What Exactly is an Abstract?

With regard to academic essays, there's a lot of talk across the Internet about essays, research and writing a thesis statement, but not a lot of information is available about abstracts. Consequently, some students don't understand the concept of an abstract or what to do with it.

The abstract is found on the title page of the essay. Typically, this page will have the student, class and professor information near the top and will have the abstract near the bottom.

Hint: If you're using a version of Word, you may have examples of abstract title pages as a template. In my version, if I click the "Insert" tab at the top of the browser and then I click the "Cover Page" button, I get a pull-down menu with different cover page options. The "conservative" option is a good choice when including an abstract.

Avoid summarizing the complete document in the abstract. This is common, but however, a more useful abstract will provide more information for the reader. The abstract should be between 100 and 250 words in length and can include information about why you did the project or study, what you did and how, what you found while doing the project and what the findings of the project mean. For papers that are about new methods, omit the final two points in the list I've just given you and replace them with information about the advantages of the method and how well the method works or doesn't work.

Other tips:

Avoid repeating the title in the abstract (keep in mind that readers will read the title and then move onto the abstract, so repeating the title would be pointless).

Don't forget to summarize your conclusions in the abstract, so that the reader knows what to expect.

Avoid making statements in the abstract that cannot be found or explained in the essay.

Avoid speaking in the first person, but rather keep it in the third person. For example, instead of saying, "I tested both soaps on the lab rat", you might say, "Both soaps were tested on the lab rat".

If at all possible, avoid using trade names, acronyms, abbreviations or symbols.

Use keywords from the essay in the abstract for search options.

This article is sponsored by the UK Essayist and HD Essays. Please take a look at our websites for hundreds of free essay examples and additional help!