The document defines an abstract as a short summary of a longer work that provides readers with a quick overview of the paper's content and organization. An abstract usually consists of one paragraph containing 6-7 sentences and 150-250 words. The document discusses two main types of abstracts - descriptive and informative. A descriptive abstract only describes the major points of a work, while an informative abstract summarizes the paper's background, purpose, methods, results, findings, and conclusions. The document provides guidance on writing an abstract, including using active voice, past tense, and avoiding unnecessary details.

2. Abstract
Definition,
purpose and
function of
abstract
Qualities,types
and
components
Writing style; Dos,
Don’ts, Voice and
style
Examples

3. What is
abstract?

4. Abstract is…
• A concise summary of the entire paper.
• Usually about a paragraph (6-7 sentences, 150-
250 words) long.
• Provides readers with a quick overview of your
essay or report and its organization.
• A short summary of a longer work (such as
a dissertation or research paper).
• Concisely reports the aims and outcomes of your
research
• Expresses your thesis (or central idea) and your
key points.

5. When do people write abstracts?
• when submitting articles to journals,
especially online journals
• when applying for research grants
• when writing a book proposal
• when completing the Ph.D. dissertation or
B.Tech., M.Tech. thesis
• when writing a proposal for a conference
paper
• when writing a proposal for a book chapter

6. Components…
• The function of an abstract is to describe, not
to evaluate or defend, the paper.
• An abstract lets readers get the gist or essence
of your paper or article quickly
• Your research problem and objectives
• Your methods
• Your key results or arguments
• Your conclusion
• Keywords

7. Aim-Reason for
writing
Methods
Results
Conclusion
Keywords

8. Design…
• Avoid beginning your sentences with phrases
like, “This essay will examine...” or “In this
research paper I will attempt to prove...”
• things you need to include:
• In a dissertation or thesis, include the abstract
on a separate page, after the title
page and acknowledgements but before
the table of contents.

9. Types

10. • Descriptive abstracts
• Indicates the type of information found in the work.
• Makes no judgments about the work, results or
conclusions
• It does incorporate key words, the purpose, methods,
and scope of the research.
• Describes the work being abstracted.
• An outline of the work, rather than a summary.
• Descriptive abstracts are usually very short—100 words
or less.
• Used for humanities and social science papers or
psychology essays.

11. • Informative abstracts
• The majority of abstracts are informative.
• Do not critique or evaluate a work, they do more than
describe it.
• A good informative abstract acts as a surrogate for the work
itself.
• Explains all the main arguments and the important results
and evidence
• An informative abstract includes purpose, methods, scope,
results, conclusions and recommendations of the author.
• The length more than 10% of the length of the entire work.
• used for science, engineering or psychology reports.
• You can also make a guess based on the length allowed;
i.e., 100-120 words = descriptive; 250+ words = informative.

12. Descriptive abstract
• Describes the major points
of the project to the
reader.
• Includes the background,
purpose and focus of the
paper or article but never
the methods, results and
conclusions, if it is a
research paper.
• Is most likely used for
humanities and social
science papers or
psychology essays.
Informative abstract
• Informs the audience of all
essential points of the
paper.
• Briefly summarizes the
background, purpose, focus,
methods, results, findings
and conclusions of the full-
length paper.
• Is concise, usually 10% of
the original paper length,
often just one paragraph.
• Is most likely used for
sciences, engineering or
psychology reports.

13. Writing Abstract; Dos and Don’ts
• Writing style
• Use the active voice when possible
• always use the past tense
• Formatting
• a single paragraph in a block format and with no paragraph
indentations.
• immediately follows the title page.
• Do not number the page.
• center the word "Abstract" at the top of the page with
double spacing from heading
• The final sentences summarize study’s conclusions,
implications, or applications to practice
• And also scope of further research sprung from results

14. • The abstract SHOULD NOT contain:
• Lengthy background or contextual information,
• Redundant phrases, unnecessary adverbs and
adjectives, and repetitive information;
• Acronyms or abbreviations,
• References to other literature [say something like,
"current research shows that..." or "studies have
indicated..."],
• Using elliptical [i.e., ending with "..."] or incomplete
sentences,
• Jargon or terms that may be confusing to the reader,
• Citations to other works
• Any sort of image, illustration, figure, or table, or
references to them.

15. • The abstract SHOULD contain:
• uses one well-developed paragraph that is
coherent, concise and clear and is able to stand
alone as a unit of information
• contains no information not included in the paper
• is written in plain English and is understandable to
a wider audience as well as to your discipline-
specific audience
• focusing on the issues rather than people
• uses the language of the original paper – often in a
more simplified form for the more general reader
• usually does not include any referencing
• in publications (such as journals) is at the beginning
of the text but in academic assignments is placed
on a separate preliminary page.

17. Sources
• https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/guides/writing-an-
abstract
• https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/abstract/
• https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/assignments/
writing-an-abstract-for-your-research-paper/
• https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-
tools/abstracts/
• https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/abstract
• https://www.wikihow.com/Write-an-Abstract
• https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/essays/abs
tract.html