GUIDELINES ON WRITING AN ABSTRACT

The abstract is a short summary of an article. Most readers first scan the abstract in order to
decide whether reading the rest of the article would be worthwhile. The abstract, therefore,
serves as an important "window display" or "advertisement" for your work and provides an
opportunity to impress the reader (Feldman, 2004:2).

The main problem with abstracts is that they are often so vaguely written that they do not
grab the reader's attention. One should always try to give the reader enough concrete
information in an abstract to get them interested in your work (Feldman, 2004:2).

The title of an academic journal article, keywords and abstract should be written after you
have completed the article and have a firm view of its structure and contents (Bem,
2003:14).

Perry et al. (2003:658) recommend that an abstract should include the following seven
elements:
Element 1: The abstract has to start with a brief theme sentence to orientate the
reader about the overall issue addressed in the article. This sentence should grab the
reader's attention.

Element 2: The abstract should then indicate the main aim or purpose of the study.

Element 3: Next, the academic and/or practical importance of the study should be
explained.

Element 4: The methodology used in the study should also be briefly described.

Element 5: The main findings of the study should be summarized.

Element 6: A statement of conclusions should indicate the contribution made by the

study in filling gaps in the literature.

Element 7: Finally, the practical or managerial implications of the study's findings

should be highlighted where appropriate.

These seven elements are highlighted in bold in the following example:

Example:

Abstract: [Element 1] Advertisements have become more risqué as companies vie for consumer
attention in an over-saturated market. One such risqué approach is the use of "Iesbian appeals";
appeals in which two female models are depicted interacting in a seemingly romantic or erotic manner.
[Element 2] This study investigates the influence of lesbian appeals on consumer attitudes towards
the advertisement and the brand, as well as on consumers' intention to purchase the product.
[Element 3] The results should assist marketers to ascertain whether lesbian appeals are effective or
whether such appeals offend consumers. [Element 4] A survey of hetero-, homo- and bisexual
respondents (aged 18 to 30) [Element 5] found that there is a significant correlation between tolerance
of homosexuality and acceptance of lesbian content in print advertisements. In addition,
advertisements containing lesbian appeals attracted attention and interest and were not perceived as
particularly immoral, exploitive or offensive. Advertisements containing clear lesbian interactions are
more effective in attracting attention and being memorable than those with lower levels of homoerotic
tension, but may lead to lower brand quality perceptions. The findings further indicate that homosexual
consumers are not significantly more open to this type of advertising. [Element 6] Lesbian appeals
may be an appropriate, though controversial strategy to get the attention of so-called "twenty-
something" consumers. [Element 7] Marketers should, however, carefully evaluate the nature of the
target market, the degree of homoerotic tension to be depicted and the nature of the product when
considering lesbian appeals in advertisements.

Source: Adapted from Orr, Van Rheede van Oudtshoorn and Kotze (2005:49); 246 words.
IMPORTANT: Please do not highlight the different elements of the abstract in bold and
brackets as was done in the example. The different elements were merely highlighted here
for the sake of clarity.

Also consider the following principles when writing the abstract (McLean, 2001 :3):
• Since the abstract is a summary of the article, nothing should be in it that it not also
included in the main text.
• An abstract is not an introduction. The article should be complete without the abstract.
One way to ensure this is to write the abstract after you have completed the rest of the
article.
• The abstract is normally written as a single paragraph. It is self-contained (i.e., it
should be understandable without requiring the reader to read something else).
• The abstract should not contain any figures, tables or in-text references, just normal
text. In-text references may, however, be included when one is replicating a previous
study and this is specifically mentioned in the abstract.

KEYWORDS

A maximum of 6-8 keywords should be included in the article directly after the abstract. The
keywords serve as hooks that draw the attention of potential readers and are also used to
locate articles in an electronic database (Perry et al., 2003:657).

The keywords should preferably reflect the discipline, sub-discipline, theme, research design
and context (industry and/or country) of the study. Where appropriate, frequently used
synonyms may be used as separate keywords. Consider the following examples:

Example:
Keywords: library science, libraries, information loss, digitization, microfilm, special collections,
archives
Keywords: semantic, web, internet, search, data, mining

Keywords: Consumer behaviour, children's influence, product choice decisions, parental perceptions,
parental communication style, culture, survey, Gauteng
Keywords: Freedom of Information Act, PATRIOT ACT, libraries, USA

The keywords should be typed in sentence case and in italics as is shown in the example
above. Sentence case means that only the first letter of the first keyword and the first letter of
all proper nouns (Afr: "eiename") are written in capital letters.