ACTION

Writing the
ACTION
RESEARCH “marketing tools”
RESEARCH of your paper:
Abstract, Title
and Keywords
Learning Outcomes
• Develop an Abstract for
your research paper
• Distinguish between the 2
types of Abstract
• Differentiate Abstract from
Introduction
• Explain the purpose and
limitations of an Abstract
• Write an effective title and
appropriate keywords for
your research paper
 must be a clear,
are items that will interesting and
help other researchers Abstract hold the reader’s
to find the published attention.
paper and decide if
they will read further.

Title
Keywords it should be easy
to understand by
readers without a
specialized
background.
 Some questions to ask yourself…
Does the title accurately
say what the study was Does the abstract include
about? If not, can you enough information to
suggest a different title? stand alone?

Does the abstract Is there any

effectively information in the
summarize the abstract that is not
manuscript? in the manuscript?

Could the abstract be Will the keywords help

understood by a readers to find the
researcher outside your article
specialty?
are the pivot of a research paper because
many journal editorial boards screen
manuscripts only on the basis of the abstract

even after your research paper is

published, your abstract will be the
first, and possibly only, thing
readers will access through
electronic searches.

for studies in the humanities and

social sciences, the abstract is
typically descriptive.
ABSTRACT
 Guide to Writing the Abstract
Begin writing Select key Arrange the
the abstract sentences sentences
after you have and phrases into a single
finished from the paragraph
writing your Methods sec in the IMRC
paper tion. sequence:.

1 2 3 4 5
Pick out the major Identify the
objectives/hypothese major
s and conclusions results from
from the Introduction your Results
& Conclusion sections section.
 What should NOT be in the abstract…

no no
no new
no undefined discussion unnecessary
information of
abbreviations details
that is not
or group previous about the
present in
names literature methods
the paper
 1.MOTIVATION
Why do we care about the problem
5.CONCLUSION and the results?
What are the
implications of your
2.PROBLEM STATEMENT
answer ABSTRACT What problem are you
trying to solve?

4.RESULTS
What's the answer?

3. APPROACH
How did you go about solving or
making progress on the problem?
• More often than not, when
researchers set about writing a paper,
they spend the most time on the
"meat" of the article (the methods,
results, and discussion sections).

• Little thought goes into the title and

abstract, while keywords get even
lesser attention, often being typed out
on-the-spot in a journal’s submission
system.

• Ironically, these three elements—the

title, abstract, and keywords—may
well hold the key to publication
success.
 Why is it Important?

Most electronic search engines, databases, or journal websites will use

the words found in your title and abstract, and your list of keywords to
decide whether and when to display your paper to interested readers.
Thus, these 3 elements enable the dissemination of your research;
without them, readers would not be able to find or cite your paper.

The title and abstract are often the only parts of a paper that are freely
available online. Hence, once readers find your paper, they will read
through the title and abstract to determine whether or not to purchase a
full copy of your paper/continue reading.
ABSTRACT
 ABSTRACT

The abstract should work like a

marketing tool. It should help the
reader decide “whether there is
something in the body of the paper
worth reading” by providing a quick
and accurate summary of the entire
paper, explaining why the research
was conducted, what the aims were,
how these were met, and what the
main findings were.
TYPES OF ABSTRACT

Unstr
 DESCRIPTIVE
ABSTRACT
Ø Describes major points of the project Ø Informs the audience of all the
to the reader
Ø Includes background purpose and
focus of the paper or article but never
the methods, results and conclusions if
it is a research paper
Ø It is most likely used for humanities
and social sciences papers or
psychology essays
INFORMATIVE
ABSTRACT
essential points of the paper
Ø Briefly summarizes the
background, purpose, focus,
methods, results, findings, and
conclusions of the full length
paper
Ø is concise usually 10% of the
original paper length, often just
one paragraph
Ø most likely used for sciences,
engineering or psychology
report
DESCRIPTIVE ABSTRACT
INFORMATIVE ABSTRACT
INFORMATIVE ABSTRACT
 ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION
1. The essence of the whole paper 1. Introduces the paper
2. Covers the following academic 2. Covers the following academic
elements: elements
-background -background
-purpose & focus -purpose
-methods -proposition
-results/ findings -also called point of view or thesis
-conclusions/ statement
Recommendations -outline of key issues
3. Summarize briefly the whole paper -scope
including the conclusions 3. Introduces the paper and
foregrounds issues for discussion
Abstract: What is the Purpose?
• introduce journal articles
• inform readers about article’s
content
• help readers decide whether or
not to read article
• overview conference programs,
abstract collections, and book
chapters
 Why Should I Know How to
Write Abstracts?
• Helps you present complex
information in a clear, concise manner
• Helps you read abstracts more
effectively
• Helps you conduct research
• Helps you write abstracts for future
publications
• Helps you condense report
information into a short format for
database searches
Qualities of an Effective Abstract
• Uses one or more well-developed
paragraphs, which are unified, coherent,
concise, and able to stand alone (200-300
words)
• Uses an introduction-body-conclusion
structure in which the parts of the report
are discussed in order: purpose, research
questions, methods, findings,
conclusions, recommendations
• Contains stand-alone qualities - the
abstract can be understood without
reading the paper
• Is intelligible to a wide audience
 Components of an Abstract

1. Motivation/Problem Statement

2. Methods/Procedure/Approach

3. Results/Findings/Products

4. Conclusion/Implications
v First re-read your paper/report for an
overview. Then read each section and condense
the information in each down to 1-2 sentences.
v Next read these sentences again to ensure that
they cover the major points in your paper.
v Ensure you have written something for each of
the key points outlined above for either the
descriptive or informative abstract.
v 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.

v Edit for flow and expression.

 SOME MORE TIPS…
§ Do not commence with "this paper...”, "this report..." or similar. It is
better to write about the research than about the paper.
§ Do not explain the sections or parts of the paper.
§ Avoid sentences that end in "...is described", "...is reported", "...is
analyzed" or similar. Do not begin sentences with "it is suggested
that...” "it is believed that...", "it is felt that..."or similar. In every case,
the four words can be omitted without damaging the essential
message.
§ Do not repeat or rephrase the title.
§ Do not refer in the abstract to information that is not in the
document.
§ If possible, avoid trade names, acronyms, abbreviations, or symbols.
You would need to explain them, and that takes too much room.
 Writing the Title
Journal websites and search engines
will use the words in your title to
categorize and display your article to
interested readers, while readers will
use your title as the first step to
determining whether or not to read
your article. This is why a good title
(typically 10–12 words long) will use
descriptive terms and phrases that
accurately highlight the core content of
the paper
 Types of Titles
has the essential elements of the research
Descriptive theme; give complete information about the
contents of the article ; have several keywords

states the main finding of the study in the title

itself; it reduces the curiosity of the reader,
Declarative may point toward a bias on the part of the
author, and is best avoided

a query in the title has the ability to

Interrogative sensationalize the topic and can lead to more
downloads; it can be distracting to the reader
 Drafting a Suitable Title
• describe the paper in about three sentences,
ensuring that these sentences contain important
scientific words that describe the main contents and
subject of the paper
• join the sentences to form a single sentence,
shorten the length (by removing redundant words
or adjectives or phrases)
• edit the title to make it more accurate, concise
(about 10–15 words), and precise.

• Some journals require that the study design be

included in the title, and this may be placed (using a
colon) after the primary title
Choosing your Keywords

Journals, search engines, and

indexing and abstracting
services classify papers using
keywords. Thus, an accurate
list of keywords will ensure
correct indexing and help
showcase your research to
interested groups. This in turn
will increase the chances of
your paper being cited.
WORKSHOP: Now, let’s write…
Writing the Write 1-2 introduction sentences that explain
Abstract topic, purpose, and research question(s).

Write 1-2 sentences describing your research

methods (this may also include the type of data
analysis you used).

Write 1-2 sentences describing the

results / findings.

Write 1-2 sentences containing your

conclusions and recommendations.
Writing the Title
1. Answer the questions:
• What is my paper about?
• What techniques/ designs were used?
• Who/what was studied?
• What were the results?
2. Underline the important words in the
answers to step 1.
3. Build a phrase/sentence with these
underlined words.
4. Delete all waste words (e.g., study of,
investigates) and repetitive words; then link
the remaining words.
5. Delete non-essential information and
reword.
Choosing your Keywords
1. Read through your paper and list down the terms/phrases
that are used repeatedly in the text.
2. Ensure that this list includes all your main key terms/phrases.
4. Include common abbreviations of terms (e.g., HIV).
5. Now, refer to a common vocabulary/term list or indexing
standard in your discipline (e.g., GeoRef, ERIC Thesaurus,
PsycInfo, ChemWeb, BIOSIS Search Guide, MeSH Thesaurus)
and ensure that the terms you have used match those used in
these resources.
6. Finally, before you submit your article, type your keywords
into a search engine and check if the results that show up match
the subject of your paper. This will help you determine whether
your keywords are appropriate for the topic of your paper.
Conclusion

While it may be challenging to write

effective titles and abstracts and to
choose appropriate keywords, there is
no denying the fact that it is definitely
worth putting in extra time to get
these right. After all, these 3 smallest
segments of your paper have the
potential to significantly impact your
chances of getting published, read, and
cited.
References
Department of Biology, Bates College. The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper.
[Accessed: July 20, 2011] Available from:
http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWsections.html
Day R and GastelB. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 6thEdition. Westport, Connecticut:Greenwood
Press, 2006.
Taylor & Francis Author Services. Writing your article. [Accessed: July 20, 2011] Available from:
http://journalauthors.tandf.co.uk/preparation/writing.asp.
KoopmanP. How to Write an Abstract. [Accessed: July 20, 2011] Available from:
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/essays/abstract.html
SAGE Publications. Help Readers Find Your Article. [Accessed: July 20, 2011] Available from:
http://www.uk.sagepub.com/journalgateway/findArticle.htm
Bem DJ. Writing the empirical journal article. In MP Zanna& JM Darley (Eds.), The Complete Academic: A Practical
Guide for the Beginning Social Scientist (pp. 171-201). New York: Random House, 1987.
Fathalla M and Fathalla M. A Practical Guide for Health Researchers. [Accessed: July 20, 2011] Available from:
http://www.emro.who.int/dsaf/dsa237.pdf.
CoghillA and Garson L (Eds.).Scientific Papers. In A Coghill& L Garson (Eds.), The ACS Style Guide, 3rdEdition
(pp. 20–21).New York: Oxford University Press, 2006T
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to
biomedical journals: Writing and editing for biomedical publication [Accessed: June 14, 2011] Available from:
http://www.ICMJE.org.
 THANK YOU
maricar.prudente@dlsu.edu.ph