3.1. Topic Sentence
The first sentence in an abstract is usually called the “topic sentence”. By answering “topic sentence”. the question of “what”, the topic sentence always goes straightforwardly to the subject or the problem and indicate the primary objectives of the paper.
The Formalized Structure of Abstract
An abstract usually consists of the following three major parts: topic sentence, supporting sentences and concluding sentences.
Abstract Writing
Definition and components of an abstract Samples of abstract writing
What Is Abstract
An abstract should be viewed as a miniature version of the paper. The Abstract should provide a brief summary of each of the main sections of the paper: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion. Discussion. As Houghton (1975) put it, "An abstract can be defined as a summary of the information in a document."
3.1. Examples (2)
The authors are now initiating some experimental investigation to establish… establish… The work presented in this paper focuses on several aspects of the following… The problem we have outlined deals largely with the study of… With his many years’ research, the author’s endeavor is to explain why…
2.2 Indicative abstract (1)
Another common type of abstract is the indicative abstract (sometimes called a descriptive abstract). This type of abstract is designed to indicate the subjects dealt with in a paper, making it easy for potential readers to decide whether to read the paper. However, because of its descriptive rather than substantive nature, it can seldom serve as a substitute for the full paper.
3.1 Examples (1)
The purpose of this paper is… The primary goal of this research is… The intention of this paper is to survey… The overall objective of this study is… In this paper, we aim at… at… Our goal has been to provide… The chief aim of the present work is to investigate the features of…
When writing the Abstract, examine every word carefully. If you can tell your story in 100 words, do not use 200. Most of the Abstract should be written in the past tense, tense, because it refers to work done. The Abstract should never give any information or conclusion that is not stated in the paper. References to the literature must not be cited in the Abstract (except in rare instances, such as modification of a previously published method). Likewise, the Abstract should not include or refer to tables and figures.
2.2 Indicative abstract (2)
Thus, indicative abstracts should not be used as “heading” abstracts in research papers, but they may be used in other types of publications (review papers, conference reports, the government report literature, etc.); such indicative abstracts are often of great value to reference librarians.
"A well-prepared abstract enables readers wellto identify the basic content of a document quickly and accurately, to determine its relevance to their interests, and thus to decide whether they need to read the document in its entirety" (American National Standards Institute, 1979b). 1979b
2.1 Informative abstract
An informative abstract is designed to condense the paper. It can and should briefly state the paper. problem, the method used to study the problem, and the principal data and conclusions. Often, conclusions. the abstract supplants the need for reading the full paper; without such abstracts, scientists would not be able to keep up in active areas of research. This is the type of abstract that is used as a “heading” in most journals today.
The Abstract should (1) state the principal objectives and scope of the investigation； investigation； (2) describe the methods employed； employed； (3) summarize the results； results； (4) state the principal conclusions.
Types of Abstracts
Informative abstract (more detailed, and may include quantitative details) 信息性/报道性/ 信息性/报道性/资料性摘要 Indicative /descriptive abstract (brief and qualitative, indicating what kind of research has been done) 指示性/说明性/ 指示性/说明性/描述性摘要 InformativeInformative-indicative abstract 报道报道-指示性摘要
The Abstract should not exceed 250 words and should be designed to define clearly what is dealt with in the paper. The Abstract should be typed as a single paragraph.
3.1. Examples (4)
The experiment being made by our research group is aimed at obtaining the result of… The main objective of our investigation has been to obtain some knowledge of… Experiments on… were made in order to measure the amount of… The emphasis of this study lies in… in…