Advanced Academic Writing Workshop

Conclusion and Abstract Sections

G.J.E.C.
10 – 13th September, 2018
 Conclusions

• not all journals want Conclusions section

• Conclusion is not an abstract

• Conclusions focus only on outcomes of study, i.e. on principles

revealed

• don’t be unnecessarily technical

• Conclusions may include a few statements about future

directions, based upon findings
 Exercise 14

Please complete Exercise 14

 Exercise 14: Abstract Writing

• an abstract must be short, sometimes technical, as it focuses

only on findings of study.

• APA suggests that an abstract be between 150 and 250

words

• written in past tense in a single paragraph

• Abstract is the most widely read part of paper except for

title; it should be written last.
 Abstract

critical to get it right:

 sampling of other sections
 must present mini-introduction to work in one or two
sentences
 remainder devoted to most significant findings
 technical terms and abbreviations should be minimised
 information in abstract should be presented in the same
order as it is in the article.
 exclude Materials and Methods unless essential
 Exercise 15: Abstract Writing

Do not go into detail about the methods in the abstract.

If needed, a sentence or a couple of phrases describing the
methods is sufficient.

For example:
“Reduced expression of JAK-2 was identified in COS-7 cells using
western blotting.”

This is adequate for the abstract:

The method is “using western blotting”.

 Abstract: writing tips

• do not cite other work in abstract, unless necessary to explain yours

• don’t write with word limit as target

• establish ideas first and organize them

• improve them after

• editor can help you compress abstract later

• first, just focus on the content

 Q&A

G.J.E.C.
10 – 13th September, 2018