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Writing Abstracts 2003
Writing Abstracts 2003
A wellwritten abstract is essential to effective scientific writing. This document
communicates a specific format to employ in your course assignment, that can
serve you well as you move forward in your professional career.
An effective abstract greatly enhances the usefulness of any scientific article and/or
professional report, and therefore contributes significantly to professional success. An
effective abstract expresses major aspects of a work with clarity, conciseness and
completeness; these three goals are the reference points I will use for evaluating your
abstract.
Length: Approximately 200300 words.
Organization: This four question format was initially presented by Dr. Leo Laporte at
the University of California, Santa Cruz; many “banana slug” Earth scientists (including
me) have benefited from it. This is not the only possible format, however as a skill
building exercise, you are asked to follow this specific format for this assignment.
An effective abstract answers four questions:
(1) What? (What is the topic?; 12 sentences)
(2) So What? (Why is the topic important?; 12 sentences)
(3) How? (How known? i.e. methods, results and interpretations; the bulk
of your abstract)
(4) What Next? (Significance and future directions?; 12 sentences)
In many cases, all of your work and ideas cannot fit into an abstract or into an effective
article or report. Writing the abstract permits the writer to make a subjective decision
about what is essential and what is not. An effective abstract often serves as the basic
outline for the paper that is to follow.
How to start: Write a list of ideas, methods data, results, and conclusions. The list can
be in no particular order; simply jots things down as they come to mind. Next, group
and order the items in your list so they form a logical chain of reasoning. Decide on
proportion and emphasis. Decide what is essential and what can and must be left out.
Make an outline and use this outline to write your abstract. Don't worry about length
or wordiness on your first draft. You can edit your work after your work is on paper.
Kurt Grimm – UBC Earth & Ocean
Sciences — 2003