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How to write an abstract

The following is an outline for writing an abstract. Not all papers or instructors require abstracts. Abstracts and executive summaries are similar in structure and content. The term APA uses for this summary of a paper is "abstract."

• Statement of purpose of the research
• Scope of the research - what research consisted of
• Importance/significance of the research
• Major points of literature review
• Research method selected and why

• Objectives
• Proposed interventions
• Data collection method (questionnaires/interviews, etc.)
• Results summarized (in general)
• Conclusions (your interpretation)
• Recommendations

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Quoting, Paraphrasing, And Summarizing

There are three ways to incorporate source material into your academic writing:

• Quoting directly

• Paraphrasing

• Summarizing

Quoting Directly

Use a direct quotation when the information and language the source uses is important in conveying exact meaning. Limit the use of quotes in your paper to no more than about 10 percent of the total text.

Some students mistakenly think that the more quotations the better. It is best to write in your own language as much as possible. Use quotations sparingly. Use paraphrasing and summarizing most of the time when referring to information from other sources.

Paraphrasing

To paraphrase, read what an author says and restate the information in your own words. The language you use should be your own, except for specialized terms, and should convey the content of the passage or article you are paraphrasing. Learning to paraphrase well takes practice.

As you read, try to write one or two concise sentences that summarize the information for each paragraph. Be careful not to copy or just borrow phrases, but construct your own phrasing and write in "layperson's" terminology that is simple to understand. When you are finished reading, put the passage aside and use only your notes to write your paraphrased version.

Summarizing

To summarize, condense the main points of the passage or article so that it does not contain a lot of detail. This should be written in your own language and can be constructed like a bullet-point list of the author's main points.

You should print out a hard copy of all articles and information you read. As you read and take notes, highlight the section of the article where you found the information.

Color-coding using different colors of highlighting and numbering notes and sources to correspond (1A, 2B, etc., as well as page numbers) will help you locate information readily again when you need to refer to it.

You may also want to use different colors of highlighters to mark different kinds of information in your sources. For instance, information that pertains to costs, finance, or money is highlighted in the margin in green, information that pertains to the background and history of an issue or topic is highlighted in blue, and so forth.

Keep a key of color codes and make a master list for each color that shows what information you have highlighted in each article or source. This will also aid in outlining the topic and organizing sub-topics.

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