Writing an Abstract

1
Writing an Abstract

• Damascus, 29 February 2004
• Milly Grillone
• International Junior Consultant

2
Whats an Abstract

• An abstract is a condensed version of a longer
  piece of writing
• It conveys the essential information of a paper,
  article, document, book
• It presents the content and scope of a paper

3
Where do I start from?

• Key words
• An abstract must contain key words about what
  is essential in a report so that someone else can
  retrieve information from it.

4
How do I write an Abstract?

• You convey the essence of a whole paper into
  a single paragraph containing as much new
  information as possible.
• 1.Highlight the objective and conclusions
• 2.Identify keyword information
• 3.Compile the above highlighted into a single
  paragraph by condensing information

5
Style

• Concise and Clear
• Non-repetitive
• The abstracts wording should be very direct
• The----(title)-------presents

6
Steps

• Read the paper with the goal of abstracting in
  mind (use the headings and table of contents as a
  guide)
• Write a draft (dont merely copy sentences from
  the paper) summarize information in a new way!!
• Revise

7
Content Revision

• Revise your rough draft to
• Correct weaknesses in organization
• Drop unnecessary information
• Add important information you left out

8
Grammatical Revision

• Delete extra words and phrases
• Rephrase the first sentence (This study.)
• Fix errors (grammar, spelling, punctuation)
• Improve transitions from point to point

Syrias major exports are directed towards the
EU. And Syria is signing an agreement with the
EU.()
9
Print your final copy and read it again to catch
any oversights
10
A Sample Abstract (1)

• Syrian Agricultural Trade 2003 illustrates the
  evolution of world and Syrian trade in line with
  the increasing economic and social
  interdependency among countries brought about by
  global market liberalization.
• It intends to be a source of information and a
  tool for decision makers to consolidate Syrias
  internal reform process, increase its outward
  orientation, build up a network of bilateral and
  multilateral agreements, promote trade
  liberalization and, thus, accelerate the
  countrys economic development

11
A Sample Abstract (2)

• The first two chapters focus on general and
  agricultural world trade and related policies,
  hinting at the experience of the EU and the USA.
  The third chapter analyzes Syrian agro-food trade
  trends in the light of three main key dimensions
  time, space and product. It also identifies the
  countrys new agricultural trade partners and
  traces a classification of the most suitable
  products for export. The report also provides
  variables and indicators allowing to asses the
  adaptation of Syrian products to world demand
  changes and to measure the degree of exports
  diversification. The fourth chapter reviews
  recent changes in institutions and policies as
  well as negotiation and implementation of
  preferential agreements of relevance for
  agricultural trade.
• A special chapter is devoted to the description
  of the rules governing the accession process to
  the WTO. This information is meant to provide
  technical background to Syrias request of
  adhesion to the organization and to be functional
  to a further progression of the countrys
  integration into the global trading system.