The Purpose of the Abstract

Your abstract should present a succinct summary of the research and results of the work you completed for your thesis/dissertation. Many researchers read abstracts to determine the relevance, reliability, and quality of a source; therefore, if you create a clear and concise abstract, others are more likely to read your entire document.


You may find it helpful to consult other abstracts from your field or visit the UMI/Proquest website at www.umi.com. Writing assistance is also available from ASU's Writing Center at http://studentsuccess.asu.edu/writing.


Since your abstract is used as a research tool by other researchers, the Graduate College has developed the following guidelines to assist you in writing an abstract that is both informative and concise:

  • Structure your paragraphs to include:
    • An introduction to the study, or project, which helps place the research in context
    • A clear description of your methods of analysis or experiment process
    • A summary of your results and conclusions
  • Proofread carefully for spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors

  • Maintain a professional tone and avoid colloquialisms

  • Do not include bibliographic citations in the abstract

  • Do not write in future tense; use only past or present tense

  • You may use special characters and foreign alphabets if necessary, but do not use capital letters (e.g. ∑, ∏) because UMI/ProQuest will remove them from your abstract

  • Never use "we" since your document is not co-authored

  • Wherever an acronym first occurs in the text, write it out in full, followed by the acronym in parenthesis (e.g., "Student Academic Services (SAS)")

Please keep in mind that while you want to be as specific as possible, you must not exceed the maximum word-length guidelines. All students must limit their abstracts to 350 words or less (or 150 words or less for master's students planning to microfilm). Your chair/advisor can assist you in selecting the most appropriate information to include in your abstract.

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