Geography Academic Writing Course
How the write better abstracts?
Petr Sudický
KAA FF MU
sudicky@phil.muni.cz
Academic Writing in English
My research is excellent and will speak for itself!
l  international character of academia
l  conventions and models of each discipline
l  writing style equally important as content
l  academic English
-  clear structure, thesis statement at the beginning
-  formulaic language
l  quality in lies not in being particularly inventive, but
in the mastery of the discipline-specific language
What is a good abstract?
What is your idea of a well-written abstract?
“A well-written abstract should be powerful
enough to persuade the reader/reviewer that the
research article/dissertation itself is worth
publishing/reading.”
Abstract functions
Why on earth do we have to write the abstracts?
1) screening devices – reader's decision
2) mini-texts – short summary
3) preview – roadmap for reader's
4) help for reviewers – oversight of the paper
5) indexing help – writers and editors
! writing ability of the author + novelty of the topic
Abstract structure
Is there a general structure for abstracts?
1) introduction/general background
2) aim/purpose of the work
3) methodology applied
4) results and outcomes
5) discussion/evaluation
clear structure = easy reading = positive feedback
Structure of dissertation abstracts (UM)
Abstract structure types (UM)
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Influences on abstract writing
l  norms of the journal, conference
l  influence of the supervisor
l  timing, time of writing
l  general writing skills
l  formal academic writing training
l  purpose of the abstract
l  gravity of the occasion
Functions of Abstracts: UM and MU
9.3
33.7
17.2
10.8
29.5
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
intro
purpose
methodsresults
evaluation
MUNI: Global Relative Move Distribution13.8
16.5
18.631.6
19.6
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
intro
purpose
methodsresults
evaluation
UM: Global Relative Mean Move Distribution
Abstract Types: UM and MUNI Totals
13
7 7
6
0
3
4
7
1
6
0
3
18
5
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
(1)2(m)3(e)4(5/a) (1)2[m]4[m]5(a) (1/e)2(m)3r(d)(5) (1)234d 123e/s (1)2(m)6(5/a) other
UM MUNI
Abstracts and sub-disciplines (UM)
Abstract Types and Sub-disciplines (MU)
6
2
6
1
3
1
6
2
4
1
6
2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
(1)2(m)3(e)4(5/a) (1)2[m]4[m]5(a) (1/e)2(m)3r(d)(5) 123e/s (1)2(m)6(5/a) other
NumberofAbstracts
Physical Geography
Geoinformatics
Human Geography
Filling the structure with words
“Producing a piece of academic writing, such as an
essay, a research report, a summary, or a thesis, can
sometimes be a difficult task. Even when we know what
we want to write about, the question is: how do we
express our ideas adequately in an academic paper?
[Usually], consulting a grammar book or writer's guide
may not provide a straightforward answer, and it can be
very interruptive for the writing process. Today, we will
look into a quick and easy alternative: we will learn how
to look up a word or phrase and how it is used in
corpus data.” (Matt O'Donnel)
Thank you for your attention!
Petr Sudický
sudicky@phil.muni.cz