Adapted from The Professor Is In: How to Write a Paper or Conference Proposal Abstract
Knowing how to write an abstract is another important part of the research process. It typically comes at the end of your research, when you are looking to submit your work to a journal or conference. Often, even posters require an abstract for conference submission. There's typically a guideline for submitting.
An abstract will consist of one paragraph that summarizes your paper (or poster) in 150-300 words. Length depends on what you are submitting to and where; it is up to the organization taking the submissions.
It's important to be concise and accurate. It is not meant to summarize or criticize what you've found in your research. You want to use action verbs and avoid lots of jargon but use familiar terms within the field.
APA Best Practices Suggest the following
You want to do the following in your abstract
Biological Sciences- Physical and Life Sciences
The relationship between habitat use by voles (Rodentia: Microtus) and the density of vegetative cover was studied to determine if voles select forage areas at the microhabitat level. Using live traps, I trapped, powdered, and released voles at 10 sites. At each trap site, I analyzed the type and height of the vegetation in the immediate area. Using a black light, I followed the trails left by powdered voles through the vegetation. I mapped the trails using a compass to ascertain the tortuosity or amount the trail twisted and turned, and visually checked the trails to determine the obstruction of the movement path by vegetation. I also checked vegetative obstruction on 4 random paths near the actual trail, to compare the cover on the trail with other nearby alternative pathways. There was not a statistically significant difference between the amount of cover on a vole trail and the cover off to the sides of the trail when completely covered; there was a significant difference between on and off the trail when the path was completely open. These results indicate that voles are selectively avoiding bare areas, while not choosing among dense patches at a fine microhabitat scale.
European and American Literature- Humanities
Friedrich Nietzsche notably referred to the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky as “the only psychologist from whom I have anything to learn.” Dostoevsky’s ability to encapsulate the darkest and most twisted depths of the human psyche within his characters has had a profound impact on those writers operating on the periphery of society. Through research on his writing style, biography, and a close reading of his novel Notes from the Underground I am exploring the impact of his most famous outcast, the Underground Man, on counterculture writers in America during the great subculture upsurge of the 1950s and 60s. Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg, and Jack Kerouac employ both the universal themes expressed by the Underground Man as well as more specific stylistic and textual similarities. Through my research, I have drawn parallels between these three writers with respect to their literary works as well as the impact of both their personal lives and the worlds that they inhabit. The paper affirms that Dostoevsky has had a profound influence on the geography of the Underground and that this literary topos has had an impact on the writers who continue to inhabit that space.
Abstracts from https://www.umt.edu/undergraduate-research/umcur/sample_abstracts.php
