PCM Abstract Writing Workshop

Ball State University

Presented by the PCM Planning Committee

What is an abstract and why are they so important?

-          Abstracts must contain the important concepts about your work that delineate it from the work of others

-          Abstracts are short, usually less than 300 words. Limits from 150-200 words are common.

-          Abstracts must be self-contained. If terms are used that are uncommon to the reader they must be briefly defined.

-          Abstracts “sell” your work

-          Abstracts should clearly link the work to the topic of the conference or publication

-          Abstracts may be written before the work is finished. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.

-          Abstracts serve to condense your work and test the focus of your argument

-          Abstracts are often the only piece of your work that is read

-          Abstracts often contain the search terms used to find articles

Parts of an Abstract

Each section is typically a single sentence, although there is room for creativity. In particular, the parts may be merged or spread among a set of sentences. Use the following as a checklist for your next abstract:

• Justification/ Placement in the “conversation”:
  Why do we care about the problem and the results? If the problem isn't obviously "interesting" it might be better to put motivation first; but if your work is incremental progress on a problem that is widely recognized as important, then it is probably better to put the problem statement first to indicate which piece of the larger problem you are breaking off to work on. You may also want to include a brief statement of what work has already been done regarding the problem you are addressing. This section should include the importance of your work, the difficulty of the area, and the impact it might have if successful.
• Problem statement:
  What specific problem are you trying to solve? What is the scope of your work (a generalized approach, or for a specific situation)? Be careful not to use too much jargon. In some cases it is appropriate to put the problem statement before the motivation, but usually this only works if most readers already understand why the problem is important.
• Approach:
  How did you go about solving or making progress on the problem? What was the extent of your work? What important variables did you control, ignore, or measure? What texts did you examine and how? What research method did you employ? Whose theories did you utilize?
• Results:
  What's the answer? What important results or findings resulted from the work?
• Conclusions:
  What are the implications of your answer? Is it going to change the world, be a significant "win", an important step closer to a larger answer, or simply serve as a road sign indicating that this path is a waste of time? Are your results general, potentially generalizable, or specific to a particular case?