Paper writting - 3 - Writing the Abstract

Writing the Abstract

Koopman (1997) contends that an abstract should consist of five elements:

• A problem statement
• The rationale for the study
• The methodology
• The results
• Conclusions

Cooley and Lewkowicz (2003, p.112) purport that there are four questions the abstract should answer:

1. What was the purpose of the research?
2. Why was the research carried out?
3. How was the research conducted?
4. What did the research discover?

Importance of brevity

Since the abstracts have prescribed lengths, you need to write

Clearly / concisely / succinctly 清晰明确/简明/简洁

Avoid redundancy of content, words and expressions

Abstract章节一般是最后写

For research articles, abstracts should give a pertinent overview of the work. We strongly encourage authors to use the following style of structured abstracts, but without headings:

• Background: Place the question addressed in a broad context and highlight the purpose of the study;

• Methods: Describe briefly he main methods or treatments applied;

• Results: Summarize the article’s main findings; and

• Conclusions: Indicate the main conclusions or interpretations.

The abstract should be an objective representation of the article, it must not contain results which are not presented and substantiated in the main text and should not exaggerate the main conclusions.

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Formal vs. informal verbs

Informal	Formal
clamp down on 严禁	curb 抑制，压制
get rid of	eradicate
look for	Seek
send it (e.g., a proposal)	Submit
come to (e.g., a conclusion)	draw
ask for	request/solicit
look up (e.g., a web article)	retrieve
keep an eye on (e.g., an activity)	monitor
hold back (e.g., progress)	hamper/restrain
meet with (e.g., difficulty)	encounter
not take / not follow (e.g., advice)	disregard 不理会，不尊重
put in action	implement
come up with (e.g., an alternative)	propose
make something (e.g., anxiety)  lighter	alleviate
turn down (e.g., a possible idea)	reject
settle for (e.g., a research  approach) 勉强接受	adopt
deal with (e.g., a problem)	handle
put forward (e.g., an issue)	raise
arrive at (e.g., a consensus)	reach
set up (e.g., the scope of  research)	establish

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Verb	Appropriate or alternative
Say	State
Deem
Determine
Take a look at	Examine
Look into (a problem)	Investigate/explore
Do (a survey)	Conduct
Look at (from a different angle)	View
Put together (the results)	Integrate/synthesize/collate/collaborate
Come across	Encounter
Scrutinize
Find
Opine
Contend / argue
Write
Bring up	Raise / propose
Reckon
Point out
Wrap up	Conclude
Regard

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Some adjectives (positive or negative implications)

Controversial, valuable, pioneering, questionable, groundbreaking, seminal (有前途，有影响力的), innovative, debatable, influential, landmark, problematic, significant, unfounded (没有理由的，没有依据的), unfound (未被发现的), unrepresentative, satisfactory, flawed, doubtful, solid, dated, well-constructed.