What is an abstract?  Why write one? 

An abstract is a summary of a research project. 

Abstracts help save time by offering readers a summary of the research:

• Meeting publication requirements. Given that most journals require a well-structured abstract as part of their submission guidelines, an impactful abstract goes a long way in ensuring that a manuscript is received favorably by journals.
• Conference presentation selection. Conference organizers use abstracts to decide if your project fits the conference criteria. Conference attendees may review abstracts in a conference program to decide which presentations they want to hear.  
• Enhancing visibility.  Abstracts are often indexed in databases, making them accessible to wider audiences. This is particularly beneficial to authors as it increases the likelihood of citations and engagement from peers.  
• Shaping research design.  Abstracts provide researchers with key insights into methodologies and approaches used in similar studies. They allow researchers to collate information, build a fair understanding of a subject, and identify gaps in the existing literature. 

How does an abstract appeal to a broad audience?
 

Some conferences are for specific fields and some have broadly general audiences.  One should keep the audience in mind when writing their abstract. 

The audience for the abstract for the UC Davis Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities (URSCA) Conference consists of the broadest possible scope--from expert to lay person. You need to find a comfortable balance between writing an abstract that both shows your knowledge and yet is still comprehensible--with some effort--by lay members of the audience. Limit the amount of technical language you use and explain it where possible. Always use the full term before you refer to it by acronym Example:  DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs). Remember that you are yourself an expert in the field that you are writing about--don't take for granted that the reader will share your insider knowledge.

What should the abstract include?

Think of your abstract as a condensed version of your whole project. 

Although the content will vary according to field and specific project, all abstracts, whether in the sciences or the humanities, convey the following information:

• Background, context that identifies the area of study
• The research problem, question, aim that motivates the project
• The methods used to address this research problem, documents or evidence analyzed
• The conclusions reached or, if the research is in progress, what the preliminary results of the investigation are and the next steps to be taken
• The significance of the research project. 

SUGGESTED CONTENT STRUCTURE:  

Brief Background/Introduction/Research Context:
     What do we know about the topic? Why is the topic important?  What is the problem or gap motivating the research project?
Present Research Question/Purpose:
     What is the study about? What is the problem/question you are investigating?  What is the aim of the project? 
Methods/Materials/Subjects/Materials:
     How was the study done?  
Results/Findings:  
     What was discovered?  
Conclusion/Implications/Recommendations
     What does it mean? Why is it important? 

What if the research is in progress and I don't have results yet? 

For the URSCA Conference you can write a "Promissory Abstract"  which will still describe the background, purpose and how you will accomplish your study's purpose and why it is important.  Phrases like  "to show whether"  or "to determine if"  can be helpful to avoid sharing a "hoped for" result.  The abstract may use past tense for background but future tense for describing what will be done.  

Stylistic considerations

Edit it closely to be sure it meets the C's of abstract writing:

• Compliant - does not exceed maximum word limit and follows submission guidelines.  
• Complete — it covers the major parts of the project
• Concise — it contains no excess wordiness or unnecessary information
• Clear — it is readable, well organized, and not too jargon-laden
• Cohesive — it flows smoothly and logically between the parts
• Correct - correct spelling and grammar

The importance of understandable language

Because all researchers hope their work will be useful to others, and because good scholarship is increasingly used across disciplines, it is crucial to make the language of your abstracts accessible to a non-specialist. Simplify your language. Friends in another major will spot instantly what needs to be more understandable. Some problem areas to look for:

• Eliminate jargon. Showing off your technical vocabulary will not demonstrate that your research is valuable. If using a technical term is unavoidable, add a non-technical synonym to help a non-specialist infer the term's meaning.
• Omit needless words—redundant modifiers, pompous diction, excessive detail.
• Avoid stringing nouns together (make the relationship clear with prepositions).
• Eliminate "narration," expressions such as "It is my opinion that," "I have concluded," "the main point supporting my view/concerns," or "certainly there is little doubt as to. . . ." Focus attention solely on what the reader needs to know.

Before submitting your abstract to the UC Davis Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities (URSCA) Conference:

• Make sure it is within the word limit.  You can start with a large draft and then edit it down to make sure your abstract is complete but also concise.  (Over-writing is all too easy, so reserve time for cutting your abstract down to the essential information.)
• Make sure the language is understandable by a non-specialist. (Avoid writing for an audience that includes only you and your professor.)
• Have your sponsoring professor work with you and approve the abstract before you submit it online.
• Only one abstract per person is allowed for the URSCA Conference.
• Abstract Submission and Presenter Info

Examples

Multimedia Risk Assessment of Biodiesel - Tier II Antfarm Project

Significant knowledge gaps exist in the fate, transport, biodegradation, and toxicity properties of biodiesel when it is leaked into the environment. In order to fill these gaps, a combination of experiments has been developed in a Multimedia Risk Assessment of Biodiesel for the State of California. Currently, in the Tier II experimental phase of this assessment, I am investigating underground plume mobility of 20% and 100% additized and unadditized Soy and Animal Fat based biodiesel blends and comparing them to Ultra Low-Sulfer Diesel #2 (USLD) by filming these fuels as they seep through unsaturated sand, encounter a simulated underground water table, and form a floating lens on top of the water. Thus far, initial findings in analyzing the digital images created during the filming process have indicated that all fuels tested have similar travel times. SoyB20 behaves most like USLD in that they both have a similar lateral dispersion lens on top of the water table. In contrast, Animal Fat B100 appears to be most different from ULSD in that it has a narrower residual plume in the unsaturated sand, as well as a narrower and deeper lens formation on top of the water table.

Narrative Representation of Grief

In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go how can grief, an incomprehensible and incommunicable emotion, be represented in fiction? Is it paradoxical, or futile, to do so? I look at two novels that struggle with representing intense combinations of individual and communal grief: William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. At first glance, the novels appear to have nothing in common: Faulkner's is a notoriously bleak odyssey told in emotionally heavy stream-of-consciousness narrative, while Ishiguro's is a near-kitschy blend of a coming-of-age tale and a sci-fi dystopia. But they share a rare common thread. They do not try to convey a story, a character, an argument, or a realization, so much as they try to convey an emotion. The novels' common struggle is visible through their formal elements, down to the most basic technical aspects of how the stories are told. Each text, in its own way, enacts the trauma felt by its characters because of their grief, and also the frustration felt by its narrator (or narrators) because of the complex and guilty task of witnessing for grief and loss.

This webpage was based in part by articles written by Professor Diana Strazdes, Art History and Dr. Amy Clarke, University Writing Program, UC Davis. Thanks to both for their contributions.