WRITING CENTRE
Level 3 East, Hub Central
North Terrace campus, The University of Adelaide
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writingcentre@adelaide.edu.au
www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/
Writing an Abstract
Writing Centre Learning Guide
Often when asked to write a report or article, you will be required to include an
abstract. This is usually a very concise summary of what the report or article is
about and is usually placed before the body of your writing. The abstract can be
read to get a quick overview. It tells the reader what to expect in your work and it
should be based on all you have written.
Definitions
The word abstract comes from the Latin abstractum, which means a condensed form of a longer
piece of writing. There are two main types of abstract: the (1) Descriptive and the (2) Informative
abstract. The type of abstract you write depends on your discipline area.
Why do we write abstracts?
Abstracts are important parts of reports and research papers and sometimes academic
assignments. The abstract is often the last item that you write, but the first thing people read when
they want to have a quick overview of the whole paper. We suggest you leave writing the abstract
to the end, because you will have a clearer picture of all your findings and conclusions.
How do I write an abstract?
 First re-read your paper/report for an overview. Then read each section and condense the
information in each down to 1-2 sentences.
 Next read these sentences again to ensure that they cover the major points in your paper.
 Ensure you have written something for each of the key points outlined above for either the
descriptive or informative abstract.
 Check the word length and further reduce your words if necessary by cutting out
unnecessary words or rewriting some of the sentences into a single, more succinct
sentence.
 Edit for flow and expression.
What makes a good abstract?
A good abstract:
 uses one well-developed paragraph that is coherent and concise, and is able to stand alone
as a unit of information
 covers all the essential academic elements of the full-length paper, namely the background,
purpose, focus, methods, results and conclusions
 contains no information not included in the paper
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 is written in plain English and is understandable to a wider audience, as well as to your
discipline-specific audience
 often uses passive structures in order to report on findings, focusing on the issues rather
than people
 uses the language of the original paper, often in a more simplified form for the more general
reader
 usually does not include any referencing
 in publications such as journals, it is found at the beginning of the text, while in academic
assignments, it is placed on a separate preliminary page.
(1) Descriptive abstracts
Descriptive abstracts are generally used for humanities and social science papers or psychology
essays. This type of abstract is usually very short (50-100 words). Most descriptive abstracts have
certain key parts in common. They are:
 background
 purpose
 particular interest/focus of paper
 overview of contents (not always included)
(2) Informative abstracts
Informative abstracts are generally used for science, engineering or psychology reports. You must
get the essence of what your report is about, usually in about 200 words. Most informative
abstracts also have key parts in common. Each of these parts might consist of 1-2 sentences. The
parts include:
 background
 aim or purpose of research
 method used
 findings/results
 conclusion
The table below summarises the main features of, as well as the differences between, the two
types of abstracts discussed above. In both types of abstract, your lecturer/tutor may require other
specific information to be included. Always follow your lecturer/tutor’s instructions.
Descriptive abstract Informative abstract
Describes the major points of the project to the
reader.
Includes the background, purpose and focus of the
paper or article, but never the methods, results and
conclusions, if it is a research paper.
Is most likely used for humanities and social
science papers or psychology essays.
Informs the audience of all essential points of the
paper.
Briefly summarises the background, purpose, focus,
methods, results, findings and conclusions of the
full-length paper.
Is concise, usually 10% of the original paper length,
often just one paragraph.
Is most likely used for sciences, engineering or
psychology reports.
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Examples of abstracts
Here are two abstracts with the key parts identified. The Descriptive abstract (1) is for a humanities
paper and the Informative abstract (2) for a psychology report.
(1) Model descriptive abstract
Abstract (Stevenson, 2004) Key Parts
The opportunity to design and deliver short programs on referencing and
avoiding plagiarism for transnational UniSA students has confirmed the
necessity of combating both the ‘all-plagiarism-is-cheating’ reaction and the
‘just-give-them-a-referencing-guide’ response. The notion of referencing is but
the tip of a particularly large and intricate iceberg. Consequently, teaching
referencing is not adequate in educating students to avoid plagiarism. In this
presentation, I will use the transnational teaching experience to highlight what
educating to avoid plagiarism entails.
background
purpose and aim
particular focus of
paper
(2) Model informative abstract
Abstract (Zoltan, 2005) Key Parts
Metalinguistic awareness contributes to effective writing at university. Writing
is a meaning-making process where linguistic, cognitive, social and creative
factors are at play. University students need to master the skills of academic
writing not only for getting their degree but also for their future career. It is
also significant for lecturers to know who our students are, how they think and
how we can best assist them. This study examines first-year undergraduate
Australian and international engineering students as writers of academic texts
in a multicultural setting at the University of Adelaide. A questionnaire and
interviews were used to collect data about students’ level of metalinguistic
awareness, their attitudes toward, expectations for, assumptions about and
motivation for writing. The preliminary results of the research show that
students from different cultures initially have different concepts about the
academic genres and handle writing with different learning and writing styles,
but those with a more developed metalanguage are more confident and
motivated. The conclusion can also be drawn that students’ level of motivation
for academic writing positively correlates with their opinion about themselves
as writers. Following an in-depth multi-dimensional analysis of preliminary
research results, some recommendations for writing instruction will also be
presented.
background
purpose and aim
methods
results
conclusions
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How is an abstract different to an introduction?
Students are sometimes confused about the difference between an abstract and an introduction. In
fact, they are different pieces of writing with different aims and key parts. The following table will
briefly describe these differences in the case of a research paper.
Abstract Introduction
The essence of the whole paper Introduces the paper
Covers the following academic elements:
 background
 purpose and focus
 methods
 results (also called ‘findings’)
 conclusions
 recommendations
(or ‘implications’, not always relevant)
Covers the following academic elements:
 background
 purpose
 proposition
(also called ‘point of view’ or ‘thesis’ statement)
 Outline of key issues
 Scope (not always relevant)
Summarises briefly the whole paper including the
conclusions.
Introduces the paper and foregrounds issues for
discussion.
Other useful resources
Websites
http://writingcenter.unlv.edu/writing/abstract.html
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/656/01/
http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/writing-an-abstract/
http://courseworks.unimelb.edu.au/research_and_writing/abstracts
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/essays/abstract.html
http://www.sccur.uci.edu/sampleabstracts.html
http://www.uq.edu.au/student-services/phdwriting/phlink08.html
http://www.willamette.edu/cla/ssrd/abstract_examples/
© The University of Adelaide 2014