Abstracts, summaries and structured abstracts

The abstract or summary has a unique role in academic writing. It provides an overview of what is about to be read. This is done for two main reasons: 

• to help the reader decide whether to read the article/thesis/report; or 
• to provide the reader with a document that acts as a replacement for reading the article/thesis/report. (An executive summary, which functions like an abstract in business reports, is normally read by busy executives as a replacement for reading the main text, i.e., it is the only thing they read.) 

Scholarly abstracts are not intended as a replacement for the main text. Scholarly databases provide abstracts to summarise the aims and contributions of journal articles. The Library grants access to those databases and publication information of the articles. Scholarly abstracts are normally around 200-500 words. They are tightly and clearly written and usually composed when the last draft of the paper has been written and when the author knows exactly the contribution of their paper.  

As they have a different purpose, executive summaries are normally much longer: up to 15 percent of the body of the report or paper. Executive summaries also focus on recommendations for action. Abstracts rarely do this; they instead focus on the scholarly contribution of the paper. So, abstracts and executive summaries are different.  

Abstracts are written in a way to mirror the sections of the paper/thesis to follow. Therefore, the content of an abstract can vary depending on the sections a paper contains. An empirical paper, for example, has sections that a discursive paper in the Humanities does not have.  

Although there are discipline-specific variations, abstracts are generally written as follows: 

• background information (present tense) 
• principal activity/aim (present or present perfect tense) 
• methodology (past tense) 
• results (past tense) 
• conclusions (present tense/tentative verbs and or modal auxiliaries). 

Typically, abstracts do not contain citations although there are discipline-specific variations here too. 

Sample abstract 1 [excerpt only] with sections identified:  

This project proposes a strategic planning model for P. T. Polysindo Eka Perkasa which is currently unavailable. The model is developed by combining … and … A SWOT analysis and a review of the company’s mission was used to … The key policies were then translated into actions necessary in each of the key areas of marketing, human resources, operations and finance. Internal scanning revealed how the company’s net sales will continue to … The SWOT analysis indicated that P. T. Polysindo faced three main strategic issues arising from internal weaknesses and threats from its external environment. This report suggests that these problems … The report recommends that the company should consider increasing working capital turnover and pursue aggressive collection procedures. 

Sections identified:                     

1. Background information (present tense). This project proposes a strategic planning model for P. T. Polysindo Eka Perkasa … 
2. Aim (present or present perfect tense). The model is developed by combining … and … 
3. Methodology (past tense). A SWOT analysis and a review of the company’s mission was used to.. 
4. Results (past tense). The SWOT analysis indicated that P. T. Polysindo faced three main strategic issues … 
5. Conclusions (present tense/tentative verbs and or modal auxiliaries). The report recommends that the company … 

A structured abstract has the same broad role as an abstract, that is, provide an outline of the paper to follow. It occurs in specific discipline areas, usually the sciences, and is distinguished by explicit labelling of the various parts of the abstract. They can be up to five pages long for conference submissions, e.g., Academy of Marketing Science. A structured abstract has clearly distinct section headings as stipulated by the journal. These consist of obligatory and optional headings. 

Obligatory headings might include: 

• purpose/objective  
• design/methodology/methods  
• findings/results 
• originality  
• conclusions. 

Optional headings might include: 

• population  
• background  
• setting  
• participants  
• intervention 
• outcome measures  
• social implications  
• practical implications. 

The structured headings differ depending on the type of article. Theoretical papers typically have sections such as: 

• background purpose 
• sources of evidence  
• main argument 
• conclusions. 

Literature review papers might have headings such as the following: 

• background    
• purpose 
• design and methods    
• conclusions. 

In the example below, the labels for the sections are slightly different from a typical scholarly abstract but they mean the same thing: 

• background information and principal activity = objective, and  
• conclusions = discussion.  

A structured abstract might be followed by keywords as shown below. This is a list of the important words used in the paper for indexing purposes. 

Example of a structured abstract 

Objective: Sleep disorder is one of the most classic symptoms of patients with bipolar I disorder (BID), which affects their quality of life (QOL). The current study aimed to determine the relationship between sleep quality and quality of life in patients with BID. 

Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 180 patients with BID were selected using convenience sampling in Farshchian Psychiatric Center of Hamadan, Iran, in 2017. The data collection instruments were Pittsburgh Sleep Inventory and Brief Quality of Life Questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and stepwise multiple regression by SPSS 23. 

Results: The results indicated that 41.1% and 54.4% of patients with BID experienced low level of sleep quality and QOL, respectively. There was a statistically significant relationship between sleep quality and QOL (r=-0.571, p<0.001), so that low sleep quality has a negative impact on the QOL in these patients. 

Discussion: Patients with BID suffer from sleep disorder affecting their QOL. Therefore, it is suggested that treatment and care interventions be designed and implemented to improve sleep quality and patients’ QOL. Moreover, treatment interventions of BID are inseparable from the treatment of sleep disturbance. 

Keywords: Bipolar I Disorder; Quality of Life; Sleep Quality 

An executive summary has a similar role as an abstract in terms of providing an outline of the contents of the paper to follow. 

However, they differ from abstracts in that they: 

• emphasise recommendations and action items 
• often use bullet pointed lists, unlike in scholarly abstracts 
• are typically much longer than abstracts, up to 15% of the entire report. They are also read by busy executives instead of reading the entire report, not to decide whether to read the report—which is the purpose of abstracts. 

Example of an executive summary [abbreviated example] 

This report provides an analysis and evaluation of the current and prospective profitability, liquidity and financial stability of Outdoor Equipment Ltd. Methods of analysis include trend, horizontal and vertical analyses as well as ratios such as Debt, Current and Quick ratios. Other calculations include rates of return on Shareholders' Equity and Total Assets and earnings per share to name a few. All calculations can be found in the appendices. Results of data analysed show that all ratios are below industry averages. In particular, comparative performance is poor in the areas of profit margins, liquidity, credit control, and inventory management.  

The report finds the prospects of the company in its current position are not positive. The major areas of weakness require further investigation and remedial action by management. Recommendations discussed include: 

• • improving the average collection period for accounts receivable  
  • improving/increasing inventory turnover  
  • reducing prepayments and perhaps increasing inventory levels.  

The analysis conducted has limitations, including:  

• • forecasting figures are not provided  
  • nature and type of company is not known 
  •  the current economic conditions 
  • there are data limitations as not enough information is provided or enough detail i.e. monthly details not known; results are based on past performances, not present. 

(Woodward-Kron, 1997)  

 

Structurally, there are several ways in which executive summaries are presented, which is the main reason executive summaries are conflated with abstracts.  

In general, all executive summaries have a ‘beginning’, ‘middle’ and ‘end’ sections: 

	Report/case study with recommendations	Report with no recommendations	Report showing primary empirical research
Beginning	Topic Purpose of report	Topic Purpose of report	Topic  Purpose of report
Middle	Key issues or points of discussion	Key issues or points of discussion	Key points of methodology  Results
End	Recommendations	Conclusions	Conclusion  Limitations of research

(Woodward-Kron, 1997) 

An abstract has a different function from an introduction. The key role of the abstract is to help a reader decide whether to read a paper and to provide a concise overview of each section.  

In contrast, the role of an introduction is to provide a background to a study and to expose the research gap.