This document provides guidance on writing effective abstracts. It discusses what abstracts are, why they are important, and different types of abstracts such as unstructured and structured. Key elements that should be included in abstracts are background, objectives, methods, results, and conclusions. Tips are provided such as explaining abbreviations, using synonyms, and refraining from citations. The importance of keywords for searchability is covered, including reviewing similar articles and MeSH terms. Overall, the document aims to help authors write abstracts that accurately summarize their work and allow other researchers to easily find the information.

1. Writing a Great Abstract
Presented by:
Amy Sisson
Information Services Librarian
Research Medical Library
aasisson@mdanderson.org
research
medical
library
Clara Fowler
Manager, Information Services
Research Medical Library
cfowler@mdanderson.org

2. What abstracts are
• A summary of the article’s content
• A time-saving shortcut for readers and researchers
• A “table of contents” for the most important parts of your
manuscript
• Occasionally, they are the only publication of particular
information (i.e. conference proceeding abstracts not
published elsewhere)
research
medical
library

3. Why are abstracts important?
•
Most databases do not offer the
ability to search the articles’ full
text
•
Article abstracts are where most
keyword searches are matched
•
If an abstract is not well-written,
researchers may not be able to find
it, because most searchers do not
use subject headings to search
“BMJ editors now begin
screening original research
by reading only the
abstract. Our estimate is
that an initial decision is
made on the abstract alone
in 15-25% of papers.
…
All too often abstracts are
poorly written, incomplete,
misleading, and plain
wrong.”
Groves, T. and K. Abbasi (2004). "Screening
research papers by reading abstracts." BMJ
329(7464): 470-471.
research
medical
library

4. Types of abstracts
• Unstructured &
structured
• Journal will indicate in
the author’s instructions
which type they require
JAMA:
Include a structured
abstract of no more than
350 words for reports of
original data, reviews, and
meta-analyses.
For other major
manuscripts, include an
unstructured abstract of no
more than 200 words that
summarizes the objective,
main points, and conclusions
of the article.
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/public/instruc
tionsForAuthors.aspx#Abstracts
research
medical
library

5. Unstructured Abstract
research
medical
library

6. Structured Abstract
research
medical
library

7. Example of a
structured
abstract for
JAMA
research
medical
library

8. KEY ELEMENTS OF ABSTRACTS
Key element 1 (background): the point of the research –
why should we care about the study?
Key element 2 (objectives): the specific research question
– the basis of credible science.
Key element 3 (methods): a description of the methods
used to collect data and determine the relationships
between the variables.
Key element 4 (results): the major findings – not only
data, but the RELATIONSHIPS found that lead to the
answer. These are historical facts and, therefore, reported
in past tense.
Key element 5 (conclusions): the answers to the research
questions – the authors’ INTERPRETATION of the factual
findings. An answer to a research question is in the
present tense.
http://www.ease.org.u
k/sites/default/files/e
ase_guidelinesjune2013abstracts.pdf
research
medical
library

9. Random sample of articles and abstracts from 6 major medical journals (Annals of
Internal Medicine, BMJ, JAMA, Lancet, NEJM, and CMAJ) compared for accuracy.
Found proportion of deficient abstracts per journal varied widely (18%-68%).
Deficient Abstracts
Inconsistency = data given differently in abstract and the body of the article
Omission = data reported in abstract but not in the body of the article

10. • 60 articles selected from 6
clinical journals (American
Journal of Emergency Medicine,
BMJ, JAMA, Lancet, NEJM, and
Obstetrics and Gynaecology)
• Data inaccuracy found in 32
abstracts (53.33% of the
articles)
• Results sections showed the
most number of discrepancies
in structured abstracts

11. In 2006, Arthur Amman, President of Global Strategies for
HIV Prevention, made a disquieting remark: “I recently
met a physician from southern Africa, engaged in
perinatal HIV prevention, whose primary access to
information was abstracts posted on the internet. Based
on a single abstract, they had altered their perinatal HIV
prevention program from an effective therapy to one
with lesser efficacy. Had they read the full text article
they would have undoubtedly realized that the study
results were based on short-term follow-up, a small
pivotal group, incomplete data, and unlikely to be
applicable to their country situation. Their decision to
alter treatment based solely on the abstract’s conclusions
may have resulted in increased perinatal HIV
transmission.”1
The PLoS Medicine Editors. The impact of open access
upon public health. PLoS Med 2006: 3: e252.
research
medical
library

12. CONSORT for
ABSTRACTS
• CONSORT, Consolidated
Standards of Reporting Trials,
developed to alleviate the
problems arising from
inadequate reporting of
randomized controlled trials
(RCTs).
• This is the minimum list of
essential items to include in a
journal or conference abstract
when reporting the main
results of a randomized trial
www.thelancet.com
Published online January 22, 2008
DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61835-2

15. ABSTRACTS:
Writing Tips
1. Explain Abbreviations

16. ABSTRACTS:
Writing Tips
2. Synonyms for title keywords
in abstract

17. ABSTRACTS:
Writing Tips
3. Refrain from citing
references in the abstract

18. Why are author keywords important?
• In February 2013, PubMed began displaying searchable author
keywords when supplied by journal publishers
• Author keywords provide an opportunity to include descriptive
words/phrases in addition to the abstract = more “points of entry”
• Depending on the
searcher, an author
keyword may be the
only point of entry
for that searcher to
find the article
research
medical
library

19. Choosing your author keywords
• Look for similar articles to see what author keywords they
use
• Avoid general or simplistic words (molecule, lasers, energy)
• Choose specific words and phrases that other researchers
in your field are likely to use when searching for your topic
(hippocampal, cell death, bioturbation)
• Choose words and phrases that you did not have room for
in your abstract
research
medical
library
http://www.springer.com/authors/journal+authors/journal+auth
ors+academy?SGWID=0-1726414-12-837806-0)

20. Am J Epidemiol. 2013 Aug 15;178(4):521-33. doi: 10.1093/aje/kws589.
Epub 2013 Jul 17.
ACTIVITY #1
Identify author
keywords for this
article
research
medical
library
Prospective study of ultraviolet radiation exposure and mortality risk in
the United States.
Lin SW1, Wheeler DC, Park Y, Spriggs M, Hollenbeck AR, Freedman DM,
Abnet CC.
Abstract
Geographic variations in mortality rate in the United States could be due
to several hypothesized factors, one of which is exposure to solar
ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Limited evidence from previous prospective
studies has been inconclusive. The association between ambient
residential UVR exposure and total and cause-specific mortality risks in a
regionally diverse cohort (346,615 white, non-Hispanic subjects, 50-71
years of age, in the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-AARP Diet and
Health Study) was assessed, with accounting for individual-level
confounders. UVR exposure (averaged for 1978-1993 and 1996-2005)
from NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer was linked to the US
Census Bureau 2000 census tract of participants' baseline residence.
Multivariate-adjusted Cox proportional-hazards models were used to
estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Over 12 years, UVR
exposure was associated with total deaths (n = 41,425; hazard ratio for
highest vs. lowest quartiles (HRQ4 vs. Q1) = 1.06, 95% confidence interval
(CI): 1.03, 1.09; Ptrend < 0.001) and with deaths (all Ptrend < 0.05) due to
cancer (HRQ4 vs. Q1 = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.11), cardiovascular disease
(HRQ4 vs. Q1 = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.12), respiratory disease (HRQ4 vs.
Q1 = 1.37, 95% CI: 1.21, 1.55), and stroke (HRQ4 vs. Q1 = 1.16, 95% CI:
1.01, 1.33) but not with deaths due to injury, diabetes, or infectious
disease. These results suggest that UVR exposure might not be beneficial
for longevity.

21. PubMed Uses Automatic Term Mapping
Terms entered into the search box are matched (in this order):
1.
2.
3.
subjects using the MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) translation
table,
journals using the Journals translation table
authors and investigators, using the Full Author translation table,
Author index, Full Investigator translation table and Investigator
index.
If a match is found in any translation table, the mapping stops.
If no match is found in any tables, terms are searched in All Fields and
ANDed together.
research
medical
library

22. Automatic Term Mapping in PubMed
EXAMPLES:
Ear infection = "otitis"[MeSH Terms] OR "otitis"[All Fields] OR
("ear"[All Fields] AND "infection"[All Fields]) OR "ear infection"[All
Fields]
Metastatic lung cancer = ("secondary"[Subheading] OR
"secondary"[All Fields] OR "metastatic"[All Fields]) AND ("lung
neoplasms"[MeSH Terms] OR ("lung"[All Fields] AND "neoplasms"[All
Fields]) OR "lung neoplasms"[All Fields] OR ("lung"[All Fields] AND
"cancer"[All Fields]) OR "lung cancer"[All Fields])
research
medical
library

23. ABSTRACTS:
Writing Tips
4. Run a sample search for your
article in PubMed and see how
it is searched.
Search: pomegranate and blood pressure
Query searched in PubMed:
("punicaceae"[MeSH Terms] OR "punicaceae"[All Fields] OR
"pomegranate"[All Fields]) AND ("blood pressure"[MeSH Terms] OR
("blood"[All Fields] AND "pressure"[All Fields]) OR "blood
pressure"[All Fields] OR "blood pressure determination"[MeSH
Terms] OR ("blood"[All Fields] AND "pressure"[All Fields] AND
"determination"[All Fields]) OR "blood pressure determination"[All
Fields] OR ("blood"[All Fields] AND "pressure"[All Fields]) OR "blood
pressure"[All Fields] OR "arterial pressure"[MeSH Terms] OR
("arterial"[All Fields] AND "pressure"[All Fields]) OR "arterial
pressure"[All Fields] OR ("blood"[All Fields] AND "pressure"[All
Fields])

24. PubMed:
Phrase Index via Advanced Search
Use PubMed’s Advanced Search feature to “test” a phrase you’re
considering as an author keyword; if it does not get results, it
may not be the best choice

25. Previously indexed articles
• Look up a similar article and
check its MeSH (Medical Subject
Heading) terms to see how it was
indexed
• Follow the trail by right-clicking
on a MeSH term and viewing it in
the MeSH database
research
medical
library

26. Am J Epidemiol. 2013 Aug 15;178(4):521-33. doi: 10.1093/aje/kws589.
Epub 2013 Jul 17.
ACTIVITY #2
Identify MeSH
terms for this
article
research
medical
library
Prospective study of ultraviolet radiation exposure and mortality risk in
the United States.
Lin SW1, Wheeler DC, Park Y, Spriggs M, Hollenbeck AR, Freedman DM,
Abnet CC.
Abstract
Geographic variations in mortality rate in the United States could be due
to several hypothesized factors, one of which is exposure to solar
ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Limited evidence from previous prospective
studies has been inconclusive. The association between ambient
residential UVR exposure and total and cause-specific mortality risks in a
regionally diverse cohort (346,615 white, non-Hispanic subjects, 50-71
years of age, in the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-AARP Diet and
Health Study) was assessed, with accounting for individual-level
confounders. UVR exposure (averaged for 1978-1993 and 1996-2005)
from NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer was linked to the US
Census Bureau 2000 census tract of participants' baseline residence.
Multivariate-adjusted Cox proportional-hazards models were used to
estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Over 12 years, UVR
exposure was associated with total deaths (n = 41,425; hazard ratio for
highest vs. lowest quartiles (HRQ4 vs. Q1) = 1.06, 95% confidence interval
(CI): 1.03, 1.09; Ptrend < 0.001) and with deaths (all Ptrend < 0.05) due to
cancer (HRQ4 vs. Q1 = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.11), cardiovascular disease
(HRQ4 vs. Q1 = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.12), respiratory disease (HRQ4 vs.
Q1 = 1.37, 95% CI: 1.21, 1.55), and stroke (HRQ4 vs. Q1 = 1.16, 95% CI:
1.01, 1.33) but not with deaths due to injury, diabetes, or infectious
disease. These results suggest that UVR exposure might not be beneficial
for longevity.

27. Am J Epidemiol. 2013 Aug 15;178(4):521-33. doi: 10.1093/aje/kws589. Epub 2013 Jul 17.
Prospective study of ultraviolet radiation exposure and mortality risk in the United
States.
Lin SW1, Wheeler DC, Park Y, Spriggs M, Hollenbeck AR, Freedman DM, Abnet CC.
AUTHOR KEYWORDS:
epidemiology, mortality, prospective,
sunlight, ultraviolet radiation, vitamin D
research
medical
library
MeSH Terms
Aged
Cardiovascular Diseases/mortality*
Cause of Death
Female
Health Behavior
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neoplasms/mortality*
Nutrition Surveys/statistics & numerical data
Ozone
Proportional Hazards Models
Prospective Studies
Respiratory Tract Diseases/mortality*
Risk Assessment
Spatial Analysis
Stroke/mortality*
Sunlight/adverse effects*
Ultraviolet Rays/adverse effects*
United States/epidemiology

28. Conclusions
1. Read Instructions for Authors for guidance on format, length, and
content
2. Explain abbreviations to improve searchability
3. Use synonyms in the text of your abstract to create multiple options for
other researchers to find your work
4. Do not cite other work in your abstract unless required by the editor
5. Search PubMed to find similar articles to your research to see how they
were indexed (MeSH terms) and what author keywords were selected
6. If you need assistance with selecting keywords, schedule a consultation
with a librarian (rml-help@mdanderson.org)
research
medical
library