Academic conferences play a significant role in graduate work. It is an event for researchers to present and discuss their work, crafting a bridge for exchange of information between researchers. But how does a researcher get invited to present their field of research at an academic conference? What makes their work beguiling as well as crisp enough to be chosen for the call? Well, the answer to all is to write and submit an abstract of the research paper. This post will revolve around the finest ways to write a perfect abstract that will help you make your work fit-to-be-seen and praised for.
An abstract is a brief summary of the paper you want to present at the academic conference. The whole work is bundled and potted in an abstract and published as the conference proceedings. The very purpose of an abstract is to review the main points of your paper in such a way to convince conference organizers that your paper has got something important and valuable to add to the conference. Therefore it calls for a to-the-point and clear explanation of the main parts of your research. The general thumb rules to aim for are:
- Heading should be concise and attention-grabbing. Headings between 30 to 40 characters receive the most citation.
- Aim for 250-300 words in total, with 20 to 25 words per sentence.
- Make sure your abstract includes:
- Purpose – The abstract need to illustrate the purpose of your work. This is the point which will determine the ticket of your paper in the conference session.
- Problem – You need to state the precise problem that you are trying to resolve.
- Methods – This includes the approach you took towards solving the problem. You can include how you organized this study and the research that you used.
- Results – As a result of completing your study, what did you learn or invent or create?
- Conclusions – It includes the larger implication of your anticipated aftermath from your findings.
- Stick to the word limit and make sure your language and sentence structure are straight forward.
- Try to summarize your abstract into one sentence. This, in turn, will help you reconstruct the soul of your paper ensuring that you are not including unnecessary information to your submission.
- Include keyword in your abstract as search engines will use them to locate the paper.
- End your abstract with implications or recommendations.
- After you complete your abstract, look it over with a fresh mind. This will help you edit it to improve its effectiveness.
Your abstract is like a business card or ‘elevator pitch’. The main point is to catch the attention of conference organizers. You want to be remembered by the people to whom you offer it. Favorably, if possible.