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An Abstract for Your Research Paper: A Complete Guide with Examples

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Are you looking stuck at a blank page while trying to summarize your whole research paper in a few hundred words? This is something that most students face when writing an abstract. Writing an abstract can be a strenuous endeavor as it entails meeting the precise requirements regarding formatting and content as dictated by your professors. However, it doesn’t have to be a turmoil chore for you to generate an example of an abstract. A few right tips and a handful of recommended tools can assist you in composing an engaging abstract to summarize your research paper appealingly and grip the interest of your audience. Summarizing the whole research after months of hard work in a few paragraphs can indeed sound intimidating, but even experienced researchers usually rewrite their abstracts a number of times before submission.

What Is a Research Paper Abstract?

An abstract is a short summary, usually 150 to 250 words, of your whole research paper. An abstract example, according to the Writing Advice service of the University of Toronto, should provide your readers with an overview of your research question, methodology, results, and conclusions. It is essential to understand various elements of an abstract because it will allow your readers to grasp the nature of your research and its significance to their own work quickly. The films we see today often have released trailers prior to the actual screening. In other words, your abstract must be like a trailer, which should summarize the big elements within your research paper but should also capture your readers’ attention so they would want to read your whole paper.

To write a good and professional abstract, you will need to take care of all aspects and write something precise but important according to the main points of your research paper. For all those who find it hard to write a quality abstract, Litero AI abstract generator can be used to create the perfect abstract for your paper. From the tone to the word choice, the writing assistant is designed for research papers and will take care of all aspects needed for a professional abstract. It will also let you maintain the clarity and conciseness needed in an abstract while covering the essential points needed for completion. 

Litero AI can generate piece of text based on your previous writing

Essential Components of the Example of an Abstract

The components of an example of an abstract are methodology, research problem, research objectives, findings, conclusion, and contribution. Although relating to different aspects of your research, each of these components has a role to play in creating a complete summary of what your research is about. For example, the information in the abstract should start with presenting your research problem and objectives, followed by your methodology and findings, and conclude with your conclusions and contributions. This helps the reader to piece together how your research story developed from identifying a problem in your field, finding a solution to the problem, and then furthering knowledge in the field through your contributions. Besides the contents of the information in your abstract, it is also important to consider how the information flows from one component to the other.

An example of an abstract

Research Title: Social Media Usage and Academic Performance of University Students

Abstract: The purpose of the study is to assess how the different areas in social media usage patterns employed by undergraduate students negatively affect their studying behaviors and academic performance. This study utilizes a mixed-methods approach, which includes a questionnaire survey of 500 selected university students and 50 interviews among the participants. Data revealed a significant negative correlation between high usage (more than three hours per day) of social media and Grade Point Average (GPA) scores, while low usage (1-2 hours) showed no significant effect. Furthermore, students who use social media for educational purposes demonstrated a better impact on their collaborative learning skills. Results provide insight into the importance of establishing a social media usage guideline for students that can support their studying efforts in the classroom and make conscious efforts to pursue educational goals through social media.

Writing Tips for an Effective Abstract

Your example abstract must be presentable because it needs to show the quality of your work. You may utilize Litero AI’s abstract generator to write clear and direct sentences that can efficiently explain the findings of your research. The tool’s academic writing functions allow your abstract to have a suitable tone and style of writing while being free from the usual writing mistakes found in academic work. The writing process involves constant revising and editing; hence, do not be discouraged if your first attempt does not fully address many aspects of your research. You may benefit from others reading your work to provide an additional perspective on how to improve the clarity and impact of your abstract. 

FAQs

Q: How long should my abstract be?

A: Abstracts usually range between 150-250 words. The writing assistant offered by Litero AI will help you keep the perfect length while inserting all the required details.

Q: Should I write my abstract first or last?

A: Write your abstract at the end of the research paper. This way, you can summarize all the points and findings precisely.

Q: Can I include citations in my abstract?

A: Abstracts can usually be citation-free unless your academic discipline absolutely requires it.

Conclusion

An example of an abstract should now be easy to deal with. Using the framework provided above and all the writing services by Litero AI, writing an example of an abstract should be able to engage your readers and summarize your work completely. An abstract example that stands out will capture the reader’s attention, which is why they need to spend so much time composing the best and greatest example of an abstract.