What is Abstract Writing?
Abstract writing is a shortened version of a completed report or dissertation. Its main aim is to present or highlights the main points in the report along with briefly and concisely describing the scope and content of the report. In short, the material present in a report is explained in an abbreviated form in an abstract.
An abstract is usually the first part of a report. It offers the reader a brief on what is available in the descriptive report to follow. The key to a successful abstract is to cover in an easy and understandable language the main points of the research paper.
The length of an abstract according to standard is fixed at 200 to 300 words. However, the length may vary according to the requirement of the instructor.
How to do Abstract Writing:
Writing an abstract is an art as it requires defining a whole document in a few words while providing all main points in the form of new information without any repetition. An easy way to summarize your report or write an abstract is to identify the main objectives of the report along with summing up all conclusions.
An abstract should also contain the main phrases present within the methods section of your report along with mentioning the main results derived in the report. All these major points summed up in the first paragraph of the abstract with your first sentence stating the hypothesis of the report.
An abstract usually does not mention anything from the literature, introduction or the detailed description section of the report. Also, avoid any extra phrases or sentences usage in your abstract. Remember an abstract contains only the main points of a report and to make sure that is the case, always re-read your abstract to make sure nothing unnecessary is present in your paragraphs and have someone else read it for you to make sure it makes sense.
The Requirements of an Abstract Writing:
As evident by the requirements of an abstract, writing an abstract requires a thorough revision of the report as only then can you assemble the key points of a report. Abstracts also in some cases repeat the same words used in the report. Sometimes the first paragraph is often used as an abstract. However, this happens when the first paragraph itself sums up on the basis of the report. Whereas you can paraphrase to fit the abstract criteria.
Also, the abstract is often the source of finding the main keywords or phrases. It is relating to your research report or your area of research. It is important that you include the keywords appropriately in the abstract.
Is there any particular Formula for Abstract Writing?
There is no one successful formula to write an abstract as varying criteria persist for writing abstracts. It has different disciplines; however, one common requirement is that it should be concise and exact to point. You must present the description of the report’s main points in a simple and easy to understand language. According to experts, the language of your abstract should be easily understandable to an educated nonexpert of the discipline. You can divide your abstract into two to three paragraphs. However, if you find it hard to summarize the report in limited paragraphs you can also shortly write your abstract in a single paragraph form.