Abstracts:

Informative

Purpose & Audience

Developing an Informative Abstract

The process of writing an abstract involves boiling down an entire paper into one paragraph that conveys as much new information as possible.

One good way of writing an abstract is to

1. Start with a draft of the complete paper.

2. Highlight the objectve and the conclusions that are in the introduction and the discussion parts of the paper.

3. Bracket information in the methods section of the paper that contains keyword information.

4. Highlight the results from the discussion or results section of the paper.

5. Compile the above highlighted and bracketed information into a single paragraph.

6. Condense the bracketed information into the key words and phrases that identify—but do not explain—the methods used.

7. Delete extraneous words and phrases.

8. Delete any background information.

9. Rephrase the first sentence so that it starts off with the new information contained in the paper rather than the general topic. One way of
doing this is to start off the first sentence with the phrase "this paper" or "this study."

10. Revise the paragraph so that the abstract conveys the essential information and has a terse style.

Remember that you can get assistance at the Writing Center at Rensselaer (4508 Sage Lab) at any stage of your writing process.

Source of Information: Wilkinson, Antoinette Miele. The Scientist's Handbook for Writing Papers and Dissertations. 1991.