An abstract is a short summary of a long article. It's like consulting a map before taking a trip: the map doesn't tell the whole story or what happens, but it does offer important clues as to what will be covered, so that the reader will be prepared. Also, a good abstract can save the reader a lot of time, which is always welcome. An abstract is often written in the American Psychological Association (APA) style, because scientific researchers add abstracts to their articles much more often than other scholars. However, adding an abstract to an article or project can help regardless of the academic field you study. Here you will find steps to follow to write an MLA-style abstract.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Outline the Abstract
Step 1. Write down the main points of your article
The first thing to do to create a useful and targeted abstract is to hang notes in order to summarize the article. One way to start the process is to analyze and summarize each paragraph. This way you will include all the main ideas of your article.
- Remember, a summary must give a general idea, it does not need to include every detail. Imagine that you are at a conference and only have time to write down the keywords before the professor changes the subject. When taking notes for the abstract, focus on the fundamental information to speed up the process and make it easy and effective.
- If you have a draft of your article you can use it to write the summary, as the draft usually includes the main points.
Step 2. Think about the key concepts, main ideas and methodology you used
What is your main thesis? What are the concepts you want to express? What are your conclusions? If you have to summarize an experiment or research conducted in the laboratory, what method and subjects did you employ? Include all of these points in your abstract.
Are there any general points that you need to include in the abstract? Make sure you take notes on each important point, but also include the consequences, implications, and results of what you want to demonstrate
Step 3. Take notes and write down the ideas that come to mind as you go
You don't have to be logical at this stage. Simply make a list of points that will be included in the abstract, order them chronologically so that they reflect the development of your article. Think that your readers must be able to follow your article based on the abstract.
Part 2 of 3: Writing a Logical Abstract
Step 1. Turn your notes into ideas and then into complete sentences
Now write your summary logically and in just one paragraph. Your ideas must be transformed into complete sentences if you have not already done so. Make sure each sentence makes sense.
If you believe you have essentially written a second copy of the article, reread it and delete the unnecessary parts. An abstract loses its meaning if it is too long. The MLA style has no length requirements, but usually an abstract should be around 150-250 words
Step 2. Organize your ideas the same way you developed them in your article
Add transition stages if necessary so that each sentence makes sense and there are no sudden changes. The abstract must be understandable to an audience that has not yet read your article, so it must not have any gaps.
If there are gaps between sentences or arguments, try to re-read the article to understand which points you have omitted
Step 3. Reread the summary you just wrote
Take a break and do something different, then reread the summary. Here's what you need to do:
- Eliminate anything unnecessary. Anything that makes your abstract long and doesn't have much value should be deleted, because you don't need it.
- If necessary, add transition points.
- Make sure you've included all the main ideas, even if you don't have to use a whole sentence for each idea.
- Check the entire abstract. Does this make sense? Does it answer the main questions in your article?
Part 3 of 3: Format the Abstract in MLA style
Step 1. The indentation and spaces must be right
The MLA style is very similar to other styles. Here's what you need to remember when formatting an MLA-style document:
- Use a single space after punctuation, as for periods and commas.
- Use the paragraph indent using the tab key once, at the beginning of each paragraph.
- Write the abstract in double space. Highlight the section and click on "Paragraph". Click on spacing and under the spacing line select "double", then click "ok" at the bottom of the window.
- Use 2.5cm margins. Select "Page Layout" and use the menu to select the margins, which is usually called "normal".
Step 2. Always use serial or Oxford style comma
This means that if you make a list with more than three items you must also add a comma before the "e", as in this sentence: "The children ate ice cream, cupcakes, and sugared almonds."
The sentence, "We saw two elephants, William, and Kate", takes on a totally different meaning than the sentence "We saw two elephants, William and Kate". In the first sentence we saw four things: two elephants and two people. In the second sentence we saw two things: two elephants named William and Kate. This is why the Oxford style comma is very important
Step 3. Write a full acronym the first time you use it
Unless it is a word in itself (such as radar), you must specify the meaning of the acronym and put the abbreviation in parentheses. After giving the explanation you can simply use the acronym only.
This principle is similar to pronouns. You would never start a story by saying, "He went to the store". Who is he? If you don't specify the meaning of an acronym, the reader will not know what you are talking about
Step 4. Read the abstract one last time alone or with a friend
Make sure it includes the main points and is logical and concise. Avoid too complicated language, because the reader does not have to judge the article from the abstract. If the abstract follows all the points of the MLA style, you are done!
