How to Write an Abstract

What is an abstract?

A conference abstract is a summary of the research project you completed in the CURE. Your abstract should have a title, a few sentences of background information, a few sentences of methods, and a few sentences of results and discussion. Conferences have strict abstract length limits, this example abstract has a maximum of 400 words in length. Writing good abstracts takes time and practice, which is why if you are accepted into the Conference Cohort, the team will work with you and your mentor to polish your abstract before it is submitted to the conference. We are asking for a draft of your abstract for your application so we can learn more about your project and to ensure that we have something to start with before training begins!

How do I find my word count?

Click and drag your mouse to select just the text of your abstract so that it is highlighted. The next step depends on what program you're using:

Microsoft Word Desktop App: In the Tools menu, select the Word Count option.

Microsoft 365 Word Online: With the abstract highlighted, the word count can be found in the bottom left of the screen (e.g. 400 of 525 words)

Google Docs: In the Tools menu, select the Word Count option.

A short guide on materials to include in your abstract, in abstract format!

A brief descriptive title of your project

There are often some restrictions to length when it comes to a title, so try to keep it short, but descriptive. Many folks also try to make their titles catchy to draw more attention to their work, so have some fun! Then you'll want to start with a short introduction to your research question and share some relevant background information about your species of interest. This can be the natural history of your species or an exciting morphological trait that inspired you to ask your question. The introduction and background information should not be extensive, but needs to be detailed enough to give the readers a solid understanding of your project and why it is important to the scientific community. Be sure to clearly state your research question or hypothesis in your abstract. Next, give an overview of the methods you used to explore your question. You should cover how you collected your data and what analysises you performed. The description of your methods should be informative but not overly complex or include unnecessary details. As an example, you may have used QGIS to map your species distribution, but you do not need to explain how you imported your data into QGIS, the exact version of QGIS you used, or when you downloaded it. These details can be included in your poster or presentation. Lastly, use the remaining space to state your results and expand into a short discussion about what they indicate. You could even include what your next steps might be to address any surprises you came across during your research or if your results brought up another interesting question. The real point of an abstract is to give your audience a nice summary of what your research is with enough detail so they understand the overall goal and methods of your project while not inundating them with niche details. It should get them excited enough to visit your poster or attend your presentation where they can then ask you for any additional details they want to know. To give you an idea of how long your abstract can be, this example is 396 words, not including the title (which is often not counted in abstract word limits). So you have a decent amount of space to use to adequately describe your project, what you found, and its importance to the broader scientific community.