Hey there, you’re probably at the end of
writing your dissertation, right?
Congrats!
Now it’s time to write the abstract, but
how do you squeeze your entire research into
a few hundred words?
Keep watching as we go through the steps with
an example!
Hi, I’m Jessica from Scribbr, here to help
you achieve your academic goals.
An abstract is a short and concise summary
of a longer work, such as a dissertation or
research paper.
It’s usually around 150 to 300 words, but
make sure to check the requirements of your
university or journal.
Always include the abstract on a separate
page before the main text.
In a dissertation or thesis, it comes after
the title page and acknowledgements but before
the table of contents.
In all cases, the abstract is the very last
thing you write.
It should be a completely independent, self-contained
text, not an excerpt copied from your paper
or dissertation.
Here are four things you need to include in
your abstract, we will go over them one by
one with an example:
Your research problem and objectives
methods
key results or arguments
conclusion
You can start by clearly defining the purpose
of your research.
What practical or theoretical problem does
the research respond to, or what research
question did you aim to answer?
You can include some brief context on the
social or academic relevance of your topic,
but don’t go into detailed background information.
After identifying the problem, state the objective
of your research.
Use verbs like investigate, test, analyze
or evaluate to describe exactly what you set
out to do.
This part of the abstract can be written in
the present or past simple tense, but should
never refer to the future, as the research
is already complete.
Next, indicate the research methods that you
used to answer your research question.
This part should be a straightforward description
of what you did in one or two sentences.
It is usually written in the past simple tense
as it refers to completed actions.
Next, summarize the main research results.
This part of the abstract can be in the present
or past simple tense.
Depending on how long and complex your research
is, you may not be able to include all results
here.
Try to highlight only the most important findings
that will allow the reader to understand your
conclusions.
Finally, state the main conclusions of your
research: what is your answer to the problem
or question?
The reader should finish with a clear understanding
of the central point that your research has
proved or argued.
Conclusions are usually written in the present
simple tense.
If there are important limitations to your
research (for example, related to your sample
size or methods), you should mention them
briefly in the abstract.
This allows the reader to accurately assess
the credibility and generalizability of your
research.
If your paper will be published, you might
have to add a list of keywords at the end
of the abstract.
These keywords should reference the most important
elements of the research to help potential
readers find your paper during their own literature
searches.
Be aware that some publication manuals, such
as APA Style, have specific formatting requirements
for these keywords.
Now I’ll leave you with a final tip, proofread
and revise!
Make sure to check the guidelines and format
your work correctly.
We have an article on formatting an APA style
abstract, it’s here!
The readers should know exactly what the paper
is about after reading the abstract.
So before you submit the piece of hard work
you’ve been working on for months, consider
using a professional proofreading service
to get rid of language errors, check your
structure, and improve your academic style.
Now it’s time to wrap that abstract up and
relax!
Make sure to drop a like and subscribbr for
more academic content every week!
Thanks for watching and I’ll see you in
the next one.
