Abstract Hints & Tips
Writing an abstract for a submission to an academic conference can be as simple as following a recipe for your favourite dish.
The overall purpose of an abstract is to summarise the main aspects of the work you want to present. Your abstract is the first piece of work the conference scientific committee will see, so it needs to be strong enough to stand alone. In addition, once your work is accepted for presentation, delegates will only consider attending your session if the abstract compels them to do so.
Here are some things to consider including under the relevant Abstract headings:
Abstract topic: How will your abstract convince the BACCN Conference delegates that you'll add to the discussion on a particular topic. Your presentation should be providing us with your unique view on your chosen topic.
Abstract title: What is your presentation about and what makes it interesting? A good rule of thumb is to give your abstract a title of 12 words or less.
Motivation: Why should the conference delegates care about the issue and / or the results you're presenting? This section should include the background to your submission, the importance of it and / or the difficulty of the area.
The problem: What problem are you trying to solve? Clearly state the topic of your work / issue / research question
The study design: How did you approach solving the issue and / or how are you making progress on it? How in-depth did your study or research go and what were the decisions behind this?
Predictions & results: What did you find? What are the trends? What did your analysis uncover? Were they as you expected or not?
Conclusions: What do your results mean? How is your work to the field of knowledge? Will this shake or speed things up? Or does it highlight that this specific area may be a dead end? Can you generalise your results or is it more applicable to a specific area of practice?
In general: Remember we usually have more abstract submissions than presentation slots, so use these tips to improve the chances of your abstract being successful.
Before you make a start, have a listen to our top tips on writing a successful abstract recorded by a few members of the BACCN Scientific Committee. You can download the audio file below to listen in your own time.
You’ll find the approximate time for each specific abstract category listed below.
Top Tips on Writing a Successful Abstract by the BACCN Committee
Introduction and brief outline to conference and abstracts by Karin Gerber our BACCN Conference Director
02:30 mins | Audit, service evaluation and practice development projects by David Waters our Commercial Project / Partners Lead and Associate Professor Birmingham City University
18:23 mins | Education and workshop by Dr Louise Stayt our Professional Adviser; Senior Lecturer Critical and Specialist Care, Oxford Brookes University.
31:20 mins | Primary research & literature review by Dr Suzanne Bench our National Secretary; Associate Professor, London South Bank University
46:30 mins | Clinical vignette and case studies by Nicki Credland our Chair; Lecturer in Critical Care and Advanced Practice at the University of Hull.
54:55 mins | General principles by Catherine Plowright our Professional Adviser; Acute Care Nurse Consultant, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust