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abstract in a research article

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An abstract is a short summary of your (published or unpublished) research paper, usually about a paragraph (c. 6-7 sentences, 150-250 words) long.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

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:

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 And in an abstract, you usually do not cite references—most of your abstract will describe what you have studied in your research and what you have found and what you argue in your paper.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.

“The growing economic resemblance of spouses has contributed to rising inequality by increasing the number of couples in which there are two high- or two low-earning partners. [Annotation for the previous sentence: The first sentence introduces the topic under study (the “economic resemblance of spouses”). This sentence also implies the question underlying this research study: what are the various causes—and the interrelationships among them—for this trend?] The dominant explanation for this trend is increased assortative mating. Previous research has primarily relied on cross-sectional data and thus has been unable to disentangle changes in assortative mating from changes in the division of spouses’ paid labor—a potentially key mechanism given the dramatic rise in wives’ labor supply. [Annotation for the previous two sentences: These next two sentences explain what previous research has demonstrated. By pointing out the limitations in the methods that were used in previous studies, they also provide a rationale for new research.] We use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to decompose the increase in the correlation between spouses’ earnings and its contribution to inequality between 1970 and 2013 into parts due to (a) changes in assortative mating, and (b) changes in the division of paid labor. [Annotation for the previous sentence: The data, research and analytical methods used in this new study.] Contrary to what has often been assumed, the rise of economic homogamy and its contribution to inequality is largely attributable to changes in the division of paid labor rather than changes in sorting on earnings or earnings potential. Our findings indicate that the rise of economic homogamy cannot be explained by hypotheses centered on meeting and matching opportunities, and they show where in this process inequality is generated and where it is not.” (p. 985) [Annotation for the previous two sentences: The major findings from and implications and significance of this study.]

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.

“From the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s, a network of young urban migrant men created an underground pulp fiction publishing industry in the city of Dar es Salaam. [Annotation for the previous sentence: The first sentence introduces the context for this research and announces the topic under study.] As texts that were produced in the underground economy of a city whose trajectory was increasingly charted outside of formalized planning and investment, these novellas reveal more than their narrative content alone. These texts were active components in the urban social worlds of the young men who produced them. They reveal a mode of urbanism otherwise obscured by narratives of decolonization, in which urban belonging was constituted less by national citizenship than by the construction of social networks, economic connections, and the crafting of reputations. This article argues that pulp fiction novellas of socialist era Dar es Salaam are artifacts of emergent forms of male sociability and mobility. In printing fictional stories about urban life on pilfered paper and ink, and distributing their texts through informal channels, these writers not only described urban communities, reputations, and networks, but also actually created them.” (p. 210) [Annotation for the previous sentences: The remaining sentences in this abstract interweave other essential information for an abstract for this article. The implied research questions: What do these texts mean? What is their historical and cultural significance, produced at this time, in this location, by these authors? The argument and the significance of this analysis in microcosm: these texts “reveal a mode or urbanism otherwise obscured . . .”; and “This article argues that pulp fiction novellas. . . .” This section also implies what previous historical research has obscured. And through the details in its argumentative claims, this section of the abstract implies the kinds of methods the author has used to interpret the novellas and the concepts under study (e.g., male sociability and mobility, urban communities, reputations, network. . . ).]

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.

“Several studies have reported reprogramming of fibroblasts into induced cardiomyocytes; however, reprogramming into proliferative induced cardiac progenitor cells (iCPCs) remains to be accomplished. [Annotation for the previous sentence: The first sentence announces the topic under study, summarizes what’s already known or been accomplished in previous research, and signals the rationale and goals are for the new research and the problem that the new research solves: How can researchers reprogram fibroblasts into iCPCs?] Here we report that a combination of 11 or 5 cardiac factors along with canonical Wnt and JAK/STAT signaling reprogrammed adult mouse cardiac, lung, and tail tip fibroblasts into iCPCs. The iCPCs were cardiac mesoderm-restricted progenitors that could be expanded extensively while maintaining multipo-tency to differentiate into cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells in vitro. Moreover, iCPCs injected into the cardiac crescent of mouse embryos differentiated into cardiomyocytes. iCPCs transplanted into the post-myocardial infarction mouse heart improved survival and differentiated into cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells. [Annotation for the previous four sentences: The methods the researchers developed to achieve their goal and a description of the results.] Lineage reprogramming of adult somatic cells into iCPCs provides a scalable cell source for drug discovery, disease modeling, and cardiac regenerative therapy.” (p. 354) [Annotation for the previous sentence: The significance or implications—for drug discovery, disease modeling, and therapy—of this reprogramming of adult somatic cells into iCPCs.]

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:

abstract in a research article

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The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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?

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:

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

All abstracts include:

Abstracts may include:

How not to write an abstract:

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.

Kilborn, Judith. 1998. “Writing Abstracts.” LEO: Literacy Education Online. Last updated October 20, 1998. https://leo.stcloudstate.edu/bizwrite/abstracts.html .

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.

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abstract in a research article

How to Write a Scientific Abstract for Your Research Article | Parts of a Research Article

How-to-write-a-scientific-abstract.

Karen McKee, Scientist

January 21, 2022

One of the most important parts of a scientific research article is the abstract. Why? Because they act like advertisements for your paper. Successful authors put substantial effort into crafting their abstracts as it is often the only section of a paper that is read! And will determine whether a reader decides to continue. In the case of a conference paper, the abstract will determine whether it is accepted or not for presentation to colleagues. Conference organizers and journal editors and reviewers pay close attention to the abstract because it is a good predictor of the quality of the paper or talk. A poorly written abstract says the author is inexperienced or doesn’t care about quality.

What is the purpose of a scientific abstract?

Essentially, an abstract should reflect all the parts of your research paper, including yourself, but in shortened form. In other words, a person reading only your abstract should be able to:

In general, avoid the novice’s cut-and-paste approach when crafting your abstract and instead write a unique, standalone summary. Although inclusion of data is acceptable, report only those numbers that represent the most important information. Some authors include citations or URLs in their abstracts, but many journals discourage or prohibit such additions. Be sure to stay within the word limit, which most journals and conferences set for abstracts. Use Wiley Author Services to   find the best journal for publication of your paper   and understand their submission process for more details.  

Let’s now consider how to write an abstract. Some journals or conferences provide a template that specifies four or five sections, e.g., Background or Aim, Question, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. If so, then follow those instructions. If not, then the four-part structure provided below will serve as a basic guideline. If you follow this formula, your abstract will be well organized and will contain all the essential elements. There are four main parts in which you need to answer the following questions:

How to Write an Abstract

1. what problem did you study and why is it important.

Here, you want to provide some background to the study, the motivation behind the study, and/or the specific question or hypothesis you addressed. You may be able to set the stage with only one or two sentences, but sometimes it takes a longer description. You’ll have to use your best judgment here as to how much to say in this first section.

2. What methods did you use to study the problem?

Next, you want to give an overview of your methods. Was it a field study or a laboratory experiment? What experimental treatments were applied? Generally, you want to keep the methods section brief unless it is the focus of the paper.

3. What were your key findings?

When describing your results, strive to focus on the main finding(s) and list no more than two or three points. Also, avoid ambiguous or imprecise wording, which is a common mistake found in conference abstracts written before the data have been completely collected or analyzed. If your data are incomplete or still being analyzed, you are not ready to present your paper.

4. What did you conclude based on these findings and what are the broader implications?

The conclusions section is where you want to drive home the broader implications of your study. What is new or innovative about the findings? How do your findings affect the field of study? Are there any applications? In writing this section, however, don’t state sweeping generalizations unsupported by the data or say that insights “will be discussed”.

What other considerations should I take when writing my abstract?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which means including  keywords people are likely to use when looking for papers on your topic . In addition to including such terms in the title and keyword field of your paper, you want to repeat those terms contextually throughout the abstract. Such repetition is used by search engines to rank an online document. By optimizing your abstract for discovery by search engines, you can raise the ranking of your paper in a search and make it easier for colleagues to find.

Some journals are now encouraging or requiring “enhanced abstracts” such as  graphical abstracts  or  video abstracts . Although such abstracts include additional visual components, the same basic guidelines I’ve covered in this post still apply. All good abstracts recapitulate the paper and contain the four key parts listed above.

Writing good abstracts is not an art, but a learned skill. Developing such a skill takes practice. Here is an exercise to help you develop this skill. Pick a scientific article in your field. Read the paper with the abstract covered. Then try to write an abstract based on your reading. Compare your abstract to the author’s. Repeat until you feel confident. If you’ve not yet published a paper, this exercise will help you hone the skills necessary to write a concise and informative abstract.

If you would like to view a presentation that summarizes the points in this post and uses a published abstract to illustrate, see  this link.

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Writing for Publication 101: Why the Abstract Is So Important

JoAnn Grif Alspach; Writing for Publication 101: Why the Abstract Is So Important. Crit Care Nurse 1 August 2017; 37 (4): 12–15. doi: https://doi.org/10.4037/ccn2017466

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For all biomedical journals, an abstract is a succinct yet comprehensive synopsis of the contents of a prospective or published paper. 1   Despite their crucial importance, abstracts may be prepared hastily at the time a paper is submitted without clear regard for the potential consequences. This editorial will examine the abstract from many dimensions to highlight its intended purposes, importance in publication, and effective construction.

Journal article abstracts serve several purposes: summarization, description, sorting, and indexing. Abstracts are designed to highlight key points from major sections of the paper and to explain what the paper includes. Effective abstracts provide sufficient details to expedite classifying the paper as relevant (or not) to readers’ clinical work or research interests. Online biomedical databases use abstracts to index articles and facilitate retrieval of the abstracts. 2   In 2016, the PubMed database indexed 23 531 948 citations, 3   so locating any single paper in that pile reflects the monumental challenge of effective abstraction.

Abstracts have been compared to movie trailers because they offer previews with highlights that help viewers decide whether they wish to see the entire work. 4   Although that simile is strained (abstracts require spoiler alerts because they give away the ending), abstracts are pivotal in many publication decisions made by different audiences.

Journal editors are busy professionals who read hundreds of abstracts annually to screen papers for preliminary consideration. Although some editors contend that “[a] bad abstract won’t by itself cause journal editors to reject a scholarly article, but it does incline them toward an initial negative answer,” 5   unless it is a slow day in the editorial office, I would anticipate the latter rather than the former response. Just as a well prepared abstract can heighten an editor’s interest to read the complete paper, a poorly prepared abstract can precipitate immediate disinterest in doing so or expending journal resources in peer review. A poor-quality abstract rarely summarizes a high-quality manuscript.

When a new manuscript is submitted to a journal, the editor invites prospective reviewers with expertise in the topic area to appraise the paper. The only part of the manuscript that these reviewers see is the abstract. 6   A poor-quality abstract will likely dissuade the best experts from investing time and effort to review and improve the paper, thereby defaulting invitations to reviewers lower on the list and extending the time required for completion of peer review.

When manuscripts enter peer review, assigned reviewers will form their initial impressions about the paper from reading the abstract. As with editors, reviewers may not recommend rejection of a paper solely because of a weak abstract, but that negative first impression may color expectations and adversely affect appraisal of the paper.

An incomplete or poor-quality abstract may cause database indexers to make indexing errors or omissions that relegate the paper to literature search obscurity.

The abstract is typically the first and often only part of a published article that prospective readers interested in the topic can readily access with a database search. An incomplete or unclear abstract can discourage readers from adding that paper to their reading list. For a majority of potential readers, “the paper does not exist beyond its abstract.” 6 (p172)

Researchers attempting to locate relevant sources for studies, systematic reviews, or meta-analyses will quickly disregard poor-quality abstracts because they lack time to check full copies of those papers.

At every juncture along the publication continuum, abstract quality is a major determinant in the life and legacy of a paper. Preparing a high-quality abstract that will entice interested readers to examine your complete paper requires the author to simultaneously avoid common weaknesses in published journal abstracts and recognize the attributes of an effective abstract.

Any health care professional who searches the biomedical literature has likely encountered many of the weaknesses commonly found in published journal article abstracts ( Table 1 ) and experienced the frustration that accompanies that wasted effort. As consumers of abstracts, then, critical care nurses can appreciate the value of a well-constructed abstract.

Constructing an effective article abstract involves 4 activities: recognizing the essential attributes of any abstract, following the journal’s instructions for submitting abstracts, distinguishing between types of abstracts, and tailoring abstracts to specific types of articles. The most important directive is following the journal’s instructions; however, because those are journal specific, I will cover the other 3 activities here.

Essential Elements

Abstracts for journal articles can differ in content, form, length, and other features, but also share certain features in common. Table 2 lists the essential elements of any journal article abstract.

Types of Abstracts

There are 2 general types of journal article abstracts: unstructured and structured. Unstructured abstracts summarize the contents of a paper in a narrative paragraph. Since the late 1980s, 10   most biomedical journals—especially those that publish research and quality improvement (QI) reports—have adopted the structured abstract, which specifies distinct, labeled sections (eg, Background, Methods, Results, Discussion) for rapid comprehension 11   and consistency in abstract content. 9   Not all journal papers (eg, editorials, general review articles, case studies) fit that model, however, so journals may use both types of abstracts and modify content according to the type of paper.

Tailoring Abstracts to Type of Article

Professional journals publish various types of papers, including reviews, case reports, QI reports, research reports, and others (eg, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, editorials). Because the content considered appropriate varies with each type of article, the abstracts for each can be modified accordingly. Here are some examples of this tailoring for 4 types of articles.

Review papers

In its simplest form, a narrative review summarizes, synthesizes, critiques, and analyzes current literature related to a specific topic to derive evidence-based implications for patient care. For Critical Care Nurse , a review paper might focus on management of a patient with chest trauma or best practices for supporting early mobility. In order for readers to judge the validity and objectivity of reviews, it is helpful if authors describe how and where they selected articles, the quality of those reports, and the implications of their findings. Abstracts for review papers may be modified from the sections suggested for the considerably more rigorous systematic review 12   to include the following aspects:

Introduction: relevance of topic, review objective

Methods: article selection criteria, databases searched, key terms, dates searched

Results: number and type of articles located (flowchart to illustrate total vs final article count, reasons for not selecting), notable features of studies, patient demographics, main outcomes

Synthesis, analysis, discussion: summary of relative differences in effectiveness of outcomes, quality of studies, gaps in literature

Implications: summary conclusion with implications for practice

Other sources suggest slightly different inclusions for narrative report abstracts; for example, IMRAD 13   (Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion) and Background, Aims, Sources (databases, keywords, timeframe), Content, Implications. 14  

Case Reports

Case reports describe a specific patient’s medical problems and clinical management for educational and/or scientific purposes. The CARE Guidelines were developed as an international standard for presenting clinical cases to improve the accuracy, transparency, and usefulness of these reports. 15   The 2013 CARE Checklist relates that the case report abstract may be structured or unstructured as long as 4 elements are included 16   :

Introduction. What is unique about this case? Why is it important?

Clinical findings. What are the patient’s chief complaints and the most important clinical (signs, symptoms, laboratory, imaging) findings?

Most important diagnoses, medical interventions, and patient outcomes.

Conclusions. What are the most important takeaway lessons from this case?

QI reports describe efforts by health care professionals to improve the quality, safety, and value of care delivered to patients and families. The revised Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE) Guidelines were developed to provide a framework for reporting new findings about how to improve health care. 17   SQUIRE’s guidance relative to abstracts directs authors to summarize all key information from each section of the text using the abstract format of the intended publication. For Critical Care Nurse , a QI report abstract would include the following sections 2   :

Background, including relevance of issue to readers

Local problem, including project purpose, objectives

Interventions

Results, data that demonstrate impact of interventions

Conclusions with recommendations

Research Reports

Some prestigious medical journals instruct authors to use a fairly lengthy list of abstract subsections for research reports, including the following 8   :

Participants

Main outcomes and measures

Conclusions and relevance

Other highly regarded journals simply direct authors to provide an abstract of not more than 250 words that consists of 4 paragraphs: Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. 18   Below are some helpful suggestions to assist authors with each section.

Background. This should be the shortest abstract section; it should briefly describe what is already known about the subject area of the study and what is not known, the latter being the current study focus. 6   This section highlights clinical relevance, establishes rationale for the study, and clarifies study objectives/questions.

Methods. This section describes how the study was conducted, including study design, duration, sampling technique, sample size and subgroup size(s), nature of treatments or interventions administered, data collection tools, primary outcome measure and how it was determined, and data analysis. 6  

Results. This is often considered the most important section of the abstract because anyone reading an abstract does so primarily to determine the findings. The greatest amount of space should therefore be allocated for the Results to afford as much detail and precision as the maximum word count allows, 6   including sample size, subgroup size(s), and dropout rates. Provide actual quantitative results for all main outcomes, important negative outcomes, and, if possible, the most important secondary outcomes, each with its respective statistical significance value. 6   Include numerical results and their statistical support (eg, means, standard deviations, P values, relative risks, effect sizes, confidence intervals, odds ratios). 9  

Conclusion(s). Principal conclusions directly derived from the study results. 18   Must be based solely on the data generated by the current study and typically limited to primary and very important secondary outcomes. Salient unanticipated findings and practical application of findings may be mentioned. 6  

Limitations. Some journals require and many studies warrant full discussion of study limitations located under its own heading.

Journal article abstracts will retain their pivotal role in the location and dissemination of new health care science and practice findings, so health care professionals who contribute to this literature need to be skilled in composing abstracts that are descriptive, informative, yet succinct. As communication media advance to penetrate biomedical literature, the entire critical care team needs to anticipate that those forms of communication will redesign the abstract into graphical, video, readable (for laypersons), and tweetable formats that are just beginning to emerge. 19   Before venturing into tomorrow’s abstract designs, however, we need to first ensure that we have mastered the fundamentals of preparing a good abstract regardless of its medium. I hope that this overview on preparing abstracts facilitates your publishing endeavors.

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JoAnn Grif Alspach

JoAnn Grif Alspach

Common weaknesses of abstracts in published journal articles 4 , 6  

Common weaknesses of abstracts in published journal articles4,6

Essential elements of an abstract in a journal article 6 – 9  

Essential elements of an abstract in a journal article6–9

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Q. What is an article abstract and why is it valuable?

Answered By: Library Reference Last Updated: Jul 29, 2020     Views: 17537

An article abstract is a summary of the full article and explains what the article is about ( here's an example ). It is valuable because it offers a quick overview of the article's content and can help you decide if the article will be useful for your research. Remember to cite from the full article in your research though, and never the abstract.

If you have more questions or need help access an article, please ask a librarian .

updated 7/1/2020 kas

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Scholarly Articles: How can I tell?

An abstract is a summary of the main article. An abstract will include information about why the research study was done, what the methodology was and something about the findings of the author(s). The abstract is always at the beginning of the article and will either be labeled "abstract" or will be set apart from the rest of the article by a different font or margins.

The abstract should tell you what the research study is about, how the research was done (methodology), who the research sample was, what the authors found and why this is important to the field.

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What Exactly is an Abstract, and How Do I Write One?

An abstract is a short summary of your completed research. It is intended to describe your work without going into great detail. Abstracts should be self-contained and concise, explaining your work as briefly and clearly as possible. Different disciplines call for slightly different approaches to abstracts, as will be illustrated by the examples below, so it would be wise to study some abstracts from your own field before you begin to write one.

General Considerations

Probably the most important function of an abstract is to help a reader decide if he or she is interested in reading your entire publication. For instance, imagine that you’re an undergraduate student sitting in the library late on a Friday night. You’re tired, bored, and sick of looking up articles about the history of celery. The last thing you want to do is reading an entire article only to discover it contributes nothing to your argument. A good abstract can solve this problem by indicating to the reader if the work is likely to be meaningful to his or her particular research project. Additionally, abstracts are used to help libraries catalogue publications based on the keywords that appear in them.

An effective abstract will contain several key features:

In Practice

Let’s take a look at some sample abstracts, and see where these components show up. To give you an idea of how the author meets these “requirements” of abstract writing, the various features have been color-coded to correspond with the numbers listed above. The general format of an abstract is largely predictable, with some discipline-based differences. One type of abstract not discussed here is the “Descriptive Abstract,” which only summarizes and explains existing research, rather than informing the reader of a new perspective. As you can imagine, such an abstract would omit certain components of our four-colored model.

SAMPLE ABSTRACTS

ABSTRACT #1: History / Social Science

"Their War": The Perspective of the South Vietnamese Military in Their Own Words Author: Julie Pham

Despite the vast research by Americans on the Vietnam War, little is known about the perspective of South Vietnamese military, officially called the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces (RVNAF). The overall image that emerges from the literature is negative: lazy, corrupt, unpatriotic, apathetic soldiers with poor fighting spirits. This study recovers some of the South Vietnamese military perspective for an American audience through qualititative interviews with 40 RVNAF veterans now living in San José, Sacramento, and Seattle, home to three of the top five largest Vietnamese American communities in the nation. An analysis of these interviews yields the veterans' own explanations that complicate and sometimes even challenge three widely held assumptions about the South Vietnamese military: 1) the RVNAF was rife with corruption at the top ranks, hurting the morale of the lower ranks; 2) racial relations between the South Vietnamese military and the Americans were tense and hostile; and 3) the RVNAF was apathetic in defending South Vietnam from communism. The stories add nuance to our understanding of who the South Vietnamese were in the Vietnam War. This study is part of a growing body of research on non-American perspectives of the war. In using a largely untapped source of Vietnamese history—oral histories with Vietnamese immigrants—this project will contribute to future research on similar topics.

That was a fairly basic abstract that allows us to examine its individual parts more thoroughly.

Motivation/problem statement: The author identifies that previous research has been done about the Vietnam War, but that it has failed to address the specific topic of South Vietnam’s military. This is good because it shows how the author’s research fits into the bigger picture. It isn’t a bad thing to be critical of other research, but be respectful from an academic standpoint (i.e. “Previous researchers are stupid and don’t know what they’re talking about” sounds kind of unprofessional).

Methods/procedure/approach: The author does a good job of explaining how she performed her research, without giving unnecessary detail. Noting that she conducted qualitative interviews with 40 subjects is significant, but she wisely does not explicitly state the kinds of questions asked during the interview, which would be excessive.

Results/findings/product: The results make good use of numbering to clearly indicate what was ascertained from the research—particularly useful, as people often just scan abstracts for the results of an experiment.

Conclusion/implications: Since this paper is historical in nature, its findings may be hard to extrapolate to modern-day phenomena, but the author identifies the importance of her work as part of a growing body of research, which merits further investigation. This strategy functions to encourage future research on the topic.

ABSTRACT #2: Natural Science “A Lysimeter Study of Grass Cover and Water Table Depth Effects on Pesticide Residues in Drainage Water” Authors: A. Liaghat, S.O. Prasher

A study was undertaken to investigate the effect of soil and grass cover, when integrated with water table management (subsurface drainage and controlled drainage), in reducing herbicide residues in agricultural drainage water. Twelve PVC lysimeters, 1 m long and 450 mm diameter, were packed with a sandy soil and used to study the following four treatments: subsurface drainage, controlled drainage, grass (sod) cover, and bare soil. Contaminated water containing atrazine, metolachlor, and metribuzin residues was applied to the lysimeters and samples of drain effluent were collected. Significant reductions in pesticide concentrations were found in all treatments. In the first year, herbicide levels were reduced significantly (1% level), from an average of 250 mg/L to less than 10 mg/L . In the second year, polluted water of 50 mg/L, which is considered more realistic and reasonable in natural drainage waters, was applied to the lysimeters and herbicide residues in the drainage waters were reduced to less than 1 mg/L. The subsurface drainage lysimeters covered with grass proved to be the most effective treatment system.

Motivation/problem statement: Once again, we see that the problem—more like subject of study —is stated first in the abstract. This is normal for abstracts, in that you want to include the most important information first. The results may seem like the most important part of the abstract, but without mentioning the subject, the results won’t make much sense to readers. Notice that the abstract makes no references to other research, which is fine. It is not obligatory to cite other publications in an abstract, and in fact, doing so might distract your reader from YOUR experiment. Either way, it is likely that other sources will surface in your paper’s discussion/conclusion.

Methods/procedure/approach: Notice that the authors include pertinent numbers and figures in describing their methods. An extended description of the methods would probably include a long list of numerical values and conditions for each experimental trial, so it is important to include only the most important values in your abstract—ones that might make your study unique. Additionally, we see that a methodological description appears in two different parts of the abstract. This is fine. It may work better to explain your experiment by more closely connecting each method to its result. One last point: the author doesn’t take time to define—or give any background information about—“atrazine,” “metalachlor,” “lysimeter,” or “metribuzin.” This may be because other ecologists know what these are, but even if that’s not the case, you shouldn’t take time to define terms in your abstract.

Results/findings/product: Similar to the methods component of the abstract, you want to condense your findings to include only the major result of the experiment. Again, this study focused on two major trials, so both trials and both major results are listed. A particularly important word to consider when sharing results in an abstract is “significant.” In statistics, “significant” means roughly that your results were not due to chance. In your paper, your results may be hundreds of words long, and involve dozens of tables and graphs, but ultimately, your reader only wants to know: “What was the main result, and was that result significant?” So, try to answer both these questions in the abstract.

Conclusion/implications: This abstract’s conclusion sounds more like a result: “…lysimeters covered with grass were found to be the most effective treatment system.” This may seem incomplete, since it does not explain how this system could/should/would be applied to other situations, but that’s okay. There is plenty of space for addressing those issues in the body of the paper.

ABSTRACT #3: Philosophy / Literature [Note: Many papers don’t precisely follow the previous format, since they do not involve an experiment and its methods. Nonetheless, they typically rely on a similar structure.]

“Participatory Legitimation: A Reply to Arash Abizadeh” Author: Eric Schmidt, Louisiana State University, 2011

Arash Abizadeh’s argument against unilateral border control relies on his unbounded demos thesis, which is supported negatively by arguing that the ‘bounded demos thesis’ is incoherent. The incoherency arises for two reasons: (1) Democratic principles cannot be brought to bear on matters (border control) logically prior to the constitution of a group, and (2), the civic definition of citizens and non-citizens creates an ‘externality problem’ because the act of definition is an exercise of coercive power over all persons. The bounded demos thesis is rejected because the “will of the people” fails to legitimate democratic political order because there can be no pre-political political will of the people. However, I argue that “the will of the people” can be made manifest under a robust understanding of participatory legitimation, which exists concurrently with the political state, and thus defines both its borders and citizens as bounded , rescuing the bounded demos thesis and compromising the rest of Abizadeh’s article.

This paper may not make any sense to someone not studying philosophy, or not having read the text being critiqued. However, we can still see where the author separates the different components of the abstract, even if we don’t understand the terminology used.

Motivation/problem statement: The problem is not really a problem, but rather another person’s belief on a subject matter. For that reason, the author takes time to carefully explain the exact theory that he will be arguing against.

Methods/procedure/approach: [Note that there is no traditional “Methods” component of this abstract.] Reviews like this are purely critical and don’t necessarily involve performing experiments as in the other abstracts we have seen. Still, a paper like this may incorporate ideas from other sources, much like our traditional definition of experimental research.

Results/findings/product: In a paper like this, the “findings” tend to resemble what you have concluded about something, which will largely be based on your own opinion, supported by various examples. For that reason, the finding of this paper is: “The ‘will of the people,’ actually corresponds to a ‘bounded demos thesis.’” Even though we aren’t sure what the terms mean, we can plainly see that the finding (argument) is in support of “bounded,” rather than “unbounded.”

Conclusion/implications: If our finding is that “bounded” is correct, then what should we conclude? [In this case, the conclusion is simply that the initial author, A.A., is wrong.] Some critical papers attempt to broaden the conclusion to show something outside the scope of the paper. For example, if A.A. believes his “unbounded demos thesis” to be correct (when he is actually mistaken), what does this say about him? About his philosophy? About society as a whole? Maybe people who agree with him are more likely to vote Democrat, more likely to approve of certain immigration policies, more likely to own Labrador retrievers as pets, etc.

Applying These Skills

Now that you know the general layout of an abstract, here are some tips to keep in mind as you write your own:

1. The abstract stands alone

2. Keep it short

3. Don’t add new information

4. Be consistent with voice, tone, and style

5. Be concise

6. Break up its components

7. The abstract should be part of your writing process

"Abstracts." The Writing Center. The University of North Carolina, n.d. Web. 1 Jun 2011. http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/abstracts.html "Abstracts." The Writing Center. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, n.d. Web. 1 Jun 2011. http://www.rpi.edu/web/writingcenter/abstracts.html

Last updated August 2013

LSA - College of Literature, Science, and The Arts - University of Michigan

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

An abstract summarizes, usually in one paragraph of 300 words or less, the major aspects of the entire paper in a prescribed sequence that includes: 1) the overall purpose of the study and the research problem(s) you investigated; 2) the basic design of the study; 3) major findings or trends found as a result of your analysis; and, 4) a brief summary of your interpretations and conclusions.

Writing an Abstract. The Writing Center. Clarion University, 2009; Writing an Abstract for Your Research Paper. The Writing Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Importance of a Good Abstract

Sometimes your professor will ask you to include an abstract, or general summary of your work, with your research paper. The abstract allows you to elaborate upon each major aspect of the paper and helps readers decide whether they want to read the rest of the paper. Therefore, enough key information [e.g., summary results, observations, trends, etc.] must be included to make the abstract useful to someone who may want to examine your work.

How do you know when you have enough information in your abstract? A simple rule-of-thumb is to imagine that you are another researcher doing a similar study. Then ask yourself: if your abstract was the only part of the paper you could access, would you be happy with the amount of information presented there? Does it tell the whole story about your study? If the answer is "no" then the abstract likely needs to be revised.

How to Write a Research Abstract. Office of Undergraduate Research. University of Kentucky; Staiger, David L. “What Today’s Students Need to Know about Writing Abstracts.” International Journal of Business Communication January 3 (1966): 29-33; Swales, John M. and Christine B. Feak. Abstracts and the Writing of Abstracts . Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2009.

Structure and Writing Style

I.  Types of Abstracts

To begin, you need to determine which type of abstract you should include with your paper. There are four general types.

Critical Abstract A critical abstract provides, in addition to describing main findings and information, a judgment or comment about the study’s validity, reliability, or completeness. The researcher evaluates the paper and often compares it with other works on the same subject. Critical abstracts are generally 400-500 words in length due to the additional interpretive commentary. These types of abstracts are used infrequently.

Descriptive Abstract 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 only describes the work being summarized. Some researchers consider it an outline of the work, rather than a summary. Descriptive abstracts are usually very short, 100 words or less. Informative Abstract 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 researcher presents and explains all the main arguments and the important results and evidence in the paper. An informative abstract includes the information that can be found in a descriptive abstract [purpose, methods, scope] but it 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 usually no more than 300 words in length.

Highlight Abstract A highlight abstract is specifically written to attract the reader’s attention to the study. No pretense is made of there being either a balanced or complete picture of the paper and, in fact, incomplete and leading remarks may be used to spark the reader’s interest. In that a highlight abstract cannot stand independent of its associated article, it is not a true abstract and, therefore, rarely used in academic writing.

II.  Writing Style

Use the active voice when possible , but note that much of your abstract may require passive sentence constructions. Regardless, write your abstract using concise, but complete, sentences. Get to the point quickly and always use the past tense because you are reporting on a study that has been completed.

Abstracts should be formatted as a single paragraph in a block format and with no paragraph indentations. In most cases, the abstract page immediately follows the title page. Do not number the page. Rules set forth in writing manual vary but, in general, you should center the word "Abstract" at the top of the page with double spacing between the heading and the abstract. The final sentences of an abstract concisely summarize your study’s conclusions, implications, or applications to practice and, if appropriate, can be followed by a statement about the need for additional research revealed from the findings.

Composing Your Abstract

Although it is the first section of your paper, the abstract should be written last since it will summarize the contents of your entire paper. A good strategy to begin composing your abstract is to take whole sentences or key phrases from each section of the paper and put them in a sequence that summarizes the contents. Then revise or add connecting phrases or words to make the narrative flow clearly and smoothly. Note that statistical findings should be reported parenthetically [i.e., written in parentheses].

Before handing in your final paper, check to make sure that the information in the abstract completely agrees with what you have written in the paper. Think of the abstract as a sequential set of complete sentences describing the most crucial information using the fewest necessary words. The abstract SHOULD NOT contain:

Abstract. Writing Center. University of Kansas; Abstract. The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Department of Biology. Bates College; Abstracts. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Borko, Harold and Seymour Chatman. "Criteria for Acceptable Abstracts: A Survey of Abstracters' Instructions." American Documentation 14 (April 1963): 149-160; Abstracts. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Hartley, James and Lucy Betts. "Common Weaknesses in Traditional Abstracts in hte Social Sciences." Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 60 (October 2009): 2010-2018; Procter, Margaret. The Abstract. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Riordan, Laura. “Mastering the Art of Abstracts.” The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association 115 (January 2015 ): 41-47; Writing Report Abstracts. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing Abstracts. Writing Tutorial Services, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. Indiana University; Koltay, Tibor. Abstracts and Abstracting: A Genre and Set of Skills for the Twenty-First Century . Oxford, UK: 2010; Writing an Abstract for Your Research Paper. The Writing Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Writing Tip

Never Cite Just the Abstract!

Citing to just a journal article's abstract does not confirm for the reader that you have conducted a thorough or reliable review of the literature. If the full-text is not available, go to the USC Libraries main page and enter the title of the article [NOT the title of the journal]. If the Libraries have a subscription to the journal, the article should appear with a link to the full-text or to the journal publisher page where you can get the article. If the article does not appear, try searching Google Scholar using the link on the USC Libraries main page. If you still can't find the article after doing this, contact a librarian or you can request it from our free i nterlibrary loan and document delivery service .

Social Sciences & Humanities Open

ISSN: 2590-2911

How to write a great abstract for your academic manuscript

September 2020

You’ve collected your data, analyzed your findings, written your manuscript, and all that’s left to do before you submit your paper is to write the abstract.  Quick and easy, right?  But wait! 

Despite the fact that abstracts are the most visible and highly-read component of nearly all academic articles, many authors treat them as an afterthought.  However, a strong abstract is essential to ensuring your paper has the largest impact and readership possible, and to facilitate fast and appropriate peer review.  At Social Sciences and Humanities Open, we recommend viewing your abstract as a publication in itself, where the goal is to condense the key information from your article into a clear, concise form. 

We understand that for many researchers, writing a strong abstract can be a daunting ask. This resource is designed to help authors who would like to submit to Social Sciences and Humanities Open understand the importance of writing excellent abstracts, key components to include in their abstracts, and common errors to avoid when writing up.

Why should authors take the time to write a stellar abstract?  

Great Abstracts Increase Readership   

Researchers publish articles in order to disseminate knowledge to other academics, practitioners, and decision-makers. However, before these audiences download, read, and cite your paper, they read your abstract. In fact, the majority of readers will only read your abstract. There are hundreds of thousands of journal articles published every year, published in thousands of academic journals. To deal with this flood of information, researchers have become very discerning when choosing the articles to which they’ll devote their limited attention.  Abstracts are how  they decide which articles to read, and which to ignore . 

Articles which feature accurate, informative, well-written abstracts are more likely to be read, shared, and cited than articles which have incomplete or careless abstracts. Think of the abstract as your chance to  pitch your article  to the reader:  y our goal as an author is for your  abstract to be so clear and compelling that readers will be excited to click through, download, read, and cite the full article.   

Clearly-Outlined  Abstracts Speed Up the  Editorial Process

All researchers want fast, quality, and helpful peer reviews, and writing strong abstracts are a simple way authors can help enhance the editorial process. Like most journals, peer reviewers for Social Sciences and Humanities Open are invited to read your abstract— not the full article— before deciding whether they’d like to review your paper.  Reviewers use your abstract to identify if your area of research, theoretical framework and methods are aligned with their own research ; failing to include this critical information in the abstract can lead to mis-matched peer reviews and less helpful feedback. 

Reviewers are also  more likely to accept invitations to review papers which address interesting research questions and are generally well-wr itten . Your abstract is your opportunity to demonstrate to reviewers that your research article is interesting, carefully considered, compelling, and worth their time to review. If you’re successful in writing an abstract which is enticing to reviewers, our editorial team will need to invite fewer individuals to read your paper, leading to faster turnaround times for comments and decisions.  

What is included in a strong abstract?  

Understanding the importance of abstracts can make writing them feel like an overwhelming task. Luckily for authors, nearly all effective abstracts contain the same information, and it is relatively simple to ensure your abstract contains the necessary components. While the expectations of abstracts vary between academic disciplines, we generally expect to see the following components in abstracts submitted to Social Sciences and Humanities Open.  

We do not suggest you include these components as distinct sections or headers in your abstract. Instead, we recommend you write your abstract as a  single block-style paragraph . However, when writing and proofreading your abstract, use the following checklist to ensure you have included the necessary information for your audience: 

Background and research question(s) 

In one or two sentences, give your readers a very broad understanding of the need-to-know background information for your study, and how your paper will contribute to this knowledge. You may want to explicitly include your research question in this section; make sure it is concise and to-the-point!  

Theoretical or conc eptual framework

Readers should, upon reading your abstract, generally understand your epistemological and theoretical approach to your research problem. This is particularly important in fields which are dominated by canonical theorists! In one or two sentences, outline the theoretical or conceptual framework you use in your paper.  

Research Design and Methodology

Your abstract should include an outline of how your study was conducted through a short description of your research design and methodology. Include, if relevant, your sample size, methods for analysis, and the duration of the study. Do not mention very specific details such as what statistical software was used for analysis or include citations for your methodological approach.  

The majority of your audience reads abstracts because they are interested in the results of published research. As such, the results section should be the longest component of your abstract. In three to six sentences, describe the key findings of your study in the order they are discussed in the manuscript. Aim to clearly describe how your results answer your research questions(s). Include as much detail as possible and remember to report negative findings. If relevant, be sure to include p-values for statistical tests.  

Implications

Provide readers a few key points regarding the implications of your study that you describe in your paper—both for your academic field, and, if applicable, for the communities your research involves. One to two sentences here is sufficient for this section.  

What are some common pitfalls to avoid when writing an abstract?  

Too wordy, or not detailed enough

Social Sciences and Humanities Open  does not have a strict word limit for abstracts. Ideally, however, your abstract will fall between 150 and 400 words. Generally speaking, abstracts shorter than 150 words do not contain enough information to properly summarize and present the research to the audience. Abstracts longer than 400 words, on the other hand, often contain too much information, and could likely benefit from a copy-edit to remove unnecessary sentences and phrases. Refer to the list above to ensure that you are including all necessary information in your abstract, and also that you are including only necessary information.  

Repeats the  i ntroduction 

Our editors often receive manuscripts with abstracts which are copied-and-pasted from the paper’s introduction section. Don’t be one of these authors! The requirements of an abstract are very different from the requirements of an introduction. Not only will an abstract which is copied-and-pasted from your introduction not provide the necessary information to your readers, it will suggest a lack of care to your editors and reviewers—something authors should do their best to avoid!   

I ncludes  r eferences,  j argon, and  a cronyms 

The abstract should be written as a stand-alone document, and should also be understandable to non-specialist audiences. Many writers aim for their abstracts to be written at a level that would be understandable for first- or second-year undergraduate students in their fields. For this reason, it is recommended that authors exclude including references, jargon, and acronyms in their abstracts. If you feel you must include a reference (for example, if your analytical framework depends on a canonical work), try to limit the number of them, and be sure to cite the author and date. If included, acronyms should be written in full the first time they are introduced in the abstract.  

Grammatical Errors and Typos

Nothing turns a prospective reader or reviewer off from your article like typos, grammatical errors, passive voice, and unclear phrasing. Authors should take as much care in ensuring their abstracts are professionally presented as they do for the rest of their manuscript. We recommend doing several rounds of copy-editing before submitting your abstract, to ensure it reads as clearly and professionally as possible.  

Now, get writing that abstract!

Now that you know why you want a strong abstract, the key elements to include, and common mistakes to avoid, it’s time to write! Just as you produced several drafts of your manuscript before it was ready to submit, don’t be surprised if your abstract takes time and many rounds of edits before it’s complete. For authors unsure about the quality of their abstract, we recommend asking a non-specialist friend or colleague to read it over. Is your reader able to tell you, in broad terms, what your study was about and its contributions? Did they understand the language you used? Were all of your sentences typo-free? And, perhaps most importantly, were they interested in reading your full paper? If the answer to these questions is yes, then you’re ready to submit!  

The editorial team at SSHO developed this guide to help de-mystify the requirements and process of writing a stellar abstract for researchers. We hope this tool will assist SSHO authors with producing informative and attractive abstracts that will highlight their important research contributions, and allow their research to reach large and broad audiences. We can’t wait to read your abstracts!  

Enago Academy

Role of an Abstract in Research Paper With Examples

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Why does one write an abstract? What is so intriguing about writing an abstract in research paper after writing a full length research paper? How do research paper abstracts or summaries help a researcher during research publishing? These are the most common and frequently pondered upon questions that early career researchers search answers for over the internet!

Table of Contents

What does Abstract mean in Research?

In Research, abstract is “a well-developed single paragraph which is approximately 250 words in length”. Furthermore, it is single-spaced single spaced. Abstract outlines all the parts of the paper briefly. Although the abstract is placed in the beginning of the research paper immediately after research title , the abstract is the last thing a researcher writes.

Why Is an Abstract Necessary in Research Paper?

Abstract is a concise academic text that –

Purpose of Writing an Abstract in Research

Abstracts are required for –

Aspects Included in an Abstract

The format of your abstract depends on the field of research, in which you are working. However, all abstracts broadly cover the following sections:

Reason for Writing

One can start with the importance of conducting their research study. Furthermore, you could start with a broader research question and address why would the reader be interested in that particular research question.

Research Problem

You could mention what problem the research study chooses to address. Moreover, you could elaborate about the scope of the project, the main argument, brief about thesis objective or what the study claims.

Furthermore, you could mention a line or two about what approach and specific models the research study uses in the scientific work. Some research studies may discuss the evidences in throughout the paper, so instead of writing about methodologies you could mention the types of evidence used in the research.

The scientific research aims to get the specific data that indicates the results of the project. Therefore, you could mention the results and discuss the findings in a broader and general way.

Finally, you could discuss how the research work contributes to the scientific society and adds knowledge on the topic. Also, you could specify if your findings or inferences could help future research and researchers.

Types of Abstracts

Based on the abstract content —, 1. descriptive.

This abstract in research paper is usually short (50-100 words). These abstracts have common sections, such as –

This type of research does not include detailed presentation of results and only mention results through a phrase without contributing numerical or statistical data . Descriptive abstracts guide readers on the nature of contents of the article.

2. Informative

This abstract gives the essence of what the report is about and it is usually about 200 words. These abstracts have common sections, such as –

This abstract provides an accurate data on the contents of the work, especially on the results section.

Based on the writing format —

1. structured.

This type of abstract has a paragraph for each section: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Conclusion. Also, structured abstracts are often required for informative abstracts.

2. Semi-structured

A semi-structured abstract is written in only one paragraph, wherein each sentence corresponds to a section. Furthermore, all the sections mentioned in the structured abstract are present in the semi-structured abstract.

3. Non-structured

In a non-structured abstract there are no divisions between each section. The sentences are included in a single paragraph. This type of presentation is ideal for descriptive abstracts.

Examples of Abstracts

Abstract example 1: clinical research.

Neutralization of Omicron BA.1, BA.2, and BA.3 SARS-CoV-2 by 3 doses of BNT162b2 vaccine

Abstract: The newly emerged Omicron SARS-CoV-2 has several distinct sublineages including BA.1, BA.2, and BA.3. BA.1 accounts for the initial surge and is being replaced by BA.2, whereas BA.3 is at a low prevalence at this time. Here we report the neutralization of BNT162b2-vaccinated sera (collected 1 month after dose 3) against the three Omicron sublineages. To facilitate the neutralization testing, we have engineered the complete BA.1, BA.2, or BA.3 spike into an mNeonGreen USA-WA1/2020 SARS-CoV-2. All BNT162b2-vaccinated sera neutralize USA-WA1/2020, BA.1-, BA.2-, and BA.3-spike SARS-CoV-2s with titers of >20; the neutralization geometric mean titers (GMTs) against the four viruses are 1211, 336, 300, and 190, respectively. Thus, the BA.1-, BA.2-, and BA.3-spike SARS-CoV-2s are 3.6-, 4.0-, and 6.4-fold less efficiently neutralized than the USA-WA1/2020, respectively. Our data have implications in vaccine strategy and understanding the biology of Omicron sublineages.

Type of Abstract: Informative and non-structured

Abstract Example 2: Material Science and Chemistry

Breaking the nanoparticle’s dispersible limit via rotatable surface ligands

Abstract: Achieving versatile dispersion of nanoparticles in a broad range of solvents (e.g., water, oil, and biofluids) without repeatedly recourse to chemical modifications are desirable in optoelectronic devices, self-assembly, sensing, and biomedical fields. However, such a target is limited by the strategies used to decorate nanoparticle’s surface properties, leading to a narrow range of solvents for existing nanoparticles. Here we report a concept to break the nanoparticle’s dispersible limit via electrochemically anchoring surface ligands capable of sensing the surrounding liquid medium and rotating to adapt to it, immediately forming stable dispersions in a wide range of solvents (polar and nonpolar, biofluids, etc.). Moreover, the smart nanoparticles can be continuously electrodeposited in the electrolyte, overcoming the electrode surface-confined low throughput limitation of conventional electrodeposition methods. The anomalous dispersive property of the smart Ag nanoparticles enables them to resist bacteria secreted species-induced aggregation and the structural similarity of the surface ligands to that of the bacterial membrane assists them to enter the bacteria, leading to high antibacterial activity. The simple but massive fabrication process and the enhanced dispersion properties offer great application opportunities to the smart nanoparticles in diverse fields.

Type of Abstract: Descriptive and non-structured

Abstract Example 3: Clinical Toxicology

Evaluation of dexmedetomidine therapy for sedation in patients with toxicological events at an academic medical center

Introduction: Although clinical use of dexmedetomidine (DEX), an alpha2-adrenergic receptor agonist, has increased, its role in patients admitted to intensive care units secondary to toxicological sequelae has not been well established.

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to describe clinical and adverse effects observed in poisoned patients receiving DEX for sedation.

Methods: This was an observational case series with retrospective chart review of poisoned patients who received DEX for sedation at an academic medical center. The primary endpoint was incidence of adverse effects of DEX therapy including bradycardia, hypotension, seizures, and arrhythmias. For comparison, vital signs were collected hourly for the 5 h preceding the DEX therapy and every hour during DEX therapy until the therapy ended. Additional endpoints included therapy duration; time within target Richmond Agitation Sedation Score (RASS); and concomitant sedation, analgesia, and vasopressor requirements.

Results: Twenty-two patients were included. Median initial and median DEX infusion rates were similar to the commonly used rates for sedation. Median heart rate was lower during the therapy (82 vs. 93 beats/minute, p < 0.05). Median systolic blood pressure before and during therapy was similar (111 vs. 109 mmHg, p = 0.745). Five patients experienced an adverse effect per study definitions during therapy. No additional adverse effects were noted. Median time within target RASS and duration of therapy was 6.5 and 44.5 h, respectively. Seventeen patients (77%) had concomitant use of other sedation and/or analgesia with four (23%) of these patients requiring additional agents after DEX initiation. Seven patients (32%) had concomitant vasopressor support with four (57%) of these patients requiring vasopressor support after DEX initiation.

Conclusion: Common adverse effects of DEX were noted in this study. The requirement for vasopressor support during therapy warrants further investigation into the safety of DEX in poisoned patients. Larger, comparative studies need to be performed before the use of DEX can be routinely recommended in poisoned patients.

Keywords: Adverse effects; Alpha2-adrenergic receptor agonist; Overdose; Safety.

Type of Abstract: Informative and structured .

How was your experience  writing an abstract? What type of abstracts have you written? Do write to us or leave a comment below.

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Abstract

Expedite peer review, increase search-ability, and set the tone for your study

The abstract is your chance to let your readers know what they can expect from your article. Learn how to write a clear, and concise abstract that will keep your audience reading.

How your abstract impacts editorial evaluation and future readership

After the title , the abstract is the second-most-read part of your article. A good abstract can help to expedite peer review and, if your article is accepted for publication, it’s an important tool for readers to find and evaluate your work. Editors use your abstract when they first assess your article. Prospective reviewers see it when they decide whether to accept an invitation to review. Once published, the abstract gets indexed in PubMed and Google Scholar , as well as library systems and other popular databases. Like the title, your abstract influences keyword search results. Readers will use it to decide whether to read the rest of your article. Other researchers will use it to evaluate your work for inclusion in systematic reviews and meta-analysis. It should be a concise standalone piece that accurately represents your research. 

abstract in a research article

What to include in an abstract

The main challenge you’ll face when writing your abstract is keeping it concise AND fitting in all the information you need. Depending on your subject area the journal may require a structured abstract following specific headings. A structured abstract helps your readers understand your study more easily. If your journal doesn’t require a structured abstract it’s still a good idea to follow a similar format, just present the abstract as one paragraph without headings. 

Background or Introduction – What is currently known? Start with a brief, 2 or 3 sentence, introduction to the research area. 

Objectives or Aims – What is the study and why did you do it? Clearly state the research question you’re trying to answer.

Methods – What did you do? Explain what you did and how you did it. Include important information about your methods, but avoid the low-level specifics. Some disciplines have specific requirements for abstract methods. 

Results – What did you find? Briefly give the key findings of your study. Include key numeric data (including confidence intervals or p values), where possible.

Conclusions – What did you conclude? Tell the reader why your findings matter, and what this could mean for the ‘bigger picture’ of this area of research. 

Writing tips

The main challenge you may find when writing your abstract is keeping it concise AND convering all the information you need to.

abstract in a research article

abstract in a research article

Don’t

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Frequently asked questions

What is the purpose of an abstract.

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

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.

Frequently asked questions: Academic writing

You may have seen both “appendices” or “appendixes” as pluralizations of “ appendix .” Either spelling can be used, but “appendices” is more common (including in APA Style ). Consistency is key here: make sure you use the same spelling throughout your paper.

The purpose of a lab report is to demonstrate your understanding of the scientific method with a hands-on lab experiment. Course instructors will often provide you with an experimental design and procedure. Your task is to write up how you actually performed the experiment and evaluate the outcome.

In contrast, a research paper requires you to independently develop an original argument. It involves more in-depth research and interpretation of sources and data.

A lab report is usually shorter than a research paper.

The sections of a lab report can vary between scientific fields and course requirements, but it usually contains the following:

A lab report conveys the aim, methods, results, and conclusions of a scientific experiment . Lab reports are commonly assigned in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

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 .

If you’ve gone over the word limit set for your assignment, shorten your sentences and cut repetition and redundancy during the editing process. If you use a lot of long quotes , consider shortening them to just the essentials.

If you need to remove a lot of words, you may have to cut certain passages. Remember that everything in the text should be there to support your argument; look for any information that’s not essential to your point and remove it.

Revising, proofreading, and editing are different stages of the writing process .

The literature review usually comes near the beginning of your thesis or dissertation . After the introduction , it grounds your research in a scholarly field and leads directly to your theoretical framework or methodology .

There are several reasons to conduct a literature review at the beginning of a research project:

Writing the literature review shows your reader how your work relates to existing research and what new insights it will contribute.

A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question .

It is often written as part of a thesis, dissertation , or research paper , in order to situate your work in relation to existing knowledge.

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

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.

In a scientific paper, the methodology always comes after the introduction and before the results , discussion and conclusion . The same basic structure also applies to a thesis, dissertation , or research proposal .

Depending on the length and type of document, you might also include a literature review or theoretical framework before the methodology.

Whether you’re publishing a blog, submitting a research paper , or even just writing an important email, there are a few techniques you can use to make sure it’s error-free:

If you want to be confident that an important text is error-free, it might be worth choosing a professional proofreading service instead.

Editing and proofreading are different steps in the process of revising a text.

Editing comes first, and can involve major changes to content, structure and language. The first stages of editing are often done by authors themselves, while a professional editor makes the final improvements to grammar and style (for example, by improving sentence structure and word choice ).

Proofreading is the final stage of checking a text before it is published or shared. It focuses on correcting minor errors and inconsistencies (for example, in punctuation and capitalization ). Proofreaders often also check for formatting issues, especially in print publishing.

The cost of proofreading depends on the type and length of text, the turnaround time, and the level of services required. Most proofreading companies charge per word or page, while freelancers sometimes charge an hourly rate.

For proofreading alone, which involves only basic corrections of typos and formatting mistakes, you might pay as little as $0.01 per word, but in many cases, your text will also require some level of editing , which costs slightly more.

It’s often possible to purchase combined proofreading and editing services and calculate the price in advance based on your requirements.

There are many different routes to becoming a professional proofreader or editor. The necessary qualifications depend on the field – to be an academic or scientific proofreader, for example, you will need at least a university degree in a relevant subject.

For most proofreading jobs, experience and demonstrated skills are more important than specific qualifications. Often your skills will be tested as part of the application process.

To learn practical proofreading skills, you can choose to take a course with a professional organization such as the Society for Editors and Proofreaders . Alternatively, you can apply to companies that offer specialized on-the-job training programmes, such as the Scribbr Academy .

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HRQOL indicates health-related quality of life; SDSC, Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children.

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Taylor RW, Haszard JJ, Jackson R, et al. Effect of Sleep Changes on Health-Related Quality of Life in Healthy Children : A Secondary Analysis of the DREAM Crossover Trial . JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(3):e233005. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.3005

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Effect of Sleep Changes on Health-Related Quality of Life in Healthy Children : A Secondary Analysis of the DREAM Crossover Trial

Question   Does losing sleep affect health-related quality of life in children?

Findings   In this secondary analysis of a randomized crossover trial involving 100 healthy children aged 8 to 12 years, receiving 39 minutes less sleep per night resulted in significantly lower physical and overall well-being, ability to cope well at school, and total health-related quality of life, especially in children with at least a 30-minute difference in sleep.

Meaning   Findings of this secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial indicate that ensuring children receive sufficient good-quality sleep is an important child health issue.

Importance   Little is known regarding the effect of poor sleep on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in healthy children.

Objective   To determine the effect of induced mild sleep deprivation on HRQOL in children without major sleep issues.

Design, Setting, and Participants   This prespecified secondary analysis focused on HRQOL, a secondary outcome of the Daily Rest, Eating, and Activity Monitoring (DREAM) randomized crossover trial of children who underwent alternating weeks of sleep restriction and sleep extension and a 1-week washout in between. The DREAM trial intervention was administered at participants’ homes between October 2018 and March 2020. Participants were 100 children aged 8 to 12 years who lived in Dunedin, New Zealand; had no underlying medical conditions; and had parent- or guardian-reported normal sleep (8-11 hours/night). Data were analyzed between July 4 and September 1, 2022.

Interventions   Bedtimes were manipulated to be 1 hour later (sleep restriction) and 1 hour earlier (sleep extension) than usual for 1 week each. Wake times were unchanged.

Main Outcomes and Measures   All outcome measures were assessed during both intervention weeks. Sleep timing and duration were assessed using 7-night actigraphy. Children and parents rated the child’s sleep disturbances (night) and impairment (day) using the 8-item Pediatric Sleep Disturbance and 8-item Sleep-Related Impairment scales of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System questionnaire. Child-reported HRQOL was assessed using the 27-item KIDSCREEN questionnaire with 5 subscale scores and a total score. Both questionnaires assessed the past 7 days at the end of each intervention week. Data were presented as mean differences and 95% CIs between the sleep restriction and extension weeks and were analyzed using intention to treat and an a priori difference in sleep of at least 30 minutes per night.

Results   The final sample comprised 100 children (52 girls [52%]; mean [SD] age, 10.3 [1.4] years). During the sleep restriction week, children went to sleep 64 (95% CI, 58-70) minutes later, and sleep offset (wake time) was 18 (95% CI, 13-24) minutes later, meaning that children received 39 (95% CI, 32-46) minutes less of total sleep per night compared with the sleep extension week in which the total sleep time was 71 (95% CI, 64-78) minutes less in the per-protocol sample analysis. Both parents and children reported significantly less sleep disturbance at night but greater sleep impairment during the day with sleep restriction. Significant standardized reductions in physical well-being (standardized mean difference [SMD], −0.28; 95% CI, −0.49 to −0.08), coping in a school environment (SMD, −0.26; 95% CI, −0.42 to −0.09), and total HRQOL score (SMD, −0.21; 95% CI, −0.34 to −0.08) were reported by children during sleep restriction, with an additional reduction in social and peer support (SMD, −0.24; 95% CI, −0.47 to −0.01) in the per-protocol sample analysis.

Conclusions and Relevance   Results of this secondary analysis of the DREAM trial indicated that even 39 minutes less of sleep per night for 1 week significantly reduced several facets of HRQOL in children. This finding shows that ensuring children receive sufficient good-quality sleep is an important child health issue.

Trial Registration   Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12618001671257

While inadequate or poor-quality sleep has been associated with a wide range of adverse physical and psychological health outcomes in infants, children, and adolescents, 1 - 5 interest is growing regarding the association of sleep with more global indices of health, such as health-related quality of life (HRQOL). 6 The HRQOL is a widely used concept with many definitions and measures 7 and generally encompasses 3 main domains: physical, mental, and social health. 8

To date, most research has examined the association of more medically related sleep issues, such as obstructive sleep apnea, 9 insomnia, 10 and other sleep disorders, 11 with HRQOL in clinical samples of children or has included outcomes that are only indirectly associated with HRQOL, such as cognitive testing 12 and mood regulation. 13 Evidence is emerging that HRQOL is also adversely affected in community samples of children with milder sleep health issues, such as parent-reported sleep problems 14 , 15 or sleep initiation or maintenance difficulties. 16 However, little research has determined whether HRQOL is a factor in sleep in otherwise healthy children. A 2016 systematic review 6 reported an inverse association between sleep duration and HRQOL in 3 studies but rated such evidence as very low quality. Although several recent large studies have reported associations between sleep and HRQOL in children, 17 - 19 these studies have all been cross-sectional and unable to determine causality. Few studies have used objective measures of sleep, which can differ markedly from measures obtained from questionnaires. 20 , 21 As a recent study showed, device-measured sleep had no association with HRQOL, whereas self-reported ratings of poor sleep quantity and quality were associated with lower HRQOL. 19

To our knowledge, no experimental studies have yet determined the effect of manipulating sleep on HRQOL in healthy children to the extent that might represent the levels of mild sleep deprivation that many children may experience today. 22 The aim of this secondary analysis was to determine the effect of mild sleep deprivation (induced via the Daily Rest, Eating, and Activity Monitoring [DREAM], a home-based sleep manipulation trial) on HRQOL in children without major sleep issues.

The DREAM randomized crossover trial investigated how mild sleep deprivation influenced eating behaviors and activity patterns in children aged 8 to 12 years in the naturalistic home environment. Detailed information on this trial is provided in the protocol 23 ( Supplement 1 ) and a previous article on the main outcomes. 24 This prespecified secondary analysis focused on HRQOL, a secondary outcome of the trial. No sample size calculations were undertaken because HRQOL was a secondary outcome, but this study was sufficiently powered to detect relevant differences in the primary outcomes. 23 , 24 The DREAM trial was approved by the University of Otago Human Ethics Committee, and written informed consent (by parents or guardians) or assent (by children) was obtained at the first visit after a verbal explanation of the protocol and an opportunity to ask any questions. We followed the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials ( CONSORT ) reporting guideline. 25

Healthy children were recruited by advertisement between October 2018 and March 2020 and were eligible to participate if they were aged 8 to 12 years; lived in the wider Dunedin area in New Zealand; had no underlying medical conditions or medications that could affect sleep; and scored 39 or lower, which indicated no major sleep problems, on the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children. 26 Only children with parent (or guardian)-reported time in bed of 8 to 11 hours per night were included to ensure that the intervention (restriction and extension of time in bed) did not place them in the not recommended category of sleep duration for this age group (ie, <7 or >12 hours per night). 27 Parents and children were emailed separate written information sheets prior to enrolling.

Children were randomized to the order in which they underwent sleep restriction and sleep extension weeks and were stratified by age group (8-10 years or 11-12 years) and sex (male or female). Randomization to order was generated by one of us (J.J.H., the study biostatistician) using random block lengths in Stata, version 17.0 (StataCorp LLC) in a 1:1 allocation and then was uploaded to a research management program randomization module (REDCap; Vanderbilt University). 28 Randomization was undertaken by the research staff following baseline measures. Participants or intervention deliverers could not be blinded to the intervention group (sleep extension or sleep restriction), but those who were analyzing the accelerometry data and the biostatistician were all blinded to the intervention allocation and worked using code A or B to denote group randomization order rather than sleep extension or restriction.

To achieve mild sleep deprivation, children were asked to go to bed 1 hour earlier than usual for 1 week (sleep extension) and 1 hour later than usual for 1 week (sleep restriction), separated by a 1-week washout to allow sufficient time for children to return to their usual sleeping habits before the next intervention week. 29 Means of usual bed and wake times, determined from a 7-day sleep diary at baseline, were calculated separately for weekdays and weekend days. Researchers discussed with parents whether these means reflected usual bed and wake times and adjusted the means if required (eg, if a child was late to bed on 1 night, this was adjusted to usual as indicated by the parent). Wake times were kept constant to mirror daily life restrictions (eg, school start times), and interventions were administered only during the school term.

Researchers worked with families during a single problem-solving session (typically 5-10 minutes) to identify any barriers to changing bedtimes, such as being at a sporting activity until close to the extension bedtime, that limited the ability to complete prebed activities in a timely fashion. A suggestion to counteract this barrier could have been to prepare the dinner meal earlier that day or to complete school assignments in the morning. Families received daily personalized bedtime text reminders during each intervention week.

Demographic data were obtained from the parent, including age, sex, and race and ethnicity of the child; presence of any siblings; and maternal educational level (the index used in New Zealand; and all participating parents or guardians identified as mothers). Area-level deprivation for a family was measured with the 2018 New Zealand Index of Deprivation, an index based on the New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings data that reflects the extent of material and social deprivation used to construct deciles from 1 (least deprived) to 10 (most deprived). 30 Parents completed the 22-item Children’s Sleep Hygiene Scale, 31 which assesses the regularity of behaviors that might support or interfere with sleep and has a score range of 1 to 6 for each item, with higher scores indicating better sleep hygiene (subscale and total scores are calculated as means). This information was mainly collected to provide feedback to families but was occasionally used to inform discussions about bedtimes if an individual sleep hygiene practice was uncommon. Duplicate measures of height (in centimeters) and weight (in kilograms) were collected at baseline using standard procedures, 23 and body mass index z scores were calculated using the World Health Organization Child Growth Reference data. 32

Children wore an accelerometer (ActiGraph wGT3X-BT; ActiGraph LLC), which was set to 30 hz at initialization and downloaded with 15-second epochs, on their right hip 24 hours a day for 1 week to measure sleep timing (onset and offset), sleep duration (total sleep time), and sleep quality (number of awakenings, wake after sleep onset, and sleep efficiency). Actigraphy data were analyzed using a count-scaled algorithm developed in MATLAB (MathWorks Inc) that estimated sleep onset and offset as well as awakenings that were specific to each individual for each day. 33 , 34

Actigraphy data were collected for each child for the duration of each intervention week, as occurred at baseline. Questionnaire data were collected at the end of each intervention week (day 8) during an assessment session. 23 Children and their parents each completed the 8-item Pediatric Sleep Disturbance and 8-item Sleep-Related Impairment scales of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) questionnaire. 35 The responses provided a subjective assessment of the difficulties the child had in falling and staying asleep (disturbance) and daytime sleepiness and the effects on functioning (impairment). Questionnaire items referred to occurrences over the past week and used 5 frequency response options: never, almost never, sometimes, almost always, or always. The Cronbach α for the sleep disturbance scale was α = 0.87 in children and α = 0.85 in parents. The Cronbach α for the sleep impairment scale was α = 0.91 in children and α = 0.94 in parents.

Children also completed the 27-item KIDSCREEN questionnaire, which assessed HRQOL over the past week, with a score range of 1 (never) to 5 (always) or 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely), as appropriate. 36 Children provided answers based on 2 response scales (eg, Thinking about the last week, have you been in a good mood? with answer options of never, seldom, quite often, very often, or always; or Thinking about last week, have you been happy at school? with answer options of not at all, slightly, moderately, very, or extremely). The KIDSCREEN-27 questionnaire produced a total score (score range: 2.4-5.0) and 5 subscale scores: physical well-being (5 items, with score range: 1.6-5.0; Cronbach α = 0.78), psychological well-being (7 items, with score range: 2.6-5.0; Cronbach α = 0.84), autonomy and parental relations (7 items, with score range: 1.7-5.0; Cronbach α = 0.80), social and peer support (4 items, with score range: 2.0-5.0; Cronbach α = 0.87), and school environment (4 items, with score range: 1.8-5.0; Cronbach α = 0.82). Children were assisted with completing the questionnaires if required; in practice, assistance was rarely needed.

All analyses were undertaken in Stata, version 17.0 (StataCorp LLC). Effects of mild sleep deprivation were estimated by mixed-effects regression models, with the child as a random effect. Mean differences and 95% CIs were determined for sleep restriction compared with sleep extension. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) and 95% CIs were also calculated using a pooled SD. Residuals of models were plotted and visually assessed for homoskedasticity and normality. Complete case analyses were undertaken using the full sample (intention to treat) and were restricted to those who met the per-protocol a priori definition of a difference in sleep of at least 30 minutes per night.

Two-sided P  < .05 indicated statistical significance. Data were analyzed between July 4 and September 1, 2022.

The Figure illustrates that just 5 children withdrew from participation due to health (n = 3) and COVID-19 restrictions (n = 2), leaving a final sample of 100 children. The children included 52 girls (52%) and 48 boys (48%) and had a mean (SD) age of 10.3 (1.4) years; of these children, 24 (24%) had overweight and 16 (16%) had obese status. Of the parents, 47 (47%) reported having a university degree or higher educational level ( Table 1 ). 30 - 32 , 37

Baseline sleep characteristics (from actigraphy) showed that children received a mean (SD) total sleep time of 8 hours and 59 minutes (45 minutes) per night and a high level of sleep efficiency (mean [SD], 95.8% [4.3%]), waking less than once a night on average (mean [SD], 0.71 [0.61] awakenings) ( Table 1 ). Baseline levels of sleep hygiene were good, with mean scores for all subscales of the Children’s Sleep Hygiene Scale being greater than 4 (with 6 as the possible maximum), indicating that the children regularly followed sleep hygiene practices.

Table 2 shows the differences in child sleep between the 2 intervention weeks (with data from the PROMIS questionnaire and actigraphy). With restricted opportunities to sleep, both children (mean difference, −0.6; 95% CI, −0.8 to −0.5) and parents (mean difference, −0.7; 95% CI, −0.8 to −0.5) reported relative reductions in sleep disturbances, suggesting that sleep was more consolidated when sleep opportunities were restricted rather than extended. However, both children (mean difference, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.3-0.6) and parents (mean difference, 0.8; 95% CI, 0.6-0.9) also reported that the child felt more impaired during the day under the sleep restriction condition. Findings were broadly similar when limited to those children who met the a priori difference in sleep across the 2 intervention conditions. The SMDs indicated that the effects on sleep impairment and disturbance were moderate (eg, child-reported sleep impairment: SMD, 0.6; 95% CI, 0.4-0.8) to large (eg, parent-reported sleep disturbance: SMD, –1.1; 95% CI, –1.3 to –0.9).

Accelerometry data indicated that children went to sleep an average of 64 (95% CI, 58-70) minutes later each night over the sleep restriction week compared with the sleep extension week, with a smaller difference (as anticipated) in sleep offset (mean difference, 18; 95% CI, 13-24 minutes). These differences in sleep timing meant that children received 39 (95% CI, 32-46) minutes less of total sleep time each night during the sleep restriction week. These differences were magnified in the per-protocol sample, which had a nightly difference in total sleep time of 71 (95% CI, 64-78) minutes. As observed from the child and parent reports, more consolidated sleep was apparent, with small reductions in the number of awakenings (mean difference, −0.2; 95% CI, −0.3 to −0.1) and wake after sleep onset (mean difference, −8.7 minutes; 95% CI, −12.9 to −4.4 minutes) as well as a small improvement in sleep efficiency (mean difference, 1.2%; 95% CI, 0.4%-1.9%) in the full sample ( Table 2 ). By contrast, sleep variability (variation in total sleep time or difference in total sleep time between weekdays and weekends) did not differ significantly. Significant differences in sleep consolidation were not apparent in the per-protocol sample for any measure.

Table 3 presents the mean differences for HRQOL in the sleep restriction week compared with the sleep extension week. Children reported significantly lower scores for physical well-being (SMD, −0.28; 95% CI, −0.49 to −0.08) and ability to cope well in the school environment (SMD, −0.26; 95% CI, −0.42 to −0.09), leading to total HRQOL scores that were significantly lower when tired (SMD, −0.21; 95% CI, −0.34 to −0.08). Reductions in psychological well-being (mean difference, −0.09; 95% CI, −0.19 to 0.02), social and peer support (mean difference, −0.13; 95% CI, −0.26 to 0.01), and autonomy and parental relations (mean difference, −0.08; 95% CI, −0.19 to 0.03) were observed but were not statistically significant. Differences in HRQOL were generally magnified in the per-protocol sample, with the reduction in social and peer support (SMD, −0.24; 95% CI, −0.47 to −0.01) also being statistically significant. The SMDs indicated that these effects on HRQOL were small (eg, total well-being: SMD, –0.21; 95% CI, –0.34 to –0.08).

Results of this secondary analysis of the DREAM trial demonstrated that even relatively small reductions in nightly sleep duration can have a considerable effect on HRQOL in children. These children received 39 minutes less sleep per night between sleep conditions over only 1 week. This loss of sleep resulted in significant reductions in the children’s physical well-being, overall well-being, and ability to cope well in a school environment. For those who achieved the a priori difference in sleep of at least 30 minutes per night, additional reductions in well-being associated with less social and peer support were also observed. While these differences may generally be considered as small but not trivial, 38 the reductions in multiple aspects of HRQOL were observed after only 1 week of less sleep. As such, we believe these findings are clinically and statistically significant and require confirmation over the longer term.

It is difficult to compare the findings with those reported in the literature because most previous experimental studies 12 , 13 appeared to involve children with clinical sleep issues, where greater benefits might be expected. In young children with obstructive sleep apnea, significant improvements in HRQOL were observed, principally in school and physical function domains, after adenotonsillectomy. 9 In children with milder sleep issues (several parent-reported moderate sleep problems at school entry), a brief clinician-delivered intervention showed short-term (3-month) improvements in psychosocial HRQOL even though the proportion of children with sleep problems had not decreased. However, benefits to HRQOL were not maintained at follow-up (12 months), and any corresponding changes in sleep duration were not reported. 39 Other research that manipulated sleep in children focused more on emotional or cognitive outcomes rather than on HRQOL, reporting consistent adverse effects on mood and smaller effects on emotion and some cognitive test scores. 4 , 12 , 13 We believe the findings of this trial add considerable value to the existing cross-sectional literature that shows the association of sleep duration with HRQOL in children 17 - 19 because causality can now be inferred.

Previous analyses of the DREAM trial provided some insight into why these relatively modest changes in sleep might affect HRQOL, although it is difficult to disentangle which behavioral changes might influence HRQOL the most as they tend to be interrelated in children. 40 We found that when children slept less, they ate substantially more calories, particularly in the evenings, all of which came from noncore foods (generally those with poor nutritional quality) rather than from core foods, such as fruit and vegetables, 41 which are associated with higher HRQOL. 42 Children replaced this loss of sleep mostly with sedentary time and, to a lesser degree, light activity. 43 Given that these activity patterns were measured using accelerometry, we do not know which specific behaviors might have changed, although anecdotally, parents reported more screen time during the sleep restriction week. In general, greater HRQOL has been associated with higher amounts of activity and lower amounts of sedentary time in children. 44 , 45

This study has several strengths. These strengths primarily centered on the randomized crossover trial design, wherein each child participant was able to act as their own control, with the sleep extension week providing the conditions for more sleep opportunity compared with the sleep restriction week that provided less sleep opportunity. We determined the difference in sleep on the basis of actigraphy rather than subjective measures of sleep duration, which should provide greater accuracy. 20 However, it was interesting to observe greater sleep efficiency when sleep was restricted, suggesting more consolidation of sleep, which was supported by children and parent reports of less sleep disturbance in the PROMIS questionnaire. This finding likely reflects an increased homeostatic drive to sleep as a consequence of sleep restriction. 46 It is important to note that we specifically tested sleep restriction vs sleep extension conditions to ensure the best opportunity to create a difference in true sleep, as the DREAM trial was a mechanistic study that aimed to determine the effect of mild sleep deprivation on eating and activity behaviors associated with obesity in children. 23 , 24 We purposely chose to restrict sleep by a relatively small amount in an effort to mimic clinical levels of mild sleep deprivation, 22 which we believed had greater applicability for public health than more severe sleep deficits often used in other sleep manipulation trials. 47 , 48

This study also has limitations. It focused on a secondary outcome of interest, for which we did not undertake specific power calculations. Although data collection had to be concluded slightly earlier than anticipated due to COVID-19 restrictions, the total dropout rate was low at 5% compared with the projected rate of at least 20%, 23 ensuring a robust sample size and reduced risk of attrition bias. The sample was not diverse, which may limit extrapolation to other groups. As the trial was a mechanistic study, we cannot comment on the effect of sleep loss over the long term and its implications for HRQOL in children because a consistently linear association between less sleep and worse HRQOL cannot be assumed in the absence of such evidence. Furthermore, we had a single measure of HRQOL from the children; confirmatory data from different measures or parents would have been an advantage.

In this secondary analysis of the DREAM randomized crossover trial of sleep manipulation, we showed that after only 1 week of receiving 39 minutes less sleep per night between sleep conditions, children reported significantly lower HRQOL in terms of their physical and overall well-being and ability to cope well at school. These findings highlight that ensuring children receive sufficient good-quality sleep is an important child health issue.

Accepted for Publication: January 30, 2023.

Published: March 15, 2023. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.3005

Open Access: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC-BY License . © 2023 Taylor RW et al. JAMA Network Open .

Corresponding Author: Rachael W. Taylor, PhD, Department of Medicine, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, Otago 9054, New Zealand ( [email protected] ).

Author Contributions: Dr Taylor had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

Concept and design: Taylor, Haszard, Beebe, Meredith-Jones, Galland.

Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: All authors.

Drafting of the manuscript: Taylor, Haszard.

Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Haszard, Jackson, Morrison, Beebe, Meredith-Jones, Elder, Galland.

Statistical analysis: Haszard.

Obtained funding: Taylor, Haszard, Galland.

Administrative, technical, or material support: Taylor, Haszard, Morrison, Beebe, Meredith-Jones.

Supervision: Taylor, Haszard, Beebe, Galland.

Provided expertise as pediatric sleep medicine specialist: Elder.

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.

Funding/Support: The DREAM (Daily Rest, Eating, and Activity Monitoring) randomized crossover trial was funded by Marsden grant 19-UOO-225 from the Royal Society of New Zealand (Dr Galland) and by a grant from the University of Otago (Dr Taylor). Dr Taylor was supported by the Karitane Fellowship.

Role of the Funder/Sponsor: The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Data Sharing Statement: See Supplement 2 .

Graphical abstracts

Journals are increasingly requesting the submission of a “graphical” or “visual abstract” alongside the body of the article. This is a single, concise, pictorial and visual summary of the main findings of the article. It could either be the concluding figure from the article or better still a figure that is specially designed for the purpose, which captures the content of the article for readers at a single glance. Please see examples below .

The graphical abstract will be displayed in online search result lists, the online contents list and the article on ScienceDirect, but will typically not appear in the article PDF file or print.

Visual abstract template

Author benefits

A graphical abstract should allow readers to quickly gain an understanding of the take-home message of the paper and is intended to encourage browsing, promote interdisciplinary scholarship, and help readers identify more quickly which papers are most relevant to their research interests.

Research has shown that articles which have graphical abstracts are beneficial both in terms of views of the article as well as increased activity on social media. In particular, the average annual use of an article is doubled when compared with those without a visual abstract .

Instructions

Authors must provide an original image that clearly represents the work described in the paper. Graphical abstracts should be submitted as a separate file in the submission system by selecting “graphical abstracts" from the drop-down list when uploading files. Please note that, just as each paper should be unique, so each graphical abstract should also be unique.

NB: Some titles have specific instructions for graphical abstracts, so please ensure you read the guide for authors of the journal in question before finalizing your work.

For ease of browsing, the graphical abstract should have a clear start and end, preferably "reading" from top to bottom or left to right. Try to reduce distracting and cluttering elements as much as possible.

A basic visual/graphical abstract template is provided below in the  "further reading & resources" section along with advice and further tips on how to create one.

Examples of graphical abstracts

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272638620305333

Incidence of ESKD Among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders Living in the 50 US States and Pacific Island Territories

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0085253821002611

Risk factors, histopathological features, and graft outcome of transplant glomerulopathy in the absence of donor-specific HLA antibodies

https://www.kidneymedicinejournal.org/article/S2590-0595(20)30097-2/fulltext

Sleep Apnea in Maintenance Hemodialysis: A Mixed-Methods Study

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0895435620311768

A meta-research study revealed several challenges in obtaining placebos for investigator-initiated drug trials

Further reading & resources

Visual Abstracts: Redesigning the Landscape of Research Dissemination

Promoting your research using infographics and visual abstracts

Professor Andrew Ibrahim's visual abstract primer 

CDC information on visual abstracts

Free visual/graphical abstract template

A very quick video demo on laying out a visual abstract in PowerPoint

How to make a visual abstract (YouTube lecture by Professor Andrew Ibrahim)

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Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Journal Article: Abstract

When to write the abstract.

Writing an abstract can be difficult because you are tasked with condensing tons of work into such a small amount of space. To make things easier, write your abstract last. Read through your entire paper and distill each section down to its main points. Sometimes it can be helpful to answer this question through a subtractive process. For example, if you are trying to distill down your results, simply list all your findings and then go through that list and start crossing off or consolidating each finding until you are left with a only the most crucial results.

Your title and abstract are the primary medium through which interested readers will find your work amidst the deluge of scientific publications, posters, or conference talks. When a fellow scientist happens upon your abstract they will quickly skim it to determine if it is worth their time to dive into the main body of the paper. The main purpose of an abstract, therefore, is to contextualize and describe your work in a concise and easily-understood manner. This will ensure that your scientific work is found and read by your intended audience.

Abstract Formula

Clarity is achieved by providing information in a predictable order: successful abstracts therefore are composed of 6 ordered components which are referred to as the “abstract formula”.

General and   Specific Background (~1 sentence each). Introduce the area of science that you will be speaking about and the state of knowledge in that area. Start broad in the general background, then narrow in on the relevant topic that will be pursued in the paper. I f you use jargon, be sure to very briefly define it.

Knowledge Gap (~1 sentence). Now that you’ve stated what is already known, state what is not known. W hat specific question is your work attempting to answer?

“Here we show…” (~1 sentence). State your general experimental approach and the answer to the question which you just posed in the “Knowledge Gap” section.

Experimental Approach & Results (~1-3 sentences). Provide a high-level description of your most important methods and results. How did you get to the conclusion that you stated in the “Here we show…” section?

Implications (~1 sentence).  Describe how your findings influence our understanding of the relevant field and/or their implications for future studies.

This content was adapted from from an article originally created by the  MIT Biological Engineering Communication Lab .

Resources and Annotated Examples

Annotated example 1.

Annotated abstract of a microbiology paper published in Nature . 4 MB

Annotated Example 2

Annotated abstract of a paper published in Nature . 2 MB

abstract in a research article

How to... Write an article abstract

An abstract is a succinct summary of a larger piece of work that aims to persuade readers to read the full document – essentially, it acts as a shop window, enticing people to step inside.

Typically, abstracts are written to accompany a journal research article or book serial chapter, but you are also likely to be asked for an abstract when applying to write a paper for a conference. In this guide you will find tips to help you prepare for both. They include specific guidelines on how the abstract should be written and presented, including a maximum word count.

On this page

Why is an abstract important, how to write a structured abstract, tips for writing abstracts for conference papers.

Typically, your abstract is the first element of your published work that anyone sees. It provides the ideal channel to convince them that your work is worth their time investment. For example, editors will use it to help them decide whether to send your submission out for peer review, and reviewers will refer to it when deciding whether to accept that review invite.

Unless you’ve published your work open access, the title and abstract are the only parts of an article that are freely available to everyone. The reader will decide whether the rest of your article is interesting to them while they are reading your abstract. And, the more researchers who read your work, the more chance you have it will be cited in further research.

With so much at stake, it’s well worth taking the time to craft a strong and compelling abstract.   

Let’s start with a few essential points to remember when writing your abstract. You should:

Many authors recommend waiting until the rest of your paper or chapter is complete before writing your abstract. Whenever you decide to write it, your abstract should be a succinct statement that gives the reader context.

Most journal author guidelines set a maximum of 250 words, including keywords and article classification.

The following points should always be featured:

The following three items should be included, if relevant to your paper or required by the journal you are submitting to:

Follow the chronology of the paper, using headlines as guidelines if necessary. Make sure there is a consistent flow of information.

The language should be active rather than passive, e.g. “we carried out an analysis”, rather than “an analysis was carried out”. It’s also important to use relevant keywords and technical language to help potential readers find your paper. What are keywords? These are the words or phrases a researcher might use when searching for a paper on this topic. You can find out more in our  Make your research easy to find with SEO  guide.

Choose a category for the paper that best describes it. This may be:

Make sure to edit, review and peer review to find and correct any grammatical, spelling or typographical errors. You also want to ensure that there is consistency between the information in your abstract and paper.  

This is slightly different to writing a general abstract and in this scenario the abstract is likely to be written before the paper has been prepared.

A few tips:

Related topics

Make your research easy to find.

What you need to know about making your research search engine optimised (SEO) to help your audience find it online.  

Writing simply

Investing a little time in ensuring your manuscript or case study is easy to follow can really help readers absorb your key messages. 

Structure your journal submission

This guide explains the building blocks that are used to construct a journal article and why getting them right can boost your chances of publishing success. 

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Androgen Signaling Contributes to Sex Differences in Cancer by Inhibiting NF-κB Activation in T Cells and Suppressing Antitumor Immunity

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X. Zhang, L. Cheng, C. Gao, and J. Chen contributed equally as co-authors of this article.

Cancer Res 2023;83:906–21

Xiaomin Zhang, Limin Cheng, Chengqi Gao, Jing Chen, Shuangye Liao, Yongqiang Zheng, Liping Xu, Jingjing He, Danyang Wang, Ziqian Fang, Jianeng Zhang, Min Yan, Yi Luan, Siyu Chen, Likun Chen, Xiaojun Xia, Chunhao Deng, Guokai Chen, Wende Li, Zexian Liu, Penghui Zhou; Androgen Signaling Contributes to Sex Differences in Cancer by Inhibiting NF-κB Activation in T Cells and Suppressing Antitumor Immunity. Cancer Res 15 March 2023; 83 (6): 906–921. https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-22-2405

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Sex is known to be an important factor in the incidence, progression, and outcome of cancer. A better understanding of the underlying mechanisms could help improve cancer prevention and treatment. Here, we demonstrated a crucial role of antitumor immunity in the sex differences in cancer. Consistent with observations in human cancers, male mice showed accelerated tumor progression compared with females, but these differences were not observed in immunodeficient mice. Androgen signaling suppressed T-cell immunity against cancer in males. Mechanistically, androgen-activated androgen receptor upregulated expression of USP18, which inhibited TAK1 phosphorylation and the subsequent activation of NF-κB in antitumor T cells. Reduction of testosterone synthesis by surgical castration or using the small-molecular inhibitor abiraterone significantly enhanced the antitumor activity of T cells in male mice and improved the efficacy of anti–PD-1 immunotherapy. Together, this study revealed a novel mechanism contributing to sex differences in cancer. These results indicate that inhibition of androgen signaling is a promising approach to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy in males.

Androgen signaling induces immunosuppression in cancer by blocking T-cell activity through upregulation of USP18 and subsequent inhibition of NF-κB activity, providing a targetable axis to improve antitumor immunity in males.

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Writing the title and abstract for a research paper: Being concise, precise, and meticulous is the key

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This article deals with formulating a suitable title and an appropriate abstract for an original research paper. The "title" and the "abstract" are the "initial impressions" of a research article, and hence they need to be drafted correctly, accurately, carefully, and meticulously. Often both of these are drafted after the full manuscript is ready. Most readers read only the title and the abstract of a research paper and very few will go on to read the full paper. The title and the abstract are the most important parts of a research paper and should be pleasant to read. The "title" should be descriptive, direct, accurate, appropriate, interesting, concise, precise, unique, and should not be misleading. The "abstract" needs to be simple, specific, clear, unbiased, honest, concise, precise, stand-alone, complete, scholarly, (preferably) structured, and should not be misrepresentative. The abstract should be consistent with the main text of the paper, especially after a revision is made to the paper and should include the key message prominently. It is very important to include the most important words and terms (the "keywords") in the title and the abstract for appropriate indexing purpose and for retrieval from the search engines and scientific databases. Such keywords should be listed after the abstract. One must adhere to the instructions laid down by the target journal with regard to the style and number of words permitted for the title and the abstract.

Keywords: Abbreviations; aims; article; author; conclusions; database; indexing; keywords; manuscript; medical writing; message; methods; paper; research; results; summary.

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Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Interphases in aqueous rechargeable zinc metal batteries.

Despite extensive research efforts in developing aqueous rechargeable zinc metal batteries (RZMBs) as high-energy-density alternatives to both lithium ion and lithium metal batteries, the commercial prospects for RZMBs are still obfuscated by fundamental scientific questions. In particular, the electrode–electrolyte interphase properties and behaviors are still intensely debated topics in the field. In this review, we provide a comprehensive and thorough overview toward the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) and cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) in aqueous RZMBs, with an emphasis on the formation mechanisms and characteristics of the SEI and CEI. We then summarize state-of-the-art techniques for characterizing the SEI/CEI to reveal the intrinsic correlation between the functionalities of the interphases and the electrochemical performances. Finally, future directions are proposed, including studies on aqueous SEI/CEI evolution as a function of pH and temperature, as well as SEI/CEI studies for high-energy-density and long-lifetime RZMBs.

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abstract in a research article

R. Jayakumar, D. M. Harrison, J. Xu, A. V. S. Babu, C. Luo and L. Ma, J. Mater. Chem. A , 2023, Accepted Manuscript , DOI: 10.1039/D3TA00254C

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Context Therapeutics Announces Acceptance of Abstract to be Presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2023

Published: Mar 15, 2023

PHILADELPHIA, March 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Context Therapeutics  Inc. (“Context” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: CNTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel treatments for solid tumors, with a primary focus on female cancers, today announced that an abstract regarding Context’s preclinical candidate, CTIM-76, a Claudin 6 x CD3 bispecific antibody, has been selected for poster presentation at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2023, taking place April 14-19, 2023, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL.

Details of the presentation are as follows:

Title: Development of CTIM-76, a highly specific Claudin 6 bispecific antibody for treatment of ovarian cancer Session Category: Immunology Session: PO.IM01.18 - Therapeutic Antibodies 1 Abstract Number: 1865 / 4 Presenter: Joseph Rucker, Ph.D., Integral Molecular Date and Time: April 17, 2023, 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET Location: Section 25

For more information and to view the abstract, visit the AACR Annual Meeting  website .

On Monday, April 17, 2023, at 4:30 p.m. ET, Context will host a webinar with its management team and AACR presenter, Dr. Rucker, to discuss the results from this presentation and provide updates on the CTIM-76 preclinical program. Following the formal presentation, the Context team, along with Dr. Rucker, will be available for questions. To register for the webinar, please click  here . Additionally, a replay of the webinar will be available on the Events page of the Investor Relations section of Context’s website,  www.contexttherapeutics.com , for approximately 30 days after the webinar.

About Claudin 6 and CTIM-76 Claudin 6 (CLDN6) is differentially expressed on cancer cells with no or very low expression in normal, healthy tissue. CLDN6-enriched cancers include ovarian, endometrial, testicular, and gastric, among others. With the potential to reach a large patient population and selective expression on cancer cells, CLDN6 has emerged as an important drug target.

CTIM-76 is a CLDN6 and CD3 bispecific antibody currently in preclinical development that is capable of binding to tumor cells expressing CLDN6 and stimulating intra-tumoral T cells by the CD3 arm that is designed to be activated only upon tumor engagement while silent elsewhere. CLDN6 is expressed on multiple solid tumors such as ovarian cancer, sarcoma, testicular cancer, endometrial cancer, and gastric cancer. Preclinical studies of CTIM-76 show it effectively maintains a strong tumor binding property and anti-tumor activity attributable to a synergistic effect of both CLDN6 antibody and CD3 antibody while avoiding systemic immunotoxicity commonly seen with CD3 antibodies as a drug class. CTIM-76 has the potential for convenient dosing and scalable manufacturing to address the significant number of patients who are potentially eligible for CTIM-76 therapy.

About Context Therapeutics ® Context Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: CNTX) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to advancing medicines for solid tumors, with a primary focus on female cancers. The Company’s pipeline includes small molecule and bispecific antibody drug candidates that target cancer signaling pathways. Context is developing CTIM-76, a selective Claudin 6 (CLDN6) x CD3 bispecific antibody for CLDN6 positive tumors, currently in preclinical development. Context is also developing onapristone extended release (ONA-XR), a novel, first-in-class potent and selective progesterone receptor antagonist. Context is headquartered in Philadelphia. For more information, please visit  www.contexttherapeutics.com  or follow the Company on  Twitter  and  LinkedIn .

Forward-looking Statements This press release contains “forward-looking statements” that involve substantial risks and uncertainties for purposes of the safe harbor provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in this press release regarding strategy, future operations, prospects, plans and objectives of management, including words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “intend,” and similar expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events, conditions or circumstances) are forward-looking statements. These include, without limitation, statements regarding (i) the ability of the Company, its employees and certain AACR presenters to participate in and present at conferences and webinars, (ii) the timing, enrollment and results of our clinical trials, (iii) the potential benefits and side effect profile of our product candidates, (iv) the likelihood data will support future development, and (v) the likelihood of obtaining regulatory approval of our product candidates. Forward-looking statements in this release involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, and we, therefore cannot assure you that our plans, intentions, expectations or strategies will be attained or achieved. Other factors that may cause actual results to differ from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements in this press release are discussed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the section titled “Risk Factors” contained therein. Except as otherwise required by law, we disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise.

Media Contact: Gina Cestari 6 Degrees 917-797-7904 [email protected]

Investor Relations Contact: Laine Yonker Edison Group [email protected]

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  1. Writing an Abstract for Your Research Paper

    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;

  2. How to Write an Abstract

    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.

  3. Abstracts

    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.

  4. How to Write a Scientific Abstract for Your Research Article

    Essentially, an abstract should reflect all the parts of your research paper, including yourself, but in shortened form. In other words, a person reading only your abstract should be able to: understand why you conducted the study how you conducted it what you found, and why your work is important.

  5. How to Write a Research Paper Abstract: Guide With Examples

    Writing an abstract is mostly a requirement for research papers, but it is not a requirement without a purpose or merely for tradition. An abstract facilitates scanning the paper to determine whether the reader finds it relevant to their own research or study.

  6. Writing for Publication 101: Why the Abstract Is So Important

    The abstract is typically the first and often only part of a published article that prospective readers interested in the topic can readily access with a database search. An incomplete or unclear abstract can discourage readers from adding that paper to their reading list.

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    An abstract is a concise summary of a longer work, such as a dissertation or research paper, and allows readers to decide whether to read the full paper. Abstracts should be written after the full paper is written, and are usually about 150-250 words and one to two paragraphs long.

  8. Q. What is an article abstract and why is it valuable?

    An article abstract is a summary of the full article and explains what the article is about ( here's an example ). It is valuable because it offers a quick overview of the article's content and can help you decide if the article will be useful for your research. Remember to cite from the full article in your research though, and never the abstract.

  9. LibGuides: Scholarly Articles: How can I tell?: Abstract

    An abstract is a summary of the main article. An abstract will include information about why the research study was done, what the methodology was and something about the findings of the author (s). The abstract is always at the beginning of the article and will either be labeled "abstract" or will be set apart from the rest of the article by a ...

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    An abstract is a brief summary of a research paper that provides a concise overview of the main points and findings of the study. Writing an effective abstract is essential for attracting readers ...

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  12. 3. The Abstract

    An abstract summarizes, usually in one paragraph of 300 words or less, the major aspects of the entire paper in a prescribed sequence that includes: 1) the overall purpose of the study and the research problem (s) you investigated; 2) the basic design of the study; 3) major findings or trends found as a result of your analysis; and, 4) a brief …

  13. How to write a great abstract for your academic manuscript

    Your abstract is your opportunity to demonstrate to reviewers that your research article is interesting, carefully considered, compelling, and worth their time to review. ... abstracts shorter than 150 words do not contain enough information to properly summarize and present the research to the audience. Abstracts longer than 400 words, on the ...

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  15. Abstract Research Paper: Types, Tips & Best Practices

    An abstract is a self-contained, short, and definitive summary that describes the full contribution or content of an academic publication. Generally considered as the first section of a scholarly article, an abstract is considered as "a standalone genre" (Gillaerts & Van de Velde, 2010 cited in Ngai et al. 2018).

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    They can be cited using the author(s), article title, journal title, year of online publication, and DOI. They will be replaced by the final typeset articles, which may therefore contain changes. The DOI will remain the same throughout.

  17. How to Write an Abstract

    Write your paper first, then create the abstract as a summary. Check the journal requirements before you write your abstract, eg. required subheadings. Include keywords or phrases to help readers search for your work in indexing databases like PubMed or Google Scholar. Double and triple check your abstract for spelling and grammar errors.

  18. What is the purpose of an abstract?

    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 ...

  19. Effect of Sleep Changes on Quality of Life in Healthy Children

    Randomization to order was generated by one of us (J.J.H., the study biostatistician) using random block lengths in Stata, version 17.0 (StataCorp LLC) in a 1:1 allocation and then was uploaded to a research management program randomization module (REDCap; Vanderbilt University). 28 Randomization was undertaken by the research staff following ...

  20. Graphical abstract

    A graphical abstract should allow readers to quickly gain an understanding of the take-home message of the paper and is intended to encourage browsing, promote interdisciplinary scholarship, and help readers identify more quickly which papers are most relevant to their research interests. Research has shown that articles which have graphical ...

  21. Journal Article: Abstract : Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

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    An abstract allows one to sift through copious numbers of papers for ones in which the researcher can have more confidence that they will be relevant to their research. Once papers are chosen based on the abstract, they must be read carefully to be evaluated for relevance.

  23. Abstract P2033: Neddylation Regulates Cardiac Mitochondria Homeostasis

    Abstract. Neddylation is a reversible post-translational modification that covalently attaches ubiquitin-like protein NEDD8 to target proteins via NEDD8-specific E1-E2-E3 enzymes. Through regulating the function of various cellular proteins, neddylation impacts diverse cellular processes and disease states.

  24. How to: Write an article abstract

    Typically, abstracts are written to accompany a journal research article or book serial chapter, but you are also likely to be asked for an abstract when applying to write a paper for a conference. ... Unless you've published your work open access, the title and abstract are the only parts of an article that are freely available to everyone ...

  25. Androgen Signaling Contributes to Sex Differences in Cancer by

    Androgen signaling induces immunosuppression in cancer by blocking T-cell activity through upregulation of USP18 and subsequent inhibition of NF-κB activity, providing a targetable axis to improve antitumor immunity in males.

  26. Writing the title and abstract for a research paper: Being concise

    This article deals with formulating a suitable title and an appropriate abstract for an original research paper. The "title" and the "abstract" are the "initial impressions" of a research article, and hence they need to be drafted correctly, accurately, carefully, and meticulously. Often both of these are drafted after the full manuscript is ready.

  27. Interphases in Aqueous Rechargeable Zinc Metal Batteries

    Despite extensive research efforts in developing aqueous rechargeable zinc metal batteries (RZMBs) as high-energy-density alternatives to both lithium ion and lithium metal batteries, the commercial prospects for RZMBs are still obfuscated by fundamental scientific questions. In particular, the electrode-ele Journal of Materials Chemistry A Recent Review Articles

  28. Context Therapeutics Announces Acceptance of Abstract to be Presented

    Context Therapeutics Inc. today announced that an abstract regarding Context's preclinical candidate, CTIM-76, a Claudin 6 x CD3 bispecific antibody, has been selected for poster presentation at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2023.