Research and scholarly methods: Writing abstracts

Abstract

An abstract is a concise summary of scholarly work and is the first impression for the editor, peer reviewer, or journal audience. When presenting or writing up scholarly activity, an abstract is required for submission and guidelines vary depending on the conference, journal, and grant application. Many early career researchers and pharmacists feel unequipped to summarize research activity and need guidance to get started with abstract writing. A stepwise approach can be a valuable tool for all types of learners. From start to finish, this paper provides guidance and specific examples to write a high‐quality abstract effectively for conferences, journals, and grant application submissions. By following the eight sequential steps of abstract writing provided, pharmacists can potentially develop a skillset to advance scholarly work and showcase it to the scientific community.

Writing a manuscript for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal: Guidance from the European Society of Clinical Pharmacy

“…Any previously published protocols or research instruments used should be referred to, however details of established methods need not be repeated, and references/supporting materials should be used. It is also of utmost importance to add a statement to confirm that the research was conducted in accordance with the relevant ethics committee/institutional review board, and that participant consent was obtained as applicable [ 8 , 13 , 33 , 41 ]. The method section is crucial for reviewers in appraising the work, and incomplete or inaccurate descriptions could result in the manuscript being rejected [ 42 ].…”

“…Conclusions/interpretations must be supported by the study findings. It is important to avoid using jargon, uncommon abbreviations, and references in the abstract [ 8 , 13 , 31 , 33 , 34 ].…”