Scholarly and Creative Works Conference

Dominican University of California

Abstract Guidelines

Abstracts should be no more than 300 words (not including the title or headings), but may be as few as 100 words, depending on the discipline. Keep in mind that different disciplines may vary somewhat as to the information contained in an abstract.  The following is meant to be a basic guide; please consult your faculty advisor for particulars. 

NOTE: abstracts should be written in paragraph form without headers or indent.

CREATIVE GUIDELINES

Abstract describing a Creative Work or Performance

An abstract for a creative work explains briefly the motivation behind the piece, the technique(s) employed to capture the spirit of said motivation, and a ‘teaser’ as to what you wish the piece to convey.  Introduce the reader to nuances of the work that a ‘lay person’ likely knows little about – the history, the context, the feelings.  (Don’t give too much away!)

LITERARY GUIDELINES

Abstract for a paper analyzing literature, historical/current events, film, journalism, or policy

The opening should be written as a thesis statement, stating the problem/focus of your research.  Be careful not to overly critique or evaluate a work, rather, present and explain the main arguments of your paper with substantiating evidence.  Briefly describe the methods employed to support/refute the hypotheses being asserted.  At the end of your abstract include any conclusions drawn from the analysis (if your paper is not finished, state this and reiterate what you are attempting to show from your analysis).  Abstracts of this nature may very well be quite a bit less than 300 words. 

Example of a Literary Abstract

On March 18, 1817, Jane Austen stopped writing a book. We know the date because she wrote it at the end of the manuscript, in her slanting hand. She had done the same at the beginning of the manuscript, on January 27th of that year. In the seven weeks in between, she had completed eleven chapters and slightly more than nine pages of a twelfth—some twenty-three thousand five hundred words. The final sentence in the manuscript runs as follows: “Poor Mr. Hollis!—It was impossible not to feel him hardly used; to be obliged to stand back in his own House and see the best place by the fire constantly occupied by Sir H. D.” This is a joke. Mr. Hollis and Sir Harry Denham are dead, and it is their respective portraits that contend for social eminence in the sitting room of Lady Denham, the woman who married and buried them both. Exactly four months after writing that line, Jane Austen died, unmarried, at the age of forty-one. Her position, unlike theirs, remains secure.  The present paper will discuss….

RESEARCH GUIDELINES

Abstract of a paper in the Social Sciences/Health Sciences/Natural Sciences 

Objective: what is the purpose of your project?   The opening should be written as a thesis statement, stating the problem/focus of your research. Next you should incorporate a brief discussion of past literature about the topic, including citations where appropriate 


Methods: include detailed information about how you conducted the project. Information should include (in paragraph format): 


Results and conclusions: present key study findings (including tests of statistical significance) and whether your hypothesis was supported. If necessary, state that data has yet to be collected, but include what the expected results will be.


What the work adds to knowledge on the topic: briefly and clearly state how your project contributes to the literature.  If data has yet to be collected, state what significance your intended findings may have for the discipline (e.g. improving quality of life).

Example of a Research Paper Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to replicate the research that showed that adolescents who scored higher in anxiety would perform more poorly on a threat-related word Stroop task than participants who score lower in anxiety (Richards, Richards & McGeeney, 2000). Previous studies had shown that cognition and anxiety were related for adults (Power & Dargleish, 1997) and Richards et al. wanted to determine if this was true for adolescents.  Richards et al. had 30 adolescents (17 boys and 13 girls) complete a Stroop task of threat related words (e.g. fear, crazy, panic) and a list of neutral words (e.g. draft, sweep, ample).  Participants also filled out the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI; Beck & Steer, 1990).  Results showed that the adolescents who scored higher in anxiety took longer to complete the Stroop task with threat-related words than with neutral words.  The group that scored lower in anxiety showed no difference in Stroop scores between the threat-related words and neutral words.  The present study will attempt to replicate the Richards et al. study in a group of college students. Thirty participants (15 women and 15 men) will complete the Stroop task on a list of the same threat-related words, list of neutral words, and a control list of colored XXXX's (Richards et al., 2000).  After the Stroop task, participants will fill out a college stress anxiety measure.  It is hypothesized that students scoring higher in anxiety will have poorer Stroop performance on the threat words than neutral words or XXXX's.  Additionally, it is hypothesized that students scoring lower in anxiety will show little or no difference in Stroop performance among the three lists.