Tips for how to write an abstract that will be submitted to an academic conference with the hope that your paper can be presented there.

1. THE ABSTRACT
How to prepare a one-page abstract for
conference submission

2. Outline of key considerations
1. Language (use an editor)
2. Instructions from the conference
3. Clarity of writing
4. What makes your study unique and interesting
5. Convince the reader that your paper is a good
one (authority)
6. Formatting

3. 1. LANGUAGE
If the abstract must be written in English,
hire a native speaker to edit it

4. 2. INSTRUCTIONS
Many conferences provide specific guidelines
for the contents and format of the abstract
(especially: word count)

5. 3. CLARITY
Ideas in the abstract must be expressed clearly
and simply

6. Example 1
The primary feature of social media is conversation. There
are social media conversation practices in Indonesia that
hinder the formation of a public sphere that is characterized
by free and deliberative discussion. One of the problems is
the inappropriateness of conversation in the discussions.
KASKUS as the largest online forum in Indonesia also
faces the same problem. The inappropriateness in the form
of flaming, spamming, and trolling become obstacles to
foster a healthy and rational debates, especially in the
context of political discussion.
(81 words)

7. Revised example 1
The primary feature of social media is conversation. Some
social media conversation practices in Indonesia hinder the
formation of a public sphere that is characterized by free
and deliberative discussion. In online forums, inappropriate
practices such as flaming, spamming, and trolling become
obstacles to healthy and rational debates, especially in the
context of political discussion.
(55 words: 26 fewer, a reduction of more than 25%)

8. Example 2
KASKUS, as the largest online forum in Indonesia, also
faces the same problem. …
The objective of this paper is to map the relation between
inappropriateness in the political discussions in the
KASKUS online forum with the oral tradition by critically
reviewing the concept of orality in the context of computer-
mediated communication and using orality to analyze the
texts of the political discussion in the KASKUS online
forum.
(68 words)

9. Revised example 2
KASKUS is the largest online forum in Indonesia, which
has a long and rich oral tradition. Using the concept of
orality (Ong, 2002 [1982]) to analyze the texts of the
political discussion in the KASKUS forum, this paper maps
the relationship between inappropriateness in social media
conversations and the oral tradition.
This paper also critically reviews the concept of orality in
the context of computer-mediated communication.
(66 words; no significant reduction)

10. 4. UNIQUENESS
The people who read your abstract must see that your
study is interesting and offers something new

11. 5. AUTHORITY
The abstract should indicate that the quality
of the paper is very good, and that the author
really understands the topic

12. Example 3: Authority
There is disagreement on whether computer-mediated
communication represents secondary orality or residual
orality (Soffer, 2010). Given that the KASKUS forum
participants are writing texts and do not produce sounds,
this paper argues that their interaction demonstrates
residual orality, which is characterized by habits, thoughts,
and expressions that have roots in the oral tradition. Their
interaction does not constitute secondary orality, because
...

13. 6. FORMATTING
Title, author(s), institution(s),
structure of the body of the text, references

14. Title of the abstract
• First — at the top of the page
• Upper- and lowercase letters (not all caps)
• About 10 to 15 words — usually okay (maximum 20)
• No more than 2 lines!
• Clear and direct: Describe the study, not the results
• Represent the contents of the paper honestly
• Include the type of method in the title:
 A case study
 A content analysis
 A survey
• Do not be ―clever‖; simple is best

15. Examples of abstract titles
• Corporate social responsibility for image repair: A case
study of BP’s response to the Deepwater Horizon crisis
• Transparency in environmental communication: A survey
of PRSA members
• How gender cues and individual motivations influence
perceptions of credibility: An experiment with multiple blog
posts

16. Authors and institutions
Mary Smith [1], John R. Anderson [2], and Susan Franklin [3]
1 First University Name, City, Country
2 Second University Name, City, Country
3 Third University Name, City, Country
• Each line is centered.
• These lines appear directly below the title.

17. Structure of the abstract text
1. Rationale
 Usually one sentence that introduces the topic
 Do NOT repeat the title!
2. Objective(s)
 What were you trying to find out?
 Why was this study done?
3. Methods (be very clear!): Examples on next slide
4. Results: State what you found (real data, but brief)
5. Conclusions
 Say what it means
 Why is it important?

18. Examples of methods
• A framing analysis of 500 newspaper articles published
from September 2005 to September 2010 …
• Transcripts of structured interviews with 12 victims of
police corruption were analyzed by …
• Surveys were completed by 431 healthcare practitioners;
29 surveys were eliminated because more than 10
percent of questions were not answered (N=402). A
statistical analysis of the responses showed …

19. Structure: Guidelines for length
1. Rationale: 1 sentence
2. Objective(s): 1–2 sentences
3. Methods: 2 sentences
4. Results: 4–6 sentences
5. Conclusions: 1–2 sentences
Hint: Try saying each one of the 5 out loud, in your first
language, until you can do it in the recommended number
of sentences. Then write that. Then translate it.

20. References
• Not always required
• Some conferences give instructions not to include these
• Where? At the bottom of the page
• Style: Correct reference/citation style, e.g., Chicago or
APA style
• Number: Usually no more than 3; 1 or none — okay
• Hanging indent: Not necessary (unless required)
• Do not include them unless they really help the abstract
(for example, by allowing you to omit an explanation)

21. Example: References
Ong, W. J. (2002 [1982]). Orality and literacy: The
technologizing of the word. New York, Routledge.
Papacharissi, Z. (2004). Democracy online: Civility,
politeness, and the democratic potential of online political
discussion groups. New Media & Society, 6(2), 259–283.
Soffer, O. (2010). Silent orality: Toward a conceptualization
of the digital oral features in CMC and SMS texts.
Communication Theory, 20(4), 387–404.

22. WHY AN ABSTRACT?
The main purpose of the abstract is to communicate the
reasons for, and the value of, your study

23. Choosing keywords
• How many? 5 to 8 — not more
• How to choose them? Think of searching: What will
people type into a search engine if they are looking for a
paper like yours?
• Do not use duplicate words, e.g., reporter and reporting
• Do not use common words that already appear in your
abstract, e.g., online
• Do use terms that are commonly applied to your topic,
e.g., social media

24. THE ABSTRACT
Presentation by Mindy McAdams
University of Florida, USA
mmcadams@jou.ufl.edu