Summarizing Content for Your Abstract

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Summarizing Content for Your Abstract ·         When writing an Abstract, keep in mind the guidelines for a general summary. ·         Remember that an Abstract it should be in the form of a paragraph, but it is not indented. ·         It should be a brief but comprehensive summary of the paper. ·         Do not indent the first line of the abstract. ·         The abstract is not an introduction to the paper and should not contain any citations. ·         An Abstract explains the primary arguments—not just restating the thesis but actually digging into an explanation of the arguments that stem from the thesis. ·         It explains the important results and evidence in the paper without actually using any researched content, statistics, or sourced materials. ·         An informative abstract in an academic argument paper includes the paper’s purpose, methods, scope, sequence, and reason for the argument. ·         Begin with an introductory sentence that states the overall point of the text as you see it. ·         Write it in your own words and 3rd person voice. ·         Indicate the most significant arguments and details from the body paragraphs. ·         Write the last sentence that “wraps” up your summary; often a simple rephrasing of the main point so that the audience knows exactly where this writing will lead. ·         Include the recommendations of the conclusion of the piece—what the author is telling the audience to do or believe ·         Generally, 150-250 words, unless otherwise specified by your professor or instructions. The length is usually less than 300 words in length. ·         The abstract is contained on its own page without any other content. ·         Generally speaking, an abstract is required unless your professor or instructions explicitly specify otherwise. ·         Center the word “Abstract” on the first line, without quotation marks or bolding.  It is a section title, not heading. ·         On the line under the abstract paragraph, indent 1/2” and insert the word Keywords (italicized as shown), followed by a colon. Then, insert 3-6 of your paper’s keywords (e.g., trauma, attachment), separated by commas.  The keywords themselves should not be italicized. ·         See pp. 25-27 of the APA manual for what information to include in an abstract, and Liberty University’s Writing an Abstract aid.