ENGLISH PAPER

WRITING ABSTRACT

Lecturer :

Ns. Agrina, M.Kep., Sp.Kom., Ph.D

Created by :

Novitasari Wijayanti Silalahi

1711113771

A 2017 3

FACULTY OF NURSING
UNIVERSITY OF RIAU
2019
A. Definition of Abstract
The word abstract comes from the Latin abstractum, which means a condensed form
of a longer piece of writing. There are two main types of abstract: the (1) Descriptive and
the (2) Informative abstract. The type of abstract you write depends on your discipline
area.

An abstract is a 150- to 250-word paragraph that provides readers with a quick

overview of your essay or report and its organization. It should express your thesis (or
central idea) and your key points; it should also suggest any implications or applications
of the research you discuss in the paper.

An abstract is a concise summary of a research paper or entire thesis. It is an original

work, not an excerpted passage. An abstract must be fully self-contained and make sense
by itself, without further reference to outside sources or to the actual paper. It highlights
key content areas, your research purpose, the relevance or importance of your work, and
the main outcomes.

It is a well-developed single paragraph of approximately 250 words in length, which

is indented and single spaced. The function of the abstract is to outline briefly all parts of
the paper.

Although it is placed at the beginning of your paper, immediately following the title
page, the abstract should be the last thing that you write, once you are sure of the
conclusions you will reach.

B. Functions of Abstract
The abstract function is to provide information to the public on the results of
research that has been made. The description, which is only one page, provides an
abstract provided on the internet. This discusses the ease of research results without
having to read the entire study on sheets. Looking for abstracts helps you find references
in the research you are looking for.
The existence of abstracts will avoid plagiarism by irresponsible parties. A study
will be protected if only the abstract is approved and supported on the internet.
Abstracts are important for both selection and indexing purposes. Selection:
Abstracts allow readers who may be interested in the paper to quickly decide whether it
is relevant to their purposes and whether they need to read the whole paper.
 Indexing: Most academic journal databases accessed through the library enable you
to search abstracts. This allows for quick retrieval by users. Abstracts must incorporate
the key terms that a potential researcher would use to search

C. What to Include in an Abstract

The format of your abstract will depend on the discipline in which you are working.
However, all abstracts generally cover the following five sections:

1. Reason for writing: What is the importance of the research? Why would a reader be
interested in the larger work?

2. Problem: What problem does this work attempt to solve? What is the scope of the
project? What is the main argument, thesis or claim?

3. Methodology: An abstract of a scientific work may include specific models or

approaches used in the larger study. Other abstracts may describe the types of
evidence used in the research.

4. Results: An abstract of a scientific work may include specific data that indicates the
results of the project. Other abstracts may discuss the findings in a more general way.

5. Implications: How does this work add to the body of knowledge on the topic? Are
there any practical or theoretical applications from your findings or implications for
future research?.

D. What Makes A Good Abstract?

A good abstract:

 uses one well-developed paragraph that is coherent and concise, and is able to stand
alone as a unit of information
 covers all the essential academic elements of the full-length paper, namely the
background, purpose, focus, methods, results and conclusions
 contains no information not included in the paper
 is written in plain English and is understandable to a wider audience, as well as to
your discipline specific audience
 often uses passive structures in order to report on findings, focusing on the issues
rather than people
  uses the language of the original paper, often in a more simplified form for the more
general reader
 usually does not include any referencing
 in publications such as journals, it is found at the beginning of the text, while in
academic assignments, it is placed on a separate preliminary page.

E. How Do I Write an Abstract?

 First re-read your paper/report for an overview. Then read each section and condense
the information in each down to 1-2 sentences.
 Next read these sentences again to ensure that they cover the major points in your
paper.
 Ensure you have written something for each of the key points outlined above for
either the descriptive or informative abstract.
 Check the word length and further reduce your words if necessary by cutting out
unnecessary words or rewriting some of the sentences into a single, more succinct
sentence.
 Edit for flow and expression.

F. When Is It Necessary to Write Abstracts?

Abstracts are usually required for:

 submission of articles to journals

 application for research grants
 completion and submission of theses
 submission of proposals for conference papers

G. Types of Abstracts

Abstracts can be informative and descriptive.

 Descriptive abstracts
Descriptive abstracts are generally used for humanities and social science papers
or psychology essays. This type of abstract is usually very short (50-100 words). Most
descriptive abstracts have certain key parts in common. They are:
 Background
  Purpose
 particular interest/focus of paper
 overview of contents (not always included)

Descriptive abstracts describe the work being abstracted. They are more like an
outline of the work and are usually very short - 100 words or less. The majority of
abstracts written at the University of Melbourne are informative.

 Informative abstracts
Informative abstracts are generally used for science, engineering or psychology
reports. You must get the essence of what your report is about, usually in about 200
words. Most informative abstracts also have key parts in common. Each of these parts
might consist of 1-2 sentences. The parts include:
 Background
 aim or purpose of research
 method used
 findings/results
 conclusion

Informative abstracts act as substitutes for the actual papers as all the key
arguments and conclusions are presented; specifically, the context and importance of
the research, reasons for methods, principal results and conclusions.

The table below summarises the main features of, as well as the differences
between, the two types of abstracts discussed above. In both types of abstract, your
lecturer/tutor may require other specific information to be included. Always follow
your lecturer/tutor’s instructions.
Descriptive abstract Informative abstract
 Describes the major points of the  Informs the audience of all essential
project to the reader. points of the paper.
 Includes the background, purpose  Briefly summarises the background,
and focus of the paper or article, purpose, focus, methods, results,
but never the methods, results and findings and conclusions of the full-
conclusions, if it is a research length paper.
paper.  Is concise, usually 10% of the original
  Is most likely used for humanities paper length, often just one paragraph.
and social science papers or  Is most likely used for sciences,
psychology essays. engineering or psychology reports.

H. Example of Abstracts

Here are two abstracts with the key parts identified. The Descriptive abstract (1) is
for a humanities paper and the Informative abstract (2) for a psychology report.
(1) Model descriptive abstract
Abstract (Stevenson, 2004) Key Parts
The opportunity to design and deliver short programs on
referencing and avoiding plagiarism for transnational
UniSA students has confirmed the necessity of
combating both the ‘all-plagiarism-is-cheating’ reaction
and the ‘just-give-them-a-referencing-guide’ response. Background purpose
The notion of referencing is but the tip of a particularly and aim particular
large and intricate iceberg. Consequently, teaching focus of paper
referencing is not adequate in educating students to
avoid plagiarism. In this presentation, I will use the
transnational teaching experience to highlight what
educating to avoid plagiarism entails.

(2) Model informative abstract

Abstract (Zoltan, 2005) Key Parts
Metalinguistic awareness contributes to effective
writing at university. Writing is a meaning-making
process where linguistic, cognitive, social and creative
factors are at play. University students need to master
Background purpose
the skills of academic writing not only for getting their
and aim methods
degree but also for their future career. It is also
results conclusions
significant for lecturers to know who our students are,
how they think and how we can best assist them. This
study examines first year undergraduate Australian and
international engineering students as writers of
academic texts in a multicultural setting at the
University of Adelaide. A questionnaire and interviews
were used to collect data about students’ level of
metalinguistic awareness, their attitudes toward,
expectations for, assumptions about and motivation for
writing. The preliminary results of the research show
that students from different cultures initially have
different concepts about the academic genres and handle
writing with different learning and writing styles, but
those with a more developed metalanguage are more
confident and motivated. The conclusion can also be
drawn that students’ level of motivation for academic
writing positively correlates with their opinion about
themselves as writers. Following an in-depth multi-
dimensional analysis of preliminary research results,
some recommendations for writing instruction will also
be presented.
 Refferences

Centre, W., & Guide, L. Writing Center : Writing an Abstract for an IMRaD Paper. (2014).
10–11.

https://services.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/471274/Writing_an_Abstract_Up
date_051112.pdf

https://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/sites/default/files/docs/learningguide-
writinganabstract.pdf