The main point of the abstract is to provide a concise summary of a paper's thesis or major findings. For scientific reports that include a lot of data and statistics, a summary provides a map of the main points and makes navigating the paper easy. A summary lets readers quickly decide if a long report will be worth their time. If the paper is put in an electronic database, the abstract is also used for indexing.
An abstract will provide a concise summary of the thesis, major points and conclusion. Using keywords and phrases that are also used in the paper is helpful to clearly identify the topic and content. A summary should answer why a reader would be interested in the research the paper presents. It should also outline the methodology and results of any tests, as well as explain how the paper is relevant to preexisting research.
A summary is typically about 100 to 150 words. APA style requires the summary to appear on its own page after the title page with the heading "Abstract" centered at the top. The paper's title and page number will appear in the top right-hand corner. The first line of the summary should not be indented. Summaries are written from an objective standpoint, meaning it should not reference the paper (i.e. "in this essay").
Consider the different types of summaries before you begin writing one. Your instructor should make clear which type of summary she expects for your paper. The two most common are descriptive and informative summaries, with the majority being informative. Descriptive abstracts are shorter, therefore they don't provide as much detail as informative abstracts. A third less common type of abstract is the critical abstract, which evaluates the paper and often compares it to others.
The abstract is best written after the paper is finished. At this point, it is possible to evaluate the effectiveness of the abstract. Go point by point through the paper, making a note of each important topic. The summary should contain information on each topic. Make sure the summary provides the conclusion as well. Any information found in the abstract should be expounded on in the paper.