How to write an abstract

A six-move formula for a dissertation abstract, with word budgets and the mistakes that make abstracts unusable.

6 min read · Reviewed 2026

Your abstract is the most-read and last-written part of your dissertation. It is a miniature of the whole argument, not an introduction or a teaser.

Almost every strong abstract makes the same six moves in the same order.

The six moves

In 200 to 300 words, roughly one to three sentences per move.

Context: why this matters now.
Problem or gap: what is unresolved.
Aim and question: what you set out to answer.
Method: design, sample, analysis, in one sentence.
Findings: the actual results, specifically.
Contribution: what follows for theory, practice or policy.

Be specific about findings

'Several themes emerged' tells a reader nothing. Name the themes or state the direction and size of the effect. Vague findings are the single biggest reason abstracts fail to do their job.

Write it last, edit it hardest

Draft it after your conclusion, then cut every sentence that does not perform one of the six moves. No citations, no abbreviations that are not defined, no content that is not in the dissertation.

Common mistakes

An abstract that only describes what the study will do.
Findings withheld to 'keep the reader interested'.
Exceeding the word limit set by your department.
Claims in the abstract that the conclusion does not make.

Try this: One sentence per move

Write exactly one sentence for each of the six moves.
Read the six sentences together — that is your skeleton abstract.
Expand only where the meaning is unclear.
Cut back to the word limit, protecting the findings sentence.

Do it in SuperDiss

Draft against the six moves and see which are missing.

Open the Abstract Lab