Abstracts

An abstract is a short and informative outline of your work. It usually includes the following sections

• 1-4 sentences to introduce your work so that the reader has some context
• 1-4 sentences describing what you did (research question and methods)
• 3-6 sentences on your major findings to date; and
• 1-3 sentences describing what your work means to others.

An abstract tells the reader what they need to know to understand the big picture of your project.

An abstract is not a summary. A summary appears at the end of a piece of work, and is a restatement of the important findings and conclusions.

Abstracts are found at the beginning of journal articles, research papers, reports, theses, and dissertations. Abstracts can also be used to describe a talk or poster presentation at a conference.

Adpated from Dr J. Mark Tippett's "How to Write an Abstract"

So now that you know how an abstract is structured, here's a few examples of conference abstracts that you can use as a guide:

• Social Sciences

  Title:
  SIKU: RECORDING INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND USE OF SEA ICE DURING THE IPY YEARS AND BEYOND
  Author(s) and Affiliations:
  I. Krupnik^{1
  1}Arctic Studies Center, Smithsonian Institution
  Background:
  The paper introduces the first outcomes of IPY 2007–2008 collaborative project, SIKU - “Sea Ice Knowledge and Use: Assessing Arctic Environmental and Social Change” (#166). For over three years, 2006–2009, it inspired scholars from five nations (Canada, US, Russia, Greenland, and France) and indigenous experts from 30 communities in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and Siberia. The SIKU project broke new ground in polar residents’ participation in research and in bridging their knowledge and observations with the data and models used by polar scientists. The project operated as an international consortium of several coordinated initiatives, regional, and student dissertational studies.
  Methods:
  The data were collected via research trips; interviews; community meetings; ice observations by local monitors; electronic mapping; collection of indigenous terminologies and place names. SIKU participants used many innovative research strategies, such as ice and weather recording by indigenous monitors over three consecutive winters; documentation of local traveling and environmental phenomena via GPS-based techniques; collection of indigenous terminologies for ice and snow; study of language and knowledge retention; use of historical photography to document change in the use of sea ice. Research Question and Methods:
  By exploring indigenous people’s knowledge and use of ice, the SIKU project introduced a new field of interdisciplinary research, the study of social (socio-cultural) aspects of the natural world, or what we called the ‘social life’ of sea ice. It incorporates local terminologies and classifications, place names, personal stories, teachings, safety rules, historic narratives, and explanations of empirical and spiritual connections that people create with the natural world.
  What your results mean to others:
  This new vision of sea ice as a critical subsistence area for polar indigenous people and a highly endangered ‘cultural landscape’ sustained by the continuous community knowledge and use of ice makes a novel contribution to IPY, to science, and to the public.

• Biology

  Title:
  THE PENGUIN'S FRIDGE: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE UNDER-ICE HABITAT TO THE ANTARCTIC PELAGIC ECOSYSTEM
  Author(s) and Affiliations:
  H. Flores¹, J.A. van Franeker¹, V. Siegel², E.A. Pakhomov³, B. Hunt³, S. Kruse^{4
  1}IMARES, ²Von Thünen Institute, ³University of British Columbia, ⁴Alfred Wegener Institute
  Background:
  In spite of its harsh climate, the Antarctic Seasonal Sea Ice Zone (SIZ) is remarkably diverse and hosts globally significant fisheries resources, such as Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba). Large populations of penguins, other birds, seals and whales symbolize the biological richness of this ecosystem.
  Research Question:
  Today, the distribution of sea ice is beginning to alter in some Antarctic regions due to global warming. It is therefore imperative to understand the ecological significance of sea ice in order to better predict future changes of Antarctic marine ecosystems. The production of ice algae is probably fundamental to sustain the rich life of the Antarctic Sea Ice Zone. Thus, the biological resources from the ice must be transferred into the pelagic food web by species feeding at the ice-water interface.
  Methods and Results:
  Investigations with a newly developed Surface and Under Ice Trawl (SUIT) yielded the first large-scale multi-seasonal evidence that life at the ice-water interface is surprisingly diverse and abundant. Especially Antarctic krill was closely associated with the underside of sea ice. Comparison with deeper fishing nets showed that the ice-water interface hosts its own species community, hitherto unavailable for quantitative sampling. Sea ice properties are among the key factors related to the composition of this community. These results indicate that both macro- and mesozooplankton play a significant role as trophic energy transmitters between the sea ice and the mesopelagic food web.
  What your results mean to others:
  These findings provide new and direct evidence that sea ice is an important structuring force in the Southern Ocean ecosystem and allow new insights in the response of Antarctic marine ecosystems to changing sea ice characteristics caused by global warming. Consequences for the conceptual view of the pelagic food web in the SIZ are highlighted and future research perspectives are discussed.
  
  Taken from: Flores, H., van Franeker, J. A., Pakhomov, E. A., Siegel, V., Hunt, B. P. V., Kruse, S., Strass, V., Bathmann, U. & Van de Putte, A. P. (2010). The Penguin's Fridge-The significance of the under-ice habitat to the Antarctic pelagic ecosystem.