How to Write an Abstract for a Dissertation
An abstract is an obligatory part of any dissertation as its core purpose is to make your research paper accessible and searchable to other writers who are working in the same or adjacent field of research or who are writing on a similar topic. Actually, the abstract is the very first thing a researcher reads in order to get the main idea of the dissertation and see whether it contains relevant material to the topic of focus. That is why an abstract should briefly and succinctly provide the most essential information on the research topic.
When writing an abstract, pay attention to the following requirements:
- Write the abstract in the active voice.
- Write in the past tense (since you are already writing about the dissertation that is already completed).
- Despite the fact that the abstract is placed at the very beginning of the dissertation, it is written last (after the whole paper is ready).