Your abstract should be one paragraph long and double-spaced. The length of your abstract should be between 150 and 250 words. All papers should, in general, begin with an introduction that includes a thesis statement (see handout on a good or bad thesis). This allows the reader to know what will be discussed in the paper and why it is important. Within this body, there are two main parts: the summary section and the discussion section. The summary section is required by most journals (except special issue papers) and should summarize the work done in the paper. This section should not exceed 300 words. The discussion section is optional but helps to cover more ground and can include original thoughts about the topic covered by the paper. This section should not exceed 500 words. In conclusion, abstracts are short introductions to research papers that allow readers to understand the key ideas while also providing information on which to base a request for the full paper.