Writing Abstracts

EBNP Fellowship Program

Workshop 11

What is an Abstract?

Why take the time to write a good abstract?

Does the title indicate what people participated?• Research methods textbooks suggest

that authors should name the population in titles.

• The use of Ethics in Health Care Decisions.

Better Titles• The Relationship Between Ethical

Principles and Health Care Provider Decisions among Family Nurse Practitioners.

• The Extent to which Ethical Principles form the Basis of Health Care Policy Decisions for Tennessee State Legislators.

Is the title free of jargon and acronyms?• Professionals in all fields use jargon or

acronyms.• Unless the researchers are writing

exclusively for peers, use of jargon or acronyms is inappropriate.

• ACOA, ICD, ECT, PUD,

Types of Abstracts• Research

• Literature review

• Evaluation of a project

Major Components of Project Evaluation Abstracts

• Background – what problem prompted the project?– Why is this an important problem?– 1 sentence

• Objective(s) of project

Major Components (cont’d)• Description of implementation

– what was done– who was involved– type of patient care area– how was it evaluated

• Evaluation– how well were the objective(s) met

Major Components (cont’d)

• Conclusions

• Implications– for practice– for future implementation

Call for Abstracts• Space, page or word limitation

– typically 1 page or less

• Criteria for evaluation

• Requirements for previous presentation

• Deadline for submission

Submitting an Abstract• Title• Author(s) & credentials• Institution• City & state• Body of Abstract

Blinded & Unblinded Copies• Blinded Copy

– contain title of abstract & body of abstract

– used for blind (anonymous) review

• Unblinded Copy– contains title, author(s), affiliation, &

body of abstract

Areas to Avoid with Abstracts• Too much introductory material• Too much jargon• Not using complete sentences (ex.

To ascertain how they tracked time for their pain relief.)