ABSTRACT WRITING

DR. M BILAL
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY
HEALTH SCIENCES

WHAT IS AN ABSTRACT
A brief summary of a research article/analysis of
a particular subject or discipline.
Beginning of article.
It states the purpose, methods, and findings,
conclusions of your research project.
It should not state feelings and/or conscious
states, e.g. likes, dislikes, preferences,
annoyances, etc., of the writer of the synopsis.

STRUCTURE
RESEARCH FOCUS
(objectives/statement of the problem/issue)-

crispy, short,

METHODS

study design, population, sample, sampling

technique, tool of data collection, data entry, data analysis,

OBSERVATIONS/RESULTS - State only the

main novel findings of your study, and how you found it.

CONCLUSIONS

End result.

WHY TO WRITE
ABSTRACT
INFO. OF YOUR REASEARCH PROJECT
Help reader decide whether to read
your text or not
Help scholars to find your article
without reading full article.
Searching literature.

LIMITATIONS

SUCCINT INFORMATION

Four C's of Abstract Writing

COMPLETE it covers the major parts
of the project/case
CONCISE it contains no excess
wordiness or unnecessary information.
CLEAR it is readable, well organized,
and not too jargon-laden.
COHESIVE it
between the parts.

flows

smoothly

COMMON PROBLEMS
TOO SHORT
TOO LONG
FAILURE TO INCLUDE IMPORTANT
INFO.
UNNECESSARY INFORMATION

TIPS
DOs
Author and co-author
names
Place quoted material in
quotations
Break long sentences
Eliminate waste words
Double spaced
Must read instructions
Authors name italicised
Write in past tense
Use scientific words in full,
afterwards use
abbreviations
Give units of
measurement

DONTs

Use your own self

explanatory concepts
Long sentences
Start any sentence
with any numeric
dont exceed 5% of
the length of entire
paper
Include Tables/graph

Revision Techniques

ADDITION

adding a word, phrase, or sentence

Original: This project is an experimentation of

the effects of two-cycle marine engine exhaust
water on certain algae.
Revised: This project is a bioassay
experimentation of the effects of two-cycle marine
engine exhaust water on certain green algae.

DELETION
sentence

deleting a word, phrase, or

Original: The researcher has developed an

original code required for successful
implementation of the environment reconstruction
application.

SUBSTITUTION

substituting one word,

phrase, or sentence for another
Original: In the beginning, the idea was to
determine the toxicity of outboard engine
lubricant.
Revised: The initial idea was to determine the
toxicity of outboard engine lubricant.

TRANSPOSITION

moving words, phrases, or

sentences to another position
Original: Using optical fibers as light guides, a
system was created with light guided from a light
source to an integrating chamber, reflected and
guided back to a digital camera.
Revised: A system using optical fibers as light
guides was created with light guided from a light
source to an integrating chamber, reflected, and
then guided back to a digital camera.

 COMBINATION

combining sentences and/or

paragraphs, which usually results in the use of
multiple revision techniques and a considerable
shortening of the passage.
Original: The project was started with an
investigation of methods in use today and
possible alternatives. Two alternative methods
that seemed to be promising were chosen the
first method is to kill bacteria with pulsing high
voltage, and the second is boiling with high
efficient heat exchanging.
Revised: The project investigated two
alternative methods in use today: 1) killing
bacteria with pulsing high voltage; 2) boiling
bacteria with a high efficient heat exchange.

ATTENTION
Students are required to submit the

questionnaire latest by

2011

27th May

to their respective Facilitators.

THANK YOU