The Importance of an Abstract and its Key Qualities

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The Importance of an Abstract and its Key Qualities

The abstract of a paper is a critical component that is published in conference proceedings and is the first glimpse that a potential reviewer has when invited by an editor to review a manuscript. Furthermore, when searching through electronic databases such as PubMed, the abstract is the only part that readers see. Many readers admit to only glancing through the titles of papers and skimming through their abstracts. Only keen readers with a very specific interest in the subject matter will peruse the entire paper. Hence, for most readers, the abstract is the only part of the paper that exists. Therefore, it is the author’s responsibility to ensure that the abstract accurately represents the entire paper. The abstract sets the tone for the rest of the paper and must have certain characteristics to accomplish this goal. Following are some general qualities of a good abstract

  • Accuracy: The abstract should accurately reflect the content of the research paper, and should not misrepresent or overstate the findings.
  • Significance: The abstract should highlight the significance and relevance of the research and its potential contribution to the field.
  • Objectivity: The abstract should be written in an objective, unbiased manner, avoiding any personal opinions or interpretations.
  • Cohesiveness: The abstract should be a cohesive summary, with a logical flow and clear connections between the different elements.
  • Clarity: The abstract should be easy to understand and free of jargon or technical terms that might confuse readers.
  • Completeness: The abstract should provide a complete and accurate summary of the research paper, including the main purpose, methodology, results, and conclusions.
  • Appropriateness: The abstract should be appropriate for the intended audience, using language and terminology that is understandable to the readers.
  • Self-containedness: The abstract should be self-contained, meaning that it should make sense on its own and not require readers to refer to the full research paper for clarification.
  • Non-redundancy: The abstract should not contain any redundant information that is already present in the title, keywords, or other parts of the research paper.

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