How to write an abstract for a dissertation or research paper

What is an abstract?

An abstract is a brief summary, usually 150–350 words, that states why a study was done, how it was done, what was found and what it means. It appears at the start of a dissertation, thesis or journal article and must make sense on its own, because it is often read without the rest of the work: in databases, conference programmes, search results and examiners' first impressions.

A research abstract is not an introduction and not a teaser. It gives the actual answer. A reader who stops after the abstract should know your main finding.

What to include in an abstract

Almost every empirical abstract answers the same five questions, in this order. The word guide below assumes a 250-word abstract.

Notice that results usually take the largest share. A common mistake is to spend most of the abstract on background and leave a single vague sentence for findings.

Some journals, especially in medicine and health, require a structured abstract with labelled headings (Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions). Dissertations and most social science journals use an unstructured single paragraph that follows the same logic without headings.

How to write an abstract, step by step

1. Finish the main text first. You cannot summarise accurately until you know what you found and what you concluded.
2. Check the rules. Find the word limit, whether headings are required and whether keywords are needed. Your handbook or the journal's author guidelines will say.
3. Extract one sentence from each chapter. Reread your introduction, methodology, results, discussion and conclusion, and write one sentence capturing the core of each. This gives you a rough draft of about 120–150 words.
4. Add the essential detail. Expand the method and results sentences with sample size, design, setting and key figures.
5. Cut everything else. Remove background a specialist already knows, hedging that adds no information and phrases like “this dissertation will discuss”.
6. Read it as an outsider. Could someone who has not read your thesis explain what you did and found? If not, revise.
7. Check it against the main text. Every claim and number in the abstract must match the body exactly.

A sentence-by-sentence template

If you are stuck, these sentence frames give a starting point. Rewrite them in your own words once the content is in place.

• Context: “Although [established fact about the topic], little is known about [specific gap].”
• Aim: “This study examined / explored [what] among [whom] in [setting].”
• Method: “Data were collected through [design] with [number and type of participants or sources] and analysed using [technique].”
• Results: “[Main finding, with key figure]. [Second finding]. [Any important null or unexpected finding].”
• Conclusion: “These findings suggest that [interpretation], which has implications for [audience or practice].”

Templates help with structure, but strong abstracts sound like their authors. Once the draft is complete, read it aloud and smooth any sentence that feels mechanical.

Want a second pair of eyes? Want an experienced editor to tighten your abstract and check it matches your thesis? Request a free quote for thesis editing. See thesis & dissertation editing.

Abstract example for a dissertation

Below is a complete abstract for an invented master's dissertation, written for this guide. The abstract text itself is 217 words, excluding the title and keywords.

Paid work hours and academic burnout among final-year undergraduates

Growing numbers of undergraduates combine full-time study with paid employment, yet little is known about whether a threshold of weekly work hours marks a rise in academic burnout during the final year of study. This study examined the association between term-time work hours and burnout, and whether perceived schedule flexibility at work moderated that association. A cross-sectional online survey was completed by 214 final-year undergraduates at two public universities. Burnout was measured with an established student burnout inventory, and participants reported their average weekly paid work hours and perceived scheduling flexibility. Students working more than 15 hours per week reported significantly higher burnout than those working 15 hours or fewer (d = 0.64). In a regression model controlling for age, gender and field of study, each additional weekly work hour was associated with a small increase in burnout (b = 0.03, 95% CI [0.02, 0.04]), and the model explained 18% of the variance. Perceived flexibility weakened this association: among students reporting high flexibility, the link between hours and burnout was not statistically significant. The findings suggest that the number of hours alone does not fully explain burnout risk and that flexible scheduling may protect students who must work. Universities could use these results to inform guidance on term-time employment and to encourage flexible arrangements with local employers.

Keywords: academic burnout, term-time employment, undergraduate wellbeing, work flexibility, higher education

Why the example works

Here is how each part of the example maps onto the structure:

• Context and gap (sentence 1): one sentence establishes the issue and states precisely what is not known.
• Aim (sentence 2): the purpose is stated directly, including the moderator, so the reader knows there are two questions.
• Method (sentences 3–4): design, sample size, setting and measures, all in two sentences.
• Results (sentences 5–7): the largest part, with effect sizes and a confidence interval rather than “significant differences were found”.
• Conclusion and implication (sentences 8–9): what the findings mean and who could use them, without overclaiming. The study is cross-sectional, so it says “associated with”, not “caused”.

The language is also deliberate. It uses the past tense for what was done and found (“was completed”, “reported”), the present tense for what the findings suggest (“suggest”, “may protect”) and no citations or undefined abbreviations.

If you would like to report statistics in an abstract or results chapter in APA style, our APA format guide covers the conventions for numbers and statistical symbols.

Qualitative and humanities abstracts

The same logic applies, but the results section describes themes or arguments instead of statistics. Here is a shorter invented example for a qualitative study (127 words):

Community pharmacists are increasingly expected to deliver structured medication reviews for older adults, but little is known about how they manage these reviews in busy retail settings. This study explored pharmacists' experiences of delivering reviews and the barriers they encountered. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 community pharmacists working in independent and chain pharmacies, and transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Three themes were developed: squeezing care into the counter, describing time pressure and interruptions; negotiating patient expectations, concerning older adults' uncertainty about the purpose of reviews; and working without the full picture, reflecting limited access to patients' medical records. The findings suggest that protected time and shared record access may be as important as training in improving the quality of medication reviews.

In the humanities, an abstract typically states the question or debate, the sources or texts examined, the approach taken and the argument the thesis makes, with the argument given the most space.

Common mistakes and a final checklist

Watch for these frequent problems:

• Promising rather than reporting: “The results will be discussed” instead of stating the results.
• Too much background and too little about findings.
• Including citations, figures, tables or long quotations.
• Using abbreviations without defining them, or defining ones you use only once.
• Claims or numbers that do not match the main text.
• Causal language for a correlational design.
• Exceeding the word limit. Many submission systems will cut off the extra text automatically.

Before you submit, check that your abstract:

1. states the problem and gap in one or two sentences;
2. gives a clear aim or research question;
3. names the design, sample or sources and the main method;
4. reports the key findings, with numbers where relevant;
5. ends with a conclusion and implication that the evidence supports;
6. is within the word limit and includes required keywords.

A careful edit makes a big difference in so few words. Our thesis editing service can polish your abstract and full text with tracked changes, and our publication support helps you adapt an abstract for a specific journal.

Frequently asked questions