do you write an abstract in past tense

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Abstract Verb Tense: Should You Use Past or Present?

Since many of you have asked us questions about seemingly conflicting rules about which tense to use in a research paper, we wrote this article to clarify the issue.

When writing and editing an abstract for a research article , several different verb tenses can be used. Which tense you should use largely depends on the subject of your sentence. As a general rule:

• Any statements of  general fact  should be written using the  present tense .
• Prior research  should be mentioned and explained using the  past tense .
• If the  subject of your sentence is your study or the article   you are writing  (e.g. “Our study demonstrates…,” or “Here, we show…”), then you should use the  present tense .
• If you are stating a  conclusion or  an  interpretation , use the  present tense .
• If the subject of your sentence is an  actual result or observation  (e.g. “Mice in Group B developed…”), you would use the  past tense .

Which Abstract Tense to Use

You may have been taught to use the present tense because your professors want you to focus on sharing your interpretations in your abstract rather than simply stating what the results are. (And we agree since the main reason for reading your research papers is to understand the significance of your findings!)

To illustrate the different use of verb tenses in an abstract, let’s take a look at this  research paper abstract from an article published in  Nature .

• The present tense is used for general facts (“The anaerobic formation and oxidation of methane involve…”).
• The present tense is used when the study or article is either the subject of the sentence or the thing to which you are referring (“Here [this article] we show that an anaerobic thermophilic enrichment culture …”).
• When talking about an actual observation, however, the past tense is used (“Genes encoding 16S rRNA…were repeatedly retrieved from marine subsurface sediments…”).

As you can see from this example, this abstract is largely written in the present tense. This is because it  focuses on the authors’ interpretations and not on specific observations and methods.  If your abstract contains more descriptions of your findings because you need those for the reader to follow your interpretations and conclusions, then a bigger part of your abstract will be written in the past tense. But make sure you switch between the tenses when you switch between the different categories of information described above. 

We hope this addresses any questions you have about tense use in research paper abstracts. We know how complicated these grammar rules can be!

For rules about which verb tenses to use in a research paper , check out our infographic! For additional information about how to write a strong research paper  introduction , methods , results , or discussion section , make sure to check out our Wordvice academic resources website ! We also have articles on how to make an outline before drafting your manuscript, how to come up with the best title for your paper , or how to impress the editor of your target journal with a great cover letter .

And if you require English proofreading or  academic editing for your abstract, be sure to check out our Manuscript Editing Services . Our editors revise your work for grammar, punctuation, style, readability, and conciseness. After all, a polished abstract is crucial to getting researchers to read your research paper in its entirety.

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• Jake Magnum
• Mar 17, 2021

Using the Present Tense and Past Tense When Writing an Abstract

Updated: Jul 5, 2021

In general, when writing an abstract, you should use the simple present tense when stating facts and explaining the implications of your results. Use the simple past tense when describing your methodology and specific findings from your study. Either of these two tenses can be used when writing about the purpose of your study. Finally, you can use the present perfect tense or the present perfect progressive tense when explaining the background or rationale of your study.

Determining which tense to use when writing an abstract is not always straightforward. For example, even though your research was carried out in the past, some aspects of your work need to be referred to using the present tense. The purpose of this article is to teach you when to use which of four different tenses (i.e., the simple present tense, the simple past tense, the present perfect tense, and the present perfect progressive tense) when writing an abstract for a research paper.

When to Use the Simple Present Tense

The simple present tense of a verb is used for two purposes. The first is to describe something that is happening right now (e.g., “I see a bird”). The second is to explain a habitual action — that is, an action that one performs regularly, though they might not be doing it at this very moment (e.g., “I sleep for eight hours every night”).

When writing an abstract, the simple present tense is used for three main purposes: (i) to state facts, (ii) to explain the implications of your findings, and (iii) to mention the aim of your research (the simple past tense can also be used for this last purpose).

When stating facts

You will usually use the simple present tense to refer to facts since they will be just as true at the time of writing as they were when your study was being carried out. Exceptions arise if a fact is explicitly linked to some point in the past.

Indoor nighttime light exposure influences sleep and circadian rhythms.

Here, the author is making a general statement based on previous research in their field. Broad statements like this one are based on very extensive research, and so researchers assume such statements to be factual. Thus, they should be mentioned in the simple present tense.

China, whose estimated population was 1,433,783,686 at the end of 2019, is the most populated country in the world.

The author shifts from the past tense to the present tense because the first fact is explicitly linked to a point in the past (the end of 2019). Because populations change by the second, the author cannot assume the figure given is still accurate, and so they refer to this figure using the past tense. Differently, the author can reasonably assume that China still has the world’s largest population at the time of writing. Thus, this statement is written in the present tense.

When explaining the implications of your findings

You should discuss the implications of your study in the present tense. Although your research was conducted in the past, its implications remain relevant in the present.

To give an example, although the United States Declaration of Independence was adopted centuries ago, it is still in effect today, and so general statements about it are usually written in the present tense (e.g., “The US Declaration of Independence describes principles through which the United States Constitution should be interpreted”).

In the same way, because your research is still relevant at the time of writing, general statements about its implications should be written using the present tense as well.

Results revealed that adolescents with depression experience difficulties with sleep quality.

Here, the author starts by using the past tense because the results were produced in the past. However, because the implication of the results remains true at the time of writing, the author switches to the present tense. While it would be acceptable for the author to use the present tense of “reveal” in this sentence, it would not be okay for them to use the past tense of “experience” unless they were referring to a specific result from their study.

When describing the aim of your study

For the same reason that you should write about your study’s implications in the present tense, you can also write about the purpose of your study in the present tense. However, this rule is flexible, and it is very common for authors to write about such information in the past tense.

In this study, we explore the link between the homeostatic regulation of neuronal excitability and sleep behavior in the circadian circuit.

In this study, we explored the link between the homeostatic regulation of neuronal excitability and sleep behavior in the circadian circuit.

Both of these examples are perfectly fine. You should check your journal’s guidelines or papers that have been published in the journal to determine which tense you should use for these kinds of sentences.

When to Use the Simple Past Tense

The simple past tense of a verb is used when discussing something that happened in the past and is not still occurring (e.g., “I ate cereal this morning”).

As seen in the previous section, the simple past tense can be used to explain the purpose of your study. It should also be used when describing specific aspects of your research, such as its method and findings.

When describing your methodology and findings

Because your method has been completed at the time of writing, you should write about your method in the past tense. Similarly, because you have finished analyzing your data to obtain your findings, they should also be expressed in the past tense.

Thirty-four older people meeting DSM-IV criteria for lifetime major depression and 30 healthy controls were recruited.

Like any aspect related to methodology, the recruiting process started and finished well before the time of writing. As such, it is standard for this information to be described using the past tense.

Individuals with depression had longer sleep latency and latency to rapid eye movement sleep than controls.

Here, the author is referring to their study’s participants (this is clear because “controls” are mentioned). Since the participants have finished taking part in the study at the time of writing, this result is described in the past tense.

Results revealed that the adolescents with depression who participated in our study experienced difficulties with sleep quality.

This example is very similar to an example given in the previous section of this article (“Results revealed that adolescents with depression experience difficulties with sleep quality”). In the previous example, the present tense of “experience” was used because the author was making a broad statement about adolescents in general. Conversely, in the current example, the author is mentioning a specific result from their study. Because the study is over, the author used the past tense.

When to Use the Present Perfect (Progressive) Tense

When writing an abstract, you might sometimes need to use the present perfect tense (e.g., “Research on this topic has increased “) or the present perfect progressive tense (e.g., “Research on this topic has been increasing “) of verbs. These verb tenses are used to describe an action or situation that began in the past and that is still occurring in the present. The former tends to be used when the starting point of the action is vague, whereas the latter is often used when the starting point is mentioned (this rule is flexible, though).

A further difference between the two is that the present perfect tense — but not the present perfect progressive tense — can also be used to describe an action or situation that has been completed at some non-specific time in the past (e.g., “I have finished writing my paper”).

While these verb tenses are not used as often in abstracts as the tenses discussed previously (sometimes, they are not used at all), you can use them to describe situations or events related to the background of your study.

When describing the background of your study

In abstracts, the present perfect and present perfect progressive tenses are most commonly used to describe background aspects of the research. For example, you might mention the specific situation that motivated you to conduct your research or the gap in the literature that you want to address. Such things tend to be ongoing problems (i.e., they were created in the past and have not been resolved yet). Therefore, they should be written about using the appropriate tense.

Researchers have investigated the association between several consecutive long work shifts and risk factors for developing CVD.

This sentence communicates that researchers began investigating the described association sometime in the past and that they continue to do so at the time of writing. Because the starting point is not given, the use of the present perfect tense is preferred. However, the present perfect progressive tense would be acceptable.

Since Smith’s (2017) ground-breaking study on the subject, researchers have been investigating the association between several consecutive long work shifts and risk factors for developing CVD.

This time, because a specific starting point is given, the present perfect progressive tense is preferred over the present perfect tense. Again, though, both tenses are acceptable.

In response to the demand for ‘24/7’ service availability, shift work has become common.

Unlike the previous examples, only one of the two tenses is acceptable for this example. This sentence must be written in the present perfect tense because the situation described has already happened. Only if this paper had been written a few decades ago, while this transition in society was still taking place, would the author have been correct to use the present perfect progressive tense.

Using Different Tenses in Practice

I now present the abstract of an article that was recently published in Psychological Bulletin . Below the example, I explain why the author used a specific tense for each sentence.

(1) Targeted memory reactivation (TMR) is a methodology employed to manipulate memory processing during sleep. (2) TMR studies have great potential to advance our understanding of sleep-based memory consolidation and corresponding neural mechanisms. (3) Research making use of TMR has developed rapidly, with over 70 articles published in the last decade, yet no quantitative analysis has evaluated the overall effects. (4) Here we present the first meta-analysis of sleep TMR, compiled from 91 experiments with 212 effect sizes. (5) Based on multilevel modeling, overall sleep TMR was highly effective, with a significant effect for two stages of non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep. (6) In contrast, TMR was not effective during REM sleep nor during wakefulness in the present analyses. (7) Several analysis strategies were used to address the potential relevance of publication bias. (8) Additional analyses showed that TMR improved memory across multiple domains, including declarative memory and skill acquisition. (9) Given that TMR can reinforce many types of memory, it could be useful for various educational and clinical applications. (10) Overall, the present meta-analysis provides substantial support for the notion that TMR can influence memory storage during NREM sleep.

The author is stating facts in Sentences (1) and (2) and, therefore, has used the simple present tense.

The author uses the present perfect tense twice while describing the rationale of their study in Sentence (3). Whereas the author could have chosen to use the present perfect progressive tense in the first case, they had no option in the second case — the present perfect progressive tense usually sounds unnatural when used for negative statements.

Then, the author briefly explains the aim of the study in Sentence (4), using the simple present tense (the simple past tense also would have been acceptable).

Sentences (5), (6), and (8) describe specific results from the current study, while Sentence (7) is related to the methodology. As such, Sentences (5)-(8) are written in the simple past tense.

Finally, because Sentences (9) and (10) mention the implications of the present study, they are written in the simple present tense.

• How to Write an Abstract

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Writing an Abstract for Your Research Paper

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 read the full paper;
• an abstract prepares readers to follow the detailed information, analyses, and arguments in your full paper;
• and, later, an abstract helps readers remember key points from your paper.

It’s also worth remembering that search engines and bibliographic databases use abstracts, as well as the title, to identify key terms for indexing your published paper. So what you include in your abstract and in your title are crucial for helping other researchers find your paper or article.

If you are writing an abstract for a course paper, your professor may give you specific guidelines for what to include and how to organize your abstract. Similarly, academic journals often have specific requirements for abstracts. So in addition to following the advice on this page, you should be sure to look for and follow any guidelines from the course or journal you’re writing for.

The Contents of an Abstract

Abstracts contain most of the following kinds of information in brief form. The body of your paper will, of course, develop and explain these ideas much more fully. As you will see in the samples below, the proportion of your abstract that you devote to each kind of information—and the sequence of that information—will vary, depending on the nature and genre of the paper that you are summarizing in your abstract. And in some cases, some of this information is implied, rather than stated explicitly. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , which is widely used in the social sciences, gives specific guidelines for what to include in the abstract for different kinds of papers—for empirical studies, literature reviews or meta-analyses, theoretical papers, methodological papers, and case studies.

Here are the typical kinds of information found in most abstracts:

• the context or background information for your research; the general topic under study; the specific topic of your research
• the central questions or statement of the problem your research addresses
• what’s already known about this question, what previous research has done or shown
• the main reason(s) , the exigency, the rationale , the goals for your research—Why is it important to address these questions? Are you, for example, examining a new topic? Why is that topic worth examining? Are you filling a gap in previous research? Applying new methods to take a fresh look at existing ideas or data? Resolving a dispute within the literature in your field? . . .
• your research and/or analytical methods
• your main findings , results , or arguments
• the significance or implications of your findings or arguments.

Your abstract should be intelligible on its own, without a reader’s having to read your entire paper. And in an abstract, you usually do not cite references—most of your abstract will describe what you have studied in your research and what you have found and what you argue in your paper. In the body of your paper, you will cite the specific literature that informs your research.

When to Write Your Abstract

Although you might be tempted to write your abstract first because it will appear as the very first part of your paper, it’s a good idea to wait to write your abstract until after you’ve drafted your full paper, so that you know what you’re summarizing.

What follows are some sample abstracts in published papers or articles, all written by faculty at UW-Madison who come from a variety of disciplines. We have annotated these samples to help you see the work that these authors are doing within their abstracts.

Choosing Verb Tenses within Your Abstract

The social science sample (Sample 1) below uses the present tense to describe general facts and interpretations that have been and are currently true, including the prevailing explanation for the social phenomenon under study. That abstract also uses the present tense to describe the methods, the findings, the arguments, and the implications of the findings from their new research study. The authors use the past tense to describe previous research.

The humanities sample (Sample 2) below uses the past tense to describe completed events in the past (the texts created in the pulp fiction industry in the 1970s and 80s) and uses the present tense to describe what is happening in those texts, to explain the significance or meaning of those texts, and to describe the arguments presented in the article.

The science samples (Samples 3 and 4) below use the past tense to describe what previous research studies have done and the research the authors have conducted, the methods they have followed, and what they have found. In their rationale or justification for their research (what remains to be done), they use the present tense. They also use the present tense to introduce their study (in Sample 3, “Here we report . . .”) and to explain the significance of their study (In Sample 3, This reprogramming . . . “provides a scalable cell source for. . .”).

Sample Abstract 1

From the social sciences.

Reporting new findings about the reasons for increasing economic homogamy among spouses

Gonalons-Pons, Pilar, and Christine R. Schwartz. “Trends in Economic Homogamy: Changes in Assortative Mating or the Division of Labor in Marriage?” Demography , vol. 54, no. 3, 2017, pp. 985-1005.

Sample Abstract 2

From the humanities.

Analyzing underground pulp fiction publications in Tanzania, this article makes an argument about the cultural significance of those publications

Emily Callaci. “Street Textuality: Socialism, Masculinity, and Urban Belonging in Tanzania’s Pulp Fiction Publishing Industry, 1975-1985.” Comparative Studies in Society and History , vol. 59, no. 1, 2017, pp. 183-210.

Sample Abstract/Summary 3

From the sciences.

Reporting a new method for reprogramming adult mouse fibroblasts into induced cardiac progenitor cells

Lalit, Pratik A., Max R. Salick, Daryl O. Nelson, Jayne M. Squirrell, Christina M. Shafer, Neel G. Patel, Imaan Saeed, Eric G. Schmuck, Yogananda S. Markandeya, Rachel Wong, Martin R. Lea, Kevin W. Eliceiri, Timothy A. Hacker, Wendy C. Crone, Michael Kyba, Daniel J. Garry, Ron Stewart, James A. Thomson, Karen M. Downs, Gary E. Lyons, and Timothy J. Kamp. “Lineage Reprogramming of Fibroblasts into Proliferative Induced Cardiac Progenitor Cells by Defined Factors.” Cell Stem Cell , vol. 18, 2016, pp. 354-367.

Sample Abstract 4, a Structured Abstract

Reporting results about the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy in managing acute bacterial sinusitis, from a rigorously controlled study

Note: This journal requires authors to organize their abstract into four specific sections, with strict word limits. Because the headings for this structured abstract are self-explanatory, we have chosen not to add annotations to this sample abstract.

Wald, Ellen R., David Nash, and Jens Eickhoff. “Effectiveness of Amoxicillin/Clavulanate Potassium in the Treatment of Acute Bacterial Sinusitis in Children.” Pediatrics , vol. 124, no. 1, 2009, pp. 9-15.

“OBJECTIVE: The role of antibiotic therapy in managing acute bacterial sinusitis (ABS) in children is controversial. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of high-dose amoxicillin/potassium clavulanate in the treatment of children diagnosed with ABS.

METHODS : This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Children 1 to 10 years of age with a clinical presentation compatible with ABS were eligible for participation. Patients were stratified according to age (<6 or ≥6 years) and clinical severity and randomly assigned to receive either amoxicillin (90 mg/kg) with potassium clavulanate (6.4 mg/kg) or placebo. A symptom survey was performed on days 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 20, and 30. Patients were examined on day 14. Children’s conditions were rated as cured, improved, or failed according to scoring rules.

RESULTS: Two thousand one hundred thirty-five children with respiratory complaints were screened for enrollment; 139 (6.5%) had ABS. Fifty-eight patients were enrolled, and 56 were randomly assigned. The mean age was 6630 months. Fifty (89%) patients presented with persistent symptoms, and 6 (11%) presented with nonpersistent symptoms. In 24 (43%) children, the illness was classified as mild, whereas in the remaining 32 (57%) children it was severe. Of the 28 children who received the antibiotic, 14 (50%) were cured, 4 (14%) were improved, 4(14%) experienced treatment failure, and 6 (21%) withdrew. Of the 28children who received placebo, 4 (14%) were cured, 5 (18%) improved, and 19 (68%) experienced treatment failure. Children receiving the antibiotic were more likely to be cured (50% vs 14%) and less likely to have treatment failure (14% vs 68%) than children receiving the placebo.

CONCLUSIONS : ABS is a common complication of viral upper respiratory infections. Amoxicillin/potassium clavulanate results in significantly more cures and fewer failures than placebo, according to parental report of time to resolution.” (9)

Some Excellent Advice about Writing Abstracts for Basic Science Research Papers, by Professor Adriano Aguzzi from the Institute of Neuropathology at the University of Zurich:

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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.

Writing an Abstract. The Writing Center. Clarion University, 2009; Writing an Abstract for Your Research Paper. The Writing Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Koltay, Tibor. Abstracts and Abstracting: A Genre and Set of Skills for the Twenty-first Century . Oxford, UK: Chandos Publishing, 2010;

Importance of a Good Abstract

Sometimes your professor will ask you to include an abstract, or general summary of your work, with your research paper. The abstract allows you to elaborate upon each major aspect of the paper and helps readers decide whether they want to read the rest of the paper. Therefore, enough key information [e.g., summary results, observations, trends, etc.] must be included to make the abstract useful to someone who may want to examine your work.

How do you know when you have enough information in your abstract? A simple rule-of-thumb is to imagine that you are another researcher doing a similar study. Then ask yourself: if your abstract was the only part of the paper you could access, would you be happy with the amount of information presented there? Does it tell the whole story about your study? If the answer is "no" then the abstract likely needs to be revised.

Farkas, David K. “A Scheme for Understanding and Writing Summaries.” Technical Communication 67 (August 2020): 45-60;  How to Write a Research Abstract. Office of Undergraduate Research. University of Kentucky; Staiger, David L. “What Today’s Students Need to Know about Writing Abstracts.” International Journal of Business Communication January 3 (1966): 29-33; Swales, John M. and Christine B. Feak. Abstracts and the Writing of Abstracts . Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2009.

Structure and Writing Style

I.  Types of Abstracts

To begin, you need to determine which type of abstract you should include with your paper. There are four general types.

Critical Abstract A critical abstract provides, in addition to describing main findings and information, a judgment or comment about the study’s validity, reliability, or completeness. The researcher evaluates the paper and often compares it with other works on the same subject. Critical abstracts are generally 400-500 words in length due to the additional interpretive commentary. These types of abstracts are used infrequently.

Descriptive Abstract A descriptive abstract indicates the type of information found in the work. It makes no judgments about the work, nor does it provide results or conclusions of the research. It does incorporate key words found in the text and may include the purpose, methods, and scope of the research. Essentially, the descriptive abstract only describes the work being summarized. Some researchers consider it an outline of the work, rather than a summary. Descriptive abstracts are usually very short, 100 words or less. Informative Abstract The majority of abstracts are informative. While they still do not critique or evaluate a work, they do more than describe it. A good informative abstract acts as a surrogate for the work itself. That is, the researcher presents and explains all the main arguments and the important results and evidence in the paper. An informative abstract includes the information that can be found in a descriptive abstract [purpose, methods, scope] but it also includes the results and conclusions of the research and the recommendations of the author. The length varies according to discipline, but an informative abstract is usually no more than 300 words in length.

Highlight Abstract A highlight abstract is specifically written to attract the reader’s attention to the study. No pretense is made of there being either a balanced or complete picture of the paper and, in fact, incomplete and leading remarks may be used to spark the reader’s interest. In that a highlight abstract cannot stand independent of its associated article, it is not a true abstract and, therefore, rarely used in academic writing.

II.  Writing Style

Use the active voice when possible , but note that much of your abstract may require passive sentence constructions. Regardless, write your abstract using concise, but complete, sentences. Get to the point quickly and always use the past tense because you are reporting on a study that has been completed.

Abstracts should be formatted as a single paragraph in a block format and with no paragraph indentations. In most cases, the abstract page immediately follows the title page. Do not number the page. Rules set forth in writing manual vary but, in general, you should center the word "Abstract" at the top of the page with double spacing between the heading and the abstract. The final sentences of an abstract concisely summarize your study’s conclusions, implications, or applications to practice and, if appropriate, can be followed by a statement about the need for additional research revealed from the findings.

Composing Your Abstract

Although it is the first section of your paper, the abstract should be written last since it will summarize the contents of your entire paper. A good strategy to begin composing your abstract is to take whole sentences or key phrases from each section of the paper and put them in a sequence that summarizes the contents. Then revise or add connecting phrases or words to make the narrative flow clearly and smoothly. Note that statistical findings should be reported parenthetically [i.e., written in parentheses].

Before handing in your final paper, check to make sure that the information in the abstract completely agrees with what you have written in the paper. Think of the abstract as a sequential set of complete sentences describing the most crucial information using the fewest necessary words. The abstract SHOULD NOT contain:

• A catchy introductory phrase, provocative quote, or other device to grab the reader's attention,
• Lengthy background or contextual information,
• Redundant phrases, unnecessary adverbs and adjectives, and repetitive information;
• Acronyms or abbreviations,
• References to other literature [say something like, "current research shows that..." or "studies have indicated..."],
• Using ellipticals [i.e., ending with "..."] or incomplete sentences,
• Jargon or terms that may be confusing to the reader,
• Citations to other works, and
• Any sort of image, illustration, figure, or table, or references to them.

Abstract. Writing Center. University of Kansas; Abstract. The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Department of Biology. Bates College; Abstracts. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Borko, Harold and Seymour Chatman. "Criteria for Acceptable Abstracts: A Survey of Abstracters' Instructions." American Documentation 14 (April 1963): 149-160; Abstracts. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Hartley, James and Lucy Betts. "Common Weaknesses in Traditional Abstracts in the Social Sciences." Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 60 (October 2009): 2010-2018; Koltay, Tibor. Abstracts and Abstracting: A Genre and Set of Skills for the Twenty-first Century. Oxford, UK: Chandos Publishing, 2010; Procter, Margaret. The Abstract. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Riordan, Laura. “Mastering the Art of Abstracts.” The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association 115 (January 2015 ): 41-47; Writing Report Abstracts. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing Abstracts. Writing Tutorial Services, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. Indiana University; Koltay, Tibor. Abstracts and Abstracting: A Genre and Set of Skills for the Twenty-First Century . Oxford, UK: 2010; Writing an Abstract for Your Research Paper. The Writing Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Writing Tip

Never Cite Just the Abstract!

Citing to just a journal article's abstract does not confirm for the reader that you have conducted a thorough or reliable review of the literature. If the full-text is not available, go to the USC Libraries main page and enter the title of the article [NOT the title of the journal]. If the Libraries have a subscription to the journal, the article should appear with a link to the full-text or to the journal publisher page where you can get the article. If the article does not appear, try searching Google Scholar using the link on the USC Libraries main page. If you still can't find the article after doing this, contact a librarian or you can request it from our free i nterlibrary loan and document delivery service .

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Writing for Publication: Abstracts

An abstract is "a brief, comprehensive summary of the contents of the paper" (American Psychological Association [APA], 2020, p. 38). This summary is intended to share the topic, argument, and conclusions of a research study or course paper, similar to the text on the back cover of a book. When submitting your work for publication, an abstract is often the first piece of your writing a reviewer will encounter. An abstract may not be required for course papers.

Read on for more tips on making a good first impression with a successful abstract.

An abstract is a single paragraph preceded by the heading " Abstract ," centered and in bold font. The abstract does not begin with an indented line. APA (2020) recommends that abstracts should generally be less than 250 words, though many journals have their own word limits; it is always a good idea to check journal-specific requirements before submitting. The Writing Center's APA templates are great resources for visual examples of abstracts.

Abstracts use the present tense to describe currently applicable results (e.g., "Results indicate...") and the past tense to describe research steps (e.g., "The survey measured..."), and they do not typically include citations.

Key terms are sometimes included at the end of the abstract and should be chosen by considering the words or phrases that a reader might use to search for your article.

An abstract should include information such as

• The problem or central argument of your article
• A brief exposition of research design, methods, and procedures.
• A brief summary of your findings
• A brief summary of the implications of the research on practice and theory

It is also appropriate, depending on the type of article you are writing, to include information such as:

• Participant number and type
• Study eligibility criteria
• Limitations of your study
• Implications of your study's conclusions or areas for additional research

Your abstract should avoid unnecessary wordiness and focus on quickly and concisely summarizing the major points of your work. An abstract is not an introduction; you are not trying to capture the reader's attention with timeliness or to orient the reader to the entire background of your study. When readers finish reading your abstract, they should have a strong sense of your article's purpose, approach, and conclusions. The Walden Office of Research and Doctoral Services has additional  tutorial material on abstracts .

Clinical or Empirical Study Abstract Exemplar

In the following abstract, the article's problem is stated in red , the approach and design are in blue , and the results are in green .

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients have a high cardiovascular mortality rate. Precise estimates of the prevalence, risk factors and prognosis of different manifestations of cardiac disease are unavailable. In this study a prospective cohort of 433 ESRD patients was followed from the start of ESRD therapy for a mean of 41 months. Baseline clinical assessment and echocardiography were performed on all patients.  The major outcome measure was death while on dialysis therapy. Clinical manifestations of cardiovascular disease were highly prevalent at the start of ESRD therapy: 14% had coronary artery disease, 19% angina pectoris, 31% cardiac failure, 7% dysrhythmia and 8% peripheral vascular disease. On echocardiography 15% had systolic dysfunction, 32% left ventricular dilatation and 74% left ventricular hypertrophy. The overall median survival time was 50 months. Age, diabetes mellitus, cardiac failure, peripheral vascular disease and systolic dysfunction independently predicted death in all time frames. Coronary artery disease was associated with a worse prognosis in patients with cardiac failure at baseline. High left ventricular cavity volume and mass index were independently associated with death after two years. The independent associations of the different echocardiographic abnormalities were: systolic dysfunction--older age and coronary artery disease; left ventricular dilatation--male gender, anemia, hypocalcemia and hyperphosphatemia; left ventricular hypertrophy--older age, female gender, wide arterial pulse pressure, low blood urea and hypoalbuminemia. We conclude that clinical and echocardiographic cardiovascular disease are already present in a very high proportion of patients starting ESRD therapy and are independent mortality factors.

Foley, R. N., Parfrey, P. S., Harnett, J. D., Kent, G. M., Martin, C. J., Murray, D. C., & Barre, P. E. (1995). Clinical and echocardiographic disease in patients starting end-stage renal disease therapy. Kidney International , 47 , 186–192. https://doi.org/10.1038/ki.1995.22

Literature Review Abstract Exemplar

In the following abstract, the purpose and scope of the literature review are in red , the specific span of topics is in blue , and the implications for further research are in green .

This paper provides a review of research into the relationships between psychological types, as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and managerial attributes, behaviors and effectiveness. The literature review includes an examination of the psychometric properties of the MBTI and the contributions and limitations of research on psychological types. Next, key findings are discussed and used to advance propositions that relate psychological type to diverse topics such as risk tolerance, problem solving, information systems design, conflict management and leadership. We conclude with a research agenda that advocates: (a) the exploration of potential psychometric refinements of the MBTI, (b) more rigorous research designs, and (c) a broadening of the scope of managerial research into type.

Gardner, W. L., & Martinko, M. J. (1996). Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to study managers: A literature review and research agenda. Journal of Management, 22 (1), 45–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639602200103

Didn't find what you need? Email us at [email protected] .

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How to Write an Abstract APA Format

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

An APA abstract is a brief, comprehensive summary of the contents of an article, research paper, dissertation, or report.

It is written in accordance with the guidelines of the American Psychological Association (APA), which is a widely used format in social and behavioral sciences. 

An APA abstract summarizes, usually in one paragraph of between 150–250 words, the major aspects of a research paper or dissertation in a prescribed sequence that includes:

• The rationale: the overall purpose of the study, providing a clear context for the research undertaken.
• Information regarding the method and participants: including materials/instruments, design, procedure, and data analysis.
• Main findings or trends: effectively highlighting the key outcomes of the hypotheses.
• Interpretations and conclusion(s): solidify the implications of the research.
• Keywords related to the study: assist the paper’s discoverability in academic databases.

The abstract should stand alone, be “self-contained,” and make sense to the reader in isolation from the main article.

The purpose of the abstract is to give the reader a quick overview of the essential information before reading the entire article. The abstract is placed on its own page, directly after the title page and before the main body of the paper.

Although the abstract will appear as the very first part of your paper, it’s good practice to write your abstract after you’ve drafted your full paper, so that you know what you’re summarizing.

Note : This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), released in October 2019.

Structure of the Abstract

[NOTE: DO NOT separate the components of the abstract – it should be written as a single paragraph. This section is separated to illustrate the abstract’s structure.]

1) The Rationale

One or two sentences describing the overall purpose of the study and the research problem(s) you investigated. You are basically justifying why this study was conducted.

• What is the importance of the research?
• Why would a reader be interested in the larger work?
• For example, are you filling a gap in previous research or applying new methods to take a fresh look at existing ideas or data?
• Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer can experience an array of psychosocial difficulties; however, social support, particularly from a spouse, has been shown to have a protective function during this time. This study examined the ways in which a woman’s daily mood, pain, and fatigue, and her spouse’s marital satisfaction predict the woman’s report of partner support in the context of breast cancer.
• The current nursing shortage, high hospital nurse job dissatisfaction, and reports of uneven quality of hospital care are not uniquely American phenomena.
• Students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are more likely to exhibit behavioral difficulties than their typically developing peers. The aim of this study was to identify specific risk factors that influence variability in behavior difficulties among individuals with SEND.

2) The Method

Information regarding the participants (number, and population). One or two sentences outlining the method, explaining what was done and how. The method is described in the present tense.

• Pretest data from a larger intervention study and multilevel modeling were used to examine the effects of women’s daily mood, pain, and fatigue and average levels of mood, pain, and fatigue on women’s report of social support received from her partner, as well as how the effects of mood interacted with partners’ marital satisfaction.
• This paper presents reports from 43,000 nurses from more than 700 hospitals in the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, and Germany in 1998–1999.
• The study sample comprised 4,228 students with SEND, aged 5–15, drawn from 305 primary and secondary schools across England. Explanatory variables were measured at the individual and school levels at baseline, along with a teacher-reported measure of behavior difficulties (assessed at baseline and the 18-month follow-up).

3) The Results

One or two sentences indicating the main findings or trends found as a result of your analysis. The results are described in the present or past tense.

• Results show that on days in which women reported higher levels of negative or positive mood, as well as on days they reported more pain and fatigue, they reported receiving more support. Women who, on average, reported higher levels of positive mood tended to report receiving more support than those who, on average, reported lower positive mood. However, average levels of negative mood were not associated with support. Higher average levels of fatigue but not pain were associated with higher support. Finally, women whose husbands reported higher levels of marital satisfaction reported receiving more partner support, but husbands’ marital satisfaction did not moderate the effect of women’s mood on support.
• Nurses in countries with distinctly different healthcare systems report similar shortcomings in their work environments and the quality of hospital care. While the competence of and relation between nurses and physicians appear satisfactory, core problems in work design and workforce management threaten the provision of care.
• Hierarchical linear modeling of data revealed that differences between schools accounted for between 13% (secondary) and 15.4% (primary) of the total variance in the development of students’ behavior difficulties, with the remainder attributable to individual differences. Statistically significant risk markers for these problems across both phases of education were being male, eligibility for free school meals, being identified as a bully, and lower academic achievement. Additional risk markers specific to each phase of education at the individual and school levels are also acknowledged.

4) The Conclusion / Implications

A brief summary of your conclusions and implications of the results, described in the present tense. Explain the results and why the study is important to the reader.

• For example, what changes should be implemented as a result of the findings of the work?
• How does this work add to the body of knowledge on the topic?

Implications of these findings are discussed relative to assisting couples during this difficult time in their lives.

• Resolving these issues, which are amenable to managerial intervention, is essential to preserving patient safety and care of consistently high quality.
• Behavior difficulties are affected by risks across multiple ecological levels. Addressing any one of these potential influences is therefore likely to contribute to the reduction in the problems displayed.

The above examples of abstracts are from the following papers:

Aiken, L. H., Clarke, S. P., Sloane, D. M., Sochalski, J. A., Busse, R., Clarke, H., … & Shamian, J. (2001). Nurses’ reports on hospital care in five countries . Health affairs, 20(3) , 43-53.

Boeding, S. E., Pukay-Martin, N. D., Baucom, D. H., Porter, L. S., Kirby, J. S., Gremore, T. M., & Keefe, F. J. (2014). Couples and breast cancer: Women’s mood and partners’ marital satisfaction predicting support perception . Journal of Family Psychology, 28(5) , 675.

Oldfield, J., Humphrey, N., & Hebron, J. (2017). Risk factors in the development of behavior difficulties among students with special educational needs and disabilities: A multilevel analysis . British journal of educational psychology, 87(2) , 146-169.

5) Keywords

APA style suggests including a list of keywords at the end of the abstract. This is particularly common in academic articles and helps other researchers find your work in databases.

Keywords in an abstract should be selected to help other researchers find your work when searching an online database. These keywords should effectively represent the main topics of your study. Here are some tips for choosing keywords:

Core Concepts: Identify the most important ideas or concepts in your paper. These often include your main research topic, the methods you’ve used, or the theories you’re discussing.

Specificity: Your keywords should be specific to your research. For example, suppose your paper is about the effects of climate change on bird migration patterns in a specific region. In that case, your keywords might include “climate change,” “bird migration,” and the region’s name.

Consistency with Paper: Make sure your keywords are consistent with the terms you’ve used in your paper. For example, if you use the term “adolescent” rather than “teen” in your paper, choose “adolescent” as your keyword, not “teen.”

Jargon and Acronyms: Avoid using too much-specialized jargon or acronyms in your keywords, as these might not be understood or used by all researchers in your field.

Synonyms: Consider including synonyms of your keywords to capture as many relevant searches as possible. For example, if your paper discusses “post-traumatic stress disorder,” you might include “PTSD” as a keyword.

Remember, keywords are a tool for others to find your work, so think about what terms other researchers might use when searching for papers on your topic.

The Abstract SHOULD NOT contain:

Lengthy background or contextual information: The abstract should focus on your research and findings, not general topic background.

Undefined jargon, abbreviations,  or acronyms: The abstract should be accessible to a wide audience, so avoid highly specialized terms without defining them.

Citations: Abstracts typically do not include citations, as they summarize original research.

Incomplete sentences or bulleted lists: The abstract should be a single, coherent paragraph written in complete sentences.

New information not covered in the paper: The abstract should only summarize the paper’s content.

Subjective comments or value judgments: Stick to objective descriptions of your research.

Excessive details on methods or procedures: Keep descriptions of methods brief and focused on main steps.

Speculative or inconclusive statements: The abstract should state the research’s clear findings, not hypotheses or possible interpretations.

• Any illustration, figure, table, or references to them . All visual aids, data, or extensive details should be included in the main body of your paper, not in the abstract. 
• Elliptical or incomplete sentences should be avoided in an abstract . The use of ellipses (…), which could indicate incomplete thoughts or omitted text, is not appropriate in an abstract.

APA Style for Abstracts

An APA abstract must be formatted as follows:

Include the running head aligned to the left at the top of the page (professional papers only) and page number. Note, student papers do not require a running head. On the first line, center the heading “Abstract” and bold (do not underlined or italicize). Do not indent the single abstract paragraph (which begins one line below the section title). Double-space the text. Use Times New Roman font in 12 pt. Set one-inch (or 2.54 cm) margins. If you include a “keywords” section at the end of the abstract, indent the first line and italicize the word “Keywords” while leaving the keywords themselves without any formatting.

Example APA Abstract Page

Download this example as a PDF

Further Information

• APA 7th Edition Abstract and Keywords Guide
• Example APA Abstract
• How to Write a Good Abstract for a Scientific Paper or Conference Presentation
• How to Write a Lab Report
• Writing an APA paper

How long should an APA abstract be?

An APA abstract should typically be between 150 to 250 words long. However, the exact length may vary depending on specific publication or assignment guidelines. It is crucial that it succinctly summarizes the essential elements of the work, including purpose, methods, findings, and conclusions.

Where does the abstract go in an APA paper?

In an APA formatted paper, the abstract is placed on its own page, directly after the title page and before the main body of the paper. It’s typically the second page of the document. It starts with the word “Abstract” (centered and not in bold) at the top of the page, followed by the text of the abstract itself.

What are the 4 C’s of abstract writing?

The 4 C’s of abstract writing are an approach to help you create a well-structured and informative abstract. They are:

Conciseness: An abstract should briefly summarize the key points of your study. Stick to the word limit (typically between 150-250 words for an APA abstract) and avoid unnecessary details.

Clarity: Your abstract should be easy to understand. Avoid jargon and complex sentences. Clearly explain the purpose, methods, results, and conclusions of your study.

Completeness: Even though it’s brief, the abstract should provide a complete overview of your study, including the purpose, methods, key findings, and your interpretation of the results.

Cohesion: The abstract should flow logically from one point to the next, maintaining a coherent narrative about your study. It’s not just a list of disjointed elements; it’s a brief story of your research from start to finish.

What is the abstract of a psychology paper?

An abstract in a psychology paper serves as a snapshot of the paper, allowing readers to quickly understand the purpose, methodology, results, and implications of the research without reading the entire paper. It is generally between 150-250 words long.

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Writing an Abstract: Why and How, with Expert Tips for Researchers

An abstract is a short summary of your research manuscript, typically around 200–250 words, briefly presenting why and how you did your study, and what you found. That’s a simple definition, but the structure and style of an abstract are where there are certain rules to follow.

Even more, you’ll increase your chances of publication and of getting cited when you know what to do and not do. That’s what we’ll get into in this article.

What you’ll learn in this post

• All the basics of what goes into a research abstract for academic and scientific publication.

• What the abstract’s role is, and why it should never be overlooked or a simple repeat of text in your paper.

• The types of abstracts.

• What grammar and tense to use in an abstract.

• Expert tips on the abstract from Edanz’s science director.

• Where to get expert guidance for your abstract.

What is an abstract and why is it important?

Along with the title, the abstract is the first thing most readers will look at. It’s where they should get a clear and factual summary of your paper. This is also where readers usually decide to continue reading or to move on to something else. It’s like an elevator pitch .

The abstract should also be attractive enough to to get readers to read the entire paper. The content of the abstract, along with the title and keywords, is essential for the discoverability of your paper. This means you should prepare it carefully, revise it, and ideally have others read (and maybe edit ) it to be sure it says what you intend.

We’ll also note, right from the start, that it’s best to write our abstract LAST – after you’ve written your full manuscript. Only then can it be a truly accurate description of your work. And take your time with it. We’ll dig into more details in this article.

What does an abstract look like? What’s the structure?

The length of the abstract may vary depending on the type of paper and journal requirements. Most abstracts are around 200–250 words, but they can range from 100 (for a short summary like in mathematical papers) to 300 for certain journals, like PLOS ONE .

Abstracts can be any of the following:

• Unstructured: A single paragraph with no subheadings
• Structured: Divided subsections with headings such as Objective or Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. Clinical journals may require additional or alternative sections, such as Patients, Interventions, or Outcomes.

We can’t tell you why. It’s just a matter of journal preference , so check the guidelines carefully.

The good news is it’s pretty easy to turn an unstructured abstract into a structured one – just add subheadings and reword a bit. Or vice versa – just take out the subheadings and make sure it’s still readable. Edit accordingly.

There are also graphical and video abstracts , which give you the chance to visually explain your work, but we’ll cover those separately.

What writing style do you use for an abstract?

First of all, an abstract should not copy-paste text from the body of the manuscript. It should paraphrase your work and then be sharpened to make it easier to read.

Abstracts parts related to the aims, methods, and results are in the past tense. That’s because they tell what already happened – you already did the study.

Present tense

The background and conclusion are often in the present tense. That’s because they’re talking about ongoing things, like research activity and areas the study affects.

Active voice

Many journals also allow, and even encourage, use of the active voice and first-person plural pronoun (we, if there are 2 or more authors) – e.g., “We found…”

Abstracts for research proposals or funding applications, however, use future tense when discussing the study’s specifics. Why? That’s easy – because you haven’t done the work yet.

Journals in some disciplines have different styles. They may use the present tense throughout, especially for chemical synthesis or mathematical/computer modeling studies. They may also use passive voice throughout and not allow “We” even if these are allowed in the text of the main article.

Conference abstracts may have different styles. For example, the conference organizers may allow you to include references and small figures or tables.

References and abbreviations

Basically – no and no for references and abbreviations, but there are (always) exceptions.

Abstracts normally should not include reference citations or references to tables and figures in the main text. There’s simply no need unless your study is centered on a specific work.

Abstracts should “stand alone” – your reader should be able to understand the contents without having to refer to the rest of your paper. So…

Abbreviations should be avoided. They take up space and your readers may not understand them. Remember, an abstract isn’t only written for specialists in your field. For example, HIV is probably OK in abbreviated form. but even though RT-PCR is fine for a journal reporting molecular biology techniques, even there, it would probably need to be spelled out in the abstract.

Jargon and technical language should also be avoided whenever possible. If it’s impractical to avoid such terms, they should be defined clearly.

Descriptive vs. informative abstracts

Based on their content, abstracts can be descriptive or informative.

Abstracts of scientific papers are usually informative: that is, they include specific information related to the objective, methods, and results.

To be sure your abstract includes all the necessary information, try to answer the following questions:

• What’s the reason you did the study? (State what’s known and why the study is needed. Some journals and peer reviewers , even if they don’t overtly state it, may also reject submissions without a clear, testable hypothesis statement. It’s best to include one.)
• What did you do to fulfill the objective/prove the hypotheses?
• What were the main findings? (Make sure these are directly related to the stated objectives)
• What are the meaning, implications, and relevance of the findings?

You may recognize that abstracts follow an IMRaD format similar to the path you follow in a typical manuscript. But in the abstract, you only have space for the key methods and results. There’s no space for a real discussion, so the final section is simply the Conclusion.

Even if the abstract you’re preparing is unstructured (just one paragraph and without subheadings, but check the journal guidelines, because sometimes there’s more than one paragraph), the content should still include the same core elements as a structured abstract.

Try stating the answers to the above questions in a logical order, and you’ll be on your way to writing a complete, effective abstract. It should be possible to clearly identify the abstract’s different parts.

Some clinical journals also require additional standalone sections to highlight a particular aspect of the work. Often, this content should normally be included in any abstract anyway: 

For example:

• Clinical learning point
• What we knew before / What we know now

Finally, make sure the final abstract is consistent with the main text of the manuscript in terms of data, results, and general wording. And, even though we’re repeating ourselves here, be sure it satisfies what the journal guidelines ask for!

This means: check the word count, structure, subheadings, use of abbreviations, rules about active vs. passive tense, and so on. If you need some help, ask a pro editor to proofread it. Then you can be sure you don’t miss anything.

It’s an awful shame for a great study to get rejected just because you didn’t spend a little extra time (and in some cases a little extra money) to be sure your abstract shines.

Dr. McGowan on abstracts

We asked our Chief Science Officer, Daniel McGowan, PhD CMPP , for his thoughts on abstracts.

Most readers will read an article’s Abstract to decide whether the study is relevant to them and whether the full paper should be downloaded (which may need payment).

Some journals send only the abstract of a paper to editorial staff or editorial board members to decide if the paper should be sent for peer review.

Your abstract should therefore reflect the high quality of your study and summarize its most important findings and conclusions.  

Your abstract should:

• be clear, concise, and accurate 
• be easily understood: avoid uncommon abbreviations and jargon; in general, use abbreviations only if the abbreviation appears three times or more after its initial definition 
• be independent (stand-alone), without referring to the main text or any of the illustrations (tables or figures) 
• not contain illustrations, although some journals now ask for an additional “graphical abstract” 
• not contain any citations, but if they are allowed, the references are usually included within the text rather than as a footnote 
• contain some keywords 

You may find it useful to draft your abstract early on (a “working abstract”) as a guide for your paper’s structure and message, and then revise it at the end. Check the guidelines of your target journal for the word count, format, and style of its abstracts.  

There may or may not be a heading, and there may be subheadings (such as Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions, in a “structured abstract”) or just one or two paragraphs without subheadings (in an “unstructured abstract”). 

Regardless of the format, your abstract should answer the following four questions: 

• Why was this research conducted? 
• What was the specific aim/objective and main approach of the study? 
• What were the main findings? 
• Why are these findings useful and important? 

Check your target journal for special instructions—for example: 

• Do different article types have different styles of abstract? 
• Should non-technical language be used or a non-technical abstract also prepared? 
• Is the style descriptive (topic, aim, and only a preview of the paper’s contents) or informative (including results and conclusion)? 
• Are key data and statistics expected in the results? 
• Should extra information (e.g., limitations or implications) be added? 
• Is only passive voice or a mixture of active and passive allowed, and what tenses are expected?

So let’s look at an example.

Example of a good abstract

This is broken down into three sections that are contain the substance of the abstract.

Depending on the journal, a couple more subheadings, such as Results, may be added. Their content is still included in this example 

1. Background

The placement of medical research news on a newspaper’s front page is intended to gain the public’s attention, so it is important to understand the source of the news in terms of research maturity and evidence level.

Explanation:  Subheadings are used because this journal requires a structured abstract. Note that the authors have mainly used the active voice. The Background provides the reader with the major research question . 

2. Methodology/Principal Findings

We searched LexisNexis to identify medical research reported on front pages of major newspapers published from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2002. We used MEDLINE and Google Scholar to find journal articles corresponding to the research, and determined their evidence level. 

Of 734 front-page medical research stories identified, 417 (57%) referred to mature research published in peer-reviewed journals. The remaining 317 stories referred to preliminary findings presented at scientific or press meetings; 144 (45%) of those stories mentioned studies that later matured (i.e. were published in journals within 3 years after news coverage). The evidence-level distribution of the 515 journal articles quoted in news stories reporting on mature research (3% level I, 21% level II, 42% level III, 4% level IV, and 31% level V) differed from that of the 170 reports of preliminary research that later matured (1%, 19%, 35%, 12%, and 33%, respectively; chi-square test, P = .0009). No news stories indicated evidence level. Fewer than 1 in 5 news stories reporting preliminary findings acknowledged the preliminary nature of their content.

Explanation: In this combined Methods/Results section, the Methods subsection is quite short and the Results subsection makes up the largest proportion of the Abstract, because the reader is most interested in what you discovered. The order of the results goes from general to specific facts, and key data are included.  The verb tense is the simple past because the study and analyses have finished. However, theoretical and modeling studies often use present tense throughout the abstract.

3. Conclusions/Significance

Only 57% of front-page stories reporting on medical research are based on mature research, which tends to have a higher evidence level than research with preliminary findings. Medical research news should be clearly referenced and state the evidence level and limitations to inform the public of the maturity and quality of the source. 

Explanation: The major conclusion should be the first thing presented in this section. Here, the journal requires that the implications of the findings are also stated.

A final note from Dr. McGowan

If you keep the above tips in mind, you can write an effective abstract that will attract more readers (and journal editors!) to your research. Good luck!

Abstracts are usually followed by a list of keywords (or “key words”) that you, as the author, will choose. These shouldn’t be an afterthought – they serve a valuable function in helping your publication get indexed, especially on Google Scholar and Google itself.

That, in turn, helps potential readers find your work, read it, and maybe even refer to it or cite it.

Keywords supplement the title; they don’t replace it. So choosing them can actually be quite hard.

Always check your target journal’s instructions for authors as often journals will specify that terms used in the title shouldn’t be used as keywords.

Journals’ instructions for authors will state how many keywords are required and may even provide a list of recommended ones. Some clinical journals, for standardization, require you to choose from Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) keywords.

Excellent choices for keywords are:

• The main theme (of course, but in slightly different wording from the title if necessary)
• An odd or quirky area of your field; i.e., a specific niche term
• Regions and/or climactic conditions
• Applications of the research
• Techniques of the research

Another perspective: Four key questions for your abstract

That’s plenty of info already. Here’s a bit more if you want a simple way to look at writing your abstract.

All good abstracts answer four questions.

• Why did you do the study?
• What did you do?
• What did you find? and…
• What did you conclude? What’s the significance of the study?

This video from our publication expert explains this in greater detail:

Graphical abstracts

A graphical abstract is a single visual summary of the main findings of the article. This can be a figure from the article or a new, specially designed figure. 

Some journals request that authors provide a graphical abstract in addition to the traditional written abstract. In most cases, submission of a graphical abstract is optional; But in the future it may become a preferred style for abstracts because readers can understand the important message of the paper quickly. 

The following sites provide some excellent examples of graphical abstracts in different fields of study:

• Elsevier : Biology, medicine, materials science
• Thieme : Chemistry

Have an expert guide your abstract writing

What we call Abstract Development is one of our longest-running and most-popular author guidance services. Within as little as a day, you can hire an Edanz academic expert to write you, an abstract that accurately conveys your work in clear, accessible English. Explore Abstract Development and other services here .

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How to Write an Abstract in APA

Last Updated: April 4, 2024 Fact Checked

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 18 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 702,587 times. Learn more...

A good abstract summarizes the key points of your paper without providing unnecessary detail. The APA style guide has a specific format for abstract pages, so you should be aware of this format if you are writing an APA paper. Moreover, there are other details to keep in mind concerning how to write an effective abstract. Here's what you should know.

Things You Should Know

• Write and finalize your paper before writing the abstract.
• Center the word "Abstract" at the top of the page, under the header.
• Write a 150-250 word paragraph stating the purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations included in your paper.

Following the Basic Format

• A shortened version of your paper's title should be aligned to the top left of the page. The character count should not exceed 50 characters, including spaces and punctuation.
• Every letter in the page header should be capitalized.
• The page number should appear in the top right of the page. An APA abstract should be the second page of your paper, so the number "2" should appear in the corner.

• Some professors will also accept Arial font in 10-point or 12-point, but you should check with your professor before deciding to choose it.

• "Double-spaced" means that lines of texts are separated by a blank line.
• Aside from the abstract, the entire paper should also be double-spaced.

• The first letter of the word is capitalized, but the rest of the word is in lower-case.
• Do not bold, italicize, or underline the word, and do not use quotation marks. The word should stand alone and in normal font.

• Keep it short. A standard APA abstract is 150 to 250 words long and contained in a single paragraph.

• Indent as though starting a new paragraph.
• Type the word "Keywords" in italics. Capitalize the "K" and follow it with a colon.
• In normal, non-italicized font, follow the colon with three to four keywords describing the paper. These keywords should each appear in the text of the abstract. Separate them with commas.

Writing a Good Abstract

• To reflect the fact that it is a summary, your abstract should use present tense when referring to results and conclusions and past tense when referring to methods and measurements taken. Do not use future tense.
• Reread your essay before writing the abstract to refresh your memory. Pay close attention to the purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations mentioned in your paper.
• Write a rough draft of your abstract without looking directly at your paper. This will help you to summarize without copying key sentences from your paper.

• An informational abstract states the purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations included in your report. The abstract should highlight essential points in order to allow the reader to decide whether or not to read the rest of the report. Its total length should be about 10 percent or less of the length of the report.
• Descriptive abstracts include the purpose, methods, and scope defined in the report, but not the results, conclusions, or recommendations. These abstracts are less common to APA style and usually fall under 100 words. The purpose is the introduce the subject to the reader, essentially teasing the reader into reading the report in order to learn the results.

• For instance, ask yourself why you did the study, what you did, how you did it, what you found, and what those findings signify.
• If your paper is about a new method, ask yourself what the advantages of the new method are and how well it works.

• Even if the information is closely tied to information used in the paper, it does not belong in the abstract.
• Note that you can and should use different wording in your abstract. The information should be the same as the information in your paper, but the way that information is phrased should differ.

• Avoid phrases like, "This paper will look at..." Since the abstract is so short, you should cut straight to the facts and details of your paper instead of spending effort explaining their connection to your paper.
• Do not rephrase or repeat the title since the abstract is almost always read along with the title.
• The abstract should be complete on its own since it is often read without the rest of the paper.

• You can and should state your findings, but do not attempt to justify them. The paper itself should be used to justify your findings and provide additional support, not the abstract.

• You should also stick with active verbs more often than passive verbs.
• For instance, the strongest statement for an abstract would be, "research shows." Avoid using phrases like "I researched" or "it was researched."

• Also avoid trade names and symbols.

Sample Abstracts

Community Q&A

• If you are writing a short APA paper for a professor and the instructions do not specifically call for an abstract, ask the professor to verify that he or she actually wants one. While APA style officially promotes the use of abstracts for all papers, many professors will allow or even prefer that you skip the abstract if the assignment only calls for a 1- to 2-page paper. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html
• ↑ https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/abstract-keywords-guide.pdf
• ↑ https://morningside.libguides.com/APA7/abstracts
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/abstracts/
• ↑ https://www.simplypsychology.org/abstract.html

About This Article

To write an abstract in APA format, start by writing your paper first. After your paper is done, go back and reread what you've written to identify your purpose, methods, scope, results, and conclusions. State these clearly in your abstract, starting with a broad declaration of your topic, like "This paper explores the role of gender on career ambitions" and then providing more specific information about what is covered in your paper. As you write, use present tense and avoid using first person pronouns like "I" or "me." To learn how to format your font and headings correctly in APA format, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Use Tenses within Scientific Writing

Written by: Chloe Collier

One’s tense will vary depending on what one is trying to convey within their paper or section of their paper. For example, the tense may change between the methods section and the discussion section.

Abstract --> Past tense

• The abstract is usually in the past tense due to it showing what has already been studied.

Example: “This study was conducted at the Iyarina Field School, and within the indigenous Waorani community within Yasuni National Park region.”

Introduction --> Present tense

• Example: “ Clidemia heterophylla and Piperaceae musteum are both plants with ant domata, meaning that there is an ant mutualism which protects them from a higher level of herbivory.”

Methods --> Past tense

• In the methods section one would use past tense due to what they have done was in the past.
• It has been debated whether one should use active or passive voice. The scientific journal Nature states that one should use active voice as to convey the concepts more directly.
• Example: “In the geographic areas selected for the study, ten random focal plants were selected as points for the study.”

Results --> Past tense

• Example: “We observed that there was no significant statistical difference in herbivory on Piperaceae between the two locations, Yasuni National Park, Ecuador (01° 10’ 11, 13”S and 77° 10’ 01. 47 NW) and Iyarina Field School, Ecuador (01° 02’ 35.2” S and 77° 43’ 02. 45” W), with the one exception being that there was found to be a statistical significance in the number count within a one-meter radius of Piperaceae musteum (Piperaceae).”

Discussion --> Present tense and past tense

• Example: “Symbiotic ant mutualistic relationships within species will defend their host plant since the plant provides them with food. In the case of Melastomataceae, they have swellings at the base of their petioles that house the ants and aid to protect them from herbivores.”
• One would use past tense to summarize one’s results
• Example: “In the future to further this experiment, we would expand this project and expand our sample size in order to have a more solid base for our findings.”

Example of Abstract for Your Research Paper: Tips, Dos, and Don’ts

Research papers serve as vital tools for disseminating knowledge and expanding the boundaries of human understanding. Yet, prior to delving into the complexities of your research, readers typically encounter the abstract—an abbreviated summary that contains the core of the paper.

In this article, we will explore key factors that are considered while writing an abstract and give an illustrative example to help you in formulating your own.

Table of Contents

A research paper abstract is a concise summary of your study, designed to quickly inform journal editors and researchers about your work and encourage them to read further. In today’s digital age, where online publication databases are prevalent, writing a compelling abstract is more critical than ever.

Think of the abstract as the “executive summary” or “gist” of your research. It serves to “sell” your work and provide a brief overview of its most important aspects. Given the online nature of academic transactions, you have a limited time to impress readers amid increased competition from other abstracts.

The Academic Publishing and Conferences International (APCI) emphasizes 12 questions or “points” considered during the selection process for journals and conferences. Crafting an abstract that addresses these points is crucial, as it may be your only opportunity to persuade readers to delve deeper into your study.

To create an effective abstract, consider the following suggestions:

• Clearly state the purpose and key aspects of your study.
• Summarize your methodology and key findings concisely.
• Emphasize the significance and contribution of your research.
• Use clear and straightforward language, avoiding jargon.
• Follow the structure and guidelines recommended for abstracts in your field.
• Spend time refining and editing your abstract to ensure it accurately represents your study and engages your target audience.

Imagine browsing a bookstore shelf, scanning titles and summaries to find a book that captures your interest. The abstract of a research paper serves a similar function—it’s the window through which readers glimpse the significance and scope of your work.

An abstract distills the essence of your research, enabling readers to quickly determine if your paper aligns with their interests or research needs.

What is the ideal length for an abstract?

When preparing your abstract, it’s important to consider its length and style. Abstracts serve the purpose of summarizing your study, with two main styles to choose from: descriptive and informative.

A descriptive abstract is typically shorter, around 100-200 words, focusing on introducing the paper’s background, purpose, and objectives while omitting detailed results and methods.

On the other hand, informative abstracts are more comprehensive, ranging from a paragraph to a full page. They encapsulate every aspect of your study, including results, acting as a condensed version of your paper.

Informative abstracts are more common, especially in scientific and technical fields, while descriptive abstracts are often seen in humanities and social sciences.

To determine the right type for your abstract, refer to journal submission guidelines and read examples in your field.

Elements of an Abstract

A well-crafted abstract should contain the following elements:

Context and Importance: Start by clearly stating the research problem or question and explaining why it matters. What gap in knowledge does your research aim to address?

Research Methodology: Briefly describe the approach you used for your research, whether it was a literature review, an experiment, a survey, or another method. This helps readers understand how you conducted your study.

Key Findings: Highlight the most significant results or conclusions from your research. What new insights did you discover? What implications do these findings have for the broader field?

Implications and Applications: Discuss the implications of your findings. How do they contribute to existing knowledge? What real-world applications or recommendations can be drawn from your research?

Keywords: Include relevant keywords that will help other researchers find your paper in databases and search engines.

An Example of a Research Paper Abstract

Title: Social Media’s Effect on Mental Health

This research paper explores the relationship between social media use and its effects on mental health. Through a thorough review of existing literature and quantitative analysis of survey data from a diverse group of participants, this study aims to provide a detailed understanding of how social media influences psychological well-being.

The literature review synthesizes various theoretical frameworks that explain how social media can affect mental health, including social comparison, fear of missing out (FOMO), cyberbullying, and the development of unrealistic self-perceptions. Additionally, the review examines protective factors such as social support and positive online experiences that may mitigate the negative impacts of social media.

To empirically investigate this relationship, a structured survey was conducted among participants from different age groups and social media platforms, ensuring a representative sample.

Writing an Abstract

Writing a concise yet comprehensive abstract is crucial for effectively communicating the key aspects of your research. It is recommended to draft the abstract after completing your paper, as this allows for a more accurate distillation of the most important points and findings. Aim for clarity, coherence, and an engaging narrative that captures the interest of readers and encourages them to explore your work further.

The abstract serves as the first impression of your paper, offering a glimpse into the intellectual journey you have undertaken. Mastering the art of abstract writing enables you to effectively convey the significance and impact of your research to the broader academic community.

Guidelines and Requirements for Research Abstract

When crafting a research abstract, it’s crucial to adhere closely to the guidelines outlined in your target journal’s Guide for Authors. This level of attention to detail extends to submissions for conferences and academic assignments.

Publishers often have specific formatting and structural requirements. Here are key questions typically addressed in journal guidelines:

• What are the word/character length limits?
• What style and formatting guidelines should be followed?
• Which type of abstract is appropriate?
• Are there specific rules for content and organization?

Following these guidelines ensures your abstract meets the criteria for submission, preventing it from being disregarded upon initial review.

10 Essential Tips for Writing an Effective Research Paper Abstract

Your research paper’s abstract is similar to an elevator pitch—it must be concise, informative, and captivating. Here are ten strategies to help you create an abstract that stands out:

• Understand its Purpose: Acknowledge that an abstract provides a condensed overview of your entire paper, introducing the research question, methodology, key findings, and significance.
• Begin Strong: Engage your reader immediately with a clear and succinct statement about the research problem you’re addressing.
• Methodology Matters: Briefly outline the research methods used to investigate the problem.
• Highlight Key Findings: Summarize your most significant results without delving into excessive detail.
• Emphasize Significance: Clearly articulate the contribution your research makes to existing knowledge in your field.
• Prioritize Clarity: Use straightforward language, avoiding jargon or overly technical terms that may be unfamiliar to a general scientific audience.
• Follow Structure Guidelines: Adhere to the recommended abstract structure in your field, typically involving background, research question, methodology, findings, and significance.
• Word Limits: Stay within the word count specified by the journal or conference, ensuring every word contributes meaningfully.
• Proofread and Edit: Present a polished abstract by thoroughly proofreading for typos and grammatical errors.
• Revise Thoroughly: Refine your abstract through multiple revisions until it effectively encapsulates the essence of your research.

Dos and Don’ts of Writing an Abstract for a Research Paper

Writing an abstract is crucial for clearly presenting your research. Following these guidelines, including an example abstract, understanding abstract components, and using tips for effective writing, can help you craft an informative and engaging abstract. A strong abstract acts as a gateway to your research, encouraging readers to explore your paper further.

After the Completion of Your First Draft Abstract

After drafting your abstract, it’s crucial to revise it thoroughly. Here are steps to enhance its quality:

• Revise for Errors: Check for grammatical and spelling mistakes and ensure proper formatting.
• Seek Feedback: Have a peer review your abstract to gauge its clarity and effectiveness in summarizing your research. Ask them to summarize your study independently to check if key points are communicated clearly.
• Consult Experts: Consider consulting with professors, writing center consultants, or specialists to gain different perspectives on your abstract.
• Professional Editing: For a polished final version, consider hiring an academic editor to fix grammatical, stylistic, and formatting errors. This step can significantly improve the readability and impact of your abstract.

Including headings can also enhance the organization and readability of your abstract.

Mastering the art of writing an abstract is essential for effectively communicating your research. By understanding the components of a strong abstract and following practical tips, you can create a concise and compelling summary of your work.

Remember to highlight the significance of your research, present your findings clearly, and adhere to the recommended structure. Avoid common pitfalls such as including excessive background information, citing references, or using unexplained abbreviations.

By following these guidelines and carefully proofreading your abstract, you can ensure that it serves as an inviting window into your research, encouraging readers to delve deeper into your paper.

Misbah Rashid, an expert in Technology Management, holds an MBA and an MS in Information Systems and Technology Management. She has experience teaching marketing and technology in business at the university level.

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How to Write an Abstract?

• Open Access
• First Online: 24 October 2021

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• Samiran Nundy 4 ,
• Atul Kakar 5 &
• Zulfiqar A. Bhutta 6  

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An abstract is a crisp, short, powerful, and self-contained summary of a research manuscript used to help the reader swiftly determine the paper’s purpose. Although the abstract is the first paragraph of the manuscript it should be written last when all the other sections have been addressed.

Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose. — Zora Neale Hurston, American Author, Anthropologist and Filmmaker (1891–1960)

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Writing the Abstract

Abstract and Keywords

Additional Commentaries

1 what is an abstract.

An abstract is usually a standalone document that informs the reader about the details of the manuscript to follow. It is like a trailer to a movie, if the trailer is good, it stimulates the audience to watch the movie. The abstract should be written from scratch and not ‘cut –and-pasted’ [ 1 ].

2 What is the History of the Abstract?

An abstract, in the form of a single paragraph, was first published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 1960 with the idea that the readers may not have enough time to go through the whole paper, and the first abstract with a defined structure was published in 1991 [ 2 ]. The idea sold and now most original articles and reviews are required to have a structured abstract. The abstract attracts the reader to read the full manuscript [ 3 ].

3 What are the Qualities of a Good Abstract?

The quality of information in an abstract can be summarized by four ‘C’s. It should be:

C: Condensed

C: Critical

4 What are the Types of Abstract?

Before writing the abstract, you need to check with the journal website about which type of abstract it requires, with its length and style in the ‘Instructions to Authors’ section.

The abstract types can be divided into:

Descriptive: Usually written for psychology, social science, and humanities papers. It is about 50–100 words long. No conclusions can be drawn from this abstract as it describes the major points in the paper.

Informative: The majority of abstracts for science-related manuscripts are informative and are surrogates for the research done. They are single paragraphs that provide the reader an overview of the research paper and are about 100–150 words in length. Conclusions can be drawn from the abstracts and in the recommendations written in the last line.

Critical: This type of abstract is lengthy and about 400–500 words. In this, the authors’ own research is discussed for reliability, judgement, and validation. A comparison is also made with similar studies done earlier.

Highlighting: This is rarely used in scientific writing. The style of the abstract is to attract more readers. It is not a balanced or complete overview of the article with which it is published.

Structured: A structured abstract contains information under subheadings like background, aims, material and methods, results, conclusion, and recommendations (Fig. 15.1 ). Most leading journals now carry these.

Example of a structured abstract (with permission editor CMRP)

5 What is the Purpose of an Abstract?

An abstract is written to educate the reader about the study that follows and provide an overview of the science behind it. If written well it also attracts more readers to the article. It also helps the article getting indexed. The fate of a paper both before and after publication often depends upon its abstract. Most readers decide if a paper is worth reading on the basis of the abstract. Additionally, the selection of papers in systematic reviews is often dependent upon the abstract.

6 What are the Steps of Writing an Abstract?

An abstract should be written last after all the other sections of an article have been addressed. A poor abstract may turn off the reader and they may cause indexing errors as well. The abstract should state the purpose of the study, the methodology used, and summarize the results and important conclusions. It is usually written in the IMRAD format and is called a structured abstract [ 4 , 5 ].

I: The introduction in the opening line should state the problem you are addressing.

M: Methodology—what method was chosen to finish the experiment?

R: Results—state the important findings of your study.

D: Discussion—discuss why your study is important.

Mention the following information:

Important results with the statistical information ( p values, confidence intervals, standard/mean deviation).

Arrange all information in a chronological order.

Do not repeat any information.

The last line should state the recommendations from your study.

The abstract should be written in the past tense.

7 What are the Things to Be Avoided While Writing an Abstract?

Cut and paste information from the main text

Hold back important information

Use abbreviations

Tables or Figures

Generalized statements

Arguments about the study

8 What are Key Words?

These are important words that are repeated throughout the manuscript and which help in the indexing of a paper. Depending upon the journal 3–10 key words may be required which are indexed with the help of MESH (Medical Subject Heading).

9 How is an Abstract Written for a Conference Different from a Journal Paper?

The basic concept for writing abstracts is the same. However, in a conference abstract occasionally a table or figure is allowed. A word limit is important in both of them. Many of the abstracts which are presented in conferences are never published in fact one study found that only 27% of the abstracts presented in conferences were published in the next five years [ 6 ].

Table 15.1 gives a template for writing an abstract.

10 What are the Important Recommendations of the International Committees of Medical Journal of Editors?

The recommendations are [ 7 ]:

An abstract is required for original articles, metanalysis, and systematic reviews.

A structured abstract is preferred.

The abstract should mention the purpose of the scientific study, how the procedure was carried out, the analysis used, and principal conclusion.

Clinical trials should be reported according to the CONSORT guidelines.

The trials should also mention the funding and the trial number.

The abstract should be accurate as many readers have access only to the abstract.

11 Conclusions

An Abstract should be written last after all the other sections of the manuscript have been completed and with due care and attention to the details.

It should be structured and written in the IMRAD format.

For many readers, the abstract attracts them to go through the complete content of the article.

The abstract is usually followed by key words that help to index the paper.

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Preparing a manuscript for submission to a medical journal. Available on http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/manuscript-preparation/preparing-for-submission.html . Accessed 10 May 2020.

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Samiran Nundy

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Institute for Global Health and Development, The Aga Khan University, South Central Asia, East Africa and United Kingdom, Karachi, Pakistan

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Nundy, S., Kakar, A., Bhutta, Z.A. (2022). How to Write an Abstract?. In: How to Practice Academic Medicine and Publish from Developing Countries?. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5248-6_15

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• Verb Tenses in Academic Writing | Rules, Differences & Examples

Verb Tenses in Academic Writing | Rules, Differences & Examples

Published on 20 October 2022 by Shane Bryson . Revised on 11 September 2023.

Tense communicates an event’s location in time. The different tenses are identified by their associated verb forms. There are three main verb tenses: past ,  present , and  future .

In English, each of these tenses can take four main aspects:  simple ,  perfect ,  continuous  (also known as  progressive ), and  perfect continuous . The perfect aspect is formed using the verb  to have , while the continuous aspect is formed using the verb  to be .

In academic writing , the most commonly used tenses are the  present simple , the  past simple , and the  present perfect .

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Table of contents

Tenses and their functions, when to use the present simple, when to use the past simple, when to use the present perfect, when to use other tenses.

The table below gives an overview of some of the basic functions of tenses and aspects. Tenses locate an event in time, while aspects communicate durations and relationships between events that happen at different times.

It can be difficult to pick the right verb tenses and use them consistently. If you struggle with verb tenses in your thesis or dissertation , you could consider using a thesis proofreading service .

The only proofreading tool specialized in correcting academic writing

The academic proofreading tool has been trained on 1000s of academic texts and by native English editors. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students.

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The present simple is the most commonly used tense in academic writing, so if in doubt, this should be your default choice of tense. There are two main situations where you always need to use the present tense.

Describing facts, generalisations, and explanations

Facts that are always true do not need to be located in a specific time, so they are stated in the present simple. You might state these types of facts when giving background information in your introduction .

• The Eiffel tower  is in Paris.
• Light  travels faster than sound.

Similarly, theories and generalisations based on facts are expressed in the present simple.

• Average income differs by race and gender.
• Older people express less concern about the environment than younger people.

Explanations of terms, theories, and ideas should also be written in the present simple.

• Photosynthesis  refers to  the process by which plants  convert sunlight into chemical energy.
• According to Piketty (2013), inequality grows over time in capitalist economies.

Describing the content of a text

Things that happen within the space of a text should be treated similarly to facts and generalisations.

This applies to fictional narratives in books, films, plays, etc. Use the present simple to describe the events or actions that are your main focus; other tenses can be used to mark different times within the text itself.

• In the first novel, Harry learns he is a wizard and travels  to Hogwarts for the first time, finally escaping the constraints of the family that raised him.

The events in the first part of the sentence are the writer’s main focus, so they are described in the present tense. The second part uses the past tense to add extra information about something that happened prior to those events within the book.

When discussing and analyzing nonfiction, similarly, use the present simple to describe what the author does within the pages of the text ( argues , explains , demonstrates , etc).

• In The History of Sexuality , Foucault asserts that sexual identity is a modern invention.
• Paglia (1993) critiques Foucault’s theory.

This rule also applies when you are describing what you do in your own text. When summarising the research in your abstract , describing your objectives, or giving an overview of the  dissertation structure in your introduction, the present simple is the best choice of tense.

• This research  aims to synthesise the two theories.
• Chapter 3 explains  the methodology and discusses ethical issues.
• The paper  concludes with recommendations for further research.

The past simple should be used to describe completed actions and events, including steps in the research process and historical background information.

Reporting research steps

Whether you are referring to your own research or someone else’s, use the past simple to report specific steps in the research process that have been completed.

• Olden (2017) recruited 17 participants for the study.
• We transcribed and coded the interviews before analyzing the results.

The past simple is also the most appropriate choice for reporting the results of your research.

• All of the focus group participants agreed  that the new version  was an improvement.
• We  found a positive correlation between the variables, but it  was not as strong as we  hypothesised .

Describing historical events

Background information about events that took place in the past should also be described in the past simple tense.

• James Joyce  pioneered the modernist use of stream of consciousness.
• Donald Trump’s election in 2016  contradicted the predictions of commentators.

The present perfect is used mainly to describe past research that took place over an unspecified time period. You can also use it to create a connection between the findings of past research and your own work.

Summarising previous work

When summarising a whole body of research or describing the history of an ongoing debate, use the present perfect.

• Many researchers  have investigated the effects of poverty on health.
• Studies  have shown a link between cancer and red meat consumption.
• Identity politics has been a topic of heated debate since the 1960s.
• The problem of free will  has vexed philosophers for centuries.

Similarly, when mentioning research that took place over an unspecified time period in the past (as opposed to a specific step or outcome of that research), use the present perfect instead of the past tense.

• Green et al.  have conducted extensive research on the ecological effects of wolf reintroduction.

Emphasising the present relevance of previous work

When describing the outcomes of past research with verbs like fi nd ,  discover or demonstrate , you can use either the past simple or the present perfect.

The present perfect is a good choice to emphasise the continuing relevance of a piece of research and its consequences for your own work. It implies that the current research will build on, follow from, or respond to what previous researchers have done.

• Smith (2015) has found that younger drivers are involved in more traffic accidents than older drivers, but more research is required to make effective policy recommendations.
• As Monbiot (2013)  has shown , ecological change is closely linked to social and political processes.

Note, however, that the facts and generalisations that emerge from past research are reported in the present simple.

While the above are the most commonly used tenses in academic writing, there are many cases where you’ll use other tenses to make distinctions between times.

Future simple

The future simple is used for making predictions or stating intentions. You can use it in a research proposal  to describe what you intend to do.

It is also sometimes used for making predictions and stating hypotheses . Take care, though, to avoid making statements about the future that imply a high level of certainty. It’s often a better choice to use other verbs like  expect ,  predict,  and  assume to make more cautious statements.

• There  will be a strong positive correlation.
• We  expect  to find a strong positive correlation.
• H1  predicts a strong positive correlation.

Similarly, when discussing the future implications of your research, rather than making statements with will,  try to use other verbs or modal verbs that imply possibility ( can ,  could ,  may ,  might ).

• These findings  will influence  future approaches to the topic.
• These findings  could influence future approaches to the topic.

Present, past, and future continuous

The continuous aspect is not commonly used in academic writing. It tends to convey an informal tone, and in most cases, the present simple or present perfect is a better choice.

• Some scholars are suggesting that mainstream economic paradigms are no longer adequate.
• Some scholars suggest   that mainstream economic paradigms are no longer adequate.
• Some scholars have suggested   that mainstream economic paradigms are no longer adequate.

However, in certain types of academic writing, such as literary and historical studies, the continuous aspect might be used in narrative descriptions or accounts of past events. It is often useful for positioning events in relation to one another.

• While Harry is traveling to Hogwarts for the first time, he meets many of the characters who will become central to the narrative.
• The country was still recovering from the recession when Donald Trump was elected.

Past perfect

Similarly, the past perfect is not commonly used, except in disciplines that require making fine distinctions between different points in the past or different points in a narrative’s plot.

Sources for this article

We strongly encourage students to use sources in their work. You can cite our article (APA Style) or take a deep dive into the articles below.

Bryson, S. (2023, September 11). Verb Tenses in Academic Writing | Rules, Differences & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 21 May 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/english-language/verb-tenses/

Aarts, B. (2011).  Oxford modern English grammar . Oxford University Press.

Butterfield, J. (Ed.). (2015).  Fowler’s dictionary of modern English usage  (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Garner, B. A. (2016).  Garner’s modern English usage (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.

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Shane finished his master's degree in English literature in 2013 and has been working as a writing tutor and editor since 2009. He began proofreading and editing essays with Scribbr in early summer, 2014.

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Writing an abstract

You may be asked to write an abstract for a piece of work that you do. Although it is usually brief (typically 150-300 words), an abstract provides an important overview which helps your reader to understand your work. 

Whereas the purpose of an introduction is to broadly introduce your topic and your key message, the purpose of an abstract is to give an overview of your entire project, in particular its findings and contribution to the field. An abstract should be a standalone summary of your paper.

Typically, an abstract includes the following.

• A brief introduction to the topic that you're investigating.
• Explanation of why the topic is important in your field/s.
• Statement about the problem or research gap that you are addressing.
• Your research question/s or aim/s.
• An indication of your research methods and approach.
• Your key message.
• A summary of your key findings.
• An explanation of why your findings and key message contribute to the field/s.

In other words, an abstract includes points covering these questions.

• What is your paper about?
• Why is it important?
• How did you do it?
• What did you find?
• Why are your findings important?

To see the specific conventions in your field/s, have a look at the structure of a variety of abstracts from relevant journal articles. Do they include the same kinds of information as listed above? What structure do they follow? You can model your own abstract on these conventions.

Other assessments

Writing a creative piece

Writing a critical review

Writing a policy brief

Writing an annotated bibliography

Writing in Law

Writing in Psychology

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Can You Write a Memoir In The Present Tense?

It’s quite unusual to find a memoir written in the present tense. When we think of a memoir, we know it’s a story about the past and should, therefore, be written in the past tense.

However, that’s not always the case because there is no hard and fast rule that says authors can’t choose between present and past tense for any story.

I’m sure that many authors and writers have a tendency to instinctively use past tense in most forms of fiction. But for non-fiction, like self-help and advice, the present tense is often the most logical choice.

But memoirs in the present? Is it possible?

Turning I was into I am

Memoirs almost always use the first-person point of view, which is natural.

But changing the tense from past to present is not typical at all.

If you have never considered this, it’s an option that can open the way to a more engaging story because it lets your readers experience events as they happen.

Past tense creates a distance between a reader and a story. But the present tense can bring things much closer or more vividly to a reader’s mind.

In simple terms, all you need to do is change from the mindset of I was to I am.

I was very anxious about attending my first day in high school in 1967.

It’s 1967, and I’m anxious about attending my first day in high school.

When you start with a simple present sentence like this, you will naturally follow on with what you feel, think, and say instead of what you felt, thought, or said.

The major benefit is the immediacy. The story is happening now, even though it’s about a past event in your life.

However, it’s not the easiest writing style because it comes with challenges, even for an experienced writer.

Writing in the present

Choosing to write a memoir in the present tense doesn’t mean you won’t use past tenses in your story.

But deciding when to use the past is not always easy.

If you are writing about an event in your life that happened a few years ago, the present can work quite well.

But if you want to flashback from that point in your story to your childhood, the only way to do it is with past tenses.

Trying to stay in the present would be jarring and unnatural.

There is also the challenge of weaving your current perspectives with the experiences you cover in your story.

However, using the present consistently is the key to writing a memoir in this style.

But this requires a bit of imagination and good writing skills to pick and choose when and how to use other tenses .

Okay, so it’s not easy, but there are benefits.

The main upsides to writing in the present are immediacy and emotional connection.

Using the present tense creates a sense of now, placing the reader directly in the moment with you.

Another benefit is that you will likely use more active voice than passive voice , which is more dynamic.

These elements can strengthen the emotional impact of your experiences.

The choice of tense is up to you. I certainly wouldn’t suggest that present is better than using past tense. It’s only that it’s a possibility you may not have considered.

Examples of present tense memoirs

The best way to grasp this writing style is by reading memoirs that use the present tense.

But to give you some clues, here are short extracts from two well-known memoirs.

An extract from The Accidental Buddhist by Dinty W. Moore

ZEN MOUNTAIN MONASTERY is an impressive stone structure tucked neatly onto the side of Tremper Mountain, in the Catskills, in eastern New York State.

I arrive there with a fair degree of trepidation on a Friday evening and am directed to a second-floor dorm room. There are eight bunk beds and a sink crammed into the small area. When I stumble in, Harold, a sixty-something attorney with a neatly trimmed white beard, has already marked out his territory by spreading his expensive luggage in a wide circle.

He introduces himself amicably enough, but only as an excuse, it seems, to make it clear to me within seconds that he knows more about Zen, Buddhism, and meditation than anyone, other than perhaps the Buddha himself. He mentions the many zendos where he has studied, the Zen koans (riddles, more or less) he has contemplated, the teachers he has spoken with, and throws around an impressive array of foreign-sounding words.

I am stuck listening to the boasting because Harold has blocked my way to where I hope to make my bunk, and because Wayne, the only other roommate to have arrived at this point, has wisely retreated to his bed, where he quietly reads a book.

An extract from Forces of Nature by Gina DeMillo Wagner

I rest my head against the seat in front of me and do my best to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. I tell myself the texts might mean nothing. I try to imagine other reasons my father needs to reach me so urgently, but I can’t. I clutch my thighs to stop them from trembling. I wait, breathing in and out until people clear the aisle. When they do, I grab my bag and run for the door.

The terminal isn’t better. Swarms of travelers consume every available space with backpacks and roller bags. I look for a pocket of quiet, any open place to sit down and return my dad’s call out of earshot, but there isn’t a vacant seat anywhere.

And so, I stand there in the middle of the concourse, people rushing around me. I focus my gaze on a vertical window on a far wall, where sunlight is coming in, creating stripes on the stone floor. I stare at the light, and I dial my father, and I listen to him tell me what I already know: My brother is dead.

My mind somersaults. For as much as I imagined this happening – since I was five, I’ve imagined my brother dying – I am shocked and unprepared. “How? I don’t understand,” I whisper into the phone.

Both of these examples highlight how using the present tense in a memoir can be very effective in relating to events in the past.

Yes, memoirs are usually written in the past tense. The same goes for most fiction.

But that doesn’t mean it’s the only way to tell your story.

Using the present tense for a memoir can bring an extra layer of reality and presence.

It’s also a great style for detective stories, which in some ways are similar to memoirs.

However, it’s not the easiest style to master. It takes quite a bit of practice to start feeling comfortable with it.

If this is a new idea and approach for you, why not give it a try? Experiment with what you can do when writing a story in the present tense.

Related Reading: Memoir Or Autobiography? How To Choose The Right Genre

About The Author

Derek Haines

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2 thoughts on “can you write a memoir in the present tense”.

Thanks, Derek, for featuring my book.

My pleasure!

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