Tips for writing an abstract
A scientific abstract is a condensed version or synopsis of your paper. So it should follow the structure of a paper with focussed background, succinct and clear aims, summary of methods and results and then conclusion(s).
However an abstract is also the ‘teaser’ to both encourage reviewers to select your paper for inclusion in the conference and attendees to come and listen to you or view your poster. Vague statements like “general conclusions will be discussed” or “results will be presented (as analyses are not yet done)” are not very enticing. On the other hand rushing to put preliminary results in that do not accord with what you actually say (because you discovered an error and redid the analyses) are not received well by your peers (who may remember it for a long time). So, be cautious whilst ensuring your content is accurate and the most interesting findings are clearly stated. Journalistic and/or uncritical writing approaches should be avoided.
If your abstract is focused on some aspect of service provision or service development (as opposed to conventional research), be clear about the purpose of the presentation. Such presentations should focus on novel or problematic issues rather than simply describing the service or individuals’ activities within the service.
Finally, some pragmatics: Check the formatting and word count requirements of the conference. These vary a lot. The background is probably the least important section (as hopefully your interested audience will know at least some of it) so if you need to prune to reach a word count, prune background most severely. Titles can also be a good way of attracting readers/listeners/viewers, but many journal papers (and some conferences) have strict rules around these as well. For example, there may be a requirement that results cannot be inferred or questions asked or colons used in the title.
These papers may be also useful:
Brakoulias, V., Macfarlane, M., & Looi, J. (2015). The rites of writing papers: steps to successful publishing for psychiatrists. Australasian Psychiatry, 23(1) 32–36.
Ickes, M.J. & Gambescia, S.F. (2011). Abstract Art: How to write competitive conference and journal abstracts. Health Promotion Practice, 12(4) 493-496.
A scientific abstract is a condensed version or synopsis of your paper. So it should follow the structure of a paper with focussed background, succinct and clear aims, summary of methods and results and then conclusion(s).
However an abstract is also the ‘teaser’ to both encourage reviewers to select your paper for inclusion in the conference and attendees to come and listen to you or view your poster. Vague statements like “general conclusions will be discussed” or “results will be presented (as analyses are not yet done)” are not very enticing. On the other hand rushing to put preliminary results in that do not accord with what you actually say (because you discovered an error and redid the analyses) are not received well by your peers (who may remember it for a long time). So, be cautious whilst ensuring your content is accurate and the most interesting findings are clearly stated. Journalistic and/or uncritical writing approaches should be avoided.
If your abstract is focused on some aspect of service provision or service development (as opposed to conventional research), be clear about the purpose of the presentation. Such presentations should focus on novel or problematic issues rather than simply describing the service or individuals’ activities within the service.
Finally, some pragmatics: Check the formatting and word count requirements of the conference. These vary a lot. The background is probably the least important section (as hopefully your interested audience will know at least some of it) so if you need to prune to reach a word count, prune background most severely. Titles can also be a good way of attracting readers/listeners/viewers, but many journal papers (and some conferences) have strict rules around these as well. For example, there may be a requirement that results cannot be inferred or questions asked or colons used in the title.
These papers may be also useful:
Brakoulias, V., Macfarlane, M., & Looi, J. (2015). The rites of writing papers: steps to successful publishing for psychiatrists. Australasian Psychiatry, 23(1) 32–36.
Ickes, M.J. & Gambescia, S.F. (2011). Abstract Art: How to write competitive conference and journal abstracts. Health Promotion Practice, 12(4) 493-496.
Professor Phillipa Hay
Foundation Chair of Mental Health School of Medicine & Centre for Health Research University of Western Sydney Locked Bag 1797 Penrith NSW 2751 www.uws.edu.au Editor-in-Chief Journal of Eating Disorders www.jeatdisord.com |
Associate Professor Lois Surgenor
Department of Psychological Medicine University of Otago PO Box 4345, Christchurch New Zealand http://www.otago.ac.nz Associate Editor Journal of Eating Disorders |
