Need a guide to learn how to write an abstract like a professional writer? This is a complete guide to help you get familiar with all the main elements, steps, and tips to write an abstract.
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What is an Abstract?
An abstract is a summary of ideal length 150-250 words that provide a quick overview of a longer work like a dissertation or a research work. The main purpose of an abstract is to highlight the main aims and outcomes of the research work to summarize the same to the readers. To know how to write an abstract, you must follow a definite pattern as per the university guidelines. This guide contains the main guidelines to help you write like a professional. To start writing your abstract, you must include four main components including:-
- The Research Problem and Objectives
- The Methods
- Key Results and Arguments
- The Conclusion
The need to write an abstract arises when you have to submit an article to an academic journal and write a thesis, dissertation, or a research paper. The keynote to keep in mind while writing an abstract is to keep it self-written, without including any excerpt from the paper or dissertation. If you want the reader to understand your intent, you must try making this abstract a miniature form of your main writing. Here are the main components to include in an abstract.
Main Elements of An Abstract
So, the key thing to know while writing an abstract is to set the element’s rights. Include the following:-
Aims
In this section, you must define the purpose of your research, including the practical or theoretical problem of your research paper. Include the social or academic relevance of your topic instead of giving detailed background information. When you end up identifying the problem, the next point is to state the research objective’s objective. While writing, try to use words like ‘investigate,’ ‘test,’ ‘analyze,’ or ‘evaluate.’
Methods
The next thing to include in writing an abstract is quoting the research methods. While writing this part, you must give an account of what you did in your research in a line or two. Through a clear method, you can give an insight into the overall approach and procedures used.
Results and Conclusion
In this section, you have summarized the main research results. Try to include the main findings here to help the readers understand your conclusions. Then, state the conclusions of your research with writing about the questions. To fulfill the abstract’s purpose, you must provide readers with recommendations and implementation to solve a practical problem.
Keywords
Another significant point to remember while writing an abstract is to Include the highlighting keywords. These keywords are mainly the list of words that best define the important elements of your research paper. According to the APA Publication Manual, ‘the abstract is the single most important paragraph in your entire paper.’ So, it must convince the reader to spend their time reading your research work.
What is a Good Abstract?
Now that you know how to write an abstract, the next crucial thing is to realize what makes it good in all senses possible. As per the official guidelines of the American Psychological Association, a good abstract must cover the following points.
Brief and Informational
To keep your abstract brief and informational, a good abstract must include impactful points. Focus on quoting the essential points, concepts, and findings that best defines your purpose of writing the abstract.
Objective and Accurate
A good abstract is one that reports rather than commenting on the research and findings. Keep the purpose of your research paper clear by including a clear objective of it. Maintain the accuracy of the paper to serve the reader’s purpose and provide reliability. In short, your abstract should be a clear reflection of your research paper.
Tips for Writing an Abstract
Since condensing the entire research work into a summary isn’t an easy task, there are some strategies that you must follow. While writing an abstract, you must consider all these points.
Outline the Research Work
Since an abstract is a capsule summary of the research work, ensure to the outline of the entire research work. Include the main points from the aim, methods, and the result of your research work. Give your abstract a read to ensure that it highlights the summary of your research paper.
Read Other Abstracts
To learn the right conventions of writing an abstract, you must read other abstracts and get the idea. The more you start reading about a topic, the more information you acquire on the research work topic and writing a good one. While writing your abstract, you can use the information as a framework for structure and style.
Be Clear and Concise
Since good abstract writing is short yet impactful, ensure to communicate the main points. Don’t overuse distinct vocabulary and purposeless jargon – be to the point where you want your reader to get familiar with it.
Check Your Formatting
After completing your abstract, get back to the formatting requirements for the abstract. To ensure the overall correction of your abstract, ensure to check the guidelines and format of your work. Get a clear view of its word limit, length of the abstract, and the inclusion of all the keywords. Make sure that you don’t skip any important point, make a checklist of all the essential guidelines, and check the abstract with it.
By following these steps and tips, you’ll be able to get a good hold on “How to Write An Abstract” and score good grades. Also, If you need a professional writer to help you with your abstract, you can get instant online assignment help from us. We’re available 24*7, get a hassle-free service.
