论文写作abstract

How to Write an Abstract for a Research Paper

WANG Yan

School of International Studies

UIBE

Issues to address:

1What is an abstract?

2Functions of an abstract

3Structure of an abstract

4Principles of abstract writing

1. What is an abstract?

☐An abstract is a condensed version of a longer piece of writing that highlights the major points covered, concisely describes the purpose and scope of the writing,

and reviews the writing's contents in

abbreviated form.

⏹It is a concise and clear summary of a

complete research paper.

⏹It tells the reader What you set out to

do, and Why you did it,How you did it, What you found (recommendations).

2. Functions of an abstract

☐An abstract is used to communicate specific information from the article.☐It is aimed at introducing the subject to readers, who may then read the article to find out the author's results, conclusions, or recommendations.

2. Functions of an abstract

☐The practice of using key words in an abstract is vital because of today's

electronic information retrieval systems.

⏹Titles and abstracts are filed electronically, and

key words are put in electronic storage.

⏹When people search for information, they enter

key words related to the subject, and the

computer prints out the titles of all the articles

containing those key words.

⏹An abstract must contain key words about what

is essential in an article so that someone else

can retrieve information from it.

3. Structure of an abstract

☐The components of an abstract

①Background Information

②Subject Matter/Problem Statement

③Purpose

④Method (and Data)

⑤Results / Findings

⑥Conclusion / Implications

The components of an abstract

①Background information

◆You may need to refer briefly to background to

provide a context.

②Statement of the problem (subject matter):

◆What problem(s) are you trying to solve?

◆What is the author’s focus in this research?

③Purpose of the research:

◆What is the reason/purpose for doing this research?

④Methods (approach and data):

◆What is the main method used for the research?

What is the theoretical framework?

◆What is the subject scope? What data is analyzed?

⑤Results (Findings):

◆What did you find/invent/create?

⑥Conclusion (Implications):

◆What are the larger implications of your findings, esp.

for the problem/gap identified in steps ①& ②?

Exercise 1:

A Sample Abstract

(1) The dozens of studies on academic discourse carried out over the past 20 years have mostly focused on written academic prose or on academic lectures. (2) Other registers that may be more important for students adjusting to university life, such as textbooks, have received surprisingly little attention, and spoken registers such as study groups or on-campus service encounters have been virtually ignored. (3) To explain more fully the nature of the tasks that incoming international students encounter, this article undertakes a comprehensive linguistic description of the range of spoken and written registers at U.S. universities. (4) Specifically, the article describes a multidimensional analysis of register variation in the TOEFL 2000 Spoken and Written Academic Language Corpus. (5) The analysis shows that spoken registers are fundamentally different from written ones in university contexts, regardless of purpose. (6) Some of the register characterizations are particularly surprising. (7) The findings of this research may provide insights and have significant implications for pedagogy and further research.

subject matter (1) The dozens of studies on academic discourse

carried out over the past 20 years have mostly

focused on written academic prose or on

academic lectures.

problem statement (2) Other registers that may be more important for

students adjusting to university life, such as

textbooks, have received surprisingly little

attention, and spoken registers such as study

groups or on-campus service encounters have

been virtually ignored.

background information