write-academic-abstract

Write Academic Abstract

Write a structured academic abstract — stating the problem, method, findings, and significance in 150–300 words — that enables conference reviewers and journal readers to assess the paper's contribution and relevance without reading the full text.

Why This Is Best Practice

Adopted by: The APA Publication Manual (7th ed.) specifies abstract structure for all psychology and social science publications. The American Mathematical Society, IEEE, and ACM all publish abstract writing guidelines for their respective fields. The IMRAD structure (Introduction/problem, Methods, Results, Discussion/implications) is the standard journal article format in STEM fields; the abstract mirrors this structure in miniature. Wendy Belcher's "Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks" is the most widely used journal writing methodology book. Impact: Conference program committees and journal editors read abstracts first — acceptance or rejection for many venues is based primarily on abstract quality. A poorly written abstract undersells excellent research; an excellent abstract accurately representing the work increases acceptance rates and reader engagement. Database indexing (PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar) retrieves papers primarily based on abstract content; a well-written abstract with appropriate keywords is the primary mechanism for discoverability.

Steps

1. Identify the abstract type required

Different abstract types serve different purposes:

• Structured abstract (labeled sections): required by many medical, psychology, and social science journals; explicit headings (Background, Objective, Methods, Results, Conclusion); word count 200–300
• Unstructured abstract (narrative): more common in humanities, mathematics, and some science fields; flows as a paragraph; word count 150–250
• Indicative abstract: describes the paper's coverage without summarizing findings; common in reviews and theoretical papers where "findings" are not applicable
• Informative abstract: summarizes findings, methods, and conclusions; the most common type for empirical research

Check the venue requirements: target journal or conference specification supersedes all other guidelines; submit exactly the abstract type and length required.

2. Write the problem/background sentence (1–2 sentences)

The opening establishes what gap or problem the research addresses:

• State the specific problem or gap in current knowledge that this research addresses
• Do not state what everyone knows (obvious background) — state the specific gap
• Too general: "Cancer remains a major global health challenge."
• Specific gap: "The molecular mechanisms underlying resistance to EGFR inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer remain incompletely understood."

The gap statement positions the research in its field and tells the reader whether this research is relevant to their work.

3. State the research objective or question (1 sentence)

What did this research specifically set out to investigate or determine?

• "This study aimed to determine whether [X] affects [Y] under conditions [Z]."
• "This paper presents a new framework for [X] that addresses [the gap]."
• "We investigated the relationship between [X] and [Y] in a sample of [Z]."

The objective should be specific enough that the reader knows exactly what question was asked.

4. Describe the methodology briefly (1–2 sentences)

What was done to answer the question?

• Empirical research: sample/data source, key design features, analytical approach
• Theoretical research: analytical framework, corpus, method of analysis
• Review: search strategy, databases, inclusion criteria

Level of detail: enough for the reader to assess whether the method is appropriate; not enough to reproduce the study. Reviewers need to know if the method is sound; they do not need a step-by-step protocol in the abstract.

5. Report key results and significance (2–3 sentences)

The results and their implication are the core of the informative abstract:

• Results: the specific finding, not a vague description of what was found; "We found a significant positive correlation (r = .42, p < .001) between X and Y" not "We found interesting results regarding X and Y"
• Significance: what do these findings mean for the field? How do they advance knowledge beyond the gap stated in the opening?

Do not save findings for the full paper: the abstract is not a teaser; it is a complete summary. Reviewers who read only the abstract should know whether the research succeeded and what it showed.

Include 5–8 keywords: after the abstract, list keywords that accurately describe the research topic (these drive database indexing and search retrieval); include both general field terms and specific methodological or topical terms

6. Edit for precision, concision, and requirements

After drafting:

• Length check: count words precisely against the venue limit; abstracts are rarely allowed to exceed the specified word count
• Remove hedging: words like "somewhat," "rather," "appears to," and "could potentially" weaken claims; use them only when the finding genuinely requires qualification
• Check for jargon: abstracts are read by a wider audience than the full paper; acronyms should be spelled out on first use; highly specialized terminology should be defined or avoided
• Accuracy check: does every claim in the abstract appear in the paper? Abstracts that introduce or overstate findings are grounds for retraction; the abstract must accurately represent the paper's content

Common Mistakes

• Describing what the paper does without reporting what it found: "This paper analyzes X and presents implications for Y" — this is indicative; it tells the reader the paper exists but not whether it's worth reading. Report findings.
• Saving significant findings for the paper: some authors leave the best results out of the abstract, assuming readers will be drawn in; reviewers who read only the abstract and don't see compelling results will reject; put the significant finding in the abstract.
• Exceeding the word limit: many conference submission systems hard-truncate abstracts at the word limit; an abstract cut off mid-sentence is worse than an abstract that stays within the limit by being edited.

When NOT to Use

• Descriptive or informational articles without original research: conference abstracts and journal abstracts for non-empirical work (methodology papers, commentary, position papers) have different structural conventions appropriate to their format; the IMRAD structure and results-forward format applies primarily to empirical research.