How to Write a Scientific Abstract

Abstracts are the second thing a reader looks at when they find a paper of possible interest to their work, with the first being the title. Both the abstract and title act as careful summaries of your study. The title indicates the key findings while the abstract summarizes the study aims and rationale, as well as how the findings were obtained and interpreted.

If an abstract does not succinctly describe your study’s aims, background, methods, results, and main findings, other scientists may choose not to read the paper, include it in their work, or cite it. The important scientific contributions your study makes to the field could thus be overlooked.

This link from Wiley, a well-known scientific literature publisher, provides a simple and succinct roadmap to help scientists write a compelling and accurate abstract:

https://www.wiley.com/network/researchers/preparing-your-article/how-to-write-a-scientific-abstract

This is a short read that can help you with this important task.