Writing an abstract in APA style needs practice and a clear idea about the APA guidelines. An abstract is a condensed summary of a research paper. You should write the paper before writing the abstract.
The abstract always begins in a new page, which includes the page header. The abstract as the heading is in the first page and is centered without any formatting, bold, italics, under lining or quotation marks.
The first line of an APA style abstract is not indented. The abstract is a summary of the most salient points of the research. The abstract should be written as a single paragraph; double spaced and should be 150-250 words long. While writing an abstract in APA style, it should include the research problem, hypothesis, the methods, results and conclusion.
After the abstract is written, keywords are given. Keywords are italicized, and the line is indented.
Points to remember while writing an abstract in APA style
- Begin writing the abstract only when the whole research paper has been finished. Although the abstracts come first, but it should be written last as it contains the gist of the complete research.
- The abstract in APA style is written in a new page. The word Abstract is centered, and the first line is not indented. But the keywords are italicized and indented. The running head and the page number should be at the top right corner.
- Writing an abstract in APA style should be short and precise. The abstract should be between 150 to 250 words. Although the word limit might differ in different journals.
- Write the abstract as a paragraph and double spaced it.
- The structure the abstract follows the order of the research paper. Start with a brief introduction, and then continue with a summary of the methods, results and discussion of the paper.
- First write a rough draft by summarizing each section of the paper in one or two lines. Now refine the draft with repeated revisions.