Informative Abstract

The example below illustrates an informative abstract, which is most often 
intended for an expert audience. Therefore, their authors can use the 
technical language of the field freely. Like most informative abstracts, 
the example summarizes three major elements of the full report:     

o The objectives of the research or the report
o The methodology used in the research
o The findings of the report to include the results, conclusions
and recommendations.

Most professional journals or societies publish stylebooks that include 
specifications about how to write an abstract. Many journals, because of 
high publication costs, will set arbitrary limits of under 200 words for 
abstracts. 

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 ABSTRACT

This study investigated the role of "signaling" in helping good readers 
comprehend expository text. As the existing literature on signaling, 
reviewed in the last issue of the Journal, pointed to deficiencies in 
previous studies' methodologies, one goal of this study was to refine 
prose research methods. Two passages were designed in one of eight 
signaled versions each. The design was constructed to assess the 
individual and combined effect of headings, previews, and logical 
connectives. The study also assessed the effect of passage length, 
familiarity and difficulty. The results showed that signals do improve a 
reader's comprehension, particularly comprehension two weeks after the 
reading of a passage and comprehension of subordinate and superordinate 
inferential information. This study supports the hypothesis that signals 
can influence retention of text-based information, particularly with long, 
unfamiliar, or difficult passages.
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Never use "I" statements in an abstract. Report your information 
impersonally, as though it were written by someone else. This is not an 
arbitrary principle. If you were to publish your report, your abstract 
would likely be reprinted in an abstracting journal where the use of "I" 
would be inappropriate. Also, many companies, in the interest of good 
intracompany communication, publish the abstracts of all company research 
reports. The restriction on the use of "I" makes the use of passive voice 
common in abstracts. Because your full report contains complete 
documentation, you need not footnote or otherwise document the information 
in abstracts.

		Ref. Houp & Pearsall, Reporting Technical Information, 7th 
		edition, Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992