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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).

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Late Night Quandary about APA Abstracts

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It’s midnight. Your paper is due tomorrow at 9 a.m. With coffee at your side, you’ve just settled into your chair, powered up your laptop, and pulled up the professor’s prompt on Canvas. And then it happens. You’ve just discovered a gray area in the assignment that seems like it might require an answer from your professor: Is an abstract needed for short papers when using APA style?

Now what? The first instinct is to go…

To the internet! The results of a Google search indicate that there isn’t a clear-cut answer to this question, unfortunately. You can often find incredibly helpful answers on APA style on the APA Style Blog or the Purdue OWL, but you’re not finding any answers this time around. You could spend another hour poking around for opinions online, or you could consult the actual APA manual, which you had the foresight to purchase at the start of your studies. Right? No? Okay. Never fear! Kindle is here. Instant information.

To the APA manual! It’s the go-to for students and editors alike. Section 2.04 of the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2010) describes the purpose of an abstract and states that “most scholarly journals require an abstract” (pp. 25-26). Well, you’re not planning to submit to a journal, so that isn’t terribly helpful in this scenario, and there doesn’t seem to be any mention of papers anywhere else in this section. The Kindle download wasn’t wasted money—you’ll be glad to have it when you’re working on your References page at 4 a.m.

Here’s the tough news: Your professor really is the only one who can answer the question of whether or not an abstract is needed for a short paper (unless you’ve got a buddy who already asked and can tell you the answer). Some style rules really are open to interpretation. The best course of action would be to err on the side of including an abstract rather than skipping it. Writing an abstract (which is best done *after* the paper is finished) is actually a pretty great way to test if your paper is cohesive, and it’s a chance to exercise concise writing (not to mention, it’s an opportunity to prep yourself for submitting to scholarly journals). It only requires between 150 to 250 words, so it truly won’t tack on much more work. Going the extra mile on a paper rarely has negative consequences, and the process will help you improve as a writer. As for the next time, thoroughly reviewing paper prompts on the first day that they’re accessible will allow ample time for questions and answers and avoid wild goose chases at midnight.

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.