研究生14How to write an abstract.ppt

研究生英语写作课件 南京工业大学外语学院 A writing Course for Postgraduate Students Unit 14 How to Write an Abstract A writing Course for Postgraduate Students What is an abstract? An abstract is a concise summary of a research paper or entire thesis. When is it necessary to writeabstracts? Abstracts are usually required for: 1. submission of articles to journals 2. application for research grants 3. completion and submission of theses 4. submission of proposals for conference papers Why write an abstract? An abstract serves for two purposes: 1. selection 2. indexing 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. 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. The purpose —— Reason for writing 2. Scope —— Problem 3. Methods —— Methodology 4. Results 5. Conclusions and Recommendations —— Implications 1. The purpose —— Reason for writing: What is the importance of the research? Why would a reader be interested in the larger work? 2. Scope —— 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. Methods —— 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 m