How to write a summary of a scientific article: method and tips

The abstract of a scientific article, also called abstract, is an essential component of any academic publication.

Short but essential, it allows the reader to quickly identify the subject, the method, and the results of a study without having to read the entire text. It is also a strategic lever to improve the visibility and indexing of articles on scientific databases.

In this article, we explain what a scientific abstract is, its different types, its structure, and best practices to write it properly, illustrating each point with examples taken from published scientific articles.

What is a scientific abstract?

The abstract is a condensed synthesis of the entire scientific article. Its goal is to provide researchers and healthcare professionals with a clear and quick overview of the content, so they can decide whether reading the full article will be useful.

👉 It must be precise, factual, autonomous, and follow a word count defined by the journal (often between 150 and 300 words).

The different types of scientific abstracts

1) The indicative abstract (or descriptive abstract)

This type of abstract simply presents the main points and themes addressed in the article, without detailing the results. It is mainly found in review or literature articles.

Example (indicative abstract taken from a systematic review in medicine):

This article presents a review of available data concerning the impact of probiotics in preventing nosocomial infections in hospitalized patients. After a reminder of the mechanisms of action of probiotics, the article describes the main available clinical trials and analyzes their results. Finally, it offers research perspectives in this rapidly growing field.

2) The informative abstract

This is the most common format for original research articles. It includes the essential information from each part of the article: introduction, methods, results, and conclusion.

Example (informative abstract of a clinical research article):

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation in preventing fractures in institutionalized elderly patients.
Method: A double-blind randomized controlled trial including 500 patients over 75 years old, divided into two groups receiving respectively 800 IU/day of vitamin D or a placebo for 18 months.
Results: A significant reduction in the number of hip fractures was observed in the vitamin D group (p < 0.01).
Conclusion: Vitamin D supplementation reduces the risk of hip fractures in institutionalized elderly patients.

3) The graphical abstract

Increasingly used in biomedical and hard science publications, this abstract presents the results in the form of an illustration or synthetic diagram, facilitating rapid reading.

Example:

An article published in The Lancet Oncology on the effects of a new anticancer molecule could present a diagram illustrating:

• the molecule tested,
• its mode of action,
• the main results in percentage on overall survival and tumor response.

What structure for a scientific abstract?

To write an effective informative abstract, it is recommended to follow a 5-step structure:

• Background / Introduction: why this study?
• Research objective: what is the precise aim?
• Method: how was the study conducted?
• Results: what are the main results?
• Conclusion: what conclusions or perspectives can be drawn?

Structured example (biomedical article abstract):

Background: The management of resistant bacterial infections remains a public health issue.
Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a new broad-spectrum antibiotic in ICU patients.
Method: Multicenter double-blind trial involving 320 patients with severe infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms.
Results: The treatment significantly reduced 28-day mortality (p = 0.03).
Conclusion: These results confirm the relevance of this new antibiotic in the treatment of severe infections in critical care settings.

Tips for writing a good scientific abstract

• Follow the journal’s guidelines (length, language, structure)
• Use clear and precise scientific vocabulary
• Write in the present or present perfect tense for the results
• Avoid unexplained abbreviations and citations
• Do not mention information that is not present in the article
• Proofread and have someone else proofread to eliminate imprecisions and errors

Abstract in English: mandatory in most journals

The majority of biomedical and medical journals require an abstract in English, even for articles written in French, to ensure international dissemination.

Example:

The journal Infectious Diseases Now requires a structured abstract in English, with the sections Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusion, limited to 250 words.

Conclusion

The scientific abstract is much more than a formality: it is the showcase of your article. Carefully writing it helps to highlight your work, optimize its indexing, and increase its visibility within the scientific community.

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Solutions like PaperDoc.AI allow you to automatically extract the introduction, method, results, and conclusion from your PDF articles to generate a structured, ready-to-use abstract.