Writing an Effective Abstract Grace Charles While scientific research takes significant effort and months to years to complete, abstracts require the sum of that work to be condensed into a few select words, often 300 or less. The abstract is a succinct description of your project that enables a reader to understand the purpose and method of the work and to judge its quality. There are four categories that need to be addressed in the body of the abstract: the Introduction (alternatively Background or Purpose), Methods, Results, and Conclusion (or Discussion). Writing an effective abstract is an important skill; below are some guiding principles: Title: Keep the title around 10-12 words. Aim to include the scope of the investigation, the study design, and the ultimate objective(s). If possible, reference the study’s take-home message. It is preferable in the title to describe what was investigated rather than to state the results or conclusions. Authors and Affiliations: The order of the author list is based upon the relative contributions of each author, with the exception of the senior author, who is typically listed last. The first author is the researcher who developed the study and/or did most of the research and writing and is usually the one who presents the results. Introduction: It should include a concise hypothesis, i.e., a statement of the problem or the reason the study was needed, describe the study objective(s), and indicate the potential outcome. Remember to be careful with your wording and to maintain objectivity: your aim is to find out whether something is true, not to prove that it is true. Methods: This section is most often identified as deficient by reviewers and editors, and shortcomings here are the most common reason for rejection of submitted work. Your goal is to give the reader a clear idea of what you actually did. For studies involving human subjects, include the study design (retrospective, prospective, or observational), setting and duration, subject recruitment and selection process, subject inclusion/exclusion criteria, and the use of randomization, if applicable. Where appropriate, also include a description of the intervention, assessment procedure, and method of data collection. Clearly state the outcomes measured and method of data analysis employed. Results: The number of participants, response rate, and demographics should be included. Report results pertaining to your hypothesis and the primary endpoints described in the methods, even if no statistically significant differences were identified. Describe conclusion-supporting data in as much detail as space permits. Stick to true statistical significance in your reporting; discussion of trends and “almostsignificant differences” is unnecessary. A table or figure is often helpful, but bear in mind that it will be reduced in size for publication and that the labels and data points must remain legible if the image is to be effective. Data should be presented as the mean ± standard deviations unless otherwise noted. Narrative results should summarize but not duplicate the table data. Conclusions: This should be an interpretation of the most relevant results and should include a brief statement of the importance and significance of your findings. State only those conclusions that can be reasonably backed up by your results. You should also include reflection with next steps and limitations to your research methodology and results. Reference: David J Pierson. How to Write an Abstract That Will Be Accepted for Presentation at a National Meeting. Respir Care, October 1, 2004 49:10 1206-1212.
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