Ch. 5. Writing the abstract
Major: Interdisciplinary program of integrated biotechnology
Graduate school of bio- & information technology Young-il Lim (N110), Lab. FACS
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Unit 5. Writing the abstract
5.1 Structure
5.2 Grammar and writing skills - verb tense
- Length - Language
5.3 Writing task: Build a model - Building a model
- Key
- the model
- testing the model
5.4 Vocabulary for Abstract 5.5 Writing an Abstract 5.6 Creating a title
Research highlights Graphical abstract
Appendix Nomenclature
Acknowledgements References
Symmetrical structure
Interface
between two sections
Connectivity:
A living paper is created by connectivity between sen- tences, paragraphs, parts, Tables, Figures, and Equa- tions.
Document forever:
Your article is an organism being able to live longer than you.
5.1 Structure
- The structure and content of the abstract have changed recently.
- Abstract is used to search research articles in which the reader is interested.
- Stand-alone and self-contained description of the research.
- Abstract has to contain key points and results of the research.
- it is better to create an Abstract after you have finished writing the other sec- tions.
- the content of the Abstract is derived from the rest of the article (body).
- Don’t copy and paste whole sentences from the body of the article, but adapt and modify them to meet the demands of an Abstract.
- there are two distinct models:
- model 1: a summary and very structured one (it deals with all the main sub- sections of the research article) 150-250 words
- model 2: more common, and focusing on one or two aspects of the study such as the method and the results 80 – 150 words
- Abstracts for conferences may not follow either of these models.
Unit 5. Writing the abstract
5.2 Grammar and writing skills
- tense: past simple, present simple, present perfect, present continuous - Length
- Language
5.2 Grammar and writing skills
- tense: past simple, present simple, present perfect, present continuous - Length
- Language
5.2 Grammar and writing skills
- tense: past simple, present simple, present perfect, present continuous - Length
- Language
Length
- 150-250 words (model 1) or 80 – 150 words (model 2).
Language
- Think that IF (impact factor) is evaluated by the number of citations
- Many journals give an award for the best paper based on the number of citations - Abstract is written to attract a wider audience.
- The Abstract is sometimes written in a slightly less technical way than the article it- self.
5.3 Writing task: Build a model - Building a model
- Key
- the models
- testing the models
Short description
(modeling of Abstract)
- Background factual in- formation
- present tense - aim of the study - past tense
- methodology & exper- imental range
- past tense
5.3 Writing task: Build a model - Building a model
- Key
- the models
- testing the models
- New and important achievements
- past tense
- positive languages - analyses, perspectives,
implications or contri- butions of the study - present tense
- Results, implications, & achievements are often stated quite strongly
- Your work is still not firm, the subjunctive mood
(could/might/may etc..) can be used. But it is not often for us.
Short description
(modeling of Abstract)
- Method/materials + contribution + aim - present tense
5.3 Writing task: Build a model - Building a model
- Key
- the models
- testing the models
- Detailed results - past tense
- Inform potential readers whether the article is suitable for their needs
- Avoid vague words such as small or better etc.
- Avoid unclear terms such as “various methods were used”
…
- Provide a quantitative and concrete result or value.
Model 1: Structured type
Model 2: select just two or three of the above components (generally method & results) Method
Backgrounds/aim
Results
Applications
Discussions, limitations, and future work
5.3 Writing task: Build a model - Building a model
- Key
- the models
- testing the models
Homework 5-1
Find a paper related to your research subject and print out it. Read the introduc- tion of this paper and mark the model component (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5). Make a flow chart of this Abstract with a key concept. Please state this Abstract in terms of weak points, strong points, suggestions for improvement and grammatical errors.
Please distribute us your homework and present in the class your homework, us- ing the paper material (without beam project).
Each student has 10 minutes for presentation.
5.4 Vocabulary for Abstract
Unit 5. Writing the abstract
5.4 Vocabulary for Abstract
Unit 5. Writing the abstract
Achievement/contribution
5.5 Writing an Abstract - write an Abstract
Homework 5-2
Write an Abstract on your research topic (for potential publication). Respect the model presented in this lecture and use the vocabularies and expressions learned so far. For citing, use EndNote.
Please submit to the teacher by email or by hard-copy.
Each student individually has 10 minutes for correction with the teacher.
Poor writing
- duplication of the same expression - non-logical expression and order -
Unit 5. Writing the abstract
- Many more people will read the title than the abstract, and many more will read the abstract than the whole paper.
- A good title will attract readers
- The title should predict and describe the content of the paper as accurately as possible.
- The title should include key words that make the paper available easily on search engines.
- Good titles are usually concise and clear
- Avoid beginning with phrases such as “a study of …” or “An investigation into …”
