presentation

purdue owl apa abstract

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Writing Report Abstracts

OWL logo

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

This handout discusses how to write good abstracts for reports. It covers informational and descriptive abstracts and gives pointers for success.

Types of abstracts

There are two types of abstracts: informational and descriptive.

Informational abstracts

  • Communicate contents of reports
  • Include purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations
  • Highlight essential points
  • Are short—from a paragraph to a page or two, depending upon the length of the report (10% or less of the report)
  • Allow readers to decide whether they want to read the report

Descriptive abstracts

  • Tell what the report contains
  • Include purpose, methods, scope, but NOT results, conclusions, and recommendations
  • Are always very short— usually under 100 words
  • Introduce subject to readers, who must then read the report to learn study results

Qualities of a good abstract

An effective abstract

  • Uses one or more well-developed paragraphs, which are unified, coherent, concise, and able to stand alone
  • Uses an introduction-body-conclusion structure in which the parts of the report are discussed in order: purpose, findings, conclusions, recommendations
  • Follows strictly the chronology of the report
  • Provides logical connections between material included
  • Adds no new information but simply summarizes the report
  • Is intelligible to a wide audience

Steps for writing effective report abstracts

To write an effective report abstract, follow these four steps.

Reread your report with the purpose of abstracting in mind. Look specifically for these main parts: purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations.

After you have finished rereading your report, write a rough draft without looking back at your report. Consider the main parts of the abstract listed in step #1. Do not merely copy key sentences from your report. You will put in too much or too little information. Do not summarize information in a new way.

Revise your rough draft to

Correct weaknesses in organization and coherence,

Drop superfluous information,

Add important information originally left out,

Eliminate wordiness, and

Correct errors in grammar and mechanics.

Carefully proofread your final copy.

What is an abstract? How long should an abstract be?

According to Purdue OWL , the abstract of an APA research paper has the following characteristics:

  • It is a concise summary of the key points of the research.
  • It should contain the research topic, research questions, participants, methods, results and data analysis.
  • The abstract could include possible implications of the research and future work connected to the findings.
  • The abstract should be a single paragraph and double-spaced .
  • An abstract should be between 150 and 250 words .

For further information, go to the Abstract section of the General Format page on Purdue OWL .

Thank you for using ASK US.  For more information, please contact your Baker librarians .

  • Last Updated Jul 14, 2023
  • Views 16619
  • Answered By Baker Librarians

FAQ Actions

  • Share on Facebook

Comments (0)

We'll answer you within 3 hours m - f 8:00 am - 4:00 pm..

  • Advertising
  • Applications
  • Assessments
  • Certificates
  • Announcement
  • Invitations
  • Newsletters
  • Questionnaires
  • Food & Beverages
  • Recruitment
  • Marketing Examples
  • Transportation

19+ APA Purdue Owl in PDF

apa purdue owl image

Apa Purdue Owl

1. apa abstract page purdue owl, 2. cite apa purdue owl, 3. apa documentation purdue owl, 4. apa 7 student purdue owl, 5. apa purdue owl citation chart, 6. apa purdue owl 7th edition, 7. apa paper purdue owl, 8. apa in-text citation purdue owl, 9. apa annotated bibliography purdue owl, 10. apa purdue owl guide, 11. apa publication manual purdue owl, 12. apa style guide purdue owl, 13. apa writing purdue owl, 14. apa essay purdue owl, 15. apa header guide purdue owl, 16. sample apa purdue owl, 17. apa purdue owl website, 18. apa purdue owl additional resources, 19. apa purdue owl title, 20. apa annotation purdue owl, what is apa purdue owl, how to write in apa purdue owl format, what is the purpose of in-text citations in apa purdue owl, how does the apa purdue owl guide help with text structure, why is proper citation important in an apa-style paper.

apa abstract page purdue owl

Step 1: Understand the APA Style Basics

Step 2: organize your paper, step 3: craft an engaging introduction, step 4: develop the main body, step 5: include accurate in-text citations, step 6: construct a cohesive conclusion, more business, 79+ formal letter examples & samples in pdf | doc | microsoft word | apple pages | google docs, 28+ examples of sports certificate in publisher | ms word | psd | ai | pages | indesign, 65+ project proposal examples in pdf | ms word | pages | google docs, 8+ reminder email examples & samples in pdf | doc, 85+ report examples in pdf, 7+ formal email examples and samples in pdf | doc, 27+ email examples & samples in microsoft word | apple pages | editable pdf | google docs, 10+ goodbye emails to coworkers examples & samples in word, 17+ leave application email examples & samples in pdf | doc, 58+ incident report examples & samples in pdf | google docs | pages | doc, 4+ introduction email examples & samples – pdf, doc, 38+ business proposal letter examples in pdf | doc | microsoft word | apple pages.

up_arrow

Related Articles

  • 15+ Market Research Proposal Examples – PDF, Word
  • 19+ Report Writing Examples

IMAGES

  1. Example Cover Page Apa Format 6th Edition

    purdue owl apa abstract

  2. Owl APA Format Cover Page Purdue owl apa style guide

    purdue owl apa abstract

  3. Sample APA Paper Purdue OWL

    purdue owl apa abstract

  4. the owl at purdue apa formatting

    purdue owl apa abstract

  5. Purdue Owl Research Paper

    purdue owl apa abstract

  6. Owl Com Apa : General Format Purdue Writing Lab

    purdue owl apa abstract

VIDEO

  1. Before apa

  2. Quick Introduction to the Purdue OWL

  3. APA

  4. Welcome to apa??

  5. Larry Pollard explains the Owl Theory. Part 1. May 2008

  6. Purdue OWL anniversary

COMMENTS

  1. What Are Some Simple Examples of Report Writing?

    Depending on what style is used to write the report, a variety of samples can be found online to assist the writing process. The Purdue OWL gives extensive information about writing in MLA or APA style.

  2. What Is the Purdue OWL?

    Purdue OWL is an acronym for Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab. Purdue OWL offers a variety of writing resources to the public for free. The online lab contains resources for many different styles of writing, from academic papers to jo...

  3. How Do You Write an Article Review in APA Format?

    To write an article review in APA format, start by formatting the citation of the article. Read through the article and identify the standard APA sections, such as the abstract, introduction, method, study and results. An APA article ends w...

  4. Abstracts

    Abstracts are generally kept brief (approximately 150-200 words). They differ by field, but in general, they need to summarize the article so that readers can

  5. The Report Abstract and Executive Summary

    The abstract is an overview that provides the reader with the main points and results, though it is not merely a listing of what the report contains. It is a

  6. General Format

    Your abstract should contain at least your research topic, research questions, participants, methods, results, data analysis, and conclusions. You may also

  7. Writing Report Abstracts

    There are two types of abstracts: informational and descriptive. Informational abstracts. Communicate contents of reports; Include purpose, methods, scope

  8. Sample APA Abstract Page (from Purdue OWL)

    Sample APA Abstract Page (from Purdue OWL). The abstract is a brief summary of the paper, allowing readers to quickly review the main points and purpose of.

  9. This image shows the Abstract page of an APA paper.

    Sep 26, 2018 - The Purdue University Online Writing Lab serves writers from around the world and the Purdue University Writing Lab helps writers on Purdue's

  10. Purdue-OWL-APA.pdf

    Your essay should include four major sections: the Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References. Title Page. The title page should contain the title of the

  11. Welcome to the Purdue OWL General Format

    Image Caption: APA Title Page. Abstract. Page 3. Begin a new page. Your abstract page should already include the page header (described above). On the first

  12. What is an abstract? How long should an abstract be?

    According to Purdue OWL, the abstract of an APA research paper has the following characteristics: It is a concise summary of the key points

  13. 19+ APA Purdue Owl in PDF

    1. APA Abstract Page Purdue OWL · 2. Cite APA Purdue OWL · 3. APA Documentation Purdue OWL

  14. The Basics of APA Formatting

    APA requires an abstract for professional papers. ... https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_gui.