how to write an abstract for medical research

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How to Write a Medical Abstract for Publication

Preparing Your Study, Review, or Article for Publication in Medical Journals

The majority of social, behavioral, biological, and clinical journals follow the conventional structured abstract form with the following four major headings (or variations of these headings):

OBJECTIVE   (Purpose; Aim; Goal) : Tells reader the purpose of your research and the questions it intends to answer

METHODS   (Setting; Study Design; Participants) : Explains the methods and process so that other researchers can assess, review, and replicate your study.

RESULTS (Findings; Outcomes) : Summarizes the most important findings of your study

CONCLUSIONS   (Discussion; Implications; Further Recommendations) : Summarizes the interpretation and implications of these results and presents recommendations for further research

Sample Health/Medical Abstract

Structured Abstracts Guidelines *

• Total Word Count: ~200-300 words (depending on the journal)
• Content: The abstract should reflect only the contents of the original paper (no cited work)

*   Always follow the formatting guidelines of the journal to which you are submitting your paper.

Useful Terms and Phrases by Abstract Section

Objective:  state your precise research purpose or question (1-2 sentences).

• Begin with “To”: “We aimed to…” or “The objective of this study was to…” using a verb that accurately captures the action of your study.
• Connect the verb to an object phrase to capture the central elements and purpose of the study, hypothesis , or research problem . Include details about the setting, demographics, and the problem or intervention you are investigating.

METHODS : Explain the tools and steps of your research (1-3 sentences)

• Use the past tense if the study has been conducted; use the present tense if the study is in progress.
• Include details about the study design, sample groups and sizes, variables, procedures, outcome measures, controls, and methods of analysis.

  RESULTS : Summarize the data you obtained (3-6 sentences)

• Use the past tense when describing the actions or outcomes of the research.
• Include results that answer the research question and that were derived from the stated methods; examine data by qualitative or quantitative means.
• State whether the research question or hypothesis was proven or disproven.

CONCLUSIONS : Describe the key findings (2-5 sentences)

• Use the present tense to discuss the findings and implications of the study results.
• Explain the implications of these results for medicine, science, or society.
• Discuss any major limitations of the study and suggest further actions or research that should be undertaken.

Before submitting your abstract to medical journals, be sure to receive proofreading services from Wordvice, including journal manuscript editing and paper proofreading , to enhance your writing impact and fix any remaining errors.

Related Resources

• 40 Useful Words and Phrases for Top-Notch Essays  (Oxford Royale Academy)
• 100+ Strong Verbs That Will Make Your Research Writing Amazing  (Wordvice)
• Essential Academic Writing Words and Phrases  (My English Teacher.eu)
• Academic Vocabulary, Useful Phrases for Academic Writing and Research Paper Writing  (Research Gate)
• How to Compose a Journal Submission Cover Letter  (Wordvice/YouTube)
• How to Write the Best Journal Submission Cover Letter  (Wordvice)

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The Principles of Biomedical Scientific Writing: Abstract and Keywords

Zahra bahadoran.

1 Nutrition and Endocrine Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Parvin Mirmiran

2 Department of Clinical Nutrition and Human Dietetics, Faculty of Nutrition Sciences and Food Technology, National Nutrition and Food Technology Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Khosrow Kashfi

3 Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, City University of New York School of Medicine, New York, United States

Asghar Ghasemi

4 Endocrine Physiology Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

An abstract is a self-contained, short, powerful statement that describes a larger body of work. It may be incorporated as part of a published paper, book, grant proposal, thesis, research report, or a conference paper. An abstract of a scientific paper will be published online independently, so it should make sense when it is read alone. An abstract of a hypothesis-testing paper consists of at least four key elements, as follows: (1) study question/hypothesis/aim, (2) experiments/material and methods, (3) results, and (4) response to the question/conclusion(s). The abstract usually begins with a background and may end in applications, recommendations, implications, or speculations. The abstract is one of the many features of a manuscript that competes for the readers’ attention; therefore, it should be informative, accurate, attractive, and concise. Since a huge amount of work must be compressed into a few sentences, writing an abstract may be a difficult task that needs professional skills. Here, we provide a practical guide to writing an abstract and selecting keywords for a hypothesis-testing medical paper.

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, the word “abstract” is a combination of the Latin root ab-, a prefix meaning “from” or “away,” with the verb trahere, meaning “to pull” or “to draw” and thus, it means “to make a summary”. An abstract is a self-contained, short, powerful statement that describes a larger body of work ( 1 , 2 ). In scientific communications, an abstract is a tool used in a variety of contexts; it is an integral part of a published paper, book, funding proposal, thesis, research report, or a conference paper ( 3 ). In a scientific paper, the abstract is an accurate summary of the main aspects of the entire manuscript, usually in one paragraph of 150 - 300 words, using a simple, clear way of writing ( 4 ). An abstract is a truncated version of the paper that summarizes every aspect of the study ( 5 ).

The traditional form of an abstract first appeared in medical journals in the late 1950s as a descriptive paragraph at the beginning of the paper and then it became more popular ( 3 , 6 , 7 ). The Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) was one of the early pioneers of this practice in the early 1960s. The journal editors believed that readers did not have enough time and interest to read every paper; thus, the abstract would allow them to assess the study without actually reading the whole paper ( 8 ).

The ability to write an informative, accurate, attractive, and concise abstract is a valuable skill for researchers and writing a good abstract requires a considerable amount of time, effort, practice, mentoring, and patience ( 2 , 3 ). The abstract plays a critical role in “selling” a paper to the prospective readers. A clear abstract can improve the paper search engine rankings and influence whether the user finds it and then decides to navigate to the main article ( 9 ). A well-written abstract represents a more clearly focused study, as well as the experience of the researchers ( 2 ). Despite its critical importance, the power and the role of abstracts on the pre- and post-publication success of papers are generally overlooked and they are usually written prematurely at submission time ( 10 , 11 ). A badly-written and poor-quality abstract will confuse or turn off the potential readers and may also lead database indexers to make indexing errors or omissions ( 11 ).

Following our previous reports on how to write the Introduction ( 12 ), Material and Methods ( 13 ), Results ( 14 ), Discussion ( 15 ), and Title ( 16 ) of a hypothesis-testing paper, here, we provide a practical guide into writing an abstract. An overview is presented on the function, content, and organization of the abstract in a hypothesis-testing paper.

2. The Function of the Abstract

An abstract has three main functions: (1) provides a summary of the paper, (2) “sells” the paper to the editors, reviewers, and potential readers, and (3) helps with the indexing of the paper, making it retrieval by various search engines. As its name suggests, an abstract selects or pulls out the highlights from each section of the paper ( 17 ). The abstract provides a clear summary of the main story for the readers ( 17 ) and helps them to understand the main arguments of the paper quite quickly ( 18 ). An abstract generally answers at least three critical questions including “Why this study was carried out?”, “What did the authors do and how?”, and “What was the main result and what was new compared to previous works?” ( 19 ).

An abstract may critically affect both pre- and post-publication processes of the paper ( 11 ). Journal editors always read the abstract before going through the paper to get an initial impression of the work; moreover, reviewers’ decision on whether they should review a paper or not is almost entirely based on the abstract ( 10 , 11 ). Although a bad abstract may not by own lead to the rejection of a paper, it does, nevertheless, pave the way for a negative response of the editor ( 11 ). The abstract motivates the readers to go through the main text as it is the main mechanism by which readers decide on whether they should obtain and read the full paper ( 4 ).

The abstract is also used for indexing purposes, as most databases enable readers to search abstracts and to have a quick retrieval that limits the extraneous items recalled by a “full-text” search ( 18 ). A poorly-written abstract may lead to indexing errors or make the paper inaccessible in a literature search ( 11 ).

3. Content of the Abstract

The abstract of a hypothesis-testing paper consists of four basic parts: (1) the study question/hypothesis/objective, (2) the experiments/methods conducted to answer the question, (3) the results of the study, and (4) the answer to the question ( 7 , 17 ). Furthermore, the abstract may start with some background information, which will put the current study into perspective ( 20 ). The abstract may, then, end in applications, implications, recommendations, or speculations based on the answer to the question ( 17 ). The basic elements of the abstract of a hypothesis-testing paper are listed in Table 1 .

3.1. Background (Introduction)

The background information should be brief and in harmony with that given in the introduction section of the paper ( 17 ). Similar to the introduction, the background starts with a general topic (what is known in the field) and knowledge gap or problem, and narrows down to a specific topic (study question/hypothesis) of the study ( 4 ) (for more details see ( 12 ). The beginning can be more interesting by creating stress, e.g., by making a statement followed by “however” or “but” and then “stating a problem”, “contradiction”, or “gap in knowledge” ( 7 ). Addressing the author’s previous work in the background section of the abstract makes it annoying ( 4 ).

3.2. Hypothesis/Question

Study question/hypothesis or objective is a clear statement of the main aim of the study and major hypothesis tested or research question posted ( 21 ). Without addressing the study question/hypothesis, the abstract is meaningless and lacks an anchor for understanding the methods or the results ( 22 ). For questions including both an independent variable (X) and a dependent variable (Y), the question should be stated clearly using a verb to relate the independent and dependent variables, e.g., to determine whether X causes Y ( 17 ). For questions with only a dependent variable, the specific aspect of the dependent variable studied must be stated ( 17 ).

3.3. Experiments/Materials and Methods

To address the materials and methods used, essential and more important details are enough to indicate “how the hypothesis was tested” ( 4 , 17 ), including design, setting, subjects/participants, interventions (if any), the main outcome (s) ( 7 , 21 ), and a brief description of statistical methods ( 4 ). The experimental approach or the study design, including both independent and dependent variables, is also needed ( 17 ). When authors address the study setting, they need to give general rather than specific information (e.g., instead of naming the center, they can give the geographical location if it is important) ( 21 ). Describing standard techniques such as ELISA, PCR, etc. should be avoided ( 4 ). If the methodology is unique or of interest, addressing the methodological aspects of the study may be appropriate ( 2 ).

3.4. Results

Not all results, but only the most pertinent (those answering the question) are presented in the abstract ( 4 , 17 ). The main findings should be presented, not as general and broad statements but as specific results/data and their statistical significance (absolute numbers, percentages, means, coefficients, ratios, P values, confidence intervals) ( 2 , 23 ). A common flaw in abstracts is the inclusion of P values without providing the data; P values alone are not useful ( 17 ). Giving a P value should be accompanied by the mean, standard deviation, and sample size ( 17 ). Provide percent change rather than actual values (e.g. mean and standard deviation) when a quantitative idea of the data is approached ( 4 , 17 ). To make the abstract more efficient, details of the experiment (e.g., duration of the study, dependent variables) may be included in the statements of the results ( 17 ). Referring to data that are presented later in the manuscript should be avoided ( 4 ).

The results presented in the abstract should be arranged in a logical order, including chronological order and importance order (most-to-least or least-to-most important) ( 17 ). In the most-to-least important order, the experimental results come first and the control results are presented last. Similarly, variables that have changed come before variables that did not change ( 17 ). Another logical order is that the details of the results be presented in the same order as the details in the study question ( 17 ); for example, if the question is “whether lesions of the nucleus tractus solitarius alter pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary lymph flow without altering the systemic circulation”, so the results can be organized in the same order, first pulmonary artery pressure, next pulmonary lymph flow, and last systemic circulatory variables ( 17 ).

The study groups should be named clearly, e.g. intervention or controls. If baseline/pretreatment characteristics of the study participants are similar between the groups, there is no need to show all of them for each group; overall key median or mean values would suffice with a statement NS, i.e. non-significant ( 24 ).

3.5. Answer and Its Importance/Conclusion(s)

The answer to the question should be supported by data and must not go beyond the data presented ( 4 ). In this section, the authors need to state whether the hypothesis is accepted or rejected based on the data presented ( 4 ). The conclusions should be straightforward, brief, and specific to the study findings/observations ( 24 ). If word limit permits, the conclusion may begin with an opening statement such as “Our study showed …” or “Our results indicated…”. New and important aspects of the study or observations need to be emphasized ( 23 ). The answer should not be just a restatement of the results and no data should be presented here ( 4 ). To answer the question, use the same key-terms, point of view, and verb as in the question ( 17 ).

In the final sentence, state the importance of the work, e.g., if the conclusion (s) leads to change (s) in concept or the understanding of the field ( 4 ). This can be presented by stating the applications, recommendations, implications, or speculations that are based on the findings ( 17 ). Expressing the importance of the work should not be replaced with the answer to the question ( 17 ). Try to avoid any broad/general statements about the need for more research ( 2 ); instead, give explicit recommendations for further studies if warranted ( 15 ). Authors are advised to be specific and focused on their findings, do not overestimate the importance of them, and avoid broad claims and strong statements since even pioneering breakthrough studies require independent confirmation ( 24 ).

3.6. Others

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE, www.icmje.org) recommends that, if applicable, journals should include the clinical trial registration number at the end of the abstract ( 25 ). Furthermore, funding sources are also proposed to be listed separately after the abstract to facilitate proper display and indexing for search retrieval by MEDLINE ( 26 ).

It is suggested that abstracts do not include figures, tables, or citations to previous works ( 17 ). If authors are convinced that the abstract must include a reference to significant previous work, they should give the full reference because the abstract will stand alone in abstracting publications ( 27 ).

4. Organization of the Abstract

Similar to the text of the paper, an informative abstract is organized in the following order: background (if any), question, experiments, results, answer to the question, and importance of the work (by stating applications, recommendations, implications, or speculations) ( 17 ). Journals may favor an unstructured abstract, which is just a conventional abstract with running text; or they may prefer a more structured format that has distinct labeled sections ( 28 ). Historically, because almost all published papers did not provide any essential details in their abstracts, Ertl and Gazette in 1969 proposed that for all medical, clinical, and experimental papers, the important contents should be presented in a tabular format ( 29 ). After several revisions ( 30 , 31 ), “a more informative” abstract for articles of medical/clinical journals was defined with subheadings for background, objective, design, setting, participants, interventions (if any), outcomes, results, and conclusions ( 28 ). In 1993, ICMJE recommended the use of structured abstracts ( 23 ). The percentage of published papers in medical journals containing structured abstracts increased from 2.5% in 1992 to 20.3% in 2005 ( 32 ) and this number rose to more than 30% in 2010 ( 33 ).

Compared to the traditional format, structured abstracts provide more details, with clear headings for the main components of the abstract ( 30 , 31 , 34 ). This format also enables the readers to quickly judge about applicability and validity of the findings for clinical practice ( 30 ). Structured abstracts are also easier to search and more simple to read, and are generally welcomed by readers and authors ( 35 ). The structured abstract, however, has been criticized for its greater length and its imposed style and rigid uniformity that may inhibit author creativity and may bore the reader ( 27 ).

To organize a structured abstract, a factual standard reflecting the process of scientific discovery i.e. “Introduction-Methods-Results-Conclusions” is commonly recommended by medical journals (e.g. New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, Archives of Internal Medicine, American Journal of Medicine) ( 36 , 37 ). Other patterns of subheadings are also recommended, e.g., the 8-heading format proposed by Haynes et al. ( 30 ); a more frequent non-IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) format ( 37 ) is also used by some journals (e.g., BMJ, Journal of American Medical Association, Annual Review of Medicine). The ICMJE does acknowledge that the format of structured abstracts may differ amongst journals ( 25 ). Many reporting guidelines now recommend specific abstract formats depending on the study design, such as systematic reviews and randomized trials ( 28 , 38 , 39 ).

5. Features of a Well-Written Abstract

The ICMJE recommends that the abstract should emphasize new and important aspects of the study or observations, and not overinterpret the findings ( 25 ). A good abstract is simple, specific, clear, unbiased, honest, concise, precise, complete, and (preferably) structured ( 40 ). Since readers may never read further than the abstract, it should provide a general understanding of what was studied, how the study was done, what was found, and what conclusions were drawn. A well-written and informative abstract stands on its own, apart from the rest of the manuscript ( 4 , 17 ). It, however, should be consistent with the main text and exhibit the key message (s) of the paper ( 40 ). An important feature of a well-written abstract is the following of a consistent story or keeping continuity, defined as moving smoothly from the background information to the conclusion ( 17 ). Of course, a good abstract must be based on data already collected and analyzed. Reading abstracts from recent issues of the target journal may also provide some helpful hints ( 2 ). Some general tips to write an effective abstract are provided in Table 2 .

6. The Procedure for Writing an Effective Abstract

The abstract is written after completing all experiments and interpreting the data ( 4 ). Writing an abstract requires careful, logical, and clear thinking. To draft an abstract, a stepwise process needs to be followed ( 28 ). Planning, drafting, reviewing, peer-reviewing, editing, and packaging are proposed as essential steps of developing an abstract ( 2 , 41 ). Overall, the initial step is to consider the manuscript entirely and select key contents, weight the importance of each word, and iteratively polish the story ( 28 ). In drafting an abstract, a practical and efficient suggestion is to copy and paste from the main text. Thus, 2 - 3 key sentences can be selected each from the introduction, material and methods, and discussion (mainly the first or the concluding paragraph), and several sentences from the results (including statistical analysis) ( 28 ). Next, the obtained unfocused and disorganized text needs to be extensively edited by removing unnecessary details and extra words to provide coherence and a natural flow ( 28 ).

The first draft is proposed to be set aside for 1 - 2 days (a short resting period) and then, the authors need to edit it again; they can send it for peer review by an unbiased outsider (e.g., a colleague, advisor, other mentors) to give thoughtful, concise, and honest criticism of the work ( 2 ). After careful consideration of the comments, the authors can promote their work and prepare the final draft ( 2 ). The final step that needs to be considered is packaging, which is done by following the journal style and a final check for possible misspelled words, incorrect grammar, exceeding the word count, and failure to comply with size and font specifications ( 2 ).

7. Most Common Flaws and Mistakes in Writing an Abstract

Taking a look at the common mistakes and flaws of the published abstracts (extensively discussed elsewhere ( 11 , 17 )) is helpful to make an effective abstract. In brief, these weaknesses include omitting or vaguely stating the question, stating an application/implication instead of an answer, and substituting a descriptive abstract for a hypothesis-testing study ( 17 ). Missing important information, exceeding the word limits, providing extraneous information (e.g., literature findings around the topic), lacking appropriate organization, and overstating the data are other common mistakes that are generally seen in poorly written abstracts ( 11 ). Apart from content mistakes, there are also two other common mistakes that are generally made in writing an abstract for a scientific paper. These are formal aspects (e.g., the layout of the abstract, its structure and length) and linguistic-stylistic aspects (grammar and spelling, stylistics and punctuation) ( 42 ). The typical characteristics of a poorly-written abstract include not being self-sufficient, being like an introduction rather than a summary, containing irrelevant details, and not giving any background information ( 19 ). Other common flaws include misleading reporting, misleading interpretation and inadequate extrapolation of the results, using causal language, linguistic spin, inadequate statement of implications for clinical practice, and absence of negative results ( 43 ). Some common flaws and mistakes in writing an abstract are provided in Box 1 .

8. Abstract for a Scientific Meeting

The selection of presentations in scientific meetings is based on abstracts ( 4 ) and the main function of a meeting abstract is, therefore, to showcase the author’s valuable contribution and to highlight the work for attracting audiences ( 10 , 17 ). Writing a meeting abstract needs to follow the same guidelines as abstracts for papers, except that it is likely to include more details of the methods and to display data in a table or a graph ( 17 ). More details regarding writing an effective and informative abstract for a meeting are presented elsewhere ( 17 , 45 , 46 ).

9. Keywords

At the end of the abstract, 3 to 10 keywords or short phrases are usually provided that are used for cross-indexing so that various search engines can retrieve the paper. Keywords are proposed to be obtained through the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of Index Medicus ( 23 ). It is suggested that keywords be different from the words that are within the main title; however, they can be variants of the terms/phrases that are used in the title, the abstract, and the main text ( 40 ). Effective keywords are those that are familiar within the field and are specific to the paper (i.e., terms used more than twice in the text) ( 10 ). Listing very general terms as keywords is not recommended (e.g., protein or DNA) because they are not helpful ( 10 ). A practical guide to choosing effective keywords is to list the main related keywords and then, doing a search using the same words to verify whether they are effective in retrieving appropriate papers within the field of interest ( 10 ). Authors can also use the “MeSH on-demand” browser for selecting keywords (https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/MeSHonDemand).

10. Conclusion

Overall, a well-written abstract should accurately summarize the main aspects of the full paper. It should be simple, clear, unbiased, honest, concise, precise, stand-alone, complete, and preferably structured. The first impressions that an abstract makes may go a long way towards the decisions made by the editors and the reviewers of the paper. Also, the post-publication success of the paper, such as citation performance, is also affected by the abstract. The ability to make an informative and accurate abstract, including a concise and clear statement of the problem/gap of knowledge, the motivation behind the research, the study question/hypothesis, enough description of the experiments, novel results, and a captivating conclusion, is a critical skill with broad implications. Authors, therefore, need to follow available guidelines and journal’s guide for authors to arrange a strong and convincing abstract.

Authors' Contribution: Study concept and design: Zahra Bahadoran and Asghar Ghasemi; drafting of the manuscript: Zahra Bahadoran, Parvin Mirmiran, and Asghar Ghasemi; critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Khosrow Kashfi and Parvin Mirmiran.

Conflict of Interests: The authors have no conflict of interest.

Funding Support: This study was supported by the Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.

Writing an Abstract for Your Research Paper

Definition and Purpose of Abstracts

An abstract is a short summary of your (published or unpublished) research paper, usually about a paragraph (c. 6-7 sentences, 150-250 words) long. A well-written abstract serves multiple purposes:

• an abstract lets readers get the gist or essence of your paper or article quickly, in order to decide whether to read the full paper;
• an abstract prepares readers to follow the detailed information, analyses, and arguments in your full paper;
• and, later, an abstract helps readers remember key points from your paper.

It’s also worth remembering that search engines and bibliographic databases use abstracts, as well as the title, to identify key terms for indexing your published paper. So what you include in your abstract and in your title are crucial for helping other researchers find your paper or article.

If you are writing an abstract for a course paper, your professor may give you specific guidelines for what to include and how to organize your abstract. Similarly, academic journals often have specific requirements for abstracts. So in addition to following the advice on this page, you should be sure to look for and follow any guidelines from the course or journal you’re writing for.

The Contents of an Abstract

Abstracts contain most of the following kinds of information in brief form. The body of your paper will, of course, develop and explain these ideas much more fully. As you will see in the samples below, the proportion of your abstract that you devote to each kind of information—and the sequence of that information—will vary, depending on the nature and genre of the paper that you are summarizing in your abstract. And in some cases, some of this information is implied, rather than stated explicitly. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , which is widely used in the social sciences, gives specific guidelines for what to include in the abstract for different kinds of papers—for empirical studies, literature reviews or meta-analyses, theoretical papers, methodological papers, and case studies.

Here are the typical kinds of information found in most abstracts:

• the context or background information for your research; the general topic under study; the specific topic of your research
• the central questions or statement of the problem your research addresses
• what’s already known about this question, what previous research has done or shown
• the main reason(s) , the exigency, the rationale , the goals for your research—Why is it important to address these questions? Are you, for example, examining a new topic? Why is that topic worth examining? Are you filling a gap in previous research? Applying new methods to take a fresh look at existing ideas or data? Resolving a dispute within the literature in your field? . . .
• your research and/or analytical methods
• your main findings , results , or arguments
• the significance or implications of your findings or arguments.

Your abstract should be intelligible on its own, without a reader’s having to read your entire paper. And in an abstract, you usually do not cite references—most of your abstract will describe what you have studied in your research and what you have found and what you argue in your paper. In the body of your paper, you will cite the specific literature that informs your research.

When to Write Your Abstract

Although you might be tempted to write your abstract first because it will appear as the very first part of your paper, it’s a good idea to wait to write your abstract until after you’ve drafted your full paper, so that you know what you’re summarizing.

What follows are some sample abstracts in published papers or articles, all written by faculty at UW-Madison who come from a variety of disciplines. We have annotated these samples to help you see the work that these authors are doing within their abstracts.

Choosing Verb Tenses within Your Abstract

The social science sample (Sample 1) below uses the present tense to describe general facts and interpretations that have been and are currently true, including the prevailing explanation for the social phenomenon under study. That abstract also uses the present tense to describe the methods, the findings, the arguments, and the implications of the findings from their new research study. The authors use the past tense to describe previous research.

The humanities sample (Sample 2) below uses the past tense to describe completed events in the past (the texts created in the pulp fiction industry in the 1970s and 80s) and uses the present tense to describe what is happening in those texts, to explain the significance or meaning of those texts, and to describe the arguments presented in the article.

The science samples (Samples 3 and 4) below use the past tense to describe what previous research studies have done and the research the authors have conducted, the methods they have followed, and what they have found. In their rationale or justification for their research (what remains to be done), they use the present tense. They also use the present tense to introduce their study (in Sample 3, “Here we report . . .”) and to explain the significance of their study (In Sample 3, This reprogramming . . . “provides a scalable cell source for. . .”).

Sample Abstract 1

From the social sciences.

Reporting new findings about the reasons for increasing economic homogamy among spouses

Gonalons-Pons, Pilar, and Christine R. Schwartz. “Trends in Economic Homogamy: Changes in Assortative Mating or the Division of Labor in Marriage?” Demography , vol. 54, no. 3, 2017, pp. 985-1005.

Sample Abstract 2

From the humanities.

Analyzing underground pulp fiction publications in Tanzania, this article makes an argument about the cultural significance of those publications

Emily Callaci. “Street Textuality: Socialism, Masculinity, and Urban Belonging in Tanzania’s Pulp Fiction Publishing Industry, 1975-1985.” Comparative Studies in Society and History , vol. 59, no. 1, 2017, pp. 183-210.

Sample Abstract/Summary 3

From the sciences.

Reporting a new method for reprogramming adult mouse fibroblasts into induced cardiac progenitor cells

Lalit, Pratik A., Max R. Salick, Daryl O. Nelson, Jayne M. Squirrell, Christina M. Shafer, Neel G. Patel, Imaan Saeed, Eric G. Schmuck, Yogananda S. Markandeya, Rachel Wong, Martin R. Lea, Kevin W. Eliceiri, Timothy A. Hacker, Wendy C. Crone, Michael Kyba, Daniel J. Garry, Ron Stewart, James A. Thomson, Karen M. Downs, Gary E. Lyons, and Timothy J. Kamp. “Lineage Reprogramming of Fibroblasts into Proliferative Induced Cardiac Progenitor Cells by Defined Factors.” Cell Stem Cell , vol. 18, 2016, pp. 354-367.

Sample Abstract 4, a Structured Abstract

Reporting results about the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy in managing acute bacterial sinusitis, from a rigorously controlled study

Note: This journal requires authors to organize their abstract into four specific sections, with strict word limits. Because the headings for this structured abstract are self-explanatory, we have chosen not to add annotations to this sample abstract.

Wald, Ellen R., David Nash, and Jens Eickhoff. “Effectiveness of Amoxicillin/Clavulanate Potassium in the Treatment of Acute Bacterial Sinusitis in Children.” Pediatrics , vol. 124, no. 1, 2009, pp. 9-15.

“OBJECTIVE: The role of antibiotic therapy in managing acute bacterial sinusitis (ABS) in children is controversial. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of high-dose amoxicillin/potassium clavulanate in the treatment of children diagnosed with ABS.

METHODS : This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Children 1 to 10 years of age with a clinical presentation compatible with ABS were eligible for participation. Patients were stratified according to age (<6 or ≥6 years) and clinical severity and randomly assigned to receive either amoxicillin (90 mg/kg) with potassium clavulanate (6.4 mg/kg) or placebo. A symptom survey was performed on days 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 20, and 30. Patients were examined on day 14. Children’s conditions were rated as cured, improved, or failed according to scoring rules.

RESULTS: Two thousand one hundred thirty-five children with respiratory complaints were screened for enrollment; 139 (6.5%) had ABS. Fifty-eight patients were enrolled, and 56 were randomly assigned. The mean age was 6630 months. Fifty (89%) patients presented with persistent symptoms, and 6 (11%) presented with nonpersistent symptoms. In 24 (43%) children, the illness was classified as mild, whereas in the remaining 32 (57%) children it was severe. Of the 28 children who received the antibiotic, 14 (50%) were cured, 4 (14%) were improved, 4(14%) experienced treatment failure, and 6 (21%) withdrew. Of the 28children who received placebo, 4 (14%) were cured, 5 (18%) improved, and 19 (68%) experienced treatment failure. Children receiving the antibiotic were more likely to be cured (50% vs 14%) and less likely to have treatment failure (14% vs 68%) than children receiving the placebo.

CONCLUSIONS : ABS is a common complication of viral upper respiratory infections. Amoxicillin/potassium clavulanate results in significantly more cures and fewer failures than placebo, according to parental report of time to resolution.” (9)

Some Excellent Advice about Writing Abstracts for Basic Science Research Papers, by Professor Adriano Aguzzi from the Institute of Neuropathology at the University of Zurich:

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How to write an abstract that will be accepted

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• Peer review
• Mary Higgins , fellow in maternal fetal medicine 1 ,
• Maeve Eogan , consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist 2 ,
• Keelin O’Donoghue , consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, and senior lecturer 3 ,
• Noirin Russell , consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist 3
• 1 Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2 Rotunda Hospital Dublin, Ireland
• 3 Cork University Maternity Hospital, Ireland
• mairenihuigin{at}gmail.com

Researchers do not always appreciate the importance of producing a good abstract or understand the best way of writing one. Mary Higgins and colleagues share some of the lessons they have learnt as both researchers and reviewers of abstracts

Effective abstracts reflect the time, work, and importance of the scientific research performed in the course of a study. A last minute approach and poor writing may not reflect the good quality of a study.

Between the four of us we have written over 150 published papers, as well as having reviewed numerous abstracts for national and international meetings. Nevertheless, we have all had abstracts rejected, and this experience has emphasised a number of teaching points that could help maximise the impact of abstracts and success on the world, or other, stage.

An abstract is the first glimpse an audience has of a study, and it is the ticket to having research accepted for presentation to a wider audience. For a study to receive the respect it deserves, the abstract should be as well written as possible. In practice, this means taking time to write the abstract, keeping it simple, reading the submission guidelines, checking the text, and showing the abstract to colleagues.

It is important to take the necessary time to write the abstract. Several months or years have been spent on this groundbreaking research, so take the time to show this. Five minutes before the call for abstracts closes is not the time to start putting it together.

Keep it simple, and think about the message that needs to be communicated. Some abstracts churn out lots of unrelated results and then have a conclusion that does not relate to the results, and this is just confusing. Plan what points need to be made, and then think about them a little more.

Read the submission guidelines and keep to the instructions provided in the call for abstracts. Don’t submit an unstructured abstract if the guidance has asked for a structured one. Comply with the word or letter count, and do not go over this.

An abstract comprises five parts of equal importance: the title, introduction and aims, methods, results, and conclusion. Allow enough time to write each part well.

The title should go straight to the point of the study. Make the study sound interesting so that it catches people’s attention. The introduction should include a brief background to the research and describe its aims. For every aim presented there needs to be a corresponding result in the results section. There is no need to go into detail in terms of the background to the study, as those who are reviewing the abstract will have some knowledge of the subject. The methods section can be kept simple—it is acceptable to write “retrospective case-control study” or “randomised controlled trial.”

The results section should be concrete and related to the aims. It is distracting and irritating to read results that have no apparent relation to the professed aims of the study. If something is important, highlight it or put it in italics to make it stand out. Include the number of participants, and ensure recognition is given if 10 000 charts have been reviewed. Equally, a percentage without a baseline number is not meaningful.

In the conclusion, state succinctly what can be drawn from the results, but don’t oversell this. Words like “possibly” and “may” can be useful in this part of the abstract but show that some thought has been put into what the results may mean. This is what divides the good from the not so good. Many people are capable of doing research, but the logical formation of a hypothesis and the argument of its proof are what make a real researcher.

Once you have written the abstract, check the spelling and grammar. Poor spelling or grammar can give the impression that the research is also poor. Show the abstract to the supervisor or principal investigator of the study, as this person’s name will go on the abstract as well. Then show the abstract to someone who knows nothing about the particular area of research but who knows something about the subject. Someone detached from the study might point out the one thing that needs to be said but that has been forgotten.

Then let it go; abstracts are not life and death scenarios. Sometimes an abstract will not be accepted no matter how wonderful it is. Perhaps there is a theme to the meeting, into which the research does not fit. Reviewers may also be looking for particular things. For one conference, we limited the number of case reports so that only about 10% were accepted. It may be that your research is in a popular or topical area and not all abstracts in that area can be chosen. On occasions, politics play a part, and individual researchers have little control over that.

Finally, remember that sometimes even the best reviewer may not appreciate the subtleties of your research and another audience may be more appreciative.

Competing interests: We have read and understood the BMJ Group policy on declaration of interests and have no relevant interests to declare.

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• How to Write an Abstract

Expedite peer review, increase search-ability, and set the tone for your study

The abstract is your chance to let your readers know what they can expect from your article. Learn how to write a clear, and concise abstract that will keep your audience reading.

How your abstract impacts editorial evaluation and future readership

After the title , the abstract is the second-most-read part of your article. A good abstract can help to expedite peer review and, if your article is accepted for publication, it’s an important tool for readers to find and evaluate your work. Editors use your abstract when they first assess your article. Prospective reviewers see it when they decide whether to accept an invitation to review. Once published, the abstract gets indexed in PubMed and Google Scholar , as well as library systems and other popular databases. Like the title, your abstract influences keyword search results. Readers will use it to decide whether to read the rest of your article. Other researchers will use it to evaluate your work for inclusion in systematic reviews and meta-analysis. It should be a concise standalone piece that accurately represents your research. 

What to include in an abstract

The main challenge you’ll face when writing your abstract is keeping it concise AND fitting in all the information you need. Depending on your subject area the journal may require a structured abstract following specific headings. A structured abstract helps your readers understand your study more easily. If your journal doesn’t require a structured abstract it’s still a good idea to follow a similar format, just present the abstract as one paragraph without headings. 

Background or Introduction – What is currently known? Start with a brief, 2 or 3 sentence, introduction to the research area. 

Objectives or Aims – What is the study and why did you do it? Clearly state the research question you’re trying to answer.

Methods – What did you do? Explain what you did and how you did it. Include important information about your methods, but avoid the low-level specifics. Some disciplines have specific requirements for abstract methods. 

• CONSORT for randomized trials.
• STROBE for observational studies
• PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses

Results – What did you find? Briefly give the key findings of your study. Include key numeric data (including confidence intervals or p values), where possible.

Conclusions – What did you conclude? Tell the reader why your findings matter, and what this could mean for the ‘bigger picture’ of this area of research. 

Writing tips

The main challenge you may find when writing your abstract is keeping it concise AND convering all the information you need to.

• Keep it concise and to the point. Most journals have a maximum word count, so check guidelines before you write the abstract to save time editing it later.
• Write for your audience. Are they specialists in your specific field? Are they cross-disciplinary? Are they non-specialists? If you’re writing for a general audience, or your research could be of interest to the public keep your language as straightforward as possible. If you’re writing in English, do remember that not all of your readers will necessarily be native English speakers.
• Focus on key results, conclusions and take home messages.
• Write your paper first, then create the abstract as a summary.
• Check the journal requirements before you write your abstract, eg. required subheadings.
• Include keywords or phrases to help readers search for your work in indexing databases like PubMed or Google Scholar.
• Double and triple check your abstract for spelling and grammar errors. These kind of errors can give potential reviewers the impression that your research isn’t sound, and can make it easier to find reviewers who accept the invitation to review your manuscript. Your abstract should be a taste of what is to come in the rest of your article.

Don’t

• Sensationalize your research.
• Speculate about where this research might lead in the future.
• Use abbreviations or acronyms (unless absolutely necessary or unless they’re widely known, eg. DNA).
• Repeat yourself unnecessarily, eg. “Methods: We used X technique. Results: Using X technique, we found…”
• Contradict anything in the rest of your manuscript.
• Include content that isn’t also covered in the main manuscript.
• Include citations or references.

Tip: How to edit your work

Editing is challenging, especially if you are acting as both a writer and an editor. Read our guidelines for advice on how to refine your work, including useful tips for setting your intentions, re-review, and consultation with colleagues.

• How to Write a Great Title
• How to Write Your Methods
• How to Report Statistics
• How to Write Discussions and Conclusions
• How to Edit Your Work

The contents of the Peer Review Center are also available as a live, interactive training session, complete with slides, talking points, and activities. …

The contents of the Writing Center are also available as a live, interactive training session, complete with slides, talking points, and activities. …

There’s a lot to consider when deciding where to submit your work. Learn how to choose a journal that will help your study reach its audience, while reflecting your values as a researcher…

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An abstract usually has the following sections.

Conference and journal guidelines will tell you the word limit and what format to use. Some will ask you to break the information into sections (as seen below), others will ask you to put the information together in a single paragraph.

• Background / Objective : What is public health problem you are addressing? What is its scope? What is the purpose of your article / presentation?
• Methods : What was your study design? How did you collect data? How did you analyze your data?
• Results : What did you find that is most relevant to the objective stated above?
• Discussion / Implications / Recommendations : What is the significance of your research? What are the implications for addressing the public health challenge? What next steps do you recommend?

Beard, J. (2022, April 13). Writing public health abstracts . Public Health Writing Program. Retrieved July 12, 2022, from https://blogs.bu.edu/jenbeard/2022/04/13/writing-public-health-abstracts/

• SPH Blog: Writing Public Health Abstracts

Useful Resources

Suhasini Nagda. 2013. How to Write Scientific Abstracts . Journal of Indian Prosthdontic Society. 13(3): 382-383

Karen McKee. 2022. How to Write a Scientific Abstract for Your Research Article . Wiley Network.

Purdue Owl. Writing Scientific Abstracts .

For more information about Abstract Writing, head over to SPH's Public Health Writing blog , where you will find countless wonderful articles written by SPH Professor and Director of the Public Health Writing Program, Jen Beard.

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Writing an Abstract

Writing an abstract is a skill like any other.  

Abstracts are short summaries of your research and, although the format may vary slightly depending on where they are being submitted, there are standard guidelines about what should be in an abstract. The purpose of an abstract is to provide readers a brief summary of your study so that they may determine if they want to learn more about the research. An abstract should use proper terminology but should also be geared toward a reader who may have only a cursory familiarity with the research area.

General Guidelines

• Omit all researcher names and affiliations from the body of the abstract.
• Avoid the use of new technical words, laboratory slang, words not defined in dictionaries or abbreviations and terminology not consistent with internationally accepted guidelines. If you do use abbreviations define them in body of the abstract the first time they are used .
• Eliminate jargon. Showing off your technical vocabulary will not demonstrate your research’s value. If you can’t avoid using a technical term, add a nontechnical synonym to help nonspecialists infer the term’s meaning.
• Brevity is the goal. Most abstracts have a word limit of around 250 to 300 words. Omit needless words, redundant modifiers, over-the-top diction, and excessive detail.
• An abstract should have the same structure a research article: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Conclusions . Depending on the required format you may be required to use these or similar headings within the body of the abstract but even if you do not use these headings the structure of the abstract should implicitly follow this format.
• Eliminate expressions such as “It is my opinion that,” “I have concluded,” “The main point supporting my view concerns” or “Certainly, there is little doubt as to.” Focus readers’ attention solely the findings, not on opinion.
• Examine other abstracts for examples of successful abstracts .  If you are submitting to a journal, look at the abstracts for papers recently published in that journal. If you are submitting to a conference, look at abstracts printed in past years’ meeting programs.
• Before submitting your abstract have a colleague who has limited knowledge of your research area read and comment on it to determine how understandable it is. Remember you will often know more about your research area than those who review your work so having someone with a similar knowledge base to the potential reviewers will help determine how well you have written the abstract.
• Remember an abstract is you telling a short story about your research.

Things To Ask Yourself When You Are Writing An Abstract

• Have I stated why my research is important to a larger problem?
• Have I stated the specific aims of my research project?
• Have I indicated the most important hypothesis(es)?
• Have I identified the type of study I conducted (experimental, clinical trial, non-experimental, survey, case study, etc).
• Have I clearly and precisely identified the sample being studied? Be specific. For example if you are studying veterans over 60 who are cardiology patients, state that rather than just stating cardiology patients. 
• Have I clearly identified the variables being examined? State explicitly what your independent and dependent variables are. Use general terms when possible and more specific terms when necessary.  
• Have I stated the most important finding clearly and in a way that someone without deep technical knowledge of the field can understand? 
• Do the results reflect what I actually did in terms of statistical analyses?   Be prudent in reporting statistical findings. You may provide statistics but don’t rely on them to completely tell the story of the findings. You also need to communicate the inferences from your statistical findings. If you conducted correlations or regressions do you describe the relationships between variables? If you examined naturally occurring groups or treatment groups (t-test, ANOVA), do you frame the results around how the groups were different on your dependent measure(s)?
• Are the findings reported directly related the hypothesis stated earlier? Are the findings consisted or inconsistent with prediction of the hypothesis?
• Are my conclusions simply a restating of the results?   Conclusions should not just be a restating of the results. The conclusions should be about the implications of the results and should refer back to the purpose of the study stated earlier in the abstract. 

How to Write an Abstract?

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• Atul Kakar 5 &
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An abstract is a crisp, short, powerful, and self-contained summary of a research manuscript used to help the reader swiftly determine the paper’s purpose. Although the abstract is the first paragraph of the manuscript it should be written last when all the other sections have been addressed.

Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose. — Zora Neale Hurston, American Author, Anthropologist and Filmmaker (1891–1960)

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Writing the Abstract

Abstract and Keywords

Additional Commentaries

1 what is an abstract.

An abstract is usually a standalone document that informs the reader about the details of the manuscript to follow. It is like a trailer to a movie, if the trailer is good, it stimulates the audience to watch the movie. The abstract should be written from scratch and not ‘cut –and-pasted’ [ 1 ].

2 What is the History of the Abstract?

An abstract, in the form of a single paragraph, was first published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 1960 with the idea that the readers may not have enough time to go through the whole paper, and the first abstract with a defined structure was published in 1991 [ 2 ]. The idea sold and now most original articles and reviews are required to have a structured abstract. The abstract attracts the reader to read the full manuscript [ 3 ].

3 What are the Qualities of a Good Abstract?

The quality of information in an abstract can be summarized by four ‘C’s. It should be:

C: Condensed

C: Critical

4 What are the Types of Abstract?

Before writing the abstract, you need to check with the journal website about which type of abstract it requires, with its length and style in the ‘Instructions to Authors’ section.

The abstract types can be divided into:

Descriptive: Usually written for psychology, social science, and humanities papers. It is about 50–100 words long. No conclusions can be drawn from this abstract as it describes the major points in the paper.

Informative: The majority of abstracts for science-related manuscripts are informative and are surrogates for the research done. They are single paragraphs that provide the reader an overview of the research paper and are about 100–150 words in length. Conclusions can be drawn from the abstracts and in the recommendations written in the last line.

Critical: This type of abstract is lengthy and about 400–500 words. In this, the authors’ own research is discussed for reliability, judgement, and validation. A comparison is also made with similar studies done earlier.

Highlighting: This is rarely used in scientific writing. The style of the abstract is to attract more readers. It is not a balanced or complete overview of the article with which it is published.

Structured: A structured abstract contains information under subheadings like background, aims, material and methods, results, conclusion, and recommendations (Fig. 15.1 ). Most leading journals now carry these.

Example of a structured abstract (with permission editor CMRP)

5 What is the Purpose of an Abstract?

An abstract is written to educate the reader about the study that follows and provide an overview of the science behind it. If written well it also attracts more readers to the article. It also helps the article getting indexed. The fate of a paper both before and after publication often depends upon its abstract. Most readers decide if a paper is worth reading on the basis of the abstract. Additionally, the selection of papers in systematic reviews is often dependent upon the abstract.

6 What are the Steps of Writing an Abstract?

An abstract should be written last after all the other sections of an article have been addressed. A poor abstract may turn off the reader and they may cause indexing errors as well. The abstract should state the purpose of the study, the methodology used, and summarize the results and important conclusions. It is usually written in the IMRAD format and is called a structured abstract [ 4 , 5 ].

I: The introduction in the opening line should state the problem you are addressing.

M: Methodology—what method was chosen to finish the experiment?

R: Results—state the important findings of your study.

D: Discussion—discuss why your study is important.

Mention the following information:

Important results with the statistical information ( p values, confidence intervals, standard/mean deviation).

Arrange all information in a chronological order.

Do not repeat any information.

The last line should state the recommendations from your study.

The abstract should be written in the past tense.

7 What are the Things to Be Avoided While Writing an Abstract?

Cut and paste information from the main text

Hold back important information

Use abbreviations

Tables or Figures

Generalized statements

Arguments about the study

8 What are Key Words?

These are important words that are repeated throughout the manuscript and which help in the indexing of a paper. Depending upon the journal 3–10 key words may be required which are indexed with the help of MESH (Medical Subject Heading).

9 How is an Abstract Written for a Conference Different from a Journal Paper?

The basic concept for writing abstracts is the same. However, in a conference abstract occasionally a table or figure is allowed. A word limit is important in both of them. Many of the abstracts which are presented in conferences are never published in fact one study found that only 27% of the abstracts presented in conferences were published in the next five years [ 6 ].

Table 15.1 gives a template for writing an abstract.

10 What are the Important Recommendations of the International Committees of Medical Journal of Editors?

The recommendations are [ 7 ]:

An abstract is required for original articles, metanalysis, and systematic reviews.

A structured abstract is preferred.

The abstract should mention the purpose of the scientific study, how the procedure was carried out, the analysis used, and principal conclusion.

Clinical trials should be reported according to the CONSORT guidelines.

The trials should also mention the funding and the trial number.

The abstract should be accurate as many readers have access only to the abstract.

11 Conclusions

An Abstract should be written last after all the other sections of the manuscript have been completed and with due care and attention to the details.

It should be structured and written in the IMRAD format.

For many readers, the abstract attracts them to go through the complete content of the article.

The abstract is usually followed by key words that help to index the paper.

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Preparing a manuscript for submission to a medical journal. Available on http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/manuscript-preparation/preparing-for-submission.html . Accessed 10 May 2020.

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Department of Surgical Gastroenterology and Liver Transplantation, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, India

Samiran Nundy

Department of Internal Medicine, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, India

Institute for Global Health and Development, The Aga Khan University, South Central Asia, East Africa and United Kingdom, Karachi, Pakistan

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Nundy, S., Kakar, A., Bhutta, Z.A. (2022). How to Write an Abstract?. In: How to Practice Academic Medicine and Publish from Developing Countries?. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5248-6_15

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Preparation, submission, and presentation of an abstract are important facets of the research process, which benefit the investigator/author in several ways. Writing an abstract consists primarily of answering the questions, "Why did you start?" "What did you do?" "What did you find?" and "What does it mean?" A few practical steps in preparing to write the abstract can facilitate the process. This article discusses those steps and offers suggestions for writing each of an abstract's components (title, author list, introduction, methods, results, and conclusions); considers the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating a table or figure into the abstract; offers several general writing tips; and provides annotated examples of well-prepared abstracts: one from an original study, one from a method/device evaluation, and one from a case report.

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What are structured abstracts?

A structured abstract is an abstract with distinct, labeled sections (e.g., Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) for rapid comprehension (see Figure 1 ).

What kinds of structures are used?

Standardized formats for structured abstracts have been defined for original research studies, review articles and clinical practice guidelines ( 1 , 2 ). The IMRAD format (INTRODUCTION, METHODS, RESULTS, and DISCUSSION), a defacto standard that reflects the process of scientific discovery ( 3 ), is commonly used as a structure for journal abstracts ( 4 , 5 ). The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) Group issued a guideline for how to report randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in journal and conference abstracts using a structured format ( 6 ).

Why use structured abstracts?

Structured abstracts have several advantages for authors and readers. These formats were developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s to assist health professionals in selecting clinically relevant and methodologically valid journal articles. They also guide authors in summarizing the content of their manuscripts precisely, facilitate the peer-review process for manuscripts submitted for publication, and enhance computerized literature searching ( 1 , 2 ).

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE, of which NLM is a sitting member), whose "Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals" document provides general guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to journals, requires the use of structured abstracts for original research articles, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. ICMJE does acknowledge that the format required for structured abstracts differs from journal to journal and that some journals use more than one structure ( 7 ).

The substantial growth in both the individual number of PubMed records with structured abstracts and in the number of journals that continuously publish structured abstracts demonstrates widespread adoption of structured abstracts over the years ( 8 ). Structured abstracts perform better than unstructured abstracts for the discovery of corresponding MeSH (Medical Subject Headings®) terms using the Medical Text Indexer (MTI) software application ( 9 ). More information about NLM research on structured abstracts including technical details for the NLM implementation of structured abstracts can be found at Structured Abstracts in MEDLINE .

How are structured abstracts formatted in PubMed?

NLM uses all uppercase letters followed by a colon and space for the labels that appear in structured abstracts in MEDLINE/PubMed ® citations (see Figure 1 ).

How can I search for structured abstracts in PubMed?

In a PubMed search box, type:

See the structured abstract search results in PubMed .

References:

1 . Haynes RB, Mulrow CD, Huth EJ, Altman DG, Gardner MJ. More informative abstracts revisited. Ann Intern Med. 1990 Jul 1;113(1):69-76. PubMed PMID: 2190518 . Available from: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/0003-4819-113-1-69 .

2 . Hayward RS, Wilson MC, Tunis SR, Bass EB, Rubin HR, Haynes RB. More informative abstracts of articles describing clinical practice guidelines. Ann Intern Med. 1993 May 1;118(9):731-7. PubMed PMID: 8460861 . Available from: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/0003-4819-118-9-199305010-00012 .

3 . Sollaci LB, Pereira MG. The introduction, methods, results, and discussion (IMRAD) structure: a fifty-year survey. J Med Libr Assoc. 2004 Jul;92(3):364-7. PubMed PMID: 15243643 ; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC442179 .

4 . Nakayama T, Hirai N, Yamazaki S, Naito M. Adoption of structured abstracts by general medical journals and format for a structured abstract. J Med Libr Assoc. 2005 Apr;93(2):237-42. PubMed PMID: 15858627 ; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC1082941 .

5 . Kulkarni H. Structured abstracts: still more. Ann Intern Med. 1996 Apr 1;124(7):695-6. PubMed PMID: 8607606 . Available from: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/0003-4819-124-7-199604010-00020 .

6 . Hopewell S, Clarke M, Moher D, Wager E, Middleton P, Altman DG, Schulz KF; CONSORT Group. CONSORT for reporting randomized controlled trials in journal and conference abstracts: explanation and elaboration. PLoS Med. 2008 Jan 22;5(1):e20. PubMed PMID: 18215107 ; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2211558 .

7 . International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (ICMJE Recommendations). 2013 Aug [cited 2013 Aug 21]. Available from: http://www.icmje.org .

8 . Ripple AM, Mork JG, Rozier JM, Knecht LS. Structured abstracts in MEDLINE: twenty-five years later. Bethesda, MD: National Library of Medicine; 2012 [cited 2014 Sep 17]. Available from: https://structuredabstracts.nlm.nih.gov/Structured_Abstracts_in_MEDLINE_Twenty-Years_Later.pdf .

9 . Ripple AM, Mork JG, Thompson HJ, Schmidt SC, Knecht LS. Performance comparison of MEDLINE structured abstracts to unstructured abstracts. Poster session presented at: National Institutes of Health Research Festival; 2014 Sep 22-24; Bethesda, MD. Available from: https://researchfestival.nih.gov/festival14/poster-RSCHSUPP-19.html .

• Ripple AM, Mork JG, Knecht LS, Humphreys BL. A retrospective cohort study of structured abstracts in MEDLINE, 1992-2006. J Med Libr Assoc. 2011 Apr;99(2):160-3. PubMed PMID: 21464855 ; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3066587 .

Last Reviewed: December 14, 2023

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Writing a Research Abstract

The written abstract is used in making selections for presentations at scientific meetings. Writing a good abstract is a formidable undertaking and many novice researchers wonder how it is possible to condense months of work into 300 to 400 words. Nevertheless, creating a well-written abstract is a skill that can be learned and mastering the skill will increase the probability that your research will be selected for presentation.

The first rule of writing abstracts is to know the rules. Organizers of scientific meetings set explicit limits on the length abstracts.

Authors must pay close attention to the published details of the meeting including deadlines and suggested format. Since reviewers have many abstracts to read and rank; those that don't conform to the stated rules are simply discarded.

The scientific abstract is usually divided into five unique sections: Title and Author Information, Introduction, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. The following paragraphs summarize what is expected in each of these sections.

Title and Author Information: The title should summarize the abstract and convince the reviewers that the topic is important, relevant, and innovative. To create a winning title, write out 6 to 10 key words found in the abstract and string them into various sentences. Once you have a sentence that adequately conveys the meaning of the work, try to condense the title yet still convey the essential message. Some organizations require a special format for the title, such as all uppercase letters, all bolded, or in italics. Be sure to check the instructions.

Following the title, the names of all authors and their institutional affiliations are listed. It is assumed the first author listed will make the oral presentation. Determine if the first author needs to meet any eligibility requirements to make the presentation. For example, the first author may need to be a member of the professional society sponsoring the research meeting. This information is always included with the abstract instructions.

Introduction: This usually consists of several sentences outlining the question addressed by the research. Make the first sentence of the introduction as interesting and dramatic as possible. For example, "100,000 people each year die of…" is more interesting than "An important cause of mortality is…" If space permits, provide a concise review of what is known about the problem addressed by the research, what remains unknown, and how your research project fills the knowledge gaps. The final sentence of the introduction describes the purpose of the study or the study's a priori hypothesis.

Methods: This is the most difficult section of the abstract to write. It must be scaled down sufficiently to allow the entire abstract to fit into the box, but at the same time it must be detailed enough to judge the validity of the work. For most clinical research abstracts, the following areas are specifically mentioned: research design; research setting; number of patients enrolled in the study and how they were selected; a description of the intervention (if appropriate); and a listing of the outcome variables and how they were measured. Finally, the statistical methods used to analyze the data are described.

Results: This section begins with a description of the subjects that were included and excluded from the study. For those excluded, provide the reason for their exclusion. Next, list the frequencies of the most important outcome variables. If possible, present comparisons of the outcome variables between various subgroups within the study (treated vs. untreated, young vs. old, male vs. female, and so forth). This type of data can be efficiently presented in a table, which is an excellent use of space. But before doing this, check the rules to see if tables can be used in the abstract. Numerical results should include standard deviations or 95% confidence limits and the level of statistical significance. If the results are not statistically significant, present the power of your study (beta-error rate) to detect a difference.

Conclusion: State concisely what can be concluded and its implications. The conclusions must be supported by the data presented in the abstract; never present unsubstantiated personal opinion. If there is room, address the generalizability of the results to populations other than that studied and the weaknesses of the study.

Research literature has a special language that concisely and precisely communicates meaning to other researches. Abstracts should contain this special language and be used appropriately. See The Glossary of commonly used research terms.

Avoid the use of medical jargon and excessive reliance on abbreviations. Limit abbreviations to no more than three and favor commonly used abbreviations. Always spell out the abbreviations the first time they are mentioned unless they are commonly recognized (e.g., CBC).

Although short in length, a good abstract typically takes several days to write. Take this into account when budgeting your time. Seek the help of an experienced mentor. Share the abstract with your mentor and make revisions based upon the feedback. Allow others to read your draft for clarity and to check for spelling and grammatical mistakes. Reading the abstract orally is an excellent way to catch grammatical errors and word omissions. Use the Scientific Abstract Checklist  to assist your completion of the task. Finally, an example of an abstract  previously accepted for presentation at the ACP Resident Research Competition is attached for your review.

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Fatal Traffic Risks With a Total Solar Eclipse in the US

• 1 Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2 Evaluative Clinical Science Platform, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 3 Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 4 Division of General Internal Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 5 Center for Leading Injury Prevention Practice Education & Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 6 Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• 7 Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Evaluation, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon temporarily obscures the sun and casts a dark shadow across the earth. This astronomical spectacle has been described for more than 3 millennia and can be predicted with high precision. Eclipse-related solar retinopathy (vision loss from staring at the sun) is an established medical complication; however, other medical outcomes have received little attention. 1

Read More About

Redelmeier DA , Staples JA. Fatal Traffic Risks With a Total Solar Eclipse in the US. JAMA Intern Med. Published online March 25, 2024. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.5234

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© 2024

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Review on Global Carbon Neutrality Development Based on Big Data Research in the Era of COVID-19: Challenges and Opportunities

• Zhang, Shangyi
• Jachimowicz, Aleksandra E.
• Liu, Xinran
• Amber, Victor

The present study is based on an analysis of carbon indicators in the environment during the COVID-19 pandemic period. It aims to provide an outlook for the future development of global carbon neutrality in the post- pandemic period.The research on the carbon index during the COVID-19 epidemic is a new scientific work, which is of great significance for the future development of environmental science. Therefore, it is necessary to write a review report on past events before fully conducting this study. It utilized various climate models, initially 232 papers, but eventually narrowing it down to 49 papers for the final context and examination. By examining the carbon neutrality of different phase of the pandemic (pre-pandemic, mid-pandemic, and post-pandemic), as well as considering various climate scenarios, we aim to generate diverse research findings. As the result, the epidemic has had a global impact, posing threats not only to human health and lives but also having far-reaching economic and environmental implications. In the short term, the pandemic has had some positive impacts on advancing carbon neutrality goals. However, in the long-term, it could lead to a slowdown or delay in the achieving global carbon neutrality due to various challenges. These challenges include diverting more resources towards pandemic response and reducing investment in clean energy. Pandemics contribute to global health and economic crises, necessitating significant societal resources such as medical equipment, medicines, human and financial resources to control transmission and treat infected individuals. Consequently, other vital environmental issues like climate change may be neglected or postponed. Ultimately, the financial constraints faced by many countries and businesses during the pandemic may compel them to reduce investments in clean energy as a means to save money and cut costs.

• Carbon neutrality;
• Environment