چگونه چکیده بنویسیم ؟- دکتر ابوالفضل بختیاری
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 content and scope of the writing, and reviews the writing's contents in abbreviated form.
What types of abstracts are typically used
Two types of abstracts are typically used:
- Descriptive Abstracts
- tell readers what information the report, article, or paper contains.
- include the purpose, methods, and scope of the report, article, or paper.
- do not provide results, conclusions, or recommendations.
- are always very short, usually under 100 words.
- introduce the subject to readers, who must then read the report, article, or paper to find out the author's results, conclusions, or recommendations.
- Informative Abstracts
- communicate specific information from the report, article, or paper.
- include the purpose, methods, and scope of the report, article, or paper.
- provide the report, article, or paper's results, conclusions, and recommendations.
- are short -- from a paragraph to a page or two, depending upon the length of the original work being abstracted. Usually informative abstracts are 10% or less of the length of the original piece.
- allow readers to decide whether they want to read the report, article, or paper.
Why are abstracts so important
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 articles, papers, and reports containing those key words. Thus, an abstract must contain key words about what is essential in an article, paper, or report so that someone else can retrieve information from it.
Qualities of a Good Abstract
An effective abstract has the following qualities:
- uses one or more well developed paragraphs: these are unified, coherent, concise, and able to stand alone.
- uses an introduction/body/conclusion structure which presents the article, paper, or report's purpose, results, conclusions, and recommendations in that order.
- follows strictly the chronology of the article, paper, or report.
- provides logical connections (or transitions) between the information included.
- adds no new information, but simply summarizes the report.
- is understandable to a wide audience.
- oftentimes uses passive verbs to downplay the author and emphasize the information. Check with your teacher if you're unsure whether or not to use passive voice.
Steps for Writing Effective Abstracts
To write an effective abstract, follow these steps:
- Reread the article, paper, or report with the goal of abstracting in mind.
- Look specifically for these main parts of the article, paper, or report: purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendation.
- Use the headings, outline heads, and table of contents as a guide to writing your abstract.
- If you're writing an abstract about another person's article, paper, or report, the introduction and the summary are good places to begin. These areas generally cover what the article emphasizes.
- After you've finished rereading the article, paper, or report, write a rough draft without looking back at what you're abstracting.
- Don't merely copy key sentences from the article, paper, or report: you'll put in too much or too little information.
- Don't rely on the way material was phrased in the article, paper, or report: summarize information in a new way.
- Revise your rough draft to
- correct weaknesses in organization.
- improve transitions from point to point.
- drop unnecessary information.
- add important information you left out.
- eliminate wordiness.
- fix errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
- Print your final copy and read it again to catch any glitches that you find.
A Sample Abstract
PASM: A partitionable SIMD/MIMD System for Image Processing and Pattern Recognition
PASM, a large-scale multimicroprocessor system being designed at Purdue University for image processing and pattern recognition, is described. This system can be dynamically reconfigured to operate as one or more independent SIMD and/or MIMD machines. PASM consists of a parallel computation unit, which contains N processor, N memories, and an interconnection network; Q microcontrollers, each of which controls N/Q parallel secondary storage devices; a distributed memory management system; and a system control unit, to coordinate the other system components. Possible values for N and Q are 1024 and 16, respectively. The control schemes and memory management on PASM are explored. Examples of how PASM can be used to perform image processing tasks are given.
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This page was originally written by Judith Kilborn for the Writing Lab at Purdue University; she revised it for LEO and the Write Place, St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota. It may be copied for educational purposes only. If you copy this document, please include our copyright notice and the name of the writer; if you revise it, please add your name to the list of writers.
URL: http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/bizwrite/abstracts.html
Updated: 20 October 1998
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http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/bizwrite/abstracts.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Writing Center Guide to Writing an Abstract
http://www.gmu.edu/departments/writingcenter/handouts/abstract.html
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How to Write an Abstract
Table of Contents
Overview
Title
The Body of the Abstract
Abstract Worksheet Example
Abstract Worksheet
The abstract is the reader's first encounter with your paper, and is the chief means by which scientists decide which research reports to read in their entirety. The abstract should provide a brief summary of the findings of the paper, and should be a stand-alone document that can be understood without reading the paper.
A properly written abstract consists of the Title of the study and the body of the abstract. The abstract must be single spaced! Your abstract should contain no more than 175 words and must fit within the space allowed. (See Formal Abstract Guidelines and Formal Abstract Example.) The Formal Abstract and the abstract you include with your paper will have different formats for the heading, but the body of the abstract will be the same.
The abstract included with your paper should conform to the following format.
Title
The title of your abstract should be the same as the title of your scientific paper.
The Body of the Abstract
The abstract is a very brief overview of your ENTIRE study. It tells the reader WHAT you did, WHY you did it, HOW you did it, WHAT you found, and WHAT it means. The abstract should briefly state the purpose of the research (introduction), how the problem was studied (methods), the principal findings (results), and what the findings mean (discussion and conclusion). It is important to be descriptive but concise--say only what is essential, using no more words than necessary to convey meaning.
The Abstract Worksheet Example and Abstract Worksheet shown below may be helpful as you prepare the first draft of your abstract.
Abstract Worksheet Example
The Abstract Worksheet that follows may be used to help you prepare the first draft of your abstract. (Some projects may not lend themselves to this format, so don't feel that you need to use the worksheet.) The sequence of sentences in the Abstract Worksheet is ordered in a logical fashion, beginning with an introduction and proceeding to your hypothesis, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion.
Think of the most important items that crystallize each part of your project. Leave out unimportant details. As a first draft (using the Abstract Worksheet), write one or two sentences that summarize each section. For your final draft, make sure the abstract "flows" logically. Give it to a friend to read. Ask them to tell you what they think you actually did and what you found. Revise as necessary.
Below you will find an example of a completed abstract worksheet.
Project Title
A Test of the Competitive Exclusion Theory in Two Related Species of Butterflies
Introduction
The food habits of larval butterflies of two related species from a zone of overlap near Oil City, PA were examined.
Hypothesis
The theory of competitive exclusion predicts that food habits of closely related species should not overlap significantly where species occur together.
Methods
Transects in five different habitats were used to determine food and habitat preferences in wild populations. Two species of captive caterpillars were offered various food in the laboratory; weight changes of foods and caterpillars were determined daily.
Results
Food habits in overlapping habitats were significantly different between the two species (ANOVA p= 0.001). Food habits in non-overlapping habitats were not significantly different (ANOVA p= 0.52). There were no differences in food preferences
(ANOVA p= 0.76) or growth rates (ANOVA p= 0.88) on different foods in laboratory maintained populations.
Discussion
These species are able to coexist because they are not competing for the same, and limiting, food resources in the same area.
Conclusion
These results support the theory of competitive exclusion because the two species did not use the same food resources from similar habitats.
Abstract Worksheet
(Some projects may not lend themselves to this format, so don't feel that you need to use this worksheet.)
Use one or two concise sentences to summarize the most important aspects of your project for each section listed below.
Project Title (the same as the title of your scientific paper)
Introiscussion (Are your results consistent with your initial hypothesis? Why or why not?)
Conclusion (What is your interpretation of what these results mean? Why should anyone become excited about or interested in your findings?)
This Web Site was created by Jock Irons
Last updated on December 18, 2001
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