write your abstract:

• Are other academics in your field the main target of your study?
• Will your study perhaps be useful to members of the general public?
• Do your study results include the wider implications presented in the abstract?

Outlining and Writing Your Abstract

What to include in an abstract.

Just as your  research paper title  should cover as much ground as possible in a few short words, your abstract must cover  all  parts of your study in order to fully explain your paper and research. Because it must accomplish this task in the space of only a few hundred words, it is important not to include ambiguous references or phrases that will confuse the reader or mislead them about the content and objectives of your research. Follow these  dos  and  don’ts  when it comes to what kind of writing to include:

• Avoid acronyms or abbreviations since these will need to be explained in order to make sense to the reader, which takes up valuable abstract space. Instead, explain these terms in the Introduction section of the main text.
• Only use references to people or other works if they are well-known. Otherwise, avoid referencing anything outside of your study in the abstract.
• Never include tables, figures, sources, or long quotations in your abstract; you will have plenty of time to present and refer to these in the body of your paper.

Use keywords in your abstract to focus your topic

A vital search tool is the research paper keywords section, which lists the most relevant terms directly underneath the abstract. Think of these keywords as the “tubes” that readers will seek and enter—via queries on databases and search engines—to ultimately land at their destination, which is your paper. Your abstract keywords should thus be words that are commonly used in searches but should also be highly relevant to your work and found in the text of your abstract. Include 5 to 10 important words or short phrases central to your research in both the abstract and the keywords section.

For example, if you are writing a paper on the prevalence of obesity among lower classes that crosses international boundaries, you should include terms like “obesity,” “prevalence,” “international,” “lower classes,” and “cross-cultural.” These are terms that should net a wide array of people interested in your topic of study. Look at our nine rules for choosing keywords for your research paper if you need more input on this.

Research Paper Abstract Structure

As mentioned above, the abstract (especially the informative abstract) acts as a surrogate or synopsis of your research paper, doing almost as much work as the thousands of words that follow it in the body of the main text. In the hard sciences and most social sciences, the abstract includes the following sections and organizational schema.

Each section is quite compact—only a single sentence or two, although there is room for expansion if one element or statement is particularly interesting or compelling. As the abstract is almost always one long paragraph, the individual sections should naturally merge into one another to create a holistic effect. Use the following as a checklist to ensure that you have included all of the necessary content in your abstract.

1) Identify your purpose and motivation

So your research is about rabies in Brazilian squirrels. Why is this important? You should start your abstract by explaining why people should care about this study—why is it significant to your field and perhaps to the wider world? And what is the exact purpose of your study; what are you trying to achieve? Start by answering the following questions:

• What made you decide to do this study or project?
• Why is this study important to your field or to the lay reader?
• Why should someone read your entire article?

In summary, the first section of your abstract should include the importance of the research and its impact on related research fields or on the wider scientific domain.

2) Explain the research problem you are addressing

Stating the research problem that your study addresses is the corollary to why your specific study is important and necessary. For instance, even if the issue of “rabies in Brazilian squirrels” is important, what is the problem—the “missing piece of the puzzle”—that your study helps resolve?

You can combine the problem with the motivation section, but from a perspective of organization and clarity, it is best to separate the two. Here are some precise questions to address:

• What is your research trying to better understand or what problem is it trying to solve?
• What is the scope of your study—does it try to explain something general or specific?
• What is your central claim or argument?

3) Discuss your research approach

Your specific study approach is detailed in the Methods and Materials section .  You have already established the importance of the research, your motivation for studying this issue, and the specific problem your paper addresses. Now you need to discuss  how  you solved or made progress on this problem—how you conducted your research. If your study includes your own work or that of your team, describe that here. If in your paper you reviewed the work of others, explain this here. Did you use analytic models? A simulation? A double-blind study? A case study? You are basically showing the reader the internal engine of your research machine and how it functioned in the study. Be sure to:

• Detail your research—include methods/type of the study, your variables, and the extent of the work
• Briefly present evidence to support your claim
• Highlight your most important sources

4) Briefly summarize your results

Here you will give an overview of the outcome of your study. Avoid using too many vague qualitative terms (e.g, “very,” “small,” or “tremendous”) and try to use at least some quantitative terms (i.e., percentages, figures, numbers). Save your qualitative language for the conclusion statement. Answer questions like these:

• What did your study yield in concrete terms (e.g., trends, figures, correlation between phenomena)?
• How did your results compare to your hypothesis? Was the study successful?
• Where there any highly unexpected outcomes or were they all largely predicted?

5) State your conclusion

In the last section of your abstract, you will give a statement about the implications and  limitations of the study . Be sure to connect this statement closely to your results and not the area of study in general. Are the results of this study going to shake up the scientific world? Will they impact how people see “Brazilian squirrels”? Or are the implications minor? Try not to boast about your study or present its impact as  too  far-reaching, as researchers and journals will tend to be skeptical of bold claims in scientific papers. Answer one of these questions:

• What are the exact effects of these results on my field? On the wider world?
• What other kind of study would yield further solutions to problems?
• What other information is needed to expand knowledge in this area?

After Completing the First Draft of Your Abstract

Revise your abstract.

The abstract, like any piece of academic writing, should be revised before being considered complete. Check it for  grammatical and spelling errors  and make sure it is formatted properly.

Get feedback from a peer

Getting a fresh set of eyes to review your abstract is a great way to find out whether you’ve summarized your research well. Find a reader who understands research papers but is not an expert in this field or is not affiliated with your study. Ask your reader to summarize what your study is about (including all key points of each section). This should tell you if you have communicated your key points clearly.

In addition to research peers, consider consulting with a professor or even a specialist or generalist writing center consultant about your abstract. Use any resource that helps you see your work from another perspective.

Consider getting professional editing and proofreading

While peer feedback is quite important to ensure the effectiveness of your abstract content, it may be a good idea to find an academic editor  to fix mistakes in grammar, spelling, mechanics, style, or formatting. The presence of basic errors in the abstract may not affect your content, but it might dissuade someone from reading your entire study. Wordvice provides English editing services that both correct objective errors and enhance the readability and impact of your work.

Additional Abstract Rules and Guidelines

Write your abstract after completing your paper.

Although the abstract goes at the beginning of your manuscript, it does not merely introduce your research topic (that is the job of the title), but rather summarizes your entire paper. Writing the abstract last will ensure that it is complete and consistent with the findings and statements in your paper.

Keep your content in the correct order

Both questions and answers should be organized in a standard and familiar way to make the content easier for readers to absorb. Ideally, it should mimic the overall format of your essay and the classic “introduction,” “body,” and “conclusion” form, even if the parts are not neatly divided as such.

Write the abstract from scratch

Because the abstract is a self-contained piece of writing viewed separately from the body of the paper, you should write it separately as well. Never copy and paste direct quotes from the paper and avoid paraphrasing sentences in the paper. Using new vocabulary and phrases will keep your abstract interesting and free of redundancies while conserving space.

Don’t include too many details in the abstract

Again, the density of your abstract makes it incompatible with including specific points other than possibly names or locations. You can make references to terms, but do not explain or define them in the abstract. Try to strike a balance between being specific to your study and presenting a relatively broad overview of your work.

Wordvice Resources

If you think your abstract is fine now but you need input on abstract writing or require English editing services (including paper editing ), then head over to the Wordvice academic resources page, where you will find many more articles, for example on writing the Results , Methods , and Discussion sections of your manuscript, on choosing a title for your paper , or on how to finalize your journal submission with a strong cover letter .    

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• How to Write an Abstract | Steps & Examples

How to Write an Abstract | Steps & Examples

Published on 1 March 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on 10 October 2022 by Eoghan Ryan.

An abstract is a short summary of a longer work (such as a dissertation or research paper ). The abstract concisely reports the aims and outcomes of your research, so that readers know exactly what your paper is about.

Although the structure may vary slightly depending on your discipline, your abstract should describe the purpose of your work, the methods you’ve used, and the conclusions you’ve drawn.

One common way to structure your abstract is to use the IMRaD structure. This stands for:

• Introduction

Abstracts are usually around 100–300 words, but there’s often a strict word limit, so make sure to check the relevant requirements.

In a dissertation or thesis , include the abstract on a separate page, after the title page and acknowledgements but before the table of contents .

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Table of contents

Abstract example, when to write an abstract, step 1: introduction, step 2: methods, step 3: results, step 4: discussion, tips for writing an abstract, frequently asked questions about abstracts.

Hover over the different parts of the abstract to see how it is constructed.

This paper examines the role of silent movies as a mode of shared experience in the UK during the early twentieth century. At this time, high immigration rates resulted in a significant percentage of non-English-speaking citizens. These immigrants faced numerous economic and social obstacles, including exclusion from public entertainment and modes of discourse (newspapers, theater, radio).

Incorporating evidence from reviews, personal correspondence, and diaries, this study demonstrates that silent films were an affordable and inclusive source of entertainment. It argues for the accessible economic and representational nature of early cinema. These concerns are particularly evident in the low price of admission and in the democratic nature of the actors’ exaggerated gestures, which allowed the plots and action to be easily grasped by a diverse audience despite language barriers.

Keywords: silent movies, immigration, public discourse, entertainment, early cinema, language barriers.

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You will almost always have to include an abstract when:

• Completing a thesis or dissertation
• Submitting a research paper to an academic journal
• Writing a book proposal
• Applying for research grants

It’s easiest to write your abstract last, because it’s a summary of the work you’ve already done. Your abstract should:

• Be a self-contained text, not an excerpt from your paper
• Be fully understandable on its own
• Reflect the structure of your larger work

Start by clearly defining the purpose of your research. What practical or theoretical problem does the research respond to, or what research question did you aim to answer?

You can include some brief context on the social or academic relevance of your topic, but don’t go into detailed background information. If your abstract uses specialised terms that would be unfamiliar to the average academic reader or that have various different meanings, give a concise definition.

After identifying the problem, state the objective of your research. Use verbs like “investigate,” “test,” “analyse,” or “evaluate” to describe exactly what you set out to do.

This part of the abstract can be written in the present or past simple tense  but should never refer to the future, as the research is already complete.

• This study will investigate the relationship between coffee consumption and productivity.
• This study investigates the relationship between coffee consumption and productivity.

Next, indicate the research methods that you used to answer your question. This part should be a straightforward description of what you did in one or two sentences. It is usually written in the past simple tense, as it refers to completed actions.

• Structured interviews will be conducted with 25 participants.
• Structured interviews were conducted with 25 participants.

Don’t evaluate validity or obstacles here — the goal is not to give an account of the methodology’s strengths and weaknesses, but to give the reader a quick insight into the overall approach and procedures you used.

Next, summarise the main research results . This part of the abstract can be in the present or past simple tense.

• Our analysis has shown a strong correlation between coffee consumption and productivity.
• Our analysis shows a strong correlation between coffee consumption and productivity.
• Our analysis showed a strong correlation between coffee consumption and productivity.

Depending on how long and complex your research is, you may not be able to include all results here. Try to highlight only the most important findings that will allow the reader to understand your conclusions.

Finally, you should discuss the main conclusions of your research : what is your answer to the problem or question? The reader should finish with a clear understanding of the central point that your research has proved or argued. Conclusions are usually written in the present simple tense.

• We concluded that coffee consumption increases productivity.
• We conclude that coffee consumption increases productivity.

If there are important limitations to your research (for example, related to your sample size or methods), you should mention them briefly in the abstract. This allows the reader to accurately assess the credibility and generalisability of your research.

If your aim was to solve a practical problem, your discussion might include recommendations for implementation. If relevant, you can briefly make suggestions for further research.

If your paper will be published, you might have to add a list of keywords at the end of the abstract. These keywords should reference the most important elements of the research to help potential readers find your paper during their own literature searches.

Be aware that some publication manuals, such as APA Style , have specific formatting requirements for these keywords.

It can be a real challenge to condense your whole work into just a couple of hundred words, but the abstract will be the first (and sometimes only) part that people read, so it’s important to get it right. These strategies can help you get started.

Read other abstracts

The best way to learn the conventions of writing an abstract in your discipline is to read other people’s. You probably already read lots of journal article abstracts while conducting your literature review —try using them as a framework for structure and style.

You can also find lots of dissertation abstract examples in thesis and dissertation databases .

Reverse outline

Not all abstracts will contain precisely the same elements. For longer works, you can write your abstract through a process of reverse outlining.

For each chapter or section, list keywords and draft one to two sentences that summarise the central point or argument. This will give you a framework of your abstract’s structure. Next, revise the sentences to make connections and show how the argument develops.

Write clearly and concisely

A good abstract is short but impactful, so make sure every word counts. Each sentence should clearly communicate one main point.

To keep your abstract or summary short and clear:

• Avoid passive sentences: Passive constructions are often unnecessarily long. You can easily make them shorter and clearer by using the active voice.
• Avoid long sentences: Substitute longer expressions for concise expressions or single words (e.g., “In order to” for “To”).
• Avoid obscure jargon: The abstract should be understandable to readers who are not familiar with your topic.
• Avoid repetition and filler words: Replace nouns with pronouns when possible and eliminate unnecessary words.
• Avoid detailed descriptions: An abstract is not expected to provide detailed definitions, background information, or discussions of other scholars’ work. Instead, include this information in the body of your thesis or paper.

If you’re struggling to edit down to the required length, you can get help from expert editors with Scribbr’s professional proofreading services .

Check your formatting

If you are writing a thesis or dissertation or submitting to a journal, there are often specific formatting requirements for the abstract—make sure to check the guidelines and format your work correctly. For APA research papers you can follow the APA abstract format .

Checklist: Abstract

The word count is within the required length, or a maximum of one page.

The abstract appears after the title page and acknowledgements and before the table of contents .

I have clearly stated my research problem and objectives.

I have briefly described my methodology .

I have summarized the most important results .

I have stated my main conclusions .

I have mentioned any important limitations and recommendations.

The abstract can be understood by someone without prior knowledge of the topic.

You've written a great abstract! Use the other checklists to continue improving your thesis or dissertation.

An abstract is a concise summary of an academic text (such as a journal article or dissertation ). It serves two main purposes:

• To help potential readers determine the relevance of your paper for their own research.
• To communicate your key findings to those who don’t have time to read the whole paper.

Abstracts are often indexed along with keywords on academic databases, so they make your work more easily findable. Since the abstract is the first thing any reader sees, it’s important that it clearly and accurately summarises the contents of your paper.

An abstract for a thesis or dissertation is usually around 150–300 words. There’s often a strict word limit, so make sure to check your university’s requirements.

The abstract is the very last thing you write. You should only write it after your research is complete, so that you can accurately summarize the entirety of your thesis or paper.

Avoid citing sources in your abstract . There are two reasons for this:

• The abstract should focus on your original research, not on the work of others.
• The abstract should be self-contained and fully understandable without reference to other sources.

There are some circumstances where you might need to mention other sources in an abstract: for example, if your research responds directly to another study or focuses on the work of a single theorist. In general, though, don’t include citations unless absolutely necessary.

The abstract appears on its own page, after the title page and acknowledgements but before the table of contents .

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Research Paper Abstract – Writing Guide and Examples

Table of Contents

Research Paper Abstract

Research Paper Abstract is a brief summary of a research pape r that describes the study’s purpose, methods, findings, and conclusions . It is often the first section of the paper that readers encounter, and its purpose is to provide a concise and accurate overview of the paper’s content. The typical length of an abstract is usually around 150-250 words, and it should be written in a concise and clear manner.

Research Paper Abstract Structure

The structure of a research paper abstract usually includes the following elements:

• Background or Introduction: Briefly describe the problem or research question that the study addresses.
• Methods : Explain the methodology used to conduct the study, including the participants, materials, and procedures.
• Results : Summarize the main findings of the study, including statistical analyses and key outcomes.
• Conclusions : Discuss the implications of the study’s findings and their significance for the field, as well as any limitations or future directions for research.
• Keywords : List a few keywords that describe the main topics or themes of the research.

How to Write Research Paper Abstract

Here are the steps to follow when writing a research paper abstract:

• Start by reading your paper: Before you write an abstract, you should have a complete understanding of your paper. Read through the paper carefully, making sure you understand the purpose, methods, results, and conclusions.
• Identify the key components : Identify the key components of your paper, such as the research question, methods used, results obtained, and conclusion reached.
• Write a draft: Write a draft of your abstract, using concise and clear language. Make sure to include all the important information, but keep it short and to the point. A good rule of thumb is to keep your abstract between 150-250 words.
• Use clear and concise language : Use clear and concise language to explain the purpose of your study, the methods used, the results obtained, and the conclusions drawn.
• Emphasize your findings: Emphasize your findings in the abstract, highlighting the key results and the significance of your study.
• Revise and edit: Once you have a draft, revise and edit it to ensure that it is clear, concise, and free from errors.
• Check the formatting: Finally, check the formatting of your abstract to make sure it meets the requirements of the journal or conference where you plan to submit it.

Research Paper Abstract Examples

Research Paper Abstract Examples could be following:

Title : “The Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Treating Anxiety Disorders: A Meta-Analysis”

Abstract : This meta-analysis examines the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in treating anxiety disorders. Through the analysis of 20 randomized controlled trials, we found that CBT is a highly effective treatment for anxiety disorders, with large effect sizes across a range of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder. Our findings support the use of CBT as a first-line treatment for anxiety disorders and highlight the importance of further research to identify the mechanisms underlying its effectiveness.

Title : “Exploring the Role of Parental Involvement in Children’s Education: A Qualitative Study”

Abstract : This qualitative study explores the role of parental involvement in children’s education. Through in-depth interviews with 20 parents of children in elementary school, we found that parental involvement takes many forms, including volunteering in the classroom, helping with homework, and communicating with teachers. We also found that parental involvement is influenced by a range of factors, including parent and child characteristics, school culture, and socio-economic status. Our findings suggest that schools and educators should prioritize building strong partnerships with parents to support children’s academic success.

Title : “The Impact of Exercise on Cognitive Function in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis”

Abstract : This paper presents a systematic review and meta-analysis of the existing literature on the impact of exercise on cognitive function in older adults. Through the analysis of 25 randomized controlled trials, we found that exercise is associated with significant improvements in cognitive function, particularly in the domains of executive function and attention. Our findings highlight the potential of exercise as a non-pharmacological intervention to support cognitive health in older adults.

When to Write Research Paper Abstract

The abstract of a research paper should typically be written after you have completed the main body of the paper. This is because the abstract is intended to provide a brief summary of the key points and findings of the research, and you can’t do that until you have completed the research and written about it in detail.

Once you have completed your research paper, you can begin writing your abstract. It is important to remember that the abstract should be a concise summary of your research paper, and should be written in a way that is easy to understand for readers who may not have expertise in your specific area of research.

Purpose of Research Paper Abstract

The purpose of a research paper abstract is to provide a concise summary of the key points and findings of a research paper. It is typically a brief paragraph or two that appears at the beginning of the paper, before the introduction, and is intended to give readers a quick overview of the paper’s content.

The abstract should include a brief statement of the research problem, the methods used to investigate the problem, the key results and findings, and the main conclusions and implications of the research. It should be written in a clear and concise manner, avoiding jargon and technical language, and should be understandable to a broad audience.

The abstract serves as a way to quickly and easily communicate the main points of a research paper to potential readers, such as academics, researchers, and students, who may be looking for information on a particular topic. It can also help researchers determine whether a paper is relevant to their own research interests and whether they should read the full paper.

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