Description:

When evaluating academic work, abstracts and titles are often the first (and sometimes the only) writing a reviewer encounters. This workshop begins with the basics, covering the essential information that both abstracts and titles must convey. We will then discuss how to approach abstracts of different lengths, specifically addressing what details should be contained in longer abstracts that are left out of shorter ones.  Finally, we’ll cover more nuanced topics such as: (1) balancing cleverness and creativity with clarity and keywords in titles; (2) cutting an abstract’s word count without compromising its message; and (3) how to avoid too much repetition when writing a series of ‘abstracts’ as part of a single job portfolio. You will be provided with abstracts and titles from a number of disciplines to evaluate and compare. You will also be encouraged to bring an abstract (either your own or someone else’s) from your discipline in order to apply learned techniques and principles to work in your field.