(c) Elena Goldenberg

PITFALLS OF ABSTRACT WRITINGIN ENGLISH

(c) Elena Goldenberg

Terms frequently confused

(c) Elena Goldenberg

ABSTRACT – A SHORT SUMMARY OF WHAT

IS SAID IN A LEARNED ARTICLE, A SHORT FORM OF A REPORT OR A DOCUMENT.

(c) Elena Goldenberg

TYPES OF ABSTRACTS

CONFERENCE

JOURNAL

PROJECT

RESEARCH

DISSERTATION

THESIS

DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATIVE

UNSTRUCTURED

STRUCTURED

SCIENCE

HUMANITIESARTS

UNAMBITIOUS COMPETITIVE

VS

(c) Elena Goldenberg

Common mistakes

UNAMBITIOUS ABSTRACTS(COMMON MISTAKES)

COMPETITIVE ABSTRACTS(GUIDELINES)

• Have an obscure title;• Do not state the topic clearly;• Contain too much or too little

information, details instead of essentials;

• Are written in the Ist person, use different tenses, jargons, colloquialisms, abbreviations, formulas etc.;

• Do not mention methods or procedures;• Have no conclusions/results;• Contain far too long and obscure

sentences, quotes from the paper;• Have too many key words;• Show spelling, grammar or formatting

mistakes;• Miss indicated deadlines.

• Capture interest (NB the Title!);• Are correctly written;• Are created in the IIId person, past tense

(preferable) and mainly passive voice and/or impersonal constructions;

• Use noun phrases;• Have logically connected parts (with

linking words) and average-length sentences;

• Clearly explain the subject;• State aims, findings, conclusions;• Describe research methods/ procedures;• Are concise;• Conform to word/character limits;• Contain key words/expressions (3-7);• Follow conference guidelines.

a suggested abstract template for ‘beginners’

TOPIC/ISSUE/HYPOTHESIS

METHODS/PROCEDURES RESULTS CONCLUSIONS

• The focus of the research lies in

• The study focuses on/ highlights/ features/ outlines…

• The study is important in order to

• The purpose of this study is/ was to investigate

• The aim is/ was to identify• Finally, ... is/ was

examined in the study…• Specifically, the research

explored…• Through this project, … is/

was investigated…• In the project/ research/

thesis, the goal is/ was to • In order to achieve…, the

team investigated…• The project examines/ed

the role of…• etc.

• The approach/ procedure adopted in the research includes/ed…

• The study/ survey/ thesis/ opinion poll...examined, inspected, focused on, was conducted, carried out, sent out, administered, studied…

• This was achieved by…• The data was sectioned/

divided/ classified/ organised into … categories

• This research draws upon (primary) sources including…

• The 1st /… stage of the project involves/ed…

• …(issues, points, data)… are called into question…

• etc.

• The findings from this research provide evidence that …

• It was found/discovered that…

• The results revealed/indicated…

• The case study demonstrates/ed how…

• Upon completion of… it was discovered…

• The work (paper, talk, research, thesis, dissertation, project, poster, presentation) provides a detailed image of…

• etc.

• The main conclusions drawn from this study are

• This research recommends that 

• The principal conclusion was that…

• The results highlight the importance of…

• Visual supplements are provided in order to…

• etc.

(c) Elena Goldenberg

(c) Elena Goldenberg

ElenaGoldenberg@gmail.com

Moscow state linguistic university

• PITFALLS OF ABSTRACT WRITING IN ENGLISH • (FOR RUSSIAN AUTHORS)

• Key words: abstract writing, conference paper, journal paper, guidelines,

cliché, template, common mistakes.

• Abstract:

• The talk covers major points of abstract writing for international conference and journal

papers relevant for Russian presenters. It is focused on the most common mistakes in

conference abstract writing based on Russian – English abstract translation experience

in the Humanities. The paper highlights frequent Russian language induced assumptions

and interferences often leading to the necessity of rewriting, rather than translating the

submitted abstracts. Finally, a list of suggestions and guidelines is provided in order to

help either self-improve one’s abstract writing with a set of clichés and templates, or

raise the possibility of a faithful rendition of one’s abstract initially composed in Russian.

(c) Elena Goldenberg

References and Webliography

• Dictionary of Library and Information Management, Peter Collin Publishing.• Dictionary of Printing and Publishing, Peter Collin Publishing.• http://thesaurus.com/• http://www.wordle.net/create

• Editorial: Structured abstracts: A key to enhanced information transfer (September 29, 2011) http://prc.aps.org/edannounce/PhysRevC.84.030001

• How to improve your academic writing https://www.essex.ac.uk/myskills/How_to_improve_your_academic_writing.pdf

• Journal article guidelines – Abstracts http://web.mit.edu/2.tha/www/JournalArticleGuidelines.htm#Abstract• Dissertation abstracts http://www.ukdissertation.co.uk/Dissertation_Abstract.htm• Abstracts http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/bizwrite/abstracts.html• Kristin Helland, Conference Abstracts: The secret to writing a good abstract SLAT Colloquium Series October 19,

2012 http://slat.arizona.edu/sites/slat/files/page/hellandconferenceabstracts10-19-12.pdf• Abstract Guidelines for Papers - How to write an Abstract for a Conference Paper

http://academic-conferences.org/abstract-guidelines.htm• Academic Resource Center Tufts University - HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT

http://uss.tufts.edu/arc/HOW%20TO%20WRITE%20AN%20ABSTRACT%20for%20Tufts%20Symp.pdf• Ten steps to developing an abstract for conferences - Jane Coad, Patric Devitt, Jayne Hardicre - British Journal of

Nursing, 2007, Vol 16, No 7, http://www.nhssalfordrd.org.uk/docs/researchday/abstract.pdf• Manual On Efficiently Writing - Competitive Research Abstracts For Surgical Journals, June 2005,

http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/neurosurgery/documents/manualefficientlywritingabstracts1.pdf• 10 tips for writing an effective abstract https

://www.thinkscience.co.jp/pdf/Ten%20tips%20for%20writing%20an%20effective%20abstract.pdf

(c) Elena Goldenberg

THANK YOU!