Your Abstract may be the only part of your manuscript that is read, so make it count!
Abstracts can be structured (with headings) or unstructured (without headings)—see the journal’s author guidelines to find out which is required.
Content of an Abstract:
- Introduction or Background: The context or main problem, followed by the research objectives (though these are sometimes written separately)
- Methods: a precise description of the methods used to collect data and determine the relationships between the variables
- Results: the main findings
- Conclusions: the interpretation and consequences of the findings (for research, clinical practice, health policy/public health)