Dissertation Abstract: Thesis Summary All-Inclusive

After the exhausting marathon of dissertation writing, completing an abstract can seem a mere trifle. Simply repeat everything you have already written in the main body of your project in a brief and concise form. However, there are several pitfalls and you should better know how to avoid them to make your thesis summary truly effective and all-inclusive.

Dissertation Abstract: Avoid the Pitfalls

The abstract is a brief summary that focuses on the methods, results and conclusions of your study. Actually, a lot of people will judge the value of your thesis by the quality of its abstract only. This is why you’d better avoid the following errors:

• exceeding the limit of 350 words;
• discussing why the study was conducted, but not why it is valuable;
• omitting your findings and/or conclusions;
• using empty words;
• over (or under)-estimating the contribution of the study to the body of knowledge in the field.

Dissertation Abstracts: Best Strategies

These are the best strategies for writing quality dissertation abstracts and ensuring the popularity of your projects in the future:

1. Put the main emphasis on the methods, findings and conclusions of your study and only briefly discuss why this study is significant and relevant in the current context.
2. Read the abstracts of the scholarly articles you have used for the literature review of your study. Choose the most helpful of them and study its structure and how it is written. This is what your own abstract should look like.
3. Use subheadings for the different parts of your abstract to save the time of your readers. You can even make subheads stand out by using a bold font.
4. Use plain English and simple constructions. Otherwise, your readers might find it more difficult to understand what you mean.
5. Polish your abstracts and eliminate all types of errors from them. Obviously, you should proofread your entire dissertation. However, even after proofreading your project several times, you should proofread your abstract several times more. Remember that this brief dissertation summary is just like the face of your paper. Try to do everything humanly possible to ensure its quality.
6. Try however not to make your abstract better than your dissertation is. The abstract should reflect exactly is the contents of your thesis, not less and not more. Try to find the best suitable words and be realistic about the outcomes and potential value of your study for other researchers.

So, you now know the best ways of writing effective thesis abstracts. You are welcome to follow these simple tips to write high quality abstracts and increase the effectiveness of your projects.