Specific Requirements:
- Write an abstract on the article you have chosen for your 60 Second Science presentation. It should be your own work and not simply “cut and pasted” from the study itself or from the abstract of the authors. Your abstract must be written in paragraph form and must be no longer than 150 words. Do NOT indent the first line of the abstract. Do NOT use bullet points or numbers to demarcate the different headings.
- Assignment should be submitted as DOCX or PDF file, double-spaced, have 1″ margins, and typed in 12-point Times New Roman black font (this standard should be followed for the remainder of the semester). You must use spell check and correct grammar. Too many spelling and/or grammar errors will result in the assignment being returned with an incomplete until the corrections have been made.
Parts of the Abstract:
- Title: Write the title using APA format (Hint: It should be centered at the top of the page). If you have never used APA, you can consult the formatting and style guide at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ or consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association available within Brightspace.
- Begin the abstract on the top of page 2 (I would suggest inserting a Page break). The word “Abstract” should centered at the top.
- General topic: The first part of the abstract introduces the study. It should describe the goals, significance and background for the study. This is usually accomplished in one or two sentences that describe the general topic to be investigated and why it is important. Sometimes this is most easily done by discussing something about the state of the field and why the author did the experiments.
- Specific Question or Relationship: Write one or two sentences describing the specific question the author addresses or relationship he or she investigated with this project.
- Method: The second section of the abstract summarizes the methods used: how the study was designed and carried out. This usually takes about two sentences, but may be shorter or longer depending on the complexity of the study. Do not attempt to write a detailed procedure; just give a general idea of how the author performed the study. The research methods might be important if they are new or unusual, but if they are standard, only refer to them briefly.
- Results: Write one or two sentences explaining what the authors found. Be as specific as possible. State only the major findings of the study. These should relate to the objectives that you described in the introductory section of your abstract. This section is variable in length, depending on the number and complexity of the findings, but is typically two to three sentences long.
- Conclusions/Implications: The final part of the abstract consists of one or two sentences giving the author’s interpretation of the results and the overall significance or implications of the study.
- Note that Keywords are not needed for this assignment.
- Cite your chosen article in APA format on the third page (with the word “References” centered at the top) Don’t forget the hanging indent!
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