Abstract Writing Seminar (and then some)

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Abstract Writing Seminar(and then some)

• Dr. Chris Lafferty
• Director of Research and Writing
• Industrial College of the Armed Forces
• National Defense University

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Agenda

• 1300-1430 Mastering the Art of Abstracts
• 1430-1440 Break
• 1440-1510 From Abstract to Presentation
• 1510-1520 Break
• 1520-1540 Refereed Journals
• 1545-1615 Perfecting Powerful Presentations

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Mastering the Art of Abstracts
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What is an abstract?

• Condensed version of a longer paper
• Highlights the papers major elements
• Abbreviated, yet thorough
• 100-200 word, single spaced, stand-alone
  document

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Why do abstracts matter?

• Abstracts sell your work to an audience
• Journal and book editors
• Conference reviewers
• Tenure and promotion boards
• General readership
• Abstracts allow readers to make decisions about
  your work
• Abstracts are your online enticement

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Descriptive abstracts
Source LEO Literacy Education Online

• Tell readers what information the paper contains
• Include purpose, method and scope of the paper
• Do not provide results, conclusions
  or recommendations
• Are short (under 100 words)
• Introduce the subject to the reader, who has
  to read the paper to find out the authors
  results, conclusions, recommendations
• Best for non-technical papers
• Also used for conference proposals when
  the research is not yet complete

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Informative abstracts
Source LEO Literacy Education Online

• Communicate specific information from the
  paper
• Include the purpose, methods and scope of the
  paper
• Are short (10 or less of the original piece)
• Allow readers to decide whether they want to
  read the paper
• Best for technical papers

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Parts of an abstract

• Title
• Motivation (Introduction)
• Problem statement
• Approach (Methods)
• Results
• Conclusion

(Koopman, P., 1997)
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Parts of an abstract 1.0

• Title
• Specific and detailed
• Motivation (Introduction)
• Why do we care about the paper? Why is it
  important?
• Problem statement
• What problem are you trying to solve?
• What is the scope of the work?
• What is your hypothesis or thesis?

(Koopman, P., 1997)
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Parts of an abstract 2.0

• Approach (Methods)
• What procedure did you follow?
• Did you use interviews, simulations, quantitative
  analysis?
• What important variables were examined and
  controlled for?
• Results
• What is the answer?
• What are the specifics of your findings?
• How do the results tie to the hypothesis?
• Conclusion
• What are the implications of your answer?
• Are your results specific or generalizable?

(Koopman, P., 1997)
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A good abstract

• Uses one or more well developed paragraphs
  unified, coherent, concise and able to stand
  alone
• Uses an introduction/body/conclusion structure
  that presents the paper's purpose, results,
  conclusions and recommendations in that order
• Follows strictly the chronology of the paper
• Provides logical connections (or transitions)
  between the information included
• Adds no new information
• Is understandable to a wide audience
• May use passive verbs to downplay the author and
  emphasize the information

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ABSTRACT Organizational Trust in Hospital
Nursing Staffs and Its Relationship
to Three Performance Indicators of
Organizational Effectiveness This study used
Sashkins theory of organizational trust to
examine the relationship
between organizational trust in nursing staffs
and three performance indicators of
organizational effectiveness in a ten-hospital
system. The quantitative study used a
nonexperimental correlational descriptive design
relating nursing staff organizational trust, as
measured by the Management Behavior Climate
Assessment, to turnover rate and cost, employee
compensation cost, and patient satisfaction.
Findings support hypotheses that nursing staff
organizational trust is negatively correlated
system-wide with nursing staff turnover rate,
employee compensation cost, and positively
correlated with non-urban hospital
patient satisfaction. Hypotheses relating
organizational trust by nursing job type to
turnover rate and employee compensation cost were
partially supported. Hypotheses relating
organizational trust to turnover cost and
urban hospital patient satisfaction were not
supported, suggesting that hospital size
influences the relationship between
organizational trust and
performance. The findings suggest that a
significant relationship exists between
organizational trust and certain performance
indicators of
organizational effectiveness.
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An exercise

• Assume youve just finished writing
  Competitive Intelligence at Small
  Enterprises. Now you want to present it at a
  conference. Time to write an abstract!
• Individually fill out the worksheet
• In groups, compare your results and draft a
  100-150 word abstract for this article

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Remember to

• Keep to the word count limit
• Avoid jargon and acronyms
• Think about keywords
• Be honest about limitations/restrictions
  on your results
• Avoid relying on how material was phrased in the
  paper

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Think four Cs

• Complete it covers the major parts of the
  project
• Concise it contains no excess wordiness or
  unnecessary information
• Clear it is readable, well organized, and not
  too jargon-laden
• Cohesive it flows smoothly between the parts

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More online

• http//urc.ucdavis.edu/howtowriteanabstract.html
• http//www.uaf.edu/csem/ashsss/abstract_writing.ht
  ml
• http//www.galaxygoo.org/resources/abstract_writin
  g.html
• http//www.ece.cmu.edu/koopman/essays/abstract.ht
  ml
• http//leo.stcloudstate.edu/bizwrite/abstracts.htm
  l
• http//www.asanet.org/page.ww?sectionJournalsnam
  eWritinganInformativeAbstract

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Throw the bum out!

• Is this a refereed journal,
  or do you just hate me personally?

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Types of professional journals

• Non-refereed
• Refereed
• Also called peer-reviewed

All journals are not created equal!
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Non-refereed journals

• Articles selected by editor or staff
• Identity of author is clear throughout the
  selection process
• May include scholarly journals, popular magazines
  and specialty/trade publications

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What makes a journal refereed?

• Guidelines published regularly
• Style requirements published regularly
• Authors name removed from manuscript
• Two or more do preliminary screening
• Outside experts who are not board members review
  manuscripts
• One or more, in addition to the editor, select
  outside reviewers
• Two or more, excluding the editor, review each
  manuscript
• Reviewers use evaluation criteria form
• Evaluation form published regularly
• Closed Anonymous reviewers comments sent (on
  form or not) to all authors
• Open Signed reviewers comments sent (on form or
  not) to all authors

Miller, A. C., Serzan, S. L. (1984). Criteria
for identifying a refereed journal. The Journal
of Higher Education, 55(6), pp. 673-699.
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Why referee?

• Get the best articles
• Reduce bias and particularism
• Access broad/diverse reviewer expertise
• Avoid the dynastic tendency
• Create a level playing field

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How do I break in?

• Read the journal to get a sense of the standard
• Prestige level
• Types of articles
• Degree of rigor
• Style
• Follow the journals style guide scrupulously
• Read your reviews objectively
• Be prepared to rewrite
• Deliver your paper at conferences
• Solicit feedback and keep trying

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