How to Write & Revise An Abstract Research 2, 3, & 4 Adapted from ISEF SRC guidelines & Philip Koopman’s Article, “How to Write an Abstract”, Carnegie Mellon University- October, 1997

Abstracts Purpose Summarize Entice A fully self-contained, capsule description of the paper It must make sense all by itself Does almost as much work as the paper

Abstract Checklist Motivation Problem Statement Approach Results Conclusions

Motivation Why do we care about the problem and the results? If the problem isn't obviously "interesting" it might be better to put motivation first; but if your work is incremental progress on a problem that is widely recognized as important, then it is probably better to put the problem statement first to indicate which piece of the larger problem you are breaking off to work on. This section should include the importance of your work, the difficulty of the area, and the impact it might have if successful.

Problem Statement What problem are you trying to solve? What is the scope of your work (a generalized approach, or for a specific situation)? Be careful not to use too much jargon. In some cases it is appropriate to put the problem statement before the motivation, but usually this only works if most readers already understand why the problem is important. Include hypothesis

Approach How did you go about solving or making progress on the problem? Did you use simulation, analytic models, prototype construction, or analysis of field data for an actual product? What was the extent of your work Did you look at one application program or a hundred programs in twenty different programming languages?) What important variables did you control, ignore, or measure?

Results What's the answer? Point of Tension Put the result there, in numbers. Avoid vague, hand-waving results such as "very", "small", or "significant." Point of Tension You should not provide numbers that can be easily misinterpreted, but on the other hand you don't have room for all the caveats.

Conclusions What are the implications of your answer? Is it going to change the world (unlikely), be a significant "win", be a nice hack, or simply serve as a road sign indicating that this path is a waste of time (all of the previous results are useful). Are your results general, potentially generalizable, or specific to a particular case?

Other Considerations Word limits: Should not exceed 250 words for RRSEF Need a 200 word abstract for GJSHS paper & have an entire page for extended abstract Must focus on current year’s research Minimum reference to previous work Does not include acknowledgements

Common Mistakes Such and such “will be discussed” Most important data and findings should be included, NOT left out Using bibliographic references Only if your work is a major advance on a specific piece of work Including materials Only if they greatly influenced procedure or had to be developed to do the investigation Forgetting to hook the reader again at the end State the implications of your study and flow into intro

Writing and Revising Tips Emphasize these aspects: purpose (hypothesis), methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations Focus only on the current year's research when it is a continuation project. Exclude any of the mentor or supervisor’s work Omit details and discussions Use the past tense to describe (However, where appropriate use active verbs rather than passive verbs.) Use short sentences, but vary sentence structure. Use complete sentences (Do not abbreviate by omitting articles or other small words in order to save space.) Avoid jargon Use appropriate scientific language Use concise syntax Use correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation

Revision Techniques Addition – adding a word, phrase, or sentence Original: This project is an experimentation of the effects of two-cycle marine engine exhaust water on certain algae. Revised: This project is a bioassay experimentation of the effects of two-cycle marine engine exhaust water on certain green algae. Deletion – deleting a word, phrase, or sentence Original: The researcher has developed an original code required for successful implementation of the environment reconstruction application. Revised: The researcher developed an original code required for successful implementation of the environment reconstruction application.

Substitution – substituting one word, phrase, or sentence for another Original: In the beginning, the idea was to determine the toxicity of outboard engine lubricant. Revised: The initial idea was to determine the toxicity of outboard engine lubricant. Transposition – moving words, phrases, or sentences to another position Original: Using optical fibers as light guides, a system was created with light guided from a light source to an integrating chamber, reflected and guided back to a digital camera. Revised: A system using optical fibers as light guides was created with light guided from a light source to an integrating chamber, reflected, and then guided back to a digital camera.

Combination – combining sentences and/or paragraphs, which usually results in the use of multiple revision techniques and a considerable shortening of the passage. Original: The project was started with an investigation of methods in use today and possible alternatives. Two alternative methods that seemed to be promising were chosen — the first method is to kill bacteria with pulsing high voltage, and the second is boiling with high efficient heat exchanging. Revised: The project investigated two alternative methods in use today: 1) killing bacteria with pulsing high voltage; 2) boiling bacteria with a high efficient heat exchange.