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Writing an Outstanding Dissertation Abstract

Writing a dissertation abstract can be stressful. Abstracts must be brief, yet very informative. They must also provide browsing researchers with incentive to read your dissertation. There are eight important steps to writing a great dissertation abstract.

  1. Write the abstract after the dissertation is completely finished.

    2. Your abstract should shine a spotlight on the entirety of your paper, and this is best accomplished by.

  2. Be clear and direct.

    3. Clarity and directness are two of the most important elements of an outstanding abstract. Both tend to keep the word count lower, and both give casual browsers good reasons to consider using the rest of your paper in their research.

  3. Quantify your results

    4. It’s not necessary to include a numerical value for every result, of course. However, whenever appropriate, present quantifiable information.

  4. In one line, express why your project is important and highlight the most crucial results.

    5. This can be particularly difficult depending upon the complexity of your project, but it’s also perhaps the most important aspect of your abstract. Prioritize the most important points of your research, and don’t leave out any that are vital to understanding the nature of the project. However, in order to keep this sentence relatively clear and concise, be certain not to go into unnecessary detail.

  5. Confine any discussion of the implications of the work to one or two sentences at the end of the abstract.

    6. A very brief mention of the implications of your project is typically more than adequate. You’ll need to touch on this topic, but it’s not necessary to go into great detail about it within the abstract itself.

  6. Write using the tense and voice that lends itself to brevity

    7. Write your abstract twice, once in active voice and once in passive. While active voice is typically preferred in academic settings, abstracts can be an exception if using the passive voice leads to a shorter, neater abstract.

  7. Don’t be redundant

    8. There should be as little repetition as possible in your abstract, including not repeating information you’ve already stated in the title of the dissertation.

  8. Answer these questions:

    9. What was the purpose of the research? How was it accomplished? What results were obtained? What is the significance of these results?

If you are still having difficulty, look at examples of abstracts within your discipline. Most will follow this formula, and can be an inspiration for your own abstract.

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