HOW TO WRITE ABSTRACT FOR PEER-REVIEWED MEDICAL JOURNAL ARTICLE

HOW TO WRITE ABSTRACT FOR PEER-REVIEWED MEDICAL JOURNAL ARTICLE

The abstract of your article is going to form the firm impression, and the impression must be so powerful that would rouse the enthusiasm of the reader. In the online world of today, it is the title and the abstract that would attract or repel the potential reader. If you capture the attention of the reader in the first few lines, the reader may decide to read through the entire article.

Significance of Abstract

Abstract is brief summary of your research article, usually, 150 to 250 words long. It serves several purposes:

• an abstract provides a concise view or essence of your article and helps the reader decide to read the complete article.
• an abstract rouses interest in the reader to delve into the data and arguments presented in the article.
• an abstract makes it easier for the reader to remember key points from your article.

Note that search engines, libraries and databases use abstracts and title to index your published article. Therefore, it is imperative that the terms you use in abstract and title should be the most significant and help the reader in finding your article online.

Reading the author guidelines of the particular journal of a scientific journal publisher would prove helpful to you.

Structured Abstract

The abstract should be a concise, stand-alone summary of the paper, covering the following topics:

• Background: What is the topic? What is the need of study? Why did you write this research paper? What is the purpose of this paper? What do you aim to achieve through this paper
• Methodology: What is your approach and research design? How did you proceed? What were the tools and their reliability? Ethical approval?
• Results: What were the key findings?
• Conclusions: What conclusions did you draw from the study? What is the significance of the results? What may be future implications?

The abstract should be complete, factual, and give a complete view of the entire paper. Describe your own research only. 

Why Abstract Should Be Written at the End?

Abstract is the first part of the research article but it should be written at the end after finishing writing your complete article. If you write abstract before completing entire paper, it is highly likely that the information presented in abstract is incorrect or differs from the paper. During the course of writing a paper, you may think and rethink and change your objectives, methods, and have a whole new perspective. Writing the abstract first would mean missing those changes. By writing the abstract in the end, inconsistency and sloppiness can be avoided.

Peculiarities of Abstract

The structured abstracts are preferred as they provide more specific information, give a glimpse of the entire article in a few words, are easier to search online, make peer review easier, and are better liked by readers.

• All the information in the abstract should be consistent with that given in the main text.
• All the information given in the abstract should be given in the text of the article.
• Abstract should provide all the important points of the article.
• Keywords should be used in abstract.
• Do not use abbreviations or acronyms; if you can’t avoid using them, give their full form also.
• Avoid trademarked terms.
• Avoid table and figure citations in abstract.

Publish in peer reviewed and open access medical journals of Advanced Research Publications.