TIPS ON HOW TO WRITE A GOOD ABSTRACT
There is an article on how to write a good abstract for the ISOQOL conference in Quality of Life Quartely - so go have a look!!
http://www.isoqol.org/membership/quality-of-life-quarterly
(Update 04.02.2014 - and here is the article)
As the deadline for the ISOQOL conference submissions is approaching, most of us are probably already thinking about our abstracts. The aim of the abstract is to describe your research in a limited number of words, while trying to create a clear picture of your design and results. Writing an abstract is one of the biggest challenges for researchers, especially for those in the earlier stages of their career.
The basic format of an abstract includes an Introduction, Methods, Results and Conclusions/Discussion section. The introduction covers the general topic, the key research question, and the gap in the literature this study aims to address. It should answer the question “why should I bother reading this abstract?”. When writing an abstract you want to build a story, where each sentence follows the previous one. Your introduction provides the “great idea”.
The methods section is meant to explain how researchers answered their question. It is here that you describe your design and analyses. Unless the Methods of the study are complex or unusual, a few sentences can cover the basic information.
The results section should mirror the methods section and clearly respond to the research question, as stated earlier. It is here that you present your main outcomes. Keep it light and don’t report too many statistical results. Make it attractive to readers.
Finally, in the Conclusions, results should be interpreted and implications should be discussed. Try to incorporate both the clinical and scientific value of your research. What do these findings mean and how are they going to change your research field? If written clearly, it will provide the answer to the question: “why should I bother reading this abstract?”.
Last, but definitely not least, the title. Especially for posters, the title is the first thing conference attendees read. Make it informative. If possible, try to incorporate the main results in you introduction, such as: “Design A shows that B increases C in patients with disease D”.
Below you will find a few tips that might prove useful when preparing an abstract. Good luck with the abstract submission process!
- First, review the official guidelines for the abstract (submission process).
- Go through your paper for which you are writing the abstract and identify the key sentences you want to use. This can be your first draft.
- In this first draft, don’t worry too much about word limit. Later on you can edit your abstract again
and again, going through every single sentence and word and questioning their necessity.
- Write small sentences and choose between the active or passive voice.
- You cannot write down everything, keep only the key information.
- Ask a colleague who is less familiar with your study to read the abstract.
- Always proofread for grammar/ punctuation. A sloppy abstract is usually perceived by reviewers as sloppy research.
- Authors whose native tongue is not English should have their abstract edited by a native English speaker before submitting.
- Have fun!
Best wishes,
Katerina and Marc.
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