Abstract.
The abstract is a brief summary of the contents of a journal article.
Abstracts for research studies include the context of the study, purpose, procedures, and key
results. Different journals have different word limits for the abstract. Abstracts for other types of articles should clearly communicate a few major points about the concepts, principles, or variables in the article.
Some professors require students to include an abstract with their papers. Guidelines for writing abstracts can be found in the APA Style Manual.
Word limits can range from 120 to 250.
After the title, the abstract is the key to element of an article to help researchers decide on reading an article or not. The best abstracts draw attention to a few major concepts, principles, or variables covered in the article.