| Each item below should take only 1-2 sentences in your abstract | (unless otherwise noted) |
| Outer context | A short introduction to the field or context of the research problem addressed. This places the research topic within the larger scientific context. Go for “the shortest fairly complete introduction possible”, in only 1, 2 or at most 3 sentences. |
| Research problem / question | A short introduction to the research problem. Explain the problem you are addressing, in as simple words as possible. Make sure you describe it at the right level of detail. Not too general - then you are repeating the above point; not too specific - then you leave out some context that is necessary for some of your readership. “The shortest introduction possible” (max 4 sentences). |
| Key Motivation | Why this work was worth doing. 1 sentence. Make sure the justification is scientific (not personal!). |
| Prior attempts at addressing it | How has this issue been addressed before? |
| Why prior attempts are not enough | How do prior attempts fail at addressing the issue? |
| Method | How did you do perform this work? (max 4 sentences at most). |
| Results | What were your results? (max 4 sentences). |
| (Conclusion) | Sometimes done to emphasize the main message or conclusion of the work described in the paper. |
| Keep it simple! | No one ever faulted a scientific paper for being too easy to read or having too simple wording or sentence structure, if all that matters is already in there. |
| Keep it concise | The abstract is the most polished part, wording wise, of scientific papers. |
| As simple as possible but not simpler | Make sure it's easy to read but says everything. |