How to write a good abstract for a biomedical paper

Abstract

Although a relatively short text, the abstract of a paper summarizes the most important issues raised in the main text. The abstract is, at least initially, the key text on which journal editors, reviewers and eventually readers form their initial judgement on the overall quality of the full manuscript. Therefore, it is essential to execute this step of the writing process well. In this article, we discuss the purpose of an abstract, why it is important, and how to write a good abstract. Increasingly, journal abstracts are structured to follow the IMRAD format (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion). We provide examples of well written and badly written abstracts, with explanatory notes, to help readers understand the key points that need to be addressed and mistakes that should be avoided. Since international abstracts are generally written in English, preparing an abstract can be especially challenging for researchers who are not native speakers of English. We close this article with general linguistic advice, paying particular attention to key terms and word choice than can meaningfully express an author’s intention in a concise way. The points raised in this article will help authors improve their scientific writing and enable their findings to be expressed with clarity.