Your
paper’s abstract is critical because many researchers will read that
part only, rather than reading the entire paper. Therefore, it is
critical that it provides an accurate and sufficiently detailed summary
of your work so that those researchers can understand what you did, why
you did it, what your findings are, and why your findings are useful
and important. Your abstract must be able to stand alone, that is, to
function as an overview of your study that can be understood without
reading the entire text. Readers who become interested in learning more
details than can be included in the abstract will inevitably proceed to
the full text. Therefore, the abstract does not need to be overly
detailed; for example, it does not need to include a detailed methods
section.
Even though the abstract is one of the first parts of
your paper, it should actually be written last. You should write it
soon after finishing the other sections, while the rest of the
manuscript is fresh in your mind, enabling you to write a concise but
comprehensive summary of your study without overlooking anything
important. Requirements for abstracts differ among journals, so the
target journal’s instructions for authors should be consulted for
specific details. Despite differences among journals, there are a few
general rules that should be obeyed when writing an abstract:
•
The word limit should be observed; 250 words is probably about average
and commonly adopted as a word limit for the abstract, but many
journals request shorter abstracts (for example, Nature Articles and
BBRC both have a 150-word limit) while many others (for example, BioMed
Central journals) allow longer ones. This is one good reason why the
target journal should be identified before you write your paper. •
Technical jargon should be avoided so that the abstract is
understandable for a broad readership, although what is considered
“technical” may vary depending on the target journal’s audience (check
the journal’s website for details of their readership). For example, “a
test of anxiety” would generally be clearer than “elevated plus-maze
test” in an abstract unless the journal was specifically targeted to
behavioral researchers. Usually, there simply isn’t enough space in the
abstract to define and explain technical terminology. If such
terminology is unavoidable, it should be defined in simple terms where
it is first used. • Like technical jargon, abbreviations should
be limited as much as possible, although their acceptability may again
depend on the target journal. For example, HIV is likely to be
acceptable in abbreviated form by most journals. By contrast, RT-PCR
might be considered acceptable by a journal reporting molecular biology
techniques, but would it need to be spelt in full (reverse
transcriptase polymerase chain reaction) in most journals at first use.
Many journals provide a list of acceptable abbreviations on their
websites. Necessary abbreviations used three or more times should be
defined at first use; however, abbreviations used only once or twice
should be spelled out in full unless doing so causes the word limit to
be exceeded. Abbreviations that are defined in the abstract will need
to be defined again at first use in the main text. • Although
some journals do allow references to be cited in the abstract, the vast
majority do not. Therefore, unless you plan to submit to a journal that
allows it, you should not cite references in your abstract.
If we look at the instructions to authors for BBRC, we can see the following guidelines: • The Abstract should be on page 2, i.e., after the title page • The Abstract must be a single paragraph that summarizes the main findings of the paper in fewer than 150 words. • A list of up to 10 keywords useful for indexing or searching should be included after the Abstract.
Some
journals request structured abstracts divided into sections such as
background, objectives, methods, results, and conclusions. Clinical
journals may require additional or alternative sections, such as
‘patients’. Therefore, it is again necessary to check the target
journal’s instructions for authors to determine the particular
formatting/outline requirements prior to writing.
Abstracts are
frequently followed by a list of keywords selected by the authors. The
instructions for authors will state how many keywords are required and
may even provide a list of recommended keywords. Choosing appropriate
keywords is important, because these are used for indexing purposes.
Well chosen keywords enable your manuscript to be more easily
identified and cited. Thus, the keywords should be as specific to your
manuscript as possible, and general terms, which could apply to an
enormous number of studies, should be avoided.
Examples: Let’s
consider some appropriate keywords for the following title:
“Region-specific neuronal degeneration after okadaic acid
administration”.
Good keywords would be: okadaic acid,
hippocampus, neuronal degeneration, MAP kinase signaling, and possibly
mouse (or rat or whatever experimental animal was used).
Poor
keywords would be: neuron, brain, OA (as an abbreviation),
regional-specific neuronal degeneration, and signaling. These terms are
simply too general.