1.

Informative abstracts
Most abstracts nowadays are informative. Although they still do not make any actual assessments of the
research, informative abstracts offer more than subtle descriptions—a well-written informative abstract
functions as a proxy for the research per se (Saint et al., 2000 cited in Cummings et al., 2004). The
author presents and elaborates on all key arguments and essential sections like research outcomes,
study participants, and other useful details. Since it presents some important information about the
research report or article, informative abstracts are longer.

2. Structured abstracts
Structurally, an abstract can either be structured or unstructured. Among scientific scholars, writing
structured abstracts is the most common practice nowadays. A structured abstract’s sections are
presented separately, i.e., objectives, population, study method, results, and conclusion (Hahs-Vaughn
& Onwuegbuzie, 2010). Structured abstracts are the preferred type of health science scholars and
publications as there are found to offer more advantages over traditional ones (Hartley, 2004). (For
structured abstract samples, see the Example sections.)

3. Unstructured abstracts
Unstructured abstracts follow the conventional style as they are presented as a single (long) paragraph,
albeit they still provide the same details as structured ones. Unlike structured abstracts, this type does
not have any specific label per part or paragraph. However, they must follow the same content,
sequence, and order as structured abstracts to properly guide the reader.

4. Descriptive or Indicative abstracts

A descriptive abstract describes the type of information found in the article or report. It does not
evaluate the paper, nor does it offer definitive conclusions or research outcomes. What it does is
provide key terms or concepts found in the article and may include the objectives, methods, and scope
of the study. It is more of an outline than a detailed synopsis and is often short.