Research Guides: BMD 202: Survey of Biomedical Sciences Literature: Scientific Abstracts

Scientific Abstracts

A scientific abstract is an original, independent, concise (200-300 words) document that gives an overview of a scientific article. In other words, the abstract is not dependent on any other document to make sense; a reader can read the abstract alone and have a good idea of what information the article is communicating. Abstracts:

Introduce journal articles
Inform readers about article’s content
Help readers decide whether to read the article
Give overviews of conference programs (such as poster and paper presentations) and scholarly books and book chapters

OWL at Purdue, Purdue University & Writing Lab. (2014) Writing Scientific Abstracts Presentation [PowerPoint]. Retrieved from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_research/writing_scientific_abstracts_presentation.html

There are five parts of a scientific abstract:

Full citation of the source
Question investigated / purpose
Experimental design / methods
Major findings / results
Interpretation / conclusion / discussion

Bates College, Department of Biology. (2011). The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Retrieved from http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWsections.html#abstract

Scan the title. Does the title sound relevant to your topic?
- Yes, then proceed to number 2.
- No, move to another abstract.
Scan the article for key words and phrases. Are the key words / phrases used in the correct context for your topic?
- Yes, proceed to number 3.
- No, move to another abstract
Start at the beginning of the abstract and read to the end. As you read, consider the following questions: What was the purpose of the study? What method(s) did the researchers use? What was the author’s conclusion? Has this abstract peeked your interest? Do you want to invest time reading the full article?
- Yes, proceed to find full text.
- No, move to another abstract

Writing Center at UNC-Chapel Hill. (2014). Abstracts. Retrieved from http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/abstracts/

Sample Scientific Abstracts

Structured Abstract

Unstructured Abstract

Visual Abstract