1. Writing Scientific Abstracts
Rationale: Welcome to “Writing Scientific Abstracts.” This presentation is designed to acquaint your students with some guidelines for writing scientific abstracts. This presentation also contains an abstract example taken from the OWL Usability Research project. The ten slides presented here are designed to aid the facilitator in an interactive presentation of the elements of writing abstracts. This presentation is ideal for the beginning research methods course or for training purposes.
This presentation may be supplemented with OWL resources here:
Directions: Each slide is activated by a single mouse click, unless otherwise noted in bold at the bottom of each notes page.
Writer and Designer: Purdue OWL
Updated by H. Allen Brizee, 2007.
Developed with resources courtesy of the Purdue University Writing Lab
© Copyright Purdue University, 2007.

2. Abstract: What is the Purpose?
Scientific abstracts
introduce journal articles
inform readers about article’s content
help readers decide whether or not to read article
overview conference programs, abstract collections, and book chapters
The scientific abstract is a short ( word) overview of the article that should forecast all the major elements of the report/article.

3. Why Should I Know How to Write Abstracts?
Helps you present complex information in a clear, concise manner
Helps you read abstracts more effectively
Helps you conduct research
Helps you write abstracts for future publications
Helps you condense report information into a short format for database searches
Knowing how to write an abstract is important because most peer-review (or refereed) journals and scholarly book chapters require authors to provide an overview of research for publication. In addition, writing abstracts will help students conduct research more effectively because they will be able to quickly scan abstracts to find the information they need. Lastly, writing abstracts help you condense information from your research - if you are having trouble writing your abstract following the guidelines in this presentation, you may need to re-write or re-organize sections of your research document.

4. Qualities of an Effective Abstract
Uses one or more well-developed paragraphs, which are unified, coherent, concise, and able to stand alone ( words)
Uses an introduction-body-conclusion structure in which the parts of the report are discussed in order: purpose, research questions, methods, findings, conclusions, recommendations
Follows strictly the chronology of the report
Adds no new information - merely summarizes report
Contains stand-alone qualities - the abstract can be understood without reading the paper
Is intelligible to a wide audience
Most scholarly disciplines have their own requirements for abstract content. However, the guidelines on this slide provide general suggestions on the qualities of an effective abstract. The facilitator may want to suggest reading a number of abstracts in students’ particular fields to gain a thorough understanding of discipline-specific structures and content.

5. How Do I Write an Abstract?
Remember that an abstract typically contains: topic, research question, methods, results, and conclusion.
2. Read your paper in its entirety. Keep the above categories in mind and underline key points (outlined in #1) as you read.
3. After you finish reading, create your abstract step-by-step based on your underlined material.
Authors almost always write their abstracts last, after they have completed the research document so that the abstract contains a distillation of all the major points of the article. Students may also want to consider this backwards engineering for writing their introduction sections of their research documents.

6. Writing the Parts of My Abstract
Write 1-2 introduction sentences that explain topic, purpose, and research question(s).
Write 1-2 sentences describing your research methods (this may also include the type of data analysis you used).
Write 1-2 sentences describing the results / findings.
Write 1-2 sentences containing your conclusions and recommendations.
Many publications have strict word count requirements for abstracts and articles. Use the guidelines on this slide as suggestions for structure and content but always check with the publication and editor with whom you are working to determine their particular abstract requirements.

7. Revising the Abstract Read your abstract all the way through:
add transition words to tie ideas together,
eliminate unnecessary content and add in things that are missing,
correct errors in mechanics, and
proofread.
Your abstract should be short and concise, but the section should also flow smoothly. Since your credibility is influenced by the style and precision with which you write, effective style and accurate grammar and mechanics are important elements of a successful abstract. The Purdue OWL maintains a number of resources on style, grammar and mechanics, as well as proof reading.

8. Example of a Scientific Abstract
Usability and User-Centered Theory for 21st Century OWLs
By Dana Lynn Driscoll, H. Allen Brizee, Michael Salvo, and Morgan Sousa from The Handbook of Research on Virtual Workplaces and the New Nature of Business Practices. Eds. Kirk St. Amant and Pavel Zemlansky. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing, 2008.
This article describes results of usability research conducted on the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL). The Purdue OWL is an information-rich educational website that provides free writing resources to users worldwide. Researchers conducted two generations of usability tests. In the first test, participants were asked to navigate the OWL and answer questions. Results of the first test and user-centered scholarship indicated that a more user-centered focus would improve usability. The second test asked participants to answer writing-related questions using both the OWL website and a user-centered OWL prototype. Participants took significantly less time to find information using the prototype and reported a more positive response to the user-centered prototype than the original OWL. Researchers conclude that a user-centered website is more effective and can be a model for information-rich online resources. Researchers also conclude that usability research can be a productive source of ideas, underscoring the need for participatory invention.
The facilitator may want to ask students to review the main elements of an effective abstract: purpose, research questions, methods, findings, conclusions, recommendations. Does this abstract, written for a book chapter in The Handbook of Research on Virtual Workplaces and the New Nature of Business Practices contain all these elements? Does it discuss each element effectively? What information is missing? Why might authors have added extra information to the abstract?