How to Write an APA style Abstract

Grade 9 EnglishInformation taken from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/37/

What is an abstract?An abstract is a short summary of your research paper. It is usually placed at the beginning.It explains to a reader what you were trying to find in your research and what you concluded after researching and writing.Note: The word “abstract” is a noun in this case. It is also commonly used as an adjective as in: Rothko is an abstract painter.

What information should I include in my

abstract?Research questionThesis statementSummary of main points Keywords

What NOT to include in an abstract:

QuotesTables or chartsThe word “I”More than 1 paragraph – your abstract should not exceed 250 wordsInternal citationsBad jokes

Write your abstract AFTER you write your paperMake your abstract the second page of your research paper, following the title pageHint: Imagine you are describing your paper to your history teacher and you only have one minute to talk about it.

How can I write my abstract?

Use 12 pt. Times New Roman font and double-space and set margins for one inch all aroundInclude the running header and page number. Center the word Abstract at the top of the page. Do not indent for your paragraph, but DO indent at bottom for your keywords

How should I format my abstract?

What was that about keywords?

• After your last line in your abstract, press return to go to the next row, and then indent 1 tab.

• Type Keywords: (in italics with a colon)

• Include keywords that are particular to your topic (think of your web search terms)

• Italicize the word Keywords, but not the words themselves.

Model Abstract from OWL

Celebrate!Ta-da! You’re a published research scholar!