An informative abstract provides detail about the substance of a piece of writing because readers will sometimes rely on the abstract alone for information. Informative abstracts typically follow this format:
- Identifying information (bibliographic citation or other identification of the document)
- Concise restatement of the main point, including the initial problem or other background
- Methodology (for experimental work) and key findings
- Major conclusions
Informative abstracts usually appear in indexes like Dissertation Abstracts International; however, your instructor may ask you to write one as a cover sheet to a paper as well.
View Descriptive vs. Informative Abstracts
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