How long are abstracts

The results section should therefore be the longest part of the abstract and should contain as much detail about the findings as the journal word count permits. Important information that the results should present is indicated in Table 5. Examples of acceptably written abstracts are presented in Table 6 ; one of these has been modified from an actual publication.

This section should contain the most important take-home message of the study, expressed in a few precisely worded sentences. Usually, the finding highlighted here relates to the primary outcome measure; however, other important or unexpected findings should also be mentioned.

It is also customary, but not essential, for the authors to express an opinion about the theoretical or practical implications of the findings, or the importance of their findings for the field. Thus, the conclusions may contain three elements:. Despite its necessary brevity, this section has the most impact on the average reader because readers generally trust authors and take their assertions at face value. For this reason, the conclusions should also be scrupulously honest; and authors should not claim more than their data demonstrate.

Hypothetical examples of the conclusions section of an abstract are presented in Table 7. Citation of references anywhere within an abstract is almost invariably inappropriate. Other examples of unnecessary content in an abstract are listed in Table 8. It goes without saying that whatever is present in the abstract must also be present in the text.

Likewise, whatever errors should not be made in the text should not appear in the abstract eg, mistaking association for causality. As already mentioned, the abstract is the only part of the paper that the vast majority of readers see. Therefore, it is critically important for authors to ensure that their enthusiasm or bias does not deceive the reader; unjustified speculations could be even more harmful.

Misleading readers could harm the cause of science and have an adverse impact on patient care. However, nowhere in the abstract did the authors mention that these conclusions were based on just 5 cases and 12 controls out of the total sample of cases and controls. As a parting note: Most journals provide clear instructions to authors on the formatting and contents of different parts of the manuscript.

These instructions often include details on what the sections of an abstract should contain. Authors should tailor their abstracts to the specific requirements of the journal to which they plan to submit their manuscript.

It could also be an excellent idea to model the abstract of the paper, sentence for sentence, on the abstract of an important paper on a similar subject and with similar methodology, published in the same journal for which the manuscript is slated. Source of Support: Nil. Conflict of Interest: None declared. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Journal List Indian J Psychiatry v. Indian J Psychiatry. Chittaranjan Andrade. Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer.

Gonalons-Pons, Pilar, and Christine R. Analyzing underground pulp fiction publications in Tanzania, this article makes an argument about the cultural significance of those publications. Emily Callaci.

Reporting a new method for reprogramming adult mouse fibroblasts into induced cardiac progenitor cells. Lalit, Pratik A. Salick, Daryl O. Nelson, Jayne M. Squirrell, Christina M. Shafer, Neel G. Patel, Imaan Saeed, Eric G. Schmuck, Yogananda S. Markandeya, Rachel Wong, Martin R. Lea, Kevin W. Eliceiri, Timothy A. Hacker, Wendy C. Crone, Michael Kyba, Daniel J. Garry, Ron Stewart, James A. Thomson, Karen M. It is well-established that representations of individual victims are more effective than abstract concepts like climate change when designing fundraising campaigns.

This study aims to determine how such representations can be better targeted in order to increase donations. Specifically, it investigates whether the perceived social distance between victims and potential donors has an impact on donation intention. In this context, social distance is defined as the extent to which people feel they are in the same social group in-group or another social group out-group in relation to climate change victims.

To test the hypothesis that smaller social distance leads to higher donation intention , an online survey was distributed to potential donors based across the UK. Respondents were randomly divided into two conditions large and small social distance and asked to respond to one of two sets of fundraising material. Responses were analyzed using a two-sample t-test. The results showed a small effect in the opposite direction than hypothesized: large social distance was associated with higher donation intention than small social distance.

These results suggest that potential donors are more likely to respond to campaigns depicting victims that they perceive as socially distant from themselves.

On this basis, the concept of social distance should be taken into account when designing environmental fundraising campaigns. You will almost always have to include an abstract when writing a thesis , dissertation , research paper , or submitting an article to an academic journal.

In all cases, the abstract is the very last thing you write. It should be a completely independent, self-contained text, not an excerpt copied from your paper or dissertation. The easiest approach to writing an abstract is to imitate the structure of the larger work — think of it as a miniature version of your dissertation or research paper.

In most cases, this means the abstract should contain four key elements. Start by clearly defining the purpose of your research. What practical or theoretical problem does the research respond to, or what research question did you aim to answer?

After identifying the problem, state the objective of your research. Use verbs like investigate , test , analyze or evaluate to describe exactly what you set out to do. This part of the abstract can be written in the present or past simple tense , but should never refer to the future, as the research is already complete.

Next, indicate the research methods that you used to answer your question. This part should be a straightforward description of what you did in one or two sentences. It is usually written in the past simple tense as it refers to completed actions. Next, summarize the main research results. This part of the abstract can be in the present or past simple tense.

Depending on how long and complex your research is, you may not be able to include all results here. Try to highlight only the most important findings that will allow the reader to understand your conclusions. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 7th ed. American Psychological Association; Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellMind. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page.

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