Abstract

A brief overview of the entire study condensed into a single succinct paragraph that provides the reader with a window on the research without having to slog through the report.

The abstract is the “alpha and omega” of the report. Really well-written abstracts might function to encourage readers to take the time to actually read the paper. It is often a useful exercise, forcing the author to boil his or her ideas down to a manageable size. Here is what it should include, in order:

1. Background/rationale of the study (i.e. similar to the Introduction).

• This should include introduction of the topic and the purpose of the study
  

2. How the study was done (Methods)

• Including when and where if relevant
  

3. What results were obtained (Results)

• Be specific and informative! State the significant values obtained, and values for standard error and probability where appropriate
  

4. Possible significance of the results (Discussion)

• What do your results suggest? Any hypothesis on the reasons for specific results? What is the next step in the discovery process?
  

Notice how the abstract represents each section of the report, therefore it is easiest to write the abstract last even though it appears first. As well as being very succinct, 300 words max, avoid including in-text literature citations.
Here is an example of a well written abstract on bacterial coliforms in local water systems:
The presence and concentration of coliforms is often used as an indicator for water quality and the health of a water source, specifically for water in urban and agricultural areas. In this study the number of bacterial coliforms was assayed from water samples taken in Langley, B.C. Bacteria from water samples were transferred onto mFC agar via membrane filtration and incubated for two days at 37.00C. The mean number of colonies/0.01ml was 1.7 (SE ±1.25), 20.2 (SE ±18.4), and 4.3 (SE ±3.77) for the ESA, Salmon River, and McMillan Lake respectively. ANOVA statistics determined, with a confidence level of 95%, that the three sites were significantly different from each other, sufficiently rejecting the null hypothesis. In turn it was concluded that the Salmon River contained the greatest concentration and diversity of coliforms. It is posited that this is due to local input from agricultural and urban runoff. Further research into what specific genera were collected, as well as subsequent sampling of a larger region over a greater period of time, would provide further information in order to draw more significant conclusions.