Writing the parts of scientific reports
16 Writing the abstract & executive summary
General
This section first presents the purpose and features of abstracts and continues with showing the similarities of and differences between an abstract and an executive summary. Whether you write an abstract or an executive summary: they go at the front of your report, so they are the part your readers see first. However, they are written last.
Abstracts
Abstracts in published papers – and in reports or other manuscripts for your studies – have the following purpose: help potential readers decide quickly which articles are relevant to their needs, and worth looking at in more detail. Abstracts are now part of data bases which allow researchers to search and scan scientific literature. Some readers might only be interested in following up research done in their field without having to read the details. Abstracts ‘compete for attention in on-line databases’ (Glasman-Deal, 2010, p.197).
Purpose of abstracts: concise overview of
- Why you did the work;
- What you did and how you did it; and
- The main results and conclusions.
Typical abstracts:
- are short, usually less than 150 or 200 words, or 4-10 sentences.
- contain only the most important information.
- contain stand-alone qualities: they are like a miniature version of your work and can be understood without reading the paper.
- are mostly written in an impersonal style.
- do not contain figures, tables or quotations or references.
- do not contain abbreviations and acronyms.
- never refer to chapters, figures or tables contained within the report.
Overall structure
Since abstracts are mostly parts of scientific papers or reports they follow this model:
| Background | 1-2 introductory sentences place the work in context. |
| Problem/ Purpose | Brief description of the problem of the investigation and on the objectives of the work. |
| Method/materials | Outline of the methodology and tools used, how the study was undertaken. |
| Results/ implications/ applications | 1-2 sentences stating the most important results and conclusions and/or recommendations and/or applications. |
Process for writing an abstract
- abstracts are best written last or at least after a substantive part of the report is finished
- use the overall structure above as an outline
- start with key words for each section and then a first draft of your abstract
- refine your first draft a few days later, consolidating and reducing the text until you feel you have described all essential elements using as few words as possible
Language focus
Abstracts use impersonal language using either phrases such as ‘this paper investigates (not: we investigated), or passive voice.
Start the abstract with present tense (this paper investigates, aims at…)
For the methodology you can use present tense but it is more common to use past tense (a comparison is,was made… The data obtained are, were evaluated using…)
Results are expressed either in present or past tense (a significant difference between XY shows, This correlated with… ); often a combination of present and past tense is adequate when pointing to conclusions (the results showed that there is…)
Applications are often stated in present tense (this result can be applied to-…)
Vocabulary for abstracts (adapted from Glasman-Deal, 2010)
| Background | a number of studies/ it is assumed/ it is widely known/ recent research |
| Aim | the aim of this study/ with the aim of/ to investigate, compare, examine |
| Problem | a need for/ drawback, disadvantage/ inaccurate, impractical, limited, time-consuming |
| What the paper does | (in) this study/paper/investigation/ adress(es), analyse(s), argue(s), compare(s), consider(s), dicuss(es), examine(s), extend(s), introduce(s), present(s), proposes(s), show(s) |
| Method/materials | was/were assembled, calculated, constructed, evaluated, formulated, measured, modelled, performed, studied, treated, used |
| Results | caused/decreased/had no effect/ it was noted, observed that…/ was/were achieved, found, identical, observed, present, unaffected |
| Implications | the evidence/ these results indicate(s), mean(s), suggest(s) |
| Applications | applicability/ can be applied, used/ make it possible to/ potential use/ relevant for,in |
Abstract or Executive Summary?
The main differences between an abstract and an executive summary are audience and purpose.
An executive summary, sometimes known as a management summary, is a short document or section of a document, usually produced for business purposes, summarizing a longer report or proposal or a group of related reports, in such a way that readers can rapidly become acquainted with a large body of material without having to read it all. It will usually contain a brief statement of the problem or proposal covered in the major document(s), background information, concise analysis and main conclusions.
An executive summary seeks to lead the reader to the significant points of the report as the reader is a decision maker who will have the responsibility of deciding on some issue(s) related to the report. The executive summary must be written with this need in mind.
Context of executive summaries
Engineers often have to communicate highly technical issues and concepts to clients in a manner that clients can understand and use the information, e.g. to improve their business processes. Means of communication is normally a written report.
High-level executives are usually interested in getting to the ‘bottom line’ without wading through many details. Most clients prefer an executive summary at the beginning of the report, where they find an outline of the situation, how the problem is being solved, planned activities, findings and recommendations. The remainder of the report contains the detailed analysis enabling the reader to gain more insight into any of the summary points, including flowcharts, tables, charts and other graphical means.
Research and report writing are common activities in business. They can be used to develop procedures, test products, explore markets or gather opinions. The results of research may be reported orally or in writing, to internal or external audiences. Therefore, knowing your audience, applying the principles of business communication and selecting an appropriate format are also instrumental in preparing understandable, usable reports.
Types of business reports which often contain an executive summary: general business report/ business plan/ business proposal/ marketing plan/ strategic plan/ business analysis/ project report/ project review/ financial plan.
Executive summary
The executive summary is a brief version of the report; it restates each section of the report in abbreviated form with emphasis on findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Executive summaries are standalone documents. The reader must be fully informed.
A typical executive summary will:
- be possibly 5-10% or so of the length of the main report (this can be 10 pages for a report of 200 pages)
- be written in language appropriate for the target audience
- consist of short and concise paragraphs
- often have similar headings as the full report
- be written in the same order as the main report
- only include material present in the main report
- make recommendations
- have a conclusion
- be able to be read separately from the main report
- exclude references
- mostly exclude tables/ figures (maybe 1 or 2 are ok)
Overall structure of executive summaries
The structure depends on the document it summarizes. Therefore, this could be similar to an abstract but mostly contains more information:
- situation, context, background (what is the document about? Why is it important?)
- procedures/ methods/ materials
- findings/ solutions to a problem/ implications/ applications/ recommendations
- outlook
Process for writing an executive summary
- think about your audience (knowledge, interest)
- use the structure above as an outline or follow the structure of your document
- identify key sentences in the report
- extract them
- edit them for readability
Activity: look at the examples of a good and poor executive summary. What exactly makes the difference? Compare your results.