A few notes on abstract writing*

by Markus Hesse and Gerald Taylor Aiken.

* This note benefited greatly from a recent discussion of our thoughts on academic writing in general, and abstract writing in particular, on a Geography-seminar in the context of IPSE’s doctoral school at the UL.



Conference presentations (aka ‘papers’) are something that researchers are used to prepare not only because this is the standard occasion for letting others know about what you are doing, but also because conferences and workshops offer a setting for developing new ways for your research. Presenting your thoughts against an informed audience gives you important inspiration for your own work, which can be strategically relevant.

The value of conference participation is that, first, most audiences will respond to your work by making remarks, comments and critique. This is a great opportunity: regardless of whether the feedback is positive or critical, it always brings you forward. Don’t worry about criticism; just learn to accept the argument. Second, responding to calls-for-papers and wisely planned conference participation offers particular opportunities for strategically developing your research portfolio. Thus new topics can be ‘tested’ by presenting and discussing them at conferences or workshops, in advance of preparing a proposal or writing a paper based on these thoughts. Third, getting in touch with other people who do similar or comparable things is always enriching yourself; the same can be the case with those people who may do completely different things -- listening and talking to them can be equally inspiring.

In many cases, the hurdle that needs to be taken before planning for a conference is submitting an abstract that will be accepted by the organisers, based on a more or less strict selection process. In only in few cases, such as the AAG-conference in the U.S., is everything that is submitted accepted into the conference programme. So it is worth spending some time  creating this short piece of work that often marks the starting point of what is becoming an interesting conference topic or a full academic paper afterwards.

Based on our discussion in the Geography and Spatial Planning Institute’s PhD Seminar, and in addition to the general sources on academic writing which we refer to (see a couple of sources below), we are presenting here a few practical points that may help everybody who is preparing for a conference or workshop. In this context, we particularly distinguish two different steps: first, the reflection of the subject matter and the preparation of a topic, and, second, the abstract-writing process as such. In many instances, it will also be useful to make notes on the remarks that were made in response to your input.

1) Reflection

- Does my topic fit with the organisers’ aims, the conference themes, or the call for paper/session contributions?

- Does the topic fit with my own research/publication strategy?

- What do I have to offer: existing material that reports on projects, research or reflections I did so far, or will new material be presented that challenges my own creativity or productivity?

- In any case, particularly when opting for presenting new thoughts, do I have sufficient capacity to get it done before the conference/deadline?

2) Writing

The abstract is an important part of your envisaged or existing work and functions as a sort of business card. Hence it is highly important and should not be underestimated. There are a few common rules available for successful abstract writing, and authors such as Dunlevey (2003, 203ff.) or Kitchin & Fuller (2005, 128ff.) emphasise these explicitly. Based on these suggestions and also on our own experience, convincing abstracts may consist of the following elements:

- an appealing title that should be both as telling and as short as possible,

- a clear structure, ideally consisting of 5-6 sentences that conform to the word limit for conference abstracts (e.g. 250 words at AAG- or IBG-conferences),

- the first sentence, most importantly, is the readers’ eye-catcher, making a statement on the subject matter or on your particular hypothesis,

- the second sentence refers to the given state of knowledge in this area,

- the third sentence claims for missing links or blind spots in this area – this is your justification to deal with it,

- the fourth sentence makes the way you are planning to deal with the topic more explicit

- the fifth sentence denotes the character of your work (conceptual, theoretical, empirical), indicating the underlying research, if applicable,

- the sixth sentence closes the abstract with a statement on your argument, a particular critique of the given state of knowledge or the direction in which future research & debate should be going.

Abstracts that are being prepared for research proposals are often placed prominently in the related application schemes, so they deserve particular attention as well. While they are expected to make reference to current problems or existing knowledge (and related blind spots) as the main justification for new research, they may then turn to provide two particular sorts of information: information on the knowledge generation that can be expected by the proposed research, and most notably on the methods that are foreseen to be applied (quoting J. R. K.: ‘proposals live and die with methods’).

Would you like to read more about abstract writing? Many conference programmes are now accessible on the web (e.g. www.aag.org; www.rgs.org; www.dkg2015.hu-berlin.de). Check out how conference presentations are announced, framed and synthesised, with the help of abstracts.

3) Post-conference wrap-up

This does not necessarily belong to abstract writing but conference preps and wrap-up, but remember to make your note on any comment that was made concerning your input, and take these suggestions into account once developing the materials further.

References

Blunt, A., Hatfield, M. & Souch, C. (eds.) (2013): Publishing and getting read. A Guide for New Researchers in Geography, 2^nd ed. London: Royal Geographical Society (RGS) with The Institute of British Geographers (IBG).

Dunlevey, P. (2003): Authoring a PhD. How to Plan, Draft, Write and Finish a Doctoral Thesis or Dissertation. London: Palgrave Macmillan

Johnson, W. B. & Mullen, C. A. (2007): Write to the top! How to become a prolific academic. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Kitchin, R. & Fuller, D. (2005): The academic's guide to publishing. London: Sage.

Northey, M. E. & Knight, D. B. (2001): Making sense: a student's guide to research and writing: geography & environmental sciences, 2^nd Edition. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.