An Abstract

An abstract is a concise summary of a research paper or an entire thesis. It is an original work, not an excerpted passage. An abstract must be fully self-contained and [blank] sense by itself, without further reference to outside sources or to the actual paper. It highlights key [blank] areas, your research purpose, the relevance or importance of your work, and the main outcomes. It is a well-developed single paragraph of approximately 250 words [blank] length, which is indented and single-spaced. The function of the abstract is to outline [blank] all parts of the paper. Although it is placed at the beginning of your paper, immediately following the title page, the abstract should be the last thing that you write, once you are sure of the conclusions you will reach.