Annual Conference


How to write an Abstract

An abstract is a short document which is intended to capture the interest of a potential reader of your paper. Thus in a sense, it is a marketing document for your full paper. If the abstract is poorly written then it will not encourage a potential reader to spend the time reading your work.

Title

The first rule of abstract writing is that it should engage the reader by telling him or her what your paper is about and why they should read it. Although strictly not part of your abstract, the title of the proposed paper is also important. Short attention-catching titles are the most effective. However, it is also important, for a conference paper, to ensure that the title describes the subject you are writing about. You should limit the length of the title to no more than 12 words.

Body
The body of the abstract should make a clear statement of the topic of your paper and your research question. You need to say how your research was/is being undertaken. For example, is it empirical or theoretical? Is it quantitative or qualitative? Perhaps it follows the critical research method. What value are your findings and to whom will they be of use? 

Conclusion
The abstract should then briefly describe the work to be discussed in your paper and also give a concise summary of the findings. 

Images
Finally your abstract should not include diagrams and in general, references are not required in the abstract. The marketing of your proposed paper needs to be done within the word limit of 300 words, excluding your title and any references. It is considered bad practice to go over this limit.