Category Archives: publications

Differences between Abstracts and Introductions in APA

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Writing abstracts and introductions can be confusing for writers who are new to APA, but the process becomes simplified and the content differentiated when we consider how each section functions. Which serves as a concise summary of the complete article that could be easily used to index the work in a database? Which serves as a gentle entry into a topic, provides context, and postulates a thesis? If you’ve guessed that an abstract is the concise summary and an intro is the gentle entry, you’re absolutely right.

Understanding Abstracts

When submitting to a scholarly journal, you’ll definitely want to prepare an abstract. If the work’s end goal is assignment completion for a course, your professor’s requirement of including an abstract serves as a fantastic opportunity to develop the writing skills needed for publication. Abstracts are challenging to write and require practice because they’re so brief (under 250 words) and critical—they’re the hooks or “elevator speeches,” if you will, that are designed to draw readers to your research when source material is being perused. Abstract paragraphs should be rich in search terms that align with the main points of the overall work—this will also help guide traffic to your research if the published work is archived online.

Understanding Introductions

In an introduction, you establish the problem being studied and describe the context of your research. Unlike an abstract, a complete introduction may take a few pages, depending on the complexity of your work. There are several critical questions that need to be answered in an intro: What similar research does this work align with? How is this research furthering the conversation? What is the purpose of this study, and are there relevant theories that need to be introduced?

Here are some basics to become familiar with when developing abstracts and introductions…

Abstracts

  • Choose active voice instead of passive
  • Use present tense to discuss results and conclusions that are currently applicable
  • Use past tense to discuss measured outcomes
  • Stick to between 150 to 250 words (each journal will have its own limit)
  • Avoid evaluating the paper’s contents

Introductions

  • Move from the general to the specific, ending with a thesis
  • Describe relevant research, in brief, and provide appropriate citations
  • Explain the importance of the problem and need for research
  • Write for a wide professional audience, not just specialists
  • Avoid bias (especially when discussing controversy or conflicts)

Visually, the two sections will look very different on the page due to formatting requirements and varying lengths. It can be helpful to have a snapshot of how these sections look in a final document—check out pages 2 and 3 of the Purdue OWL’s APA sample paper. And, as always, if you have any questions as you draft your own abstracts and introductions, drop us a line: writingcenter@stedwards.edu.

If you would like additional details straight from the source, consult The Publication Manual of the APA, 6th edition, sections 2.04 (abstracts) and 2.05 (introductions).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Campus Publications at St. Edward’s University

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Do you want to publish your art or writing? Do you enjoy reading the work of others and talking about writing? Do your friends always ask you to help proofread their papers? Getting involved in a campus publication is a great way to get some résumé-building experience with writing, editing, design, publishing, and even marketing and event planning.

Following is a list of campus publications at St. Edward’s, with links for more information. Note that each publication has different guidelines, policies, schedules, and needs, and most are staffed by students and faculty who juggle many responsibilities. If you want to get involved, be sure to read the information on the publication’s website, if it has one, and be respectful and professional when emailing publication staff. (Here are Five Tips for Better Email.)

  • Arete, published annually in print, is the university’s academic journal. Submission guidelines are on the web.
  • Cabra is a student-run fashion magazine on the web. For contact information, see the Masthead section of the website.
  • Hilltop Views is the campus newspaper, which publishes in print and online. To learn how to get involved, see the Contact Us and Submission links at the bottom of the website.
  • J-Source: A St. Edward’s Undergraduate Research Journal is the faculty-edited journal of SOURCE (Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression), an annual event. For more information, contact Dr. Victoria Hill.
  • New Literati is an arts and literary journal published online and in print. See the journal’s website for contact and submission information.
  • Pangaea: Global Connections  is an online journal publishing student perspectives on global issues and processes. For more information, contact Charles R. Porter, Jr., MLA.
  • The Sorin Oak Review, published annually in print, is an established arts and literary journal at St. Edward’s. Visit the website for contact and submission information.

If you have information to add to this list, please email us at writingcenter@stedwards.edu.

How to be a graduate-level writer

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New graduate students often wonder how writing in grad school is different from undergraduate writing. The brief answer is that it’s more in-depth and more complex: graduate-level writing often requires more research, more synthesis, more attention to craft, and more time than college writing does. In grad school, you’re expected to actually contribute to the “conversations” in your discipline or field, so you’re often writing about real people and real problems—with real consequences.

So how do you do that kind of writing? There are five practices you can adopt to help yourself become a graduate-level writer:


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Writing in APA Style? You Need to Know about This Resource

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""At St. Edward’s, APA style is required in many undergraduate business courses, as well as in the graduate programs in the School of Management and Business and in the Master of Arts in Counseling program. But the print Publication Manual of the APA was last updated in 2009 (6th ed.) and is directed at researchers and scholars writing articles for publication in scholarly journals, not students writing papers. So, although the Manual contains lots of good writing advice and essential information about formatting, documentation, and citation, it might not have a lot of clear information on how to cite the sources you find yourself needing to cite.

Enter the official, searchable APA Style Blog! How do I cite something I found on a website? How do I cite a social media post? How do I cite an annual report? It’s all covered, with examples. In the OWL, we couldn’t get along without the APA Style Blog; we use it every day.