A Guide on how to write an Abstract

An abstract is what we call the comprehensive version of the material. By reading the abstract, the reader gets to know the complete story behind your content. Some students face difficulty in writing an abstract for their academic papers because it involves summarizing all of the important information into a few phrases. If you are also facing issues with your abstract writing, then you have landed on the right platform. Continue reading this blog further to know more about the abstract.

An abstract should be written in such a manner that it summarizes the entire study project in a concise and understandable way. With the help of the abstract, the reader gets to know the purpose of your paper, its technique, results, and other significant aspects that are crucial for the paper. Abstracts are generally written for research papers, reports, and other academic projects. If the readers want to have a gist of what you just wrote in your paper, then the abstract would be the first thing that they’ll look to no matter where it belongs (probably on the last page). However, we always recommend students to write their abstract in the end because it gives a better understanding of your results and conclusions.

Purpose of an abstract

Teachers frequently ask students to write abstracts for their assignments. While writing an abstract, students must never forget its objective. An abstract is generally written to convey important information to the readers. Another important aspect of an abstract is to assist readers in evaluating the paper and compiling it with valuable information collected through research. The key objective of an abstract is to give enough information to the readers about the document so that they can make an informed decision without wasting their time on reading the entire paper.

• An abstract should highlight the most important features of the paper.
• It should be concise and accurate, as well as understandable.
• Instead of quoting the whole document, focus on the paraphrasing aspect.

Things to be included in the abstract

There are five main sections in the abstract. Here is a detailed overview of these parts.

Purpose of writing: It is often said that motivation should come first if the problem isn’t interesting. But when your project involves step-by-step progress on a widely acknowledged topic, then the problem statement should be written first to show the readers what your main problem is.

Problem:  Your readers must be informed about the issue you are attempting to solve. Write carefully because too much jargon will ruin the purpose of your content. In some cases, the problem statement should be written first because it is appropriate to include it before the motivation.

Methodology: This involves the steps taken to solve the issue or what progress you made on the problem. For instance, did you use the field data analysis method, prototype creation, or analytic model? Also, describe the scope of your study and what key variables you tried to ignore, measure, or control.

Findings: This is where you depict the results of your study. Try to put the result in numbers here. Avoid using terms like ‘small,’ ‘significant,’ or ‘extremely’ in your results.

Implications: Here, you must present the implications of your study. It must bring a change to the previous idea. Your findings must be either exclusive, generic, or theoretically generalizable.

Important points to remember

• An abstract is generally viewed separately, keeping it apart from the rest of the paper, so make sure that it looks complete on its own.
• The readers might expect you to describe the primary findings along with the methods, objectives, and conclusion.
• There is no need to mention anything in the abstract that isn’t in the paper.
• Avoid using ‘I’ and ‘We’ in your content; instead, go for active verbs.
• Try to avoid symbols, trade names, abbreviations, and acronyms in your paper.

So, this was a short guide on how to write an abstract for your paper. Apart from this, if you ever need help regarding your academic papers or assignments, feel free to contact our online assignment writing services for professional help and guidance. You can contact our experts at any time you want; we are available 24*7 at your service. Head straight towards our website and avail the best academic services.