The abstract is a concise snapshot of your entire study and often the only part most readers read. It shapes first impressions and determines whether your work is read further. Despite its importance, many early-career researchers make common mistakes that tend to test a reviewer’s patience. Here are a few essentials that a surprising number of researchers overlook:
Always open with an introduction to the key variable of interest or larger context of the study which highlights or justifies why the study is being done.
Make sure your abstract includes one clear, direct sentence that states the study’s aim or primary research question. This anchors the reader immediately.
Report more than just the total sample size; include key demographics like mean age and sex distribution (e.g., Mage = 21 years, 65% female).
Keep in mind that methods of data collection and analysis can differ, especially in qualitative research (e.g., interviews paired with thematic analysis, observations paired with grounded theory, or discourse analysis of online forum posts) and you should be reporting both.
Don’t forget to include the actual findings of your study. Abstracts that build up to the findings but leave readers hanging fail to fulfil their primary purpose of summarizing the research.
Avoid ending with a generic closing line (e.g., “This has relevant implications for interventions and for society at large”); instead, clearly state the theoretical or practical implications of your findings.
Keep in mind journal guidelines! Journals differ in a few different ways: wordcount (up to 150 words or 250 words), structured or unstructured, fixed/unique sub-heading requirements. Journal editors can desk-reject if guidelines aren’t met.
Avoid: in-text citations, too many abbreviations or jargon, overly detailed data (p-values, standard errors, exact percentages)
Absolutely avoid: excessive emphasis on background, misleading data, claims/implications not supported by study, exaggerated findings, mixing qualitative and quantitative terms (e.g., using significantly different in qualitative study), copying text from the manuscript without paraphrasing
Upcoming Conferences
4th Annual Student Research Conference- Resilient Futures: Psychology, Sustainability, and Well‑being (O.P. Jindal)- 19th Sept 2026 [Sonipath, Haryana]
International Conference on Advances in Psychology, Psychiatry and Mental Health-26 (SFE) - 28th June 2026 [Delhi, India / Hybrid]
11th International Conference of Indian Academy of Health Psychology (IAHP)- 26th-28th Oct 2026 [Phuket, Thailand]
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