Secrets and the key to writing a great abstract
Channel: Scientific Communication
Date: 20/02/2023

Discover the secrets of writing an great scientific abstract in this recording of an interactive workshop for the Ecological Society of America. 

The best abstracts start with a description of the background of your research, followed by a statement of the problem you address, your materials and results (abbreviated) and end with the significance of your work.

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Index
Welcome 0:09
Introduction 0:35
The structure of a good abstract 1:18
Summary of abstract structure 3:26
What part of the abstract is most commonly missing from student abstracts? 4:49
First example, from Nature Climate Change 7:09
Problem statement often start with "but" 7:34
The materials and results section can be non-technical 8:33
Second example, from Nature Plants - a near perfect abstract! 10:22
Using your conclusions to write a good title 11:04
Do not worry about the length of your abstract - there is no abstract police! 11:37
If you can't explain it simply, you do not understand it well enough 12:10
Participant analysis of an abstract from Science 13:26
The last sentence - the difference between results and significance 14:23
Participant analysis of an abstract from Nature 16:30
How having a good problem statement helps you write your concluding statement 17:00
Discussion of the hierarchy of problem statements 18:17
Participant analysis of a second abstract from Nature 20:00
More comments about the relation between the problem and concluding statements 21:43
Nature provides great, if technical, advise on how to write an abstract 22:36
Participant analysis of a student abstract from a past conference 22:52
An example of material and results that are too detailed 23:29
Taking your audience into account 24:52
An example of a concluding sentence that summarizes the results 26:13
Participant analysis of another student abstract from a past conference 28:00
The layering of methods and results one after the other, and where this is most appropriate 30:07
Review of the best abstract structure 32:38

#scicomm #graduatestudent #graduatestudies #sciencecommunication #communicationskills #science
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