Although the precise nature of an abstract for a research presentation varies from discipline to discipline, all presentations must have a title and an abstract. Both abstracts and titles are submitted via the Academic Showcase application. Your Showcase Audience may consist of experts in your field, non-experts and novices therefore your abstract and presentation itself should be able to balance the demands of these groups. All abstracts should describe your project and its scholarly importance, and it should include six key pieces of information which you can find below.
Note: Group projects should submit one abstract per presentation that lists the name of everyone in the group.
Abstracts are Microcosms of Presentations
Below you will find elements of a well written abstract:
- Title - A succinct description of the study or its findings. This is also the title of the poster.
- Introduction - What is the research question and why is it important?
- Background - How is your specific approach unique?
- Methods or mode of analysis - What is the method for addressing your question?
- Results - What did you find?
- Conclusions - What are the implications? Why should we care?
Sample Abstract
- Title: The relationship between Undergraduate Research Participation and Subsequent Research Performance and Early Career STEM Graduate Students
- Intro: Undergraduate research experiences have been adopted across higher education institutions.
- Background: However, most studies examining benefits derived from undergraduate research rely on self-report or skill development.
- Methods: This study used an empirical assessment of research skills to investigate associations between undergraduate research experiences and research skill performance in graduate school. Research experience characteristics including duration, autonomy, collaboration, and motivation were also examined.
- Results: Undergraduate research experience was linked to heightened graduate school performance in all research skills assessed. While autonomy and collaboration were highlighted in student interviews, duration was most strongly correlated to significant increases in research skill performance.
- Conclusions: Based on these findings, we advocate for the inclusion of research experiences into the undergraduate science curriculum coupled with the creation of centralized offices of undergraduate research and faculty incentives for involving undergraduates in their research.
Gilmore, J., at al. (2015). The Journal of Higher Education. 86, 6, 835-862.
Please note that the final abstract submission via the application, should be in the paragraph format like this:
"Undergraduate research experiences have been adopted across higher education institutions. However, most studies examining benefits derived from undergraduate research rely on self-report or skill development. This study used an empirical assessment of research skills to investigate associations between undergraduate research experiences and research skill performance in graduate school. Research experience characteristics including duration, autonomy, collaboration, and motivation were also examined. Undergraduate research experience was linked to heightened graduate school performance in all research skills assessed. While autonomy and collaboration were highlighted in student interviews, duration was most strongly correlated to significant increases in research skill performance. Based on these findings, we advocate for the inclusion of research experiences into the undergraduate science curriculum coupled with the creation of centralized offices of undergraduate research and faculty incentives for involving undergraduates in their research. Gilmore, J., at al. (2015). The Journal of Higher Education. 86, 6, 835-862."
SOURCE: Rutgers Aresty Research Center
QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions, please contact Dean Bowers, Dean of the Honors College.