Because the abstract is a summary of a report, it is much shorter than the report. Most abstracts are kept to a single paragraph, whereas the project report may be several paragraphs or even several pages long. Because of the short length of the abstract, the content must be straightforward and concise. The information is less detailed than the information written in the report. An abstract will hit the key points of the project, leaving detailed explanations for the report.
The abstract and science project report must follow accepted style guidelines. One difference between the two sections in APA format is that the abstract stands alone on a separate page. Unlike the report, the abstract does not contain any indentations and is not divided into sections, although it presents information from many of the report's sections. While the report will often refer to data such as that found in charts or graphs, the abstract does not. The abstract does not contain any citations, whereas the report will contain many.
As the abstract summarizes the main points of the project, there is little, if any, room for the background information on the topic that was studied. This information can be found in the introduction section of the main body of the report. Although background information shows that the writer understands the basis of the theory being tested and the work that has already been done, it is not necessary to help a reader quickly understand how the project was done and what was learned.
An abstract explains the conclusions drawn from the science project, but there is not enough space to list all the limitations of the project. Limitations might include a small number of participants, problems with the way the study was done, or another variable that may have affected the results. Additionally, the main report will list the major implications of the project, including future work that might be done on the topic. Implications can sometimes be included in an abstract, but will be expressed in more detail in the report.