Show that you understand the current state of research on your topic.
The length of a research proposal can vary quite a bit. A bachelor’s or master’s thesis proposal can be just a few pages, while proposals for PhD dissertations or research funding are usually much longer and more detailed. Your supervisor can help you determine the best length for your work.
One trick to get started is to think of your proposal’s structure as a shorter version of your thesis or dissertation , only without the results , conclusion and discussion sections.
Download our research proposal template
Discover proofreading & editing
Writing a research proposal can be quite challenging, but a good starting point could be to look at some examples. We’ve included a few for you below.
Like your dissertation or thesis, the proposal will usually have a title page that includes:
The first part of your proposal is the initial pitch for your project. Make sure it succinctly explains what you want to do and why.
Your introduction should:
To guide your introduction , include information about:
Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:
See an example
As you get started, it’s important to demonstrate that you’re familiar with the most important research on your topic. A strong literature review shows your reader that your project has a solid foundation in existing knowledge or theory. It also shows that you’re not simply repeating what other people have already done or said, but rather using existing research as a jumping-off point for your own.
In this section, share exactly how your project will contribute to ongoing conversations in the field by:
Following the literature review, restate your main objectives . This brings the focus back to your own project. Next, your research design or methodology section will describe your overall approach, and the practical steps you will take to answer your research questions.
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To finish your proposal on a strong note, explore the potential implications of your research for your field. Emphasize again what you aim to contribute and why it matters.
For example, your results might have implications for:
Last but not least, your research proposal must include correct citations for every source you have used, compiled in a reference list . To create citations quickly and easily, you can use our free APA citation generator .
Some institutions or funders require a detailed timeline of the project, asking you to forecast what you will do at each stage and how long it may take. While not always required, be sure to check the requirements of your project.
Here’s an example schedule to help you get started. You can also download a template at the button below.
Download our research schedule template
Research phase | Objectives | Deadline |
---|---|---|
1. Background research and literature review | 20th January | |
2. Research design planning | and data analysis methods | 13th February |
3. Data collection and preparation | with selected participants and code interviews | 24th March |
4. Data analysis | of interview transcripts | 22nd April |
5. Writing | 17th June | |
6. Revision | final work | 28th July |
If you are applying for research funding, chances are you will have to include a detailed budget. This shows your estimates of how much each part of your project will cost.
Make sure to check what type of costs the funding body will agree to cover. For each item, include:
To determine your budget, think about:
If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.
Methodology
Statistics
Research bias
Once you’ve decided on your research objectives , you need to explain them in your paper, at the end of your problem statement .
Keep your research objectives clear and concise, and use appropriate verbs to accurately convey the work that you will carry out for each one.
I will compare …
A research aim is a broad statement indicating the general purpose of your research project. It should appear in your introduction at the end of your problem statement , before your research objectives.
Research objectives are more specific than your research aim. They indicate the specific ways you’ll address the overarching aim.
A PhD, which is short for philosophiae doctor (doctor of philosophy in Latin), is the highest university degree that can be obtained. In a PhD, students spend 3–5 years writing a dissertation , which aims to make a significant, original contribution to current knowledge.
A PhD is intended to prepare students for a career as a researcher, whether that be in academia, the public sector, or the private sector.
A master’s is a 1- or 2-year graduate degree that can prepare you for a variety of careers.
All master’s involve graduate-level coursework. Some are research-intensive and intend to prepare students for further study in a PhD; these usually require their students to write a master’s thesis . Others focus on professional training for a specific career.
Critical thinking refers to the ability to evaluate information and to be aware of biases or assumptions, including your own.
Like information literacy , it involves evaluating arguments, identifying and solving problems in an objective and systematic way, and clearly communicating your ideas.
The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a dissertation committee) that your research topic is relevant and worthy of being conducted.
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McCombes, S. & George, T. (2023, November 21). How to Write a Research Proposal | Examples & Templates. Scribbr. Retrieved July 18, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/research-proposal/
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The following instructions are for the Undergraduate Research Center's Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference, however the general concepts will apply to abstracts for similar conferences. In the video to the right, Kendon Kurzer, PhD presents guidance from the University Writing Program. To see abstracts from previous URC Conferences, visit our Abstract Books Page .
An abstract is a summary of a research project. Abstracts precede papers in research journals and appear in programs of scholarly conferences. In journals, the abstract allows readers to quickly grasp the purpose and major ideas of a paper and lets other researchers know whether reading the entire paper will be worthwhile. In conferences, the abstract is the advertisement that the paper/presentation deserves the audience's attention.
The abstract allows readers to make decisions about your project. Your sponsoring professor can use the abstract to decide if your research is proceeding smoothly. The conference organizer uses it to decide if your project fits the conference criteria. The conference audience (faculty, administrators, peers, and presenters' families) uses your abstract to decide whether or not to attend your presentation. Your abstract needs to take all these readers into consideration.
The audience for the abstract for the Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference (URSCA) covers the broadest possible scope--from expert to lay person. You need to find a comfortable balance between writing an abstract that both shows your knowledge and yet is still comprehensible--with some effort--by lay members of the audience. Limit the amount of technical language you use and explain it where possible. Always use the full term before you refer to it by acronym Example: DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs). Remember that you are yourself an expert in the field that you are writing about--don't take for granted that the reader will share your insider knowledge.
Think of your abstract as a condensed version of your whole project. By reading it, the reader should understand the nature of your research question.
Like abstracts that researchers prepare for scholarly conferences, the abstract you submit for the Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creativities Conference (URSCA) will most likely reflect work still in progress at the time you write it. Although the content will vary according to field and specific project, all abstracts, whether in the sciences or the humanities, convey the following information:
Whatever kind of research you are doing, your abstract should provide the reader with answers to the following questions: What are you asking? Why is it important? How will you study it? What will you use to demonstrate your conclusions? What are those conclusions? What do they mean?
SUGGESTED CONTENT STRUCTURE:
Brief Background/Introduction/Research Context: What do we know about the topic? Why is the topic important? Present Research Question/Purpose: What is the study about? Methods/Materials/Subjects/Materials: How was the study done? Results/Findings: What was discovered? Discussion/Conclusion/Implications/Recommendations What does it mean?
For the URSCA Conference you can write a "Promissory Abstract" which will still describe the background, purpose and how you will accomplish your study's purpose and why it is important. Phrases like "to show whether" or "to determine if" can be helpful to avoid sharing a "hoped for" result.
The abstract should be one paragraph for the URSCA Conference and should not exceed the word limit (150-200 words). Edit it closely to be sure it meets the Four C's of abstract writing:
Because all researchers hope their work will be useful to others, and because good scholarship is increasingly used across disciplines, it is crucial to make the language of your abstracts accessible to a non-specialist. Simplify your language. Friends in another major will spot instantly what needs to be more understandable. Some problem areas to look for:
Multimedia Risk Assessment of Biodiesel - Tier II Antfarm Project
Significant knowledge gaps exist in the fate, transport, biodegradation, and toxicity properties of biodiesel when it is leaked into the environment. In order to fill these gaps, a combination of experiments has been developed in a Multimedia Risk Assessment of Biodiesel for the State of California. Currently, in the Tier II experimental phase of this assessment, I am investigating underground plume mobility of 20% and 100% additized and unadditized Soy and Animal Fat based biodiesel blends and comparing them to Ultra Low-Sulfer Diesel #2 (USLD) by filming these fuels as they seep through unsaturated sand, encounter a simulated underground water table, and form a floating lens on top of the water. Thus far, initial findings in analyzing the digital images created during the filming process have indicated that all fuels tested have similar travel times. SoyB20 behaves most like USLD in that they both have a similar lateral dispersion lens on top of the water table. In contrast, Animal Fat B100 appears to be most different from ULSD in that it has a narrower residual plume in the unsaturated sand, as well as a narrower and deeper lens formation on top of the water table.
Narrative Representation of Grief
In William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go how can grief, an incomprehensible and incommunicable emotion, be represented in fiction? Is it paradoxical, or futile, to do so? I look at two novels that struggle with representing intense combinations of individual and communal grief: William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying and Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go . At first glance, the novels appear to have nothing in common: Faulkner's is a notoriously bleak odyssey told in emotionally heavy stream-of-consciousness narrative, while Ishiguro's is a near-kitschy blend of a coming-of-age tale and a sci-fi dystopia. But they share a rare common thread. They do not try to convey a story, a character, an argument, or a realization, so much as they try to convey an emotion. The novels' common struggle is visible through their formal elements, down to the most basic technical aspects of how the stories are told. Each text, in its own way, enacts the trauma felt by its characters because of their grief, and also the frustration felt by its narrator (or narrators) because of the complex and guilty task of witnessing for grief and loss.
This webpage was based on articles written by Professor Diana Strazdes, Art History and Dr. Amy Clarke, University Writing Program, UC Davis. Thanks to both for their contributions.
by Dr. Jo Koster, Winthrop University
Humanities scholars and students aren’t usually taught to write abstracts like our friends in the natural and social sciences are. That’s because in the humanities, full pieces of discourse are preferred to short, condensed summaries. But in many cases you will NEED to write an abstract for your work—and a lot of what your colleagues in other disciplines know can help you.
Let’s start with the basic questions.
A descriptive abstract is the summary of work you have already completed or work you are proposing. It is not the same thing as the introduction to your work. The abstract should give readers a short, concise snapshot of the work as a whole—not just how it starts. Remember that the readers of your abstract will sometimes not read the paper as a whole, so in this short document you need to give them an overall picture of your work. If you are writing an abstract as a proposal for your research—in other words, as a request for permission to write a paper—the abstract serves to predict the kind of paper you hope to write.
A conference abstract is one you submit to have your paper considered for presentation at a professional conference (CURAH maintains a growing list of these opportunities ). The conference organizers will specify the length — rarely be more than 500 words (just short of two double-spaced pages). In an ideal world, you write your abstract after the actual paper is completed, but in some cases you may write an abstract for a paper you haven’t yet written—especially if the conference is some time away. Because the conference review committee will usually read the abstract and not your actual paper, you need to think of it as an independent document, aimed at that specific committee and connecting solidly with the theme of the conference. You may want to pick up phrasing from the conference title or call for papers in the abstract to reinforce this connection. Examine the call for papers carefully; it will specify the length of the abstract, special formatting requirements, whether the abstract will be published in the conference bulletin or proceedings, etc. Abstracts that do not meet the specified format are usually rejected early in the proceedings, so pay attention to each conference’s rules!
An abstract is a promissory note. That is, you are promising that you can and will produce the goods in the paper. Particularly in the case of a conference abstract, the organizers will make up a session based on the contents of the abstract. If you propose a paper that says you will use Foucault to comment on post-colonialism in Heat and Dust” and then show up with a paper on “Metaphors for Spring in A Bend in the River,” your paper may not fit the session where it was slotted, and you’ll look silly—and those organizers may not ask you back. While some divergence from the promised topic is acceptable (and probably inevitable if you haven’t written the paper when you submit the abstract), you need to produce a paper that’s within shouting distance of your original topic for the sake of keeping your promise.
Descriptive abstracts are usually only 100-250 words, so they must be pared down to the essentials. Typically, a descriptive abstract answers these questions:
Why did you choose this study or project? What did/will you do and how? What did you/do you hope to find? (For a completed work) What do your findings mean?
Which paper would you rather go hear at a conference? ‘Issues of Heteronormativity and Gender Performance In Twain’s Novels” or “Come Back to the Raft, Huck Honey”?
Your title should be informative and focused, indicating the problem and your general approach. It’s very fashionable in the humanities to have titles featuring a catchy phrase, a colon, and then an explanation of the title. While snappy titles may help your abstract be noticed, it’s really what comes after the colon that sells the abstract, so pay attention to it. “All the World’s a Ship: Race and Ethnicity in Moby Dick” catches the eye, but “Melville’s Deconstruction of Ethnicity in the ‘Midnight, Forecastle’ Episode of Moby Dick” tells readers much more specifically what you’re promising to deliver.
The abstract should begin with a clear sense of the research question you have framed. Often writers set this up as a problem: “Although some recent scholars claim to have identified Shakespeare’s lost play Cardenio, that attribution is still not accepted.
If you began with a problem, you can pose your argument as the solution: “In this paper I use the records of the Worshipful Company of Stationers, London’s chief publishing organization, to show that the play identified by Charles Hamilton in 1990 is not actually the play Shakespeare’s company mounted in 1613.” It’s perfectly legit to use “I” in sentences referring to your argument.
It always helps when you identify the theoretical or methodological school that you are using to approach your question or position yourself within an ongoing debate. This helps readers situate your ideas in the larger conversations of your discipline. For instance, “The debate among Folsom, McGann, and Stallybrass over the notion of database as a genre (PMLA 122.5, Fall 2007) suggests that….” or “Using the definition of dataclouds proposed by Johnson-Eilola (2005), I will argue that…”
“ Through analyzing Dickinson’s use of metaphor, I demonstrate that she systematically transformed Watt’s hymnal tropes as a way of asserting her own doctrinal truths. This transformation…”
Not everyone agrees how much jargon should be included in an abstract. My best advice is to add any technical terms you need, but don’t put in jargon for jargon’s sake or just to make it look like you are an expert (this especially extends to (post)modernizing your words or other typographical excrescences).
To the basic requirements of the descriptive abstract, a conference paper abstract should also include a few sentences about how the proposed paper fits in the theme of the conference. For instance, a call for papers for a session on “Science and Literature in the 19th Century” at a conference entitled “(Dis)Junctions” requested “critical works on the interaction between scientific writing and literature in the 19th century. How did scientific discoveries, theories and assumptions (for example, in medicine and psychology, but not limited to these) influence contemporaneous fiction?” If you were submitting a paper to this session, you would want to have a sentence or two about the theories you were discussing and name the particular works where you would identify their influence. If you can work the words “join” or “junction” (or “disjunction”) into your title or abstract, you’ll increase your chance of having the paper accepted, since you’re showing clearly how the paper fits the theme of the session.
Tell them your essay is a finished work (even if it’s only complete in your head!). It’s also considered good in a conference abstract to conclude with a sentence about your presentation, since the great horror of session chairs is the paper that runs far too long (or embarrassingly too short). Organizers also need to know if you need any special technology to present the paper. So a a much-appreciated professional touch is concluding passage such as, “My paper is complete and can be presented in 20 minutes. I will bring bring video clips on a portable drive but will need a computer, projector, and Internet access to show all my materials.”
Double-check your abstract to make sure it meets the length requirements. Make sure it’s edited and documented. And above all, make sure it’s submitted on time.
Here is a video version of this page, taking you from the call for papers to the finished abstract.
Check out these other guides from CURAH:
Illustrated by Ian MacInnes Thanks to Dr. Leslie Bickford for her sample abstract
I consulted and borrowed material from the following websites in preparing these suggestions:
www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/abstracts.html www.linguistics.ucsb.edu/faculty/bucholtz/sociocultural/abstracttips.html www.academic-conferences.org/abstract-guidelines.htm ceca.icom.museum/ dbase upl/writinganabstract.pdf ling.wisc.edu/macaulay/800.abstracts.html writingcenter.unlv.edu/writing/abstract.html www.lightbluetouchpaper.org/2007/03/14/how-not-to-write-an-abstract/ webapp.comcol.umass.edu/msc/absGuidelines.aspx www.oberlin.edu/history/Honors/prospectus.html www.english.eku.edu/ma/scholarlythesis.php
How to write an abstract for a conference, what is an abstract and why is it important, an abstract is a brief summary of your research or creative project, usually about a paragraph long (250-350 words), and is written when you are ready to present your research or included in a thesis or research publication..
For additional support in writing your abstract, you can contact the Office of URSA at [email protected] or schedule a time to meet with a Writing and Research Consultant at the OSU Writing Center
The opening sentences should summarize your topic and describe what researchers already know, with reference to the literature.
A brief discussion that clearly states the purpose of your research or creative project. This should give general background information on your work and allow people from different fields to understand what you are talking about. Use verbs like investigate, analyze, test, etc. to describe how you began your work.
In this section you will be discussing the ways in which your research was performed and the type of tools or methodological techniques you used to conduct your research.
This is where you describe the main findings of your research study and what you have learned. Try to include only the most important findings of your research that will allow the reader to understand your conclusions. If you have not completed the project, talk about your anticipated results and what you expect the outcomes of the study to be.
This is the final section of your abstract where you summarize the work performed. This is where you also discuss the relevance of your work and how it advances your field and the scientific field in general.
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A proposal paper sets out your reasoning for the study, justifies the research and explains your intended methods. Dissertations and other graduate-level research often require proposals, or you may create one to apply for grant money. An abstract summarizes the information in the proposal. An effective abstract can make the difference between a positive or negative response to the proposal.
A strong abstract touches on all the sections in the proposal, including the introduction, where you should give some information about the issue and why you chose it. While you do not want to go into detail about the problem, you need to state what issue your project will address, such as the high dropout rate for sophomores at a college. If you find you cannot focus your abstract on a single problem, your research may be too broad.
A proposal identifies a reason for the project, so the abstract also needs to establish how this project fulfills a need. You may indicate how your plan differs from previous research or fills a void in past research while summarizing information included in the literature review portion of your paper. Include a brief explanation of the project's objectives, the research or other material you will rely on in the paper and in your proposed thesis.
The abstract should include some general information about the procedures for your project. Explain if you will use qualitative, quantitative or mixed measures and why. What type of sample and procedures will you use to obtain your data? Add a sentence at the end of the abstract to indicate the conclusion you expect to draw from the project and the implications of the results, which will create a sense of closure for the document. Remember, the abstract is a summary of material in the paper, so only include information in the abstract that will also appear in the actual paper.
First person point of view -- "I" and "my" -- are usually acceptable in APA proposals, but you should double check your field's style guide. After finishing a draft, revise your abstract to create concise language, keeping the abstract to a maximum of 250 words. Find examples of acceptable abstracts from your field and institution to use as models. If you write the abstract before finishing the proposal, review it once you have completed the paper to make sure the abstract summarizes the ideas you have presented. Insert a page break after the title page and place the abstract there, including the running head and page number in the header.
Kristie Sweet has been writing professionally since 1982, most recently publishing for various websites on topics like health and wellness, and education. She holds a Master of Arts in English from the University of Northern Colorado.
Structure and content, introduction (to topic and problem), research question (or hypothesis, thesis statement, aim), proposed methodology, anticipated findings, contributions - impact and significance, tables and figures (if applicable).
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The structure and content of a research proposal can vary depending upon the discipline, purpose, and target audience. For example, a graduate thesis proposal and a Tri-Council grant proposal will have different guidelines for length and required sections.
Before you begin writing, be sure to talk with your supervisor to gain a clear understanding of their specific expectations, and continually check in with them throughout the writing process.
This template can be used in conjunction with the sections below.
What are some keywords for your research?
Writing Tip: When constructing your title, think about the search terms you would use to find this research online.
Important: Write this section last, after you have completed drafting the proposal. Or if you are required to draft a preliminary abstract, then remember to rewrite the abstract after you have completed drafting the entire proposal because some information may need to be revised.
The abstract should provide a brief overview of the entire proposal. Briefly state the research question (or hypothesis, thesis statement, aim), the problem and rationale, the proposed methods, and the proposed analyses or expected results.
The purpose of the introduction is to communicate the information that is essential for the reader to understand the overall area of concern. Be explicit. Outline why this research must be conducted and try to do so without unnecessary jargon or overwhelming detail.
Start with a short statement that establishes the overall area of concern. Avoid too much detail. Get to the point. Communicate only information essential for the reader’s comprehension. Avoid unnecessary technical language and jargon. Answer the question, "What is this study about?"
Questions to consider:
The following sections - listed as part of the introduction - are intended as a guide for drafting a research proposal. Most introductions include these following components. However, be sure to clarify with your advisor or carefully review the grant guidelines to be sure to comply with the proposal genre expectations of your specific discipline.
The research question is the question you are hoping to answer in your research project. It is important to know how you should write your research question into your proposal. Some proposals include
Foreshadow the outcomes of your research. Are you trying to improve something? Understand something? Advocate for a social responsibility?
What is the question you are hoping to answer?
Your hypothesis should provide one (of many) possible answers to your research question.
Usually a hypothesis is written to show the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Your hypothesis must be
Your thesis statement is a clear, concise statement of what you are arguing and why it is important. For more support on writing thesis statements, check out these following resources:
Aims are typically broader statements of what you are trying to accomplish and may or may not be measurable. Objectives are operational statements indicating specifically how you will accomplish the aims of your project.
Be specific and make sure your aims or objectives are realistic. You want to convey that it is feasible to answer this question with the objectives you have proposed.
Make it clear that you know what you are going to do, how you are going to do it, and why it will work by relating your methodology to previous research. If there isn’t much literature on the topic, you can relate your methodology to your own preliminary research or point out how your methodology tackles something that may have been overlooked in previous studies.
Explain how you will conduct this research. Specify scope and parameters (e.g., geographic locations, demographics). Limit your inclusion of literature to only essential articles and studies.
This section should include the following components that are relevant to your study and research methodologies:
Provide detail about your objects of study (e.g., literary texts, swine, government policies, children, health care systems).
What exactly will you do? Include variables selected or manipulated, randomization, controls, the definition of coding categories, etc.
What are the expected outcomes from your methods? Describe your expected results in relation to your hypothesis. Support these results using existing literature.
This section may be the most important part of your proposal. Make sure to emphasize how this research is significant to the related field, and how it will impact the broader community, now and in the future.
Convince your reader why this project should be funded above the other potential projects. Why is this research useful and relevant? Why is it useful to others? Answer the question “so what?”
Provide a list of some of the most important sources that you will need to use for the introduction and background sections, plus your literature review and theoretical framework.
What are some of the most important sources that you will need to use for the intro/background/lit review/theoretical framework?
Attach this list to your proposal as a separate page unless otherwise specified.
This section should include only visuals that help illustrate the preliminary results, methods, or expected results.
Suggest an edit to this guide
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Parts of a research proposal, prosana model, introduction, research question, methodology.
A research proposal's purpose is to capture the evaluator's attention, demonstrate the study's potential benefits, and prove that it is a logical and consistent approach (Van Ekelenburg, 2010). To ensure that your research proposal contains these elements, there are several aspects to include in your proposal (Al-Riyami, 2008):
Details about what to include in each element are included in the boxes below. Depending on the topic of your study, some parts may not apply to your proposal. You can also watch the video below for a brief overview about writing a successful research proposal.
Van Ekelenburg (2010) uses the PROSANA Model to guide researchers in developing rationale and justification for their research projects. It is an acronym that connects the problem, solution, and benefits of a particular research project. It is an easy way to remember the critical parts of a research proposal and how they relate to one another. It includes the following letters (Van Ekelenburg, 2010):
Research proposal titles should be concise and to the point, but informative. The title of your proposal may be different from the title of your final research project, but that is completely normal! Your findings may help you come up with a title that is more fitting for the final project. Characteristics of good proposal titles are (Al-Riyami, 2008):
It is also common for proposal titles to be very similar to your research question, hypothesis, or thesis statement (Locke et al., 2007).
An abstract is a brief summary (about 300 words) of the study you are proposing. It includes the following elements (Al-Riyami, 2008):
Our guide on writing summaries may help you with this step.
The purpose of the introduction is to give readers background information about your topic. it gives the readers a basic understanding of your topic so that they can further understand the significance of your proposal. A good introduction will explain (Al-Riyami, 2008):
Your research objectives are the desired outcomes that you will achieve from the research project. Depending on your research design, these may be generic or very specific. You may also have more than one objective (Al-Riyami, 2008).
Be careful not to have too many objectives in your proposal, as having too many can make your project lose focus. Plus, it may not be possible to achieve several objectives in one study.
This section describes the different types of variables that you plan to have in your study and how you will measure them. According to Al-Riyami (2008), there are four types of research variables:
Your research proposal should describe each of your variables and how they relate to one another. Depending on your study, you may not have all four types of variables present. However, there will always be an independent and dependent variable.
A research question is the main piece of your research project because it explains what your study will discover to the reader. It is the question that fuels the study, so it is important for it to be precise and unique. You do not want it to be too broad, and it should identify a relationship between two variables (an independent and a dependent) (Al-Riyami, 2008). There are six types of research questions (Academic Writer, n.d.):
For more information on the different types of research questions, you can view the "Research Questions and Hypotheses" tutorial on Academic Writer, located below. If you are unfamiliar with Academic Writer, we also have a tutorial on using the database located below.
Compose papers in pre-formatted APA templates. Manage references in forms that help craft APA citations. Learn the rules of APA style through tutorials and practice quizzes.
Academic Writer will continue to use the 6th edition guidelines until August 2020. A preview of the 7th edition is available in the footer of the resource's site. Previously known as APA Style Central.
If you know enough about your research topic that you believe a particular outcome may occur as a result of the study, you can include a hypothesis (thesis statement) in your proposal. A hypothesis is a prediction that you believe will be the outcome of your study. It explains what you think the relationship will be between the independent and dependent variable (Al-Riyami, 2008). It is ok if the hypothesis in your proposal turns out to be incorrect, because it is only a prediction! If you are writing a proposal in the humanities, you may be writing a thesis statement instead of a hypothesis. A thesis presents the main argument of your research project and leads to corresponding evidence to support your argument.
Hypotheses vs. Theories
Hypotheses are different from theories in that theories represent general principles and sets of rules that explain different phenomena. They typically represent large areas of study because they are applicable to anything in a particular field. Hypotheses focus on specific areas within a field and are educated guesses, meaning that they have the potential to be proven wrong (Academic Writer, n.d.). Because of this, hypotheses can also be formed from theories.
For more information on writing effective thesis statements, you can view our guide on writing thesis statements below.
In a research proposal, you must thoroughly explain how you will conduct your study. This includes things such as (Al-Riyami, 2008):
For more information on research methodologies, you can view our guide on research methods and methodologies below.
This article shall guide you on how to write a good abstract. It lists the four essential elements of a good abstract, ideal number of words, and tense. The article ends with an example abstract of a real-life study with a supplemental video related to the findings.
After finishing your research paper, thesis, or scientific paper, there is a need for you to write the abstract. How is the abstract written? What are the essential elements of a good abstract?
If this is your first time, or you don’t feel confident about writing your first abstract, these tips are handy. I provide an example to demonstrate how it works.
Why write the abstract.
The information provided in the abstract must be sufficient to help the researcher decide whether the work is relevant to his or her interest or not. It should be brief but not lacking in essential elements to foster understanding of the research conducted. The abstract will also help the researcher decide whether to read the whole research paper or not.
An abstract is a summary of your research paper, thesis, or scientific paper. The abstract describes an unpublished or published research study in capsule form. It is a brief overview of the investigation so that researchers can comprehend the content of the research quickly. A good abstract is a mini-version of the whole research paper.
So how should the abstract of a research paper be written so that readers will derive the maximum benefit from it?
This part of the abstract mentions the study’s rationale. It states clearly the objective , aim, or purpose of the study. It answers the question: “Why do we care about the issue?”
It states the problem statement or the central argument or thesis statement . The relevance of the study in society is highlighted. Why did the researchers undertake the research? What is at stake?
This portion of the abstract tells us the perspective adopted by the researcher or researchers. It describes the types of evidence used.
The method or methodology part also mentions the key concepts, relevant keywords that make it distinct and searchable. It also describes the focus of the investigation, whether it is a group of people, a particular gender, race, community, environment, etc.
This portion of the abstract summarizes the results or major findings of the study. It only states the significant results, most important ones, or highlights of the study in a sentence or a few sentences.
This part of the research abstract states the principal conclusion of the study. After obtaining the findings, what did the researchers conclude?
The conclusion, in particular, should be given special attention in writing the abstract. The conclusion should be well supported by the findings of the investigation; not a sweeping statement without any valid argument or evidence to back it up.
As an academician, reading research abstracts that tell very little of the salient findings of the paper, particularly those behind a paywall , causes frustration. I tend to think those abstracts work more as a marketing strategy rather than to disseminate important information.
In truth, we can’t afford to be free riders as reliable and rigorous scientific publication requires time, money, and effort to produce. A candidate paper for publication requires intensive peer review , editing, and formatting to make it worthy of publication in reputable journals. But perhaps publishing companies also need to be reasonable in their charges as many reviewers give their services for free.
Finally, the references (e.g. name of author and date) should not be cited in the abstract unless the research paper involves an improvement or modification of a previously published method used by a researcher.
If you submit a paper for inclusion in a conference presentation, organizers usually limit its length from 250 to 300 words. It is possible, however, to capture the essence of the paper in a few sentences.
Hence, the challenge is how to make the research abstract as short as possible, without leaving out the essential elements, that will cause readers to read the paper. The abstract serves as a teaser, a taste of the pie for readers to decide whether they will read the whole piece.
The abstract is usually written in the past tense because the investigation has transpired. However, statement of facts in, say, the results and discussion and the conclusion, must be in the present tense.
I provide an example of a good abstract abiding with the precepts advanced in this article. It is for you to judge if this meets your expectations.
Young children’s exposure to violent computer games
The example of an abstract given here is a real-life situation, as Dr. Perry Wilson reports in the following video.
Notice in the video that the study has its limitations. The participants, while young (8 to 12 years old), were conscious that they were observed in a university laboratory. This set-up may have affected their behavior.
Have your style by deviating a little from the convention. The point is, the abstract should be interesting enough such that readers will want to read your investigation, learn from it, or skip it because it’s not directly relevant to their interest.
©P. A. Regoniel 9 November 2021
Blended website learning model: excellent solution to forced online education due to the covid-19 pandemic, analyzing the macro and microstructures of editorial texts, peer coaching: a sample of professional development plan, about the author, patrick regoniel, one response.
I am writing an abstract on “reduce the use of antibiotics in food”…..can you help me out?
The Cambridge English Dictionary defines an abstract in academic writing as being “ a few sentences that give the main ideas in an article or a scientific paper ” and the Collins English Dictionary says “ an abstract of an article, document, or speech is a short piece of writing that gives the main points of it ”.
Whether you’re writing up your Master’s dissertation or PhD thesis, the abstract will be a key element of this document that you’ll want to make sure you give proper attention to.
The aim of a thesis abstract is to give the reader a broad overview of what your research project was about and what you found that was novel, before he or she decides to read the entire thesis. The reality here though is that very few people will read the entire thesis, and not because they’re necessarily disinterested but because practically it’s too large a document for most people to have the time to read. The exception to this is your PhD examiner, however know that even they may not read the entire length of the document.
Some people may still skip to and read specific sections throughout your thesis such as the methodology, but the fact is that the abstract will be all that most read and will therefore be the section they base their opinions about your research on. In short, make sure you write a good, well-structured abstract.
If you’re a PhD student, having written your 100,000-word thesis, the abstract will be the 300 word summary included at the start of the thesis that succinctly explains the motivation for your study (i.e. why this research was needed), the main work you did (i.e. the focus of each chapter), what you found (the results) and concluding with how your research study contributed to new knowledge within your field.
Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States of America, once famously said:
The point here is that it’s easier to talk open-endedly about a subject that you know a lot about than it is to condense the key points into a 10-minute speech; the same applies for an abstract. Three hundred words is not a lot of words which makes it even more difficult to condense three (or more) years of research into a coherent, interesting story.
Whilst the abstract is one of the first sections in your PhD thesis, practically it’s probably the last aspect that you’ll ending up writing before sending the document to print. The reason being that you can’t write a summary about what you did, what you found and what it means until you’ve done the work.
A good abstract is one that can clearly explain to the reader in 300 words:
Another way to think of this structure is:
Following this ‘formulaic’ approach to writing the abstract should hopefully make it a little easier to write but you can already see here that there’s a lot of information to convey in a very limited number of words.
The biggest challenge you’ll have is getting all the 6 points mentioned above across in your abstract within the limit of 300 words . Your particular university may give some leeway in going a few words over this but it’s good practice to keep within this; the art of succinctly getting your information across is an important skill for a researcher to have and one that you’ll be called on to use regularly as you write papers for peer review.
Every word in the abstract is important so make sure you focus on only the key elements of your research and the main outcomes and significance of your project that you want the reader to know about. You may have come across incidental findings during your research which could be interesting to discuss but this should not happen in the abstract as you simply don’t have enough words. Furthermore, make sure everything you talk about in your thesis is actually described in the main thesis.
Keep the sentences short and to the point. Each sentence should give the reader new, useful information about your research so there’s no need to write out your project title again. Give yourself one or two sentences to introduce your subject area and set the context for your project. Then another sentence or two to explain the gap in the knowledge; there’s no need or expectation for you to include references in the abstract.
Some people prefer to write their overarching aim whilst others set out their research questions as they correspond to the structure of their thesis chapters; the approach you use is up to you, as long as the reader can understand what your dissertation or thesis had set out to achieve. Knowing this will help the reader better understand if your results help to answer the research questions or if further work is needed.
Keep the content of the abstract factual; that is to say that you should avoid bringing too much or any opinion into it, which inevitably can make the writing seem vague in the points you’re trying to get across and even lacking in structure.
Spend suitable time editing your text, and if necessary, completely re-writing it. Show the abstract to others and ask them to explain what they understand about your research – are they able to explain back to you each of the 6 structure points, including why your project was needed, the research questions and results, and the impact it had on your research field? It’s important that you’re able to convey what new knowledge you contributed to your field but be mindful when writing your abstract that you don’t inadvertently overstate the conclusions, impact and significance of your work.
Perhaps the best way to understand how to write a thesis abstract is to look at examples of what makes a good and bad abstract.
Let’s start with an example of a bad thesis abstract:
In this project on “The Analysis of the Structural Integrity of 3D Printed Polymers for use in Aircraft”, my research looked at how 3D printing of materials can help the aviation industry in the manufacture of planes. Plane parts can be made at a lower cost using 3D printing and made lighter than traditional components. This project investigated the structural integrity of EBM manufactured components, which could revolutionise the aviation industry.
Hopefully you’ll have spotted some of the reasons this would be considered a poor abstract, not least because the author used up valuable words by repeating the lengthy title of the project in the abstract.
Working through our checklist of the 6 key points you want to convey to the reader:
This is an extreme example but is a good way to illustrate just how unhelpful a poorly written abstract can be. At only 71 words long, it definitely hasn’t maximised the amount of information that could be presented and the what they have presented has lacked clarity and structure.
A final point to note is the use of the EBM acronym, which stands for Electron Beam Melting in the context of 3D printing; this is a niche acronym for the author to assume that the reader would know the meaning of. It’s best to avoid acronyms in your abstract all together even if it’s something that you might expect most people to know about, unless you specifically define the meaning first.
Having seen an example of a bad thesis abstract, now lets look at an example of a good PhD thesis abstract written about the same (fictional) project:
Additive manufacturing (AM) of titanium alloys has the potential to enable cheaper and lighter components to be produced with customised designs for use in aircraft engines. Whilst the proof-of-concept of these have been promising, the structural integrity of AM engine parts in response to full thrust and temperature variations is not clear.
The primary aim of this project was to determine the fracture modes and mechanisms of AM components designed for use in Boeing 747 engines. To achieve this an explicit finite element (FE) model was developed to simulate the environment and parameters that the engine is exposed to during flight. The FE model was validated using experimental data replicating the environmental parameters in a laboratory setting using ten AM engine components provided by the industry sponsor. The validated FE model was then used to investigate the extent of crack initiation and propagation as the environment parameters were adjusted.
This project was the first to investigate fracture patterns in AM titanium components used in aircraft engines; the key finding was that the presence of cavities within the structures due to errors in the printing process, significantly increased the risk of fracture. Secondly, the simulations showed that cracks formed within AM parts were more likely to worsen and lead to component failure at subzero temperatures when compared to conventionally manufactured parts. This has demonstrated an important safety concern which needs to be addressed before AM parts can be used in commercial aircraft.
Having read this ‘good abstract’ you should have a much better understand about what the subject area is about, where the gap in the knowledge was, the aim of the project, the methods that were used, key results and finally the significance of these results. To break these points down further, from this good abstract we now know that:
The abstract text has a much clearer flow through these different points in how it’s written and has made much better use of the available word count. Acronyms have even been used twice in this good abstract but they were clearly defined the first time they were introduced in the text so that there was no confusion about their meaning.
The abstract you write for your dissertation or thesis should succinctly explain to the reader why the work of your research was needed, what you did, what you found and what it means. Most people that come across your thesis, including any future employers, are likely to read only your abstract. Even just for this reason alone, it’s so important that you write the best abstract you can; this will not only convey your research effectively but also put you in the best light possible as a researcher.
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The Professor Is In
Guidance for all things PhD: Graduate School, Job Market and Careers
By Karen Kelsky | July 12, 2011
Tuesdays I will occasionally feature “How-To(sday)” posts, short guides to certain genres of academic writing. I’m happy to take requests for these. Just email me at [email protected].
Today we look at the paper/conference proposal abstract . This is a critical genre of writing for scholars in the humanities and social sciences. Usually between 200 and 500 words long, it is a short abstract that describes research/a talk/a journal article that you are GOING to write. This is in contrast to the abstract of the research/dissertation/article that you have already written.
Mastering the paper abstract is one of the most important skills you can acquire while still a graduate student. Learn the tricks of the paper abstract and you have the ticket in hand to a steady ride of conference and publishing opportunities. These are the conferences and publications that a few years down the line, set your c.v. apart from your peers, and land you that job.
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The paper abstract is highly formulaic. Let’s break it down. It needs to show the following:
1) big picture problem or topic widely debated in your field.
2) gap in the literature on this topic.
3 ) your project filling the gap.
4) the specific material that you examine in the paper.
5) your original argument.
6) a strong concluding sentence.
Each of these six elements is mostly likely contained in a single sentence.
Sentence 1: Big picture topic that is being intensively debated in your field/fields, possibly with reference to scholars (“The question of xxx has been widely debated in xxx field, with scholars such as xxx and xx arguing xxx]”).
Sentence 2: Gap in the literature on this topic. This GAP IN KNOWLEDGE is very, very bad, and detrimental to the welfare of all right thinking people. This is the key sentence of the abstract. (“However, these works/articles/arguments/perspectives have not adequately addressed the issue of xxxx.” ).
Sentence 3: Your project fills this gap (“My paper addresses the issue of xx with special attention to xxx”).
Sentence 4+ (length here depends on your total word allowance, and more sentences may be possible): The specific material that you are examining–your data, your texts, etc. ( “Specifically, in my project, I will be looking at xxx and xxx, in order to show xxxx. I will discuss xx and xx, and juxtapose them against xx and xx, in order to reveal the previously misunderstood connections between xx and xx.”)
Sentence 5: Your main argument and contribution, concisely and clearly stated. (“I argue that…”)
Sentence 6: Strong Conclusion! (“In conclusion, this project, by closely examining xxxxx, sheds new light on the neglected/little recognized/rarely acknowledged issue of xxxxx. “).
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Start by writing out your own version of the sentences above, succinctly if you can, but without stressing about your word limit too much.
Once that is done, edit to your word count.
One of the key points of the paper abstract is that it is very short, and every word must count. No fluff, no filler, no blather.
Remove wordy phrases like, “it can be argued that,” “Is is commonly acknowledged that,” “I wish to propose the argument that”—these are all empty filler. Work in short, declarative sentences.
If you are wondering—how do I make an argument when I haven’t written the paper yet? Well–that’s the challenge. Come up with a plausible, reasonable argument for the purposes of the abstract. If you end up writing something different in the actual paper itself, that’s ok!
Make sure that your final product shows your:
1) big picture
2) gap in the literature
3) your project filling the gap
5) your argument.
6) A strong conclusion.
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For your reference, here are two abstracts that demonstrate how the principles above work. Each has parts missing, as noted. Inclusion would have strengthened the abstract:
[Imagining a Different World: Reconsidering the Regulation of Family Lives. Rosie Harding. Law and Literature . Vol. 22, No. 3 (Fall 2010) (pp. 440-462)]
2. History, it seems, has to attain a degree of scientificity, resident in the truth-value of its narrative, before it can be called history, as distinguished from the purely literary or political [Sentence 1–Big problem]. Invoking the work of Jacques Rancière and Hayden White, this essay investigates the manner in which history becomes a science through a detour that gives speech a regime of truth [Sentence 2–Literature, no gap mentioned]. It does this by exploring the nineteenth-century relationship of history to poetry and to truth in the context of the emerging discipline of history in Bengal [Sentence 3–Her project fills the gap]. The question is discussed in relation to a patriotic poem, Palashir Yuddha (1875), accused of ahistoricality, as well as to a defense made by Bengal’s first professional historian, Jadunath Sarkar, against a similar charge in the context of Bankimchandra Chatterjee’s historical novels [Sentence 4–Her specific material in the paper]. That the relationship of creativity to history is a continuing preoccupation for the historian is finally explored through Ranajit Guha’s invocation of Tagore in “History at the Limit of World-History” (2002) [Sentence 5–Her argument, weakly stated]. [MISSING Sentence 6—a strong conclusion].
[History in Poetry: Nabinchandra Sen’s “Palashir Yuddha” and the Question of Truth. Rosinka Chaudhuri. The Journal of Asian Studies . Vol. 66, No. 4 (Nov., 2007) (pp. 897-918)]
Good luck with your abstract!! And be sure and ask the Professor for help if you need it. [email protected].
March 16, 2012 at 2:39 pm
Having read several posts/articles on how to write a conference abstact, I found yours to be particularly helpful. Thanks for writing it! But I was wondering: is there was any particular formatting to be observed in written abstacts? What spacing is expected? Where should the name of the abstract author appear? Could you mention a bit about that?
March 16, 2012 at 3:20 pm
In my experience, the conference will specify their requirements very clearly and precisely. But if these are not specified, then submit doublespaced, with title and name of author first, and the abstract immediately following, with no white space between.
August 29, 2013 at 6:49 am
Thank you so very much, Prof, indeed your work is the best assistance for me in terms of Abstract writing. But I do not quite understand GAP IN THE KNOWLEDGE ON THIS TOPIC. Please Prof can you help me throw more light to it.
Thank Ebele.
July 15, 2012 at 4:49 pm
This is by far the most succinct/helpful resource I’ve found for writing an abstract proposal! So, many thanks for that.
Anyways, I have a potentially silly question: Is there a need for a potential title for the paper? Or, should your proposal simply be the body of the abstract?
Again, thanks for your help!
July 21, 2012 at 1:14 pm
Generally there are posted requirements for the submission, and these include a title (often with spacing and font size specified). if not, yes, always include the title.
August 13, 2012 at 1:40 am
Hello! Thank you for this post. I am currently working on an abstract for a conference. The conference organizers, however, have asked for a 250 word proposal and a 100 word abstract. What is the difference? Thanks for your help!
August 13, 2012 at 10:59 am
the 100 is very bare-bones–mostly just disclosing the topic, the method and the core argument. it’s like a “memory-jog” for people reviewing apps.
the 250 will give all the info that I describe in this post.
November 15, 2012 at 1:23 pm
I refer to this post whenever I need to write an abstract. Every proposal I’ve written following the advice here has been accepted– I’m up to three now!
Do you have any tricks for the “research/dissertation/article that you have already written”?
November 15, 2012 at 8:04 pm
Unfortunately there are no tricks for writing a dissertation. But with this abstract template I literally never got turned down for a conference.
November 16, 2012 at 12:33 pm
Oops– this is what I get for typing on my phone! I meant to say the *abstract* for the “research/dissertation/article that you have already written”!
January 3, 2013 at 1:51 pm
Dr. Karen, does it matter when you submit your abstract for the conference? I have a deadline two weeks from now and I am still correcting my abstract. If I get it in right before the deadline will that affect my chances of my paper being accepted?
January 4, 2013 at 1:50 pm
No, not at all.
January 21, 2013 at 5:51 pm
I have only one week to submit an abstract, I was so upset and lost where to start. I am so glad that I found this article, it is really motivating and I hope it’ll work for me. Thanks a lot Dr. Karen
January 25, 2013 at 2:06 pm
Thank you for this post. I am writing a dissertation abstract for a post-doc application. I spent an entire paragraph providing the big picture and another paragraph on the gap. Revising now!
January 29, 2013 at 6:00 am
Thanks the article is brief and gives clear guidance to someone who is trying a paper for the first time. It will be useful to me
January 30, 2013 at 9:22 am
This article is very helpful and concise. Thank you for posting it.
February 6, 2013 at 5:45 pm
I noticed this template uses “I” quite a few times, I’ve been warned against it elsewhere, but is it actually good to voice in the first person? thanks
February 7, 2013 at 11:20 am
This is very much discipline-specific. In cultural anthro, where I come from, it’s very common–perhaps the norm–but in other fields not. Be sure and follow the conventions in your field, which you can check by accessing the abstracts from previous years conferences.
February 9, 2013 at 3:49 pm
Thank you so much for this post! It has helped me so much. How does one do an in-text citation of a scholar’s works when referring to that scholar’s specific ideas in the abstract? For example: “Although _name of scholar_ (2003) has addressed the issue of _____, the gaps in the research are evident.” Would the date in brackets be enough? Is it appropriate to include a Works Cited? (I’m applying to present a paper at a conference, and was only asked to submit an abstract.) Thanks again.
February 9, 2013 at 7:03 pm
date in brackets is sufficient for an abstract; nobody includes a works cited for those.
February 23, 2013 at 11:43 pm
When the organizers invite 500 word abstracts, would a concise 250 word abstract be problematic?
February 24, 2013 at 10:49 am
March 12, 2013 at 6:09 pm
Thank you so much for writing this how-to guide! Your examples are helpful, and breaking it down by sentence is a really good way of giving us ‘baby-steps’. I was trying to get my boyfriend (who’s 3rd year BSc) to help me to write an abstract, because I know he writes them all the time, but they are obviously completely different…
I am SO GLAD I found this source.
April 2, 2013 at 4:03 am
hi By far the best -how to guide- abstract writing example!!!!. I have a few questions which I am not very clear about. Glad if you could help me… 1. Is it a necessitate to cite other scholarly work in an explicit way rather than briefly mentioning scholars have not investigated the issue very well? 2. Also what to include as part of the methodology? 3. Do you need to include that the paper is based on an ongoing masters/PhD work or funded projects etc if it is so?
am so glad I found this link!!!!
April 17, 2013 at 10:40 am
I am reviewing the submission rules for a CFP and conference. They’ve asked for ‘a summary of the proposed research, no longer than 1000 words’ but I don’t see a specific reference to the abstract except where it instructs that ‘submission of an abstract is viewed as commitment to complete the work…’. Does this mean that the summary is in essence the abstract or is an abstract separately required?
May 16, 2013 at 8:56 am
This is helpful for upcoming scholars, it is ideal material for mentoring in academia, with this, you will be having thousand of students that will learn greatly from you as they prepare for succesful acadmic pursuit.
May 28, 2013 at 2:23 pm
Dear Professor, Thank you for this great article. I was able to gather information to construct the abstract after reading it. I want to submit an abstract for an upcoming conference and there is hardly 20 days left for the abstract submission deadline. I am still editing the abstract as I don’t have the full paper right now. Is it possible that you looking into my abstract before submitting for the conference ?
June 4, 2013 at 6:41 pm
Thank you so much for the helpful website! It’s definitely great for grad students.
I have one question though. When sending in an abstract to a conference, should you put the abstract in a manila envelope or a regular mailing envelope? Does this make a difference?
Thanks again for this awesome website!
June 11, 2013 at 4:42 pm
Can this steps be used in writing the abstract of a seminar work?
July 8, 2013 at 7:08 pm
This was very helpful and very clear. I will feature a link to this in my blog for the benefit of my student clients.
July 15, 2013 at 1:43 pm
Hi! Thanks for the useful tips!
I am preparing an abstract for a conference currently, but I’m confused about whether I should even try. They want a long text (1000 words) + graphs and main results at this stage I only have some preliminary analysis done, but it sounds like it would not be enough. What stage does the paper have to be to apply for a conference?
Thanks! Orsolya
October 25, 2013 at 11:45 am
Hi Karen, This was succinct and helpful. However, an artist friend and I would like to submit an abstract that would include our own research, photos and possibly poetry or film for the following call –
The objective of this interdisciplinary, multicultural conference is to examine, celebrate, and enjoy the variety of ways in which food has been represented in the humanities and the arts throughout time around the planet.
Writers, artists and poets, scholars in literature, history, art history and film, cooks, psychologists, sociologist, anthropologists, and more are invited to contribute to this dialogue.
I don’t want to take up a lot of your time and effort but if you have any advice or counsel, it would be deeply appreciated.
Many thanks, Lisa
July 23, 2013 at 7:58 am
thank you so much. very very helpful. I hope my presentation will be successful
August 8, 2013 at 4:23 am
Hi Just wanted thank you for the valuable guidance provided on abstract writing. Found it very explicit. And of course wrote two papers and both got accepted. Have to say it is because of this format!!! Can’t go wrong with it…. 🙂 Thank you very much. Keep doing this great job for students like us… And am So glad I found this.!!!!
Best wishes…
October 10, 2013 at 3:21 pm
Eish, I still find myself wanting when it comes to research. I am a storyteller who has ventured into an interesting topic on the role of indigenous storytelling in maternal health education. One moment am positive that it is a researchable topic, the next moment I am unable to put it down convincingly. I want to market it at a conference next month, my proposal passed but now putting this together is a challenge. please give me confidence that I can do it.
October 10, 2013 at 3:24 pm
my main problem is that I can talk better than writing. I write too much and very alarming sentences. Funny because I am a language teacher who always taught learners to keep it short and simple.
October 24, 2013 at 8:11 am
I just needed to adapt a few things to write an abstract in Natural Sciences, but the overall idea could be perfectly applied.
February 3, 2014 at 10:37 pm
was just ask to submit an abstract for a conference do I need to include hypothesis and methodology
February 4, 2014 at 7:38 pm
This was extremely helpful. I was writing my first proposal and didn’t know what to do or where to start. I just finished writing it and it would not be anywhere near as good as it is without this blog! You Rock!
April 16, 2014 at 6:36 am
I will be submitting an abstract for a conference next week and this is really helpful! I am more motivated, thank you for posting this! =) Wishing you love and happiness!
April 28, 2014 at 11:23 am
A question: I am a graduate student presently working on a Master Thesis. If possible, and I have taken this course,could you please delineate a prospectus for an anticipated essay? Thank you and your webpage is helpful.
June 25, 2014 at 1:59 am
I’ve been using these guidelines for writing an abstract for a while now (and, for one, got into a PhD student conference as a BA student because of it!), and I just wanted to comment to tell you how useful they’ve been for me. I’m a BA student working on my thesis and I was just told to “write a summary” of my thesis. My peers freaked out because they did not know what this ‘summary’ meant, and if it was an abstract, and if so, how to write an abstract, so I sent them the link of this post. I have no doubt they will write great, clear, and concise abstracts. So thank you for not just helping the PhD students, Assistant Professors and Professors out there, but also the BA students who feel a bit more academically legit because of your help!
September 27, 2014 at 3:51 am
This is the most helpful and clear cut instructions on writing abstracts that I have found so far. Thank you Prof Karen. I’m about to write an abstract for a conference, and using your great tips, I hope that my abstract will be accepted. Thank you again !
October 29, 2014 at 5:08 am
Hello – I echo many others in saying thank you for breaking this down into small bites to digest.
One question – is 1st person acceptable? I had gotten feedback from a PhD candidate in another field than mine that abstracts are usually in the 3rd person.
October 29, 2014 at 11:33 am
this is very much a field-specific standard. In anthro, first person is fine. In more quant. fields, it may not be. You have to check with a trusted senior advisor (not another grad student!)
November 7, 2014 at 12:23 pm
First, thanks for such great advice. I actually have a question about submitting these. Almost all CFPs ask for emailed responses; what should we include in the bodies of our emails? Should we treat them like cover letters or just get to the point?
January 21, 2015 at 1:44 am
Dear Prof Thank you for your guide on writing abstract for conference etc. I am currently preparing paper conference. My question is can I use research proposal for conference paper? Thank you
January 21, 2015 at 3:34 pm
A 500-abstract should have references? If yes, we include them at the end of the abstract ???? Thanks !
August 11, 2015 at 8:00 pm
Thankyou for this. It has made things much clearer. However, I am 30 words over. Can you suggest where I could trim? I have a research proposal:
The question of exercise and working memory has been widely debated in psychology, with scholars such as Berchtold, Catello, Colman, (2010) arguing the benefits and Nouchi and Kawashima, (2014) finding discrepancies in the effect of intervention programmes. Although there have been some studies regarding exercise and working memory it has been evaluated on younger cohorts, as, previously, people did not live as long as they do today. Therefore, their perspectives have not adequately addressed healthy cohorts of women over 65 years, who are the predominant group affected by short term memory loss. This paper addresses the issue of exercise with special attention to working memory. Specifically, in this project, we will be looking at aerobic exercise and cognitive exercises in order to show the effect on working memory and will discuss the implications. It is predicted that both physical and cognitive training will be beneficial to strengthening working memory. In conclusion, this study examines the effects of exercise to enhance the quality of life and reduce costs to society. Our framework suggests a number of avenues for preventative programmes for the future.
April 30, 2016 at 12:09 am
Thanks, Professor, for the very helpful template. I have another concern: Do I have to provide the reference list for a 300-word proposal? Thank you!
May 31, 2016 at 12:13 pm
After reviewing yours and other materials from other sites, I came to this conclusion that, the process of writing a paper and its abstract should be as follows: Step 1 – write a simple abstract to get the paper started. Step 2 – write the paper in its entirety. Step 3 – Summarize the paper using the 6 sentences guideline. Step 4 – Update the abstract based on your work from step 3.
So what I am suggesting is not to spend too much time on the abstract before the paper is written. Then wait until the very end to come up with the final abstract for the paper.
May 31, 2016 at 3:18 pm
This is not wrong, but it’s also not right, in the sense that in many fields the abstract you write ahead of time is THE abstract that is listed in the program, etc. There is no other place or time for a later abstract to be shared or published. So although one can definitely write a far better abstract after the paper is written, unfortunately all the stakes attach to the one you write BEFORE it!
June 16, 2016 at 9:11 am
I would like to thank you a dozen, maybe two dozen, no three dozen, etc. times. I hope you get the idea. I have used your points in writing abstracts over the past number of years a lot and I wanted you to know that I am batting 1000 when I use your technique. I just used your techniques for a seminar last nite. I awoke this morning with an acceptance to present at that seminar. So thank you very much for your blog. Keep up the good work.
June 12, 2017 at 7:36 am
These guidelines are extremely helpful. Another useful set of guidelines for humanists is found in Belcher’s “Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks.” Belcher suggests that humanities abstracts tend to include all of the following information:
“context—that is, information on the historical period, the geographic region, the social conditions surrounding the human creations being investigated “subject—the literary or artistic works being discussed, their creators and dates claim for significance—announcement about the uniqueness of the period or your approach to it “theoretical framework—often more suggested than stated, the theory you are using to discuss the subject, such as feminist or psychoanalytic approaches argument—what your analysis of the subject revealed about the subject, current approaches to the subject, or society “proofs—your evidence for your argument about the subject, or the elements of the subject that you analyze (textual passages) (p. 57)”
I’ve found these guidelines to be very helpful: they are not appropriate for all fields, but they are very useful in literature disciplines
February 14, 2018 at 4:15 am
This is a very helpful post. I deeply appreciate your effort. I am Ghanaian researcher and I find this post worthy of sharing.
July 11, 2019 at 11:40 pm
Thank you professor for the very clear and helpful information provided. I am a Solomon Islander and found the information very worthy.
Thank you again
July 18, 2019 at 1:39 pm
Just a quick THANK YOU for writing this! I discovered it three years ago and I have literally had every abstract I have submitted since accepted in a variety of different conferences (15/15). Several of these include chairing conference sessions and this advice has changed the way I read (and accept) abstracts for these sessions. It has helped me achieve Full Professor at my mid-sized teaching-centered institution and I share this information with all of my younger tenure-track colleagues. Thank you again!
September 27, 2019 at 7:04 am
As in independent scholar who finished her MA in 2006, this has been very helpful as I get back into the game of conference presentations. Thank you so much for writing this clear, concise article!
February 14, 2020 at 2:42 pm
Really, really appreciate this. Thanks!
[…] out this blog post from “The Professor Is In,” which details the things you should try to do when trying to prepare an abstract for a […]
[…] given on your national meeting website. For some insights on writing a proposal abstract, see this blog post. It is about individual paper proposal abstracts, but it will help orient you in the right […]
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[…] you want to read more on the topic, please follow this link. Also, if you have any questions, feel free to drop us a line at […]
[…] Link One […]
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[…] https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/752/1/ http://hgso.curtin.edu.au/pdf/Abstract_Submission_Guidelines.pdf http://theprofessorisin.com/2011/07/12/how-tosday-how-to-write-a-paper-abstract/ […]
[…] – The abstract and hopes for next […]
[…] Be concise! Briefly outline the historical and historiographical context for your work, and spend most of your wordcount describing your original contribution. Aim for 200-300 words. Dr. Karen offers a great formula for this here. […]
[…] Need more advice? Read this: http://theprofessorisin.com/2011/07/12/how-tosday-how-to-write-a-paper-abstract/ […]
[…] to know exactly what they are going to get if they decide to read your paper. The Professor Is In: http://theprofessorisin.com/2011/07/12/how-tosday-how-to-write-a-paper-abstract/ University of Wisconsin Writing […]
[…] post breaks down all the sections of an abstract so it tells a story and sells your ideas. As does this from The Professor Is In. This blog from McGill University provides a realistic overview of what […]
[…] The Professor Is In: How to Write a Paper Abstract […]
[…] As I write this, our conference and strand convenors are pouring over the huge number of abstracts we received for papers, panels and posters at our London 2017 conference. I don’t have anything to do with deciding which proposals to accept and which to reject, so I won’t be offering any advice on how to write a successful abstract. (If you want that, there’s some good advice here.) […]
[…] There are great resources on writing up an abstract that succinctly conveys the importance, originality, and pertinence of your research—see, for example, these posts from Grad Hacker and The Professor Is In. […]
[…] abstract (1000-2500 words) – how to guide and killer abstract […]
[…] “How-To(sday): How to Write a Paper or Conference Proposal Abstract,” The Professor is In […]
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[…] If you’ve never written a conference proposal before, here’s a great article about how to write one. […]
[…] Contains an abstract between 150-300 words that passes muster.For tips on writing an abstract, I highly recommend this resource: https://theprofessorisin.com/2011/07/12/how-tosday-how-to-write-a-paper-abstract/ […]
[…] How-To(sday): How to Write a Paper or Conference Proposal Abstract – The Professor Is In. Tuesdays I will occasionally feature “How-To(sday)” posts, short guides to certain genres of academic writing. I’m happy to take requests for these. Just email me at [email protected] . Today we look at the paper/conference proposal abstract. This is a critical genre of writing for scholars in the humanities and social sciences. Usually between 200 and 500 words long, it is a short abstract that describes research/a talk/a journal article that you are GOING to write. Mastering the paper abstract is one of the most important skills you can acquire while still a graduate student. […]
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There was a time when AI tools for research were a rarity. But that’s no longer the case. Niche-specific AI tools are becoming the new norm, and AI tools for research are an integral part of this trend. Designed specifically for researchers, students, and academics, AI research tools can now help you with literature review, data analysis, academic writing, automating tedious tasks and checks and more. Several journals and institutions now also allow the use of AI tools, with proper acknowledgement.
But here’s the thing, you can’t just pick the best AI tool for research and expect it to handle all phases of your research workflow. It’s never a one-size-fits-all deal. You need to be smart about it, analyzing what’s out there and choosing tools that are relevant to your research needs, whether they’re free or paid.
So, how do you navigate this AI jungle and choose the best AI tools for research ? We’ve got you covered. Here are our top 7 picks that will transform your research journey.
Paperpal is an all-in-one AI research and writing assistant that helps you edit, write, search, cite and submit with confidence – all at one place. Paperpal is trained on millions of scholarly articles, 22+ years of STM expertise and 2.5 million hours of editorial expertise. This enables it to understand and preserve the academic context, ensuring that your text aligns with academic writing conventions. Unlike other AI research tools that require prompts to generate the desired output, Paperpal delivers precise results without the need for detailed prompting.
Custom-built for academic writing, Paperpal is a trusted AI tool among researchers, publishers, and editors. Paperpal’s tech is deployed across 440+ journals. | Paperpal’s Templates are limited to existing pre-built formats of writing like, Research Paper, Essay, Case Structure etc. |
Paperpal can significantly reduce the time spent on mundane research and editing tasks, allowing researchers to focus on higher-level research activities. | Paperpal supports English translations for select global languages. |
Paperpal offers context-sensitive translations for 28 languages, allowing researchers to work with sources in multiple languages and improve the clarity of their writing. | Paperpal currently doesn’t integration with any other tool apart from MS word |
Paperpal’s in-depth subject-specific language suggestions and checks help researchers produce higher-quality academic writing. | The free plagiarism report only allows checking for 7000 words(~25 oages) |
Paperpal provides Free and Paid plans with access to the following features tailored to enhance academic writing. You get access to the following features:
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R Discovery is a literature search and research reading platform that simplifies your journey to find and read the most relevant research papers. It provides personalized reading recommendations based on users’ interests from 250M+ scholarly articles, 32K+ journals, 40M+ open access articles, and 150M+ peer-reviewed articles, as well as preprints, patents, conferences and seminars. This AI research tool accelerates your literature search and optimizes research reading with features like audio papers, translation, curated feeds, and more, making it one of the top-rated AI tools for literature review.
Provides access to a vast database of research articles sourced from major academic databases and leading publishers, making it a one-stop platform for literature search. | Limited search filter options, such as the ability to filter by publication year or document type, which can make it difficult to narrow down search results. |
Offers personalized reading recommendations based on user interests and their reading habits, helping researchers discover relevant content efficiently. | Some articles may not be freely accessible, requiring a subscription or institutional access. |
Includes features like article abstracts, highlights, and audio and full-text options to enhance the research reading experience. |
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The R Discovery Prime subscription is available for $3 per month or $25 per year.
Mind the Graph is an online scientific illustration tool tailored for researchers, educators, and students to create visually stunning scientific graphics. With 75,000+ accurate scientific figures, this AI tool for research is ideal to visualize research for conferences, speeches, papers, classes, and much more. Mind the Graph stands out by providing detailed and precise illustrations, ensuring your scientific visuals are both impactful and accurate.
High usability with an intuitive interface and easy-to-use tooltips. | Lacks data visualization features; charts and graphs must be created manually. |
World’s largest library of scientifically accurate illustrations. | Cannot connect with Excel or Google spreadsheets for automatic data visualization. |
Access to exclusive content at low prices (starting at $5/month). | Limited options for creating custom color schemes and uploading fonts for designs. |
On-demand illustrations available for specific design needs. | |
Variety of templates to simplify starting complex designs. | |
The premium version offers exclusive access to the design team and premium support. | |
Affordable pricing for individuals and organizations looking to collaborate. |
Mind the Graph offers three pricing plans:
Additionally, Mind the Graph offers a special service plan designed for academic and industry teams with advanced and personalized resource needs.
Scholarcy is an AI tool for scientific research that simplifies the reading and engagement process with research articles, reports, and documents. It tackles the challenge of keeping up with the vast amount of new research by summarizing lengthy articles into concise sections, making it easier to grasp essential information.
Scholarcy highlights key elements such as study participants, data analyses, main findings, and limitations, and creates summary flashcards that link to open-access sources. It also offers a browser extension and a subscription-based personalized research library, making it a valuable resource for researchers, students, journalists, and policy analysts.
Great for quickly digesting large amounts of information. | Free plan limits users to three summary flashcards per day. |
Presents key insights of lengthy research papers in multiple summary flashcards. | Occasionally has a glitchy interface that may impact user experience. |
Highlights key points and provides links to open-access sources. | Advanced features require a subscription, which can be a barrier for some users. |
Offers a centralized library to save and refer to summary flashcards later. | |
Free Chrome and Edge extensions enhance accessibility and usability. | |
Allows sharing of summary flashcards, facilitating collaboration. |
Scholarcy offers Free and Scholarcy Plus priced at $45/year. The Scholarcy Plus plan offers enhanced features including the ability to generate detailed summaries, save flashcards, take notes, highlight and edit text, and organize flashcards into collections. Users can export up to 100 flashcards at once, create literature matrices, and generate one-click bibliographies.
Saves time by quickly synthesizing information from various sources | Limited to the information available on the web, may miss academic journal articles | |||
Provides in-depth, referenced answers to research questions | Free version has usage limits and restricted features | |||
Helps identify credible sources and evaluate information | Responses can sometimes be biased or incomplete depending on the available data | |||
Useful for quickly getting overviews of topics or finding new research directions | Not a replacement for in-depth literature reviews and critical analysis | |||
Conversational interface makes research more interactive and efficient |
Scite AI is an AI research tool that analyzes over 1.2 billion citation statements from 187 million articles, books, preprints, and datasets offering insights into how publications are cited, indicating whether the citations are supportive or contrasting. Scite AI streamlines research with features like custom dashboards, reference checks, and pre-built journal metrics. The Assistant by Scite enhances research by leveraging large language models to generate AI-powered content for tasks such as literature exploration and decision-making, contributing to more reliable scientific research.
Streamlines the research process by providing a detailed understanding of research impact and enhancing literature reviews. | Access to all features comes at a cost, with plans starting at $20/month. |
Offers a more nuanced understanding of each citation’s role within the research ecosystem, enabling comprehensive and critically engaging literature reviews. | Some resources may be out of reach due to limited access agreements. |
Provides detailed analytics to uncover patterns and trends within research fields, guiding researchers in identifying emerging areas of interest. | Availability of full-text articles is limited due to publisher agreements. |
User-friendly interface enables access even for those less tech-savvy. |
Scite AI offers a 7-day free trial and upgrades to individual monthly or yearly plans. It costs $20/month or $105/year and offers access to all Scite AI features, including Smart Citations, Scite Report, and Scite Reference Check.
Helps brainstorm topics, generate outlines, and phrase arguments. | Requires well-crafted prompts; poorly phrased prompts can lead to unreliable information. |
Enhances writing style, fluency, and efficiency for novice researchers and PhD students. | Often fails to provide academic context-specific support. |
Assists non-native researchers in expressing ideas clearly in English. | May use simpler terms, missing the formal tone required for academic writing. |
ChatGPT acts as a versatile chatbot assistant that you customize and leverage as per your research requirements. | May suggest articles from predatory journals without verifying credibility. |
Can generate inaccurate or made-up information, leading to serious academic repercussions. | |
Uses data to train models, breaching privacy and security of sensitive information, unless users opt out. | |
Can unintentionally rephrase and reuse ideas without proper citation, raising the risk of plagiarism. |
ChatGPT offers various subscription plans to cater to different needs:
Today, AI tools for research have truly transformed the landscape of academic work. They’re not just fancy tools; they’re your new assistants in the lab or library, helping to streamline your research workflow, craft high-quality academic content, and speed up the journey to submission—all without the stress of missing deadlines. Imagine having a tireless research assistant who never sleeps, constantly helping you stay on top of your game.
But let’s not forget, while you use AI research tools to make your work effortless, it’s essential to keep your academic integrity intact. When you rely on AI tools, make sure to acknowledge their use in your work, and adhere to the guidelines set by your institution or chosen journal to maintain transparency and ethical use. And here’s a big one: don’t use AI research tools to plagiarize. Using AI to steal someone else’s work undermines your credibility and integrity as a researcher.
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COMMENTS
1. Write in Active Voice. First, use active voice when writing an abstract for your research proposal. However, this doesn't mean you should avoid passive voice in entirety. If you find that some sentences can't make sense unless with passive sentence construction, feel free to bend this rule somewhat.
Write clearly and concisely. A good abstract is short but impactful, so make sure every word counts. Each sentence should clearly communicate one main point. To keep your abstract or summary short and clear: Avoid passive sentences: Passive constructions are often unnecessarily long.
An abstract is a brief summary of a completed research/innovation project. What should an abstract include? An abstract should include the following components: 1. Background: What is the motivation behind the research? Provide a short paragraph that details the background information. 2. Objectives: What problem are you attempting to solve ...
Definition and Purpose of Abstracts An abstract is a short summary of your (published or unpublished) research paper, usually about a paragraph (c. 6-7 sentences, 150-250 words) long. A well-written abstract serves multiple purposes: an abstract lets readers get the gist or essence of your paper or article quickly, in order to decide whether to….
5. How to Format an Abstract. Most abstracts use the same formatting rules, which help the reader identify the abstract so they know where to look for it. Here's a list of formatting guidelines for writing an abstract: Stick to one paragraph. Use block formatting with no indentation at the beginning.
An abstract summarizes, usually in one paragraph of 300 words or less, the major aspects of the entire paper in a prescribed sequence that includes: 1) the overall purpose of the study and the research problem(s) you investigated; 2) the basic design of the study; 3) major findings or trends found as a result of your analysis; and, 4) a brief summary of your interpretations and conclusions.
The Role of an Abstract in a Research Proposal. The abstract is the first section of your research proposal. It should appear at the beginning of your document, immediately following the title page. In terms of content, your abstract should distill the most important aspects of your proposal into a highly readable, condensed format.
Helpful tips when writing an abstract: • Reread your article or proposal with the goal of abstracting in mind. o Look specifically for these main parts of the article or proposal: purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions and recommendations. o Use the headings and table of contents as a guide to writing your abstract.
Here is an explanation of each step: 1. Title and Abstract. Choose a concise and descriptive title that reflects the essence of your research. Write an abstract summarizing your research question, objectives, methodology, and expected outcomes. It should provide a brief overview of your proposal. 2.
Your conclusion should include the same number of sentences to wrap the abstract as the introduction. The majority of researchers offer an idea of the consequences of their research in this case. Your conclusion should include three essential components: A significant take-home message. Corresponding important findings. The Interpretation.
Similar to abstracts disseminating study results, an abstract for a grant application or research proposal cannot be written until the proposal is written and the research plan is clear. The abstract's most critical and obvious aim is to draw attention to a study, inviting the reader to learn more via the manuscript or presentation. The less ...
Research proposal examples. Writing a research proposal can be quite challenging, but a good starting point could be to look at some examples. We've included a few for you below. Example research proposal #1: "A Conceptual Framework for Scheduling Constraint Management" Example research proposal #2: "Medical Students as Mediators of ...
An abstract is a summary of a research project. Abstracts precede papers in research journals and appear in programs of scholarly conferences. In journals, the abstract allows readers to quickly grasp the purpose and major ideas of a paper and lets other researchers know whether reading the entire paper will be worthwhile.
If you are writing an abstract as a proposal for your research—in other words, as a request for permission to write a paper—the abstract serves to predict the kind of paper you hope to write. ... To the basic requirements of the descriptive abstract, a conference paper abstract should also include a few sentences about how the proposed ...
Organize it by using good transition words found on the lef so the information flows well. Have your abstract proofread and receive feedback from your supervisor, advisor, peers, writing center, or other professors from different disciplines. Double-check on the guidelines for your abstract and adhere to any formatting or word count requirements.
Follow Proper Formatting. First person point of view -- "I" and "my" -- are usually acceptable in APA proposals, but you should double check your field's style guide. After finishing a draft, revise your abstract to create concise language, keeping the abstract to a maximum of 250 words. Find examples of acceptable abstracts from your field and ...
Set a 1-inch (2.54 centimeter) margin on all sides. The running head should be aligned to the left at the top of the page. The abstract should be on the second page of the paper (the first one is reserved for the title). Avoid indentations, unless you must include a keywords section at the end of the abstract.
Important: Write this section last, after you have completed drafting the proposal. Or if you are required to draft a preliminary abstract, then remember to rewrite the abstract after you have completed drafting the entire proposal because some information may need to be revised. The abstract should provide a brief overview of the entire proposal.
A research proposal's purpose is to capture the evaluator's attention, demonstrate the study's potential benefits, and prove that it is a logical and consistent approach (Van Ekelenburg, 2010). To ensure that your research proposal contains these elements, there are several aspects to include in your proposal (Al-Riyami, 2008): Title; Abstract
Generally, an informational abstract should sum up the main sections of the research paper, i.e., the introduction, the materials and methods used, the findings, discussion, conclusions, and recommendations. Therefore, it should contain the following essential elements: 1. Objective, aim, or purpose of the research paper.
A quality example of a research proposal shows one's above-average analytical skills, including the ability to coherently synthesize ideas and integrate lateral and vertical thinking. Communication skills. The proposal also demonstrates your proficiency to communicate your thoughts in concise and precise language.
Conclusion. The abstract you write for your dissertation or thesis should succinctly explain to the reader why the work of your research was needed, what you did, what you found and what it means. Most people that come across your thesis, including any future employers, are likely to read only your abstract.
The paper abstract is highly formulaic. Let's break it down. It needs to show the following: 1) big picture problem or topic widely debated in your field. 2) gap in the literature on this topic. 3) your project filling the gap. 4) the specific material that you examine in the paper. 5) your original argument.
R Discovery - Pricing Plans . R Discovery offers the following pricing plans: Free Version: Users can access the platform for free, which includes basic features such as personalized reading feeds, daily research recommendations, and access to a vast database of research articles. R Discovery Prime: This subscription-based plan offers unlimited access to premium features, including: