HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT

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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT
AMA ROHATINER ELISABETH HESELTINE
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(UK) AT ST.BARTHOLOMEWS HOSPITAL, LONDON
Founded in 1123 AD for the poor sick of London
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Medical Oncology Unit - St. Bartholomews
Hospital, London
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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT FOR A SCIENTIFIC MEETING
NEEDS TO BE A DESCRIPTION OF A
WELL-DEFINED LAB/CLINICAL PROJECT MUST CONTAIN
DATA
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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT

• ABSTRACT FOR A SCIENTIFIC MEETING

SHOULD NOT BE PHILOSOPHICAL STATEMENT DESCRIPTION
OF A PROPOSAL PROJECT CONCLUSIONS, BUT NO
DATA CASE REPORT
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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT

• BEFORE YOU BEGIN

• MAKE SURE YOUR SUBJECT IS
  APPROPRIATE!
• 2) BE SURE THAT DATA NOT PRELIMINARY, eg
  FOLLOW-UP LONG ENOUGH

TOO
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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT
AT THE TOP

• AUTHORS
• ADDRESS/SEVERAL ADDRESSES
• WHO WORKS WHERE - USE 1,2,3

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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT

• SECTIONS

INTRODUCTION - BACKGROUND - AIM
METHODS/PATIENTS AND METHODS RESULTS ( p
VALUES IF APPROPRIATE) CONCLUSION
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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT
PROBLEM NEVER ENOUGH SPACE USE ABBREVIATIONS
(BUT DEFINE THEM, ONCE) INCLUDE
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION IN BRACKETS
INCLUDE TABLE (IF APPROPRIATE) GIVE
RESULTS FOR GROUPS A, B, AND C
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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT

• BEFORE SENDING IT

• ENSURE THAT THE RELEVANT PEOPLE ARE INCLUDED AS
  AUTHORS
• 2) MAKE SURE THAT EVERY AUTHOR HAS SEEN IT!

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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT

• RESPECT THE DEADLINE

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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT
TITLE
PROGRESS IN THE PROGNOSIS OF ADULT HODGKIN
LYMPHOMA IN THE LAST 35 YEARS - CLINICAL TRIALS
IN ARGENTINA. THE GATLA EXPERIENCE.
AUTHORS
S. Pavlovsky, F. Lastiri, and members of GATLA.
FUNDALEU, Centro de Internación e Investigación
Clínica Angélica Ocampo (SP) Instituto de
Investigaciones Hematológicas Mariano R.
Castex (FL) GATLA Operation Office, Buenos
Aires, Argentina
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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACTexample 1
INTRODUCTION
TO EVALUATE THE IMPROVEMENT IN COMPLETE REMISSION
(CR) RATE, EVENT-FREE SURVIVAL (EFS) AND
OVERALL SURVIVAL (OS) DURING 35 YEARS OF
GATLA PROTOCOLS (1968-2003), IN 1293 ADULTS WITH
HODGKIN LYMPHOMA (HL)
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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACTexample 2
INTRODUCTION
PARTIAL BREAST RECONSTRUCTION IS A FEASIBLE
OPTION IN WOMEN WITH LARGE OPERABLE PRIMARY
TUMORS. FOLLOWING ENCOURAGING RESULTS IN
OPERABLE BREAST CANCER, BREAST CONSERVATION,
WITH OR WITHOUT PARTIAL BREAST RECONSTRUCTION
IS ALSO GAINING POPULARITY IN LOCALLY ADVANCED
BREAST CANCER, AFTER DOWNSIZING WITH NEO-
ADJUVANT CHEMOTHERAPY.
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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION ctd.
THE SHORT- TERM RESULTS OF AUTOLOGOUS BREAST
RECONSTRUCTION, USING A LATISSIMUS DORSI FLAP
(LD) IN WOMEN WITH OBC AND LABC PERFORMED AT
THE BREAST UNIT AT TATA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL ARE
PRESENTED BELOW LONG-TERM RESULTS AND IMPACT
ON OVERALL OUTCOME ARE STILL TO BE EVALUATED
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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT
METHODS
SIXTY WOMEN WITH INFILTRATING DUCT CARCINOMA
UNDERWENT BREAST RECONSTRUCTION BETWEEN1999 AND
2003 67 WERE OPERABLE (OBC) AT PRESENTATION
AND 33 HAD LOCALLY ADVANCED DISEASE (LABC).
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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT
METHODS ctd.
WOMEN WITH LABC AND LARGE OBC RECEIVED NEO-ADJUVAN
T CT (67.2). ALL PATIENTS RECEIVED ADJUVANT
RADIOTHERAPY AFTER COMPLETING CHEMOTHERAPY.
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HOW TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT
CONCLUSION
AUTOLOGOUS BREAST RECONSTRUCTION WITH LD AND
LOCAL BREAST FLAPS IS A VERY COST-EFFECTIVE AND
QUICK PROCEDURE, WITH MINIMAL MORBIDITY, IDEAL
FOR A DEVELOPING COUNTRY.
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PRESENTING AN ABSTRACT

• PRACTICE SAYING IT IN FRONT OF PEOPLE
• TIME IT AND AMEND ACCORDINGLY
• DO NOT GO OVER TIME
• ALLOW TIME FOR QUESTIONS

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PRESENTING AN ABSTRACTPOWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS
CONTENT MORE IMPORTANT THAN COLOURS AND ANIMATION
etc. but FORMAT DOES MATTER
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PRESENTING AN ABSTRACTREMEMBER
DO NOT PUT TOO MUCH DATA/TOO MANY WORDS ON 1
IMAGE DO NOT REPLACE YOURSELF BY A POWERPOINT
PROJECTION!
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PRESENTING AN ABSTRACT

• KEEP FORMAT SAME THROUGHOUT
• USE SAME SECTION HEADINGS AS IN ABSTRACT
• USE WORDS THAT EVERYONE CAN UNDERSTAND
• EXPLAIN JARGON

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PRESENTING AN ABSTRACT

• ON THE DAY

CHECK PRESENTATION CHECK ROOM AND HOW EQUIPMENT
WORKS
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PRESENTING AN ABSTRACT
DONT FORGET TO ACKNOWLEDGE PEOPLES HELP - IF
THEY ARENT ALREADY ON THE AUTHOR LIST e.g.
where the funding for the study came from
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PRESENTING AN ABSTRACT

• AND FINALLY BE CONFIDENT!
• (but not over confident)

YOU PROBABLY KNOW MORE ABOUT THE SUBJECT
THAN THE AUDIENCE DOES! YOU CERTAINLY KNOW MORE
ABOUT THE DATA THAN THE AUDIENCE IF ASKED A
QUESTION AND YOU CANT ANSWER IT, SAY YOU DONT
KNOW
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PRESENTING AN ABSTRACTREMEMBER
DO NOT PUT TOO MUCH DATA/TOO MANY WORDS ON 1
IMAGE DO NOT REPLACE YOURSELF BY A POWERPOINT
PROJECTION!
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MAKING A POSTER

• EVEN MORE IMPORTANT TO HAVE IT IN SECTIONS

INTRODUCTION - BACKGROUND - AIM
METHODS/PATIENTS AND METHODS RESULTS ( p
VALUES IF APPROPRIATE) CONCLUSION
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PRESENTING A POSTERREMEMBER
DO NOT PUT TOO MUCH DATA/TOO MANY WORDS IN EACH
SECTION USE SOME DIAGRAMS/FLOW CHARTS IF
POSSIBLE TO EXPLAIN A METHODOLOGY USE
GRAPHS/SURVIVAL CURVES AS WELL AS TEXT
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PRESENTING A POSTERREMEMBER

SHOW A DRAFT VERSION TO A FRIEND SHOW A DRAFT
VERSION TO A SENIOR COLLEAGUE SHOW A DRAFT
VERSION TO THE SENIOR/LAST AUTHOR BEFORE YOU HAVE
IT MADE/MAKE IT