PREPARING A STRUCTURED ABSTRACT

Journals vary with their requirements of structured abstract. This also depends on the type of study being published. Followings are the general guidelines for original research paper.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

Reports of original data should include an a bstract using the following headings: Context or background, Objective, Design, Setting, Patients (or Participants), Interventions (include only if there are any), Main Outcome Measure(s), Results, and Conclusions. For brevity, parts of the abstract may be written as phrases rather than complete sentences. Each section should include the following content:

1. Context/Background. The abstract should begin with a sentence or 2 explaining the clinical (or other) importance of the study question, giving a brief background.

2. Objective. State the precise objective or study question addressed in the paper (eg, "To determine whether . . ."). If more than 1 objective is addressed, the main objective should be indicated and only key secondary objectives stated. If an a hypothesis was tested, it should be stated.

3. Design. Describe the basic design of the study. State the years of the study and the duration of follow-up. E.g., Descriptive study, comparative study etc. If applicable, include the name of the study (eg, the Framingham Heart Study).

4. Setting. Describe the study setting to assist readers to determine the applicability of the report to other circumstances, for example, general community, a primary care or referral center, private or institutional practice, or ambulatory or hospitalized care.

5. Patients or Other Participants. State the clinical disorders, important eligibility criteria, and key sociodemographic features of patients. The numbers of participants and how they were selected should be provided, including the number of otherwise eligible individuals who were approached but refused. If matching is used for comparison groups, characteristics that are matched should be specified. In follow-up studies, the proportion of participants who completed the study must be indicated. In intervention studies, the number of patients withdrawn because of adverse effects should be given. For selection procedures, these terms should be used, if appropriate: random sample (where random refers to a formal, randomized selection in which all eligible individuals have a fixed and usually equal chance of selection); population-based sample; referred sample; consecutive sample; volunteer sample; convenience sample.

6. Intervention(s). The essential features of any interventions (treatments) should be described, including their method and duration of administration. The intervention should be named by its most common clinical name, and nonproprietary drug names should be used.

7. Main Outcome Measure(s). Indicate the primary study outcome measurement(s) as planned before data collection began. Give main parameters measured.  If the manuscript does not report the main planned outcomes of a study, this fact should be stated and the reason indicated. State clearly if the hypothesis being tested was formulated during or after data collection.

8. Results. The main outcomes of the study should be provided and quantified, including confidence intervals (for example, 95%) or P values. For comparative studies, the differences between groups should be expressed with confidence intervals. Explain outcomes or measurements unfamiliar to a general medical readership. Important measurements not presented in results should be declared. As relevant, indicate whether observers were blinded to patient groupings, particularly for subjective measurements. If differences for the major study outcome measure(s) are not significant, the clinically important difference sought should be stated and the confidence interval for the difference between the groups should be given. When risk changes or effect sizes are given, absolute values should be indicated. Approaches such as number needed to treat to achieve a unit of benefit are encouraged when appropriate; reporting of relative differences alone is insufficient. Studies of screening and diagnostic tests should report sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratio. If predictive value or accuracy is given, prevalence or pretest likelihood should be given as well. All randomized controlled trials should include the results of intention-to-treat analysis, and all surveys should include response rates.

 

A Check List of Do's and Don't

• Background no more than two sentences including the purpose
• Abbreviations defined on their first use
• Every result has a corresponding method
• Dose, dosage, population studied, duration or time period, other measurements to be included in the results, and setting of the research are included
• Dose/dosage contains units and time duration
• Conclusion extracts the one or two most important point
• Don't present work you are going to do or that should be done
• Don't overuse familiar terms or acronyms
• Don't add a statement in conclusion that is a stretch of the results or not supported by the data
• Don't use a lot of space reporting negative findings (negative abstracts are always harder to get accepted)
• Don't repeat or paraphrase title in purpose of abstract (common mistake)
• Purpose just should not repeat title but indicates the scope of the research
• Do not use present tense throughout abstract, especially conclusion
• No jargon is included that may confuse the reader
• References - you may include a reference (abbreviated) if highly relevant to the current research. This is not the norm, however, and if in doubt whether to use, don't.
• Avoid abbreviations in title if possible
• Authors included had a specific contribution to the study
• Let an independent researcher review the abstract.
•  Let the abstract sit for a day or two, then edit again.