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, 2nd 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,
2nd Edition. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
