How long scientific abstract

For this, the abstract must have some general qualities. These are listed in Table 1. Although some journals still publish abstracts that are written as free-flowing paragraphs, most journals require abstracts to conform to a formal structure within a word count of, usually, — words. The usual sections defined in a structured abstract are the Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions; other headings with similar meanings may be used eg, Introduction in place of Background or Findings in place of Results.

Some journals include additional sections, such as Objectives between Background and Methods and Limitations at the end of the abstract. In the rest of this paper, issues related to the contents of each section will be examined in turn. This section should be the shortest part of the abstract and should very briefly outline the following information:. What is not known about the subject and hence what the study intended to examine or what the paper seeks to present. In most cases, the background can be framed in just 2—3 sentences, with each sentence describing a different aspect of the information referred to above; sometimes, even a single sentence may suffice.

The purpose of the background, as the word itself indicates, is to provide the reader with a background to the study, and hence to smoothly lead into a description of the methods employed in the investigation. Some authors publish papers the abstracts of which contain a lengthy background section.

There are some situations, perhaps, where this may be justified. In most cases, however, a longer background section means that less space remains for the presentation of the results.

This is unfortunate because the reader is interested in the paper because of its findings, and not because of its background. A wide variety of acceptably composed backgrounds is provided in Table 2 ; most of these have been adapted from actual papers. Note that, in the interest of brevity, unnecessary content is avoided. The methods section is usually the second-longest section in the abstract. It should contain enough information to enable the reader to understand what was done, and how.

Table 3 lists important questions to which the methods section should provide brief answers. Questions regarding which information should ideally be available in the methods section of an abstract.

Carelessly written methods sections lack information about important issues such as sample size, numbers of patients in different groups, doses of medications, and duration of the study.

Readers have only to flip through the pages of a randomly selected journal to realize how common such carelessness is. Table 4 presents examples of the contents of accept-ably written methods sections, modified from actual publications.

The results section is the most important part of the abstract and nothing should compromise its range and quality. This is because readers who peruse an abstract do so to learn about the findings of the study. The results section should therefore be the longest part of the abstract and should contain as much detail about the findings as the journal word count permits. Important information that the results should present is indicated in Table 5.

Examples of acceptably written abstracts are presented in Table 6 ; one of these has been modified from an actual publication. This section should contain the most important take-home message of the study, expressed in a few precisely worded sentences. Click here to dismiss this alert.

Search Now. Standard protocols are also available Cat. Product Name Specific Protocols. Load more search results. How to Write a Good Scientific Abstract. An abstract is a written statement describing key facts about your research project.

Why is the abstract important? Helps to conduct your research Helps to present complex information in a clear and concise manner Helps to condense detailed report information into a shorter format for database searches Helps to provide a summary of your work for future publications and grant applications An abstract should be: Informative a brief overview of your research Descriptive including the research aim, objectives of your project, and the analytical methodologies applied Critical the key outcomes and limitations of your work should be described Written in a formal language A conference abstract should contain — words limiting yourself to the word count indicated by the conference organizers Writing the Abstract: Step-by-Step Process When writing an abstract, we must be sure to convey the right amount of information without going into long-winded explanations.

Figure 1. Formatting Your Abstract What does an abstract include? Figure 2. A good abstract will lead to more people being involved in your research.

Top tips for writing a strong abstract Follow the conference abstract guidelines. Keep it punchy. Written by Dr. It is also a popular platform for networking, allowing researchers to learn, share, and discuss their experiences within their network and community.

The team, which comprises subject matter experts, academicians, trainers, and technical project managers, are passionate about helping researchers at all levels establish a successful career, both within and outside academia. Scientific Papers: Is Readability Declining? Subscribe for free to get unrestricted access to all our resources on research writing and academic publishing including:. We hate spam too. We promise to protect your privacy and never spam you. Reading time 3 minutes.

SEO for abstracts. Author Enago Academy. We invite you to share your research with the community by posting it online as a preprint. Our sister company, Research Square , is a trusted preprint platform that lets you get credit for your unpublished research early, increase your citations, and get feedback from the community. Section-By-Section Writing Tips. Tips for writing a good Materials and Methods section, improving credibility and reproducibility of your manuscript.

Read More ». Toggle navigation Toggle navigation. News, tips, and resources from the academic publishing experts at AJE. Follow these 6 tips to make the most of a small amount of space. Provide clear conclusions but avoid overselling your work. Popular Categories Writing a manuscript Finishing touches Choosing a journal Peer review and publication Sharing your research Research process Publication ethics.

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