Chapter 11 Part 2在线视频

Writing Tips for Abstract

The abstract is the most

condensed story you want to convey

so writing it requires careful

logical and clear thinking

You need to select key contents

weight the importance of each word

and polish the story again and again

Here are some writing tips

for preparing the content of the abstract

The abstract should stay

within the allowed word count

The abstract should stand on its own

without need to read the paper

The abstract should contain information

only present in the paper

The abstract should contain the same key words

and terms as presented in the title

and the introduction

The abstract does not cite figures or tables

The abstract does not include references

The language features of an abstract

should be clear

concise

accurate

objective

impartial

and logically structured to compete

for the readers’ attention

The abstract is composed of four sections

of a whole paper

so each section

exhibits some special features

slightly different from others

Let’s analyse the sentence features of

the Introduction part at first

The sentence patterns for the Introduction part

are generally presented in three parts

the known

the unknown

and the objective

In the known

The unknow

and the Objective parts

Sentence patterns are all different

For the Introduction part

the beginning can be more interesting

by creating stress

for example by making a statement

followed by “however” or “but”

and then “stating a problem”

“contradiction”or “gap in knowledge”

When indicating the objective

or the purpose of the paper

you should use present tense

When presenting the objective

the purpose or the process of the study

you should use past tense

If the action happened in the past

and is not complete yet

you should use the present perfect tense

In the Introduction part of the abstract

the active voice is recommended

by most journal editors

Methods part

When indicating the way of grouping patients

participants or subjects

use the sentence patterns like

“We randomly divided

categorized

separated

stratified…into…”

or

“…be randomly divided into

categorized into

randomized into

separated into

stratified into

allocated to or assigned to…”

When describing the details of

conducting experiments

use the sentence patterns like

“We used

conducted

performed…”

or “…be used

computed observed performed…”

and so on

The Methods part in the abstract tells the readers

how the hypothesis was tested

so you use more past tense

If possible use active voice

But when there is no need to mention the agent

of an action the passive voice could also be used

In the Results part in the abstract

you should present the numerical results

with the sentence patterns like

“…increased decreased from… to…”

“…be associated with…”

“…be found reported…”

“…be compared with or be compared to…” and so on

The abstract in this part is telling the readers

if the hypothesis was proved

or the question was answered

so you use more past tense

If possible use active voice

Still when there is no need to mention

the agent of an action

the passive voice could be used

The Discussion part in the abstract

should be straightforward

brief

and specific to the study findings

or observations

If word limit permits

the conclusion may begin with the

sentence patterns such as

“Our study our results our report showed …”

or “Our study results report confirmed…”

“we observed that…”

and so on

The conclusion could end with the

sentence patterns as

“…should be considered…”

“…should be reconsidered…”

“…should be tested…” and so on

The discussion part may answer the question

posed in the introduction part with similar

sentence patterns as

“… be or not associated with…”

“...suggested or indicated that…”

and so on

The conclusion sentences

are written in the present tense generally

but if you describe the action

happening in the past

the past tense should be used

If the conclusion includes any suggestion

or implication a modal verb such as

“may”

“would”

“could”

or “should” is used

In the Discussion part of the abstract

the active voice is recommended

by most journal editors

Word choice

The abstract is a condensed version

of the whole paper

and it should be concise

so every word should count

So word choice in the abstract is highly significant

Here are some strategies for

shortening an abstract

Choose strong and powerful verbs

Use fewer phrasal verbs or noun phrases

When describing the process of

conducting the experiments

avoid “we did”

and “we found”

Replace them by more specific verbs like

“we investigated” “we identified”

and so on

Choose adjectives that display

objectiveness of the study

Cut those subjective adjectives unjustified

without valuable meanings such as

“cutting edge”

“innovative”

“important” and so on

Choose those adjectives that bear

meaning in the paper

Use prepositions accurately

To save time for readers

many prepositions are used

in one sentence to convey various messages

Use “between”

“among”

“in”

“with”

and so on in a correct way

Use abbreviations sparingly

If an abbreviation is used in the abstract

it must be explained

But do not use too many abbreviations in an abstract

Some international medical journals

specify there would be no more than

3 abbreviations