An abstract presents the essential information contained in a research report, an article, a book, or other document.

There are two types of abstracts:

Informational Abstracts

• communicate contents of reports
• include purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations
• allow readers to decide whether they want to read the report

• tell what the report contains
• include purpose, methods, scope, but NOT results, conclusions, and recommendations
• introduce the subject to readers, who must then read the report to learn study results

Qualities Of A Good Abstract

• uses one or more well-developed paragraphs, which are unified, coherent, and concise.
• uses an introduction-body-conclusion structure in which the parts of the report are 
          discussed in order: purpose, findings, conclusions, recommendations
• provides logical connections between material included

• adds no new information but simply summarizes the report
• is intelligible to a wide audience

The style of an abstract should be concise and clear, and the wording should be very direct.

        1.        Make the abstract easy to read.
                    a.    Use familiar words. If unfamiliar words are necessary, define them. Avoid
                                    jargon.
                    b.    Use active verbs rather than passive verbs whenever possible.
                    c.    Vary sentence structure.
                    d.    Use complete sentences. Don't omit articles or other small words to save space

        2.        Be concise.
                    a.    Rephrase ideas from the article to condense the meaning.
                    b.    c. Give information only once.

        3.        Be exact and unambiguous.

        4.        Use an organization scheme that will make the information clear to the reader. 
                    Usually, an abstract that puts the thesis first and then provides conclusions or
                    findings, and supporting data or details is most useful.

        5.        If you are writing an abstract for another writer's article, remember that your job
                    is not to evaluate the article but simply to report what is in it.