Abstracts:

Informative

Purpose & Audience

Content & Format
Style & Example Suggested Process

Informative abstract: Content & Format

In doing any research, a researcher has an objective, uses methods, obtains results, and draws conclusions. In writing the paper to describe the research, an author might discuss background information, a literature review, and detailed procedures and methodologies.

However, an abstract of the paper generally does NOT contain background information, a literature review, or detailed description of methods. An abstract does contain the following, briefly summarized, in this order:

  1. The objective, including a brief explanation of the problem you examined
  2. The methods,
  3. The results or findings,

An abstract normally DOES NOT have references to other literatures (but if absolutely necessary, use a full citation).