{"id":6658,"date":"2026-08-20T07:54:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T10:54:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistaabcd.org.br\/how-to-write-an-abstract\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T08:02:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:02:54","slug":"how-to-write-an-abstract","status":"publish","type":"blog-posts","link":"https:\/\/revistaabcd.org.br\/pt-br\/how-to-write-an-abstract\/","title":{"rendered":"How to write an abstract that gets read \u2014 and cited"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.abcd-guide .wrap{max-width:1180px;margin:0 auto;padding:0 24px}\n.abcd-guide .topbar .wrap{display:flex;justify-content:flex-end;align-items:center;gap:14px;height:36px;font-size:.9rem}\n.abcd-guide footer .wrap{display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:22px;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center}\n.abcd-guide .wh-step{display:flex;gap:16px;background:#fff;border:1px solid #E5DEDA;border-radius:12px;padding:18px;margin-bottom:12px;transition:transform .2s,box-shadow .2s}\n.abcd-guide .wh-step:hover{transform:translateX(6px);box-shadow:0 10px 22px rgba(47,72,88,.12)}\n.abcd-guide .wh-num{flex-shrink:0;width:34px;height:34px;border-radius:50%;background:#932C2C;color:#fff;font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-weight:800;font-size:.95rem;display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:center}\n.abcd-guide .wh-step h4{font-size:.92rem;color:#2F4858;margin-bottom:4px}\n.abcd-guide .wh-step p{font-family:\"Lora\",Georgia,serif;font-size:.86rem;color:#555;line-height:1.65;margin:0}\n.abcd-guide .wh-flow{display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;align-items:stretch;gap:8px;margin:18px 0 6px}\n.abcd-guide .wh-fbox{flex:1;min-width:120px;background:#FFE4DE;border:1.5px solid #932C2C;border-radius:10px;padding:10px 12px;text-align:center;transition:transform .2s,background .2s}\n.abcd-guide .wh-fbox:hover{transform:translateY(-4px);background:#fff}\n.abcd-guide .wh-fbox b{display:block;font-family:Raleway,sans-serif;font-size:.72rem;font-weight:800;letter-spacing:.06em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#932C2C}\n.abcd-guide .wh-fbox span{font-family:\"Lora\",Georgia,serif;font-size:.72rem;color:#7C848C}\n.abcd-guide .wh-arrow{align-self:center;color:#932C2C;font-weight:800;font-size:1.1rem}\n.abcd-guide .wh-dont{display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(auto-fit,minmax(240px,1fr));gap:12px;margin:14px 0}\n.abcd-guide .wh-dont>div{border-radius:10px;padding:14px 16px;font-family:\"Lora\",Georgia,serif;font-size:.85rem;line-height:1.6}\n.abcd-guide .wh-yes{background:#EFF6EF;border:1.5px solid #2F7A4D;color:#24462F}\n.abcd-guide .wh-no{background:#FBEDEB;border:1.5px solid #932C2C;color:#6B2020}\n.abcd-guide .wh-tip{background:#FAF7F5;border-left:4px solid #5E7998;border-radius:8px;padding:14px 18px;font-family:\"Lora\",Georgia,serif;font-size:.88rem;color:#3d4b57;line-height:1.65;margin:16px 0}\n.abcd-guide .wh-posts{display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(auto-fit,minmax(230px,1fr));gap:14px;margin:16px 0 8px}\n.abcd-guide .wh-post{display:block;background:#fff;border:1px solid #E5DEDA;border-radius:12px;padding:16px;transition:transform .2s,box-shadow .2s}\n.abcd-guide .wh-post:hover{transform:translateY(-4px);box-shadow:0 12px 24px rgba(147,44,44,.13)}\n.abcd-guide .wh-post .cat{display:inline-block;background:#FFE4DE;color:#932C2C;font-family:Raleway,sans-serif;font-size:.6rem;font-weight:800;letter-spacing:.08em;text-transform:uppercase;padding:3px 10px;border-radius:99px;margin-bottom:8px}\n.abcd-guide .wh-post h4{font-size:.9rem;color:#2F4858;line-height:1.4;margin:0}\n.abcd-guide .wh-sec{font-size:1.25rem;font-weight:800;color:#932C2C;margin:44px 0 6px;padding-bottom:8px;border-bottom:2px solid #FFE4DE}\n.abcd-guide .wh-lead{font-family:\"Lora\",Georgia,serif;font-size:.95rem;color:#555;line-height:1.7;margin:12px 0 18px}\n.abcd-guide .wh-author{font-family:Raleway,sans-serif;font-size:.72rem;color:#7C848C;margin-top:10px}\n.abcd-guide .dgm{border:2px dashed #BFA5A2;border-radius:14px;padding:18px;margin:18px 0;background:#fff}\n.abcd-guide .dgm-cap{font-family:Raleway,sans-serif;font-size:.7rem;color:#BFA5A2;margin:-6px 0 16px}\n.abcd-guide .tl{display:flex;align-items:center;gap:8px;flex-wrap:wrap}\n.abcd-guide .tl .wh-fbox{min-width:110px;flex:1}<\/style>\n<div class=\"abcd-guide\"><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\", \"@type\": \"Article\", \"headline\": \"How to write an abstract that gets read\", \"description\": \"Learn how to write a structured scientific abstract that gets read and cited: 5-block structure, numbers in results and key terms for PubMed indexing.\", \"author\": {\"@type\": \"Person\", \"name\": \"Francisco Tustumi\"}, \"publisher\": {\"@type\": \"Organization\", \"name\": \"ABCD - Arquivos Brasileiros de Cirurgia Digestiva\"}, \"inLanguage\": \"en\"}<\/script>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\", \"@type\": \"FAQPage\", \"mainEntity\": [{\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"What is the ideal abstract length?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"Most journals cap it at 250 words \u2014 ABCD follows this standard. Every sentence must earn its place.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"Can I cite references in the abstract?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"No. The abstract must be self-contained: no citations, undefined abbreviations or data absent from the paper.\"}}, {\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"What hurts an abstract the most?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"Vague results ('significant improvement') without numbers, and a textbook first sentence that does not state the gap the study fills.\"}}]}<\/script>\n<style>.abcd-guide .kt{background:#FFF7F4;border:1.5px solid #FFE4DE;border-radius:12px;padding:16px 20px;margin:6px 0 22px}\n.abcd-guide .kt b{display:block;font-family:Raleway,sans-serif;font-size:.64rem;font-weight:800;letter-spacing:.1em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#932C2C;margin-bottom:8px}\n.abcd-guide .kt ul{margin:0;padding-left:18px}\n.abcd-guide .kt li{font-family:\"Lora\",Georgia,serif;font-size:.86rem;color:#555;line-height:1.7}\n.abcd-guide .faq h3{font-size:1.1rem;font-weight:800;color:#932C2C;margin:34px 0 12px;padding-bottom:6px;border-bottom:2px solid #FFE4DE}\n.abcd-guide .faq details{background:#fff;border:1px solid #E5DEDA;border-radius:10px;margin-bottom:8px;overflow:hidden}\n.abcd-guide .faq summary{cursor:pointer;font-family:Raleway,sans-serif;font-weight:700;font-size:.88rem;color:#2F4858;padding:13px 16px;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;transition:background .2s}\n.abcd-guide .faq summary:hover{background:#FAF7F5}\n.abcd-guide .faq summary::after{content:'+';font-family:Montserrat,sans-serif;font-weight:800;color:#932C2C;font-size:1.1rem}\n.abcd-guide .faq details[open] summary::after{content:'\\2212'}\n.abcd-guide .faq details p{font-family:\"Lora\",Georgia,serif;font-size:.86rem;color:#555;line-height:1.7;padding:0 16px 14px;margin:0}<\/style>\n\n<div class=\"wrap\" style=\"max-width:860px;padding:30px 24px 50px\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/revistaabcd.org.br\/pt-br\/writing-hub\/\" style=\"font-family:Raleway,sans-serif;font-size:.76rem;font-weight:700;color:#5E7998\">&larr; Writing Hub<\/a>\n\n<p class=\"wh-lead\">Most readers decide whether to read &mdash; and later cite &mdash; your paper based on the abstract alone. Databases show it for free, reviewers form their first impression from it, and search engines index it. These 250 words deserve as much care as any section of the manuscript.<\/p>\n<div class=\"kt\"><b>30-second summary<\/b><ul><li>The abstract decides whether your paper gets read \u2014 and cited.<\/li><li>Fixed structure: background, objective, methods, results (with numbers!) and conclusion.<\/li><li>Write it last and cut everything that does not answer the essential questions.<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<div class=\"wh-flow\"><div class=\"wh-fbox\"><b>Background<\/b><span>1 sentence<\/span><\/div><div class=\"wh-arrow\">&rarr;<\/div><div class=\"wh-fbox\"><b>Objective<\/b><span>1 sentence<\/span><\/div><div class=\"wh-arrow\">&rarr;<\/div><div class=\"wh-fbox\"><b>Methods<\/b><span>design &middot; population &middot; outcome<\/span><\/div><div class=\"wh-arrow\">&rarr;<\/div><div class=\"wh-fbox\"><b>Results<\/b><span>the numbers!<\/span><\/div><div class=\"wh-arrow\">&rarr;<\/div><div class=\"wh-fbox\"><b>Conclusion<\/b><span>1 sentence answering the objective<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-family:Raleway,sans-serif;font-size:.7rem;color:#BFA5A2;margin-bottom:16px\">The backbone of a structured abstract &mdash; even without headings, keep this logical order.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wh-step\"><div class=\"wh-num\">1<\/div><div><h4>Follow the structure, even when it is not required<\/h4><p>Background, objective, methods, results and conclusion &mdash; in that order. In unstructured abstracts, keep the same logic without the headings.<\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wh-step\"><div class=\"wh-num\">2<\/div><div><h4>Put real numbers in the results<\/h4><p>Report effect sizes and confidence intervals, not only p-values &mdash; and the primary outcome always comes first.<\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wh-step\"><div class=\"wh-num\">3<\/div><div><h4>Make the first sentence carry the problem, not the textbook<\/h4><p>Skip generic openers and state the specific gap your study fills.<\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wh-step\"><div class=\"wh-num\">4<\/div><div><h4>Repeat your key terms &mdash; this is where search happens<\/h4><p>Abstract and title are the fields PubMed and Google Scholar index most. Use the exact terms readers will search for (including MeSH terms).<\/p><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wh-step\"><div class=\"wh-num\">5<\/div><div><h4>Write it last, cut it twice<\/h4><p>Draft the abstract after the paper is finished, then remove every sentence that does not answer: why, how, what was found, what it means.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"wh-dont\"><div class=\"wh-yes\">&#10003; Will be cited: &ldquo;Group A had better survival (HR 0.62; 95%CI 0.48&ndash;0.80)&rdquo;<\/div><div class=\"wh-no\">&#10007; Will not: &ldquo;survival was significantly better&rdquo;<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"wh-tip\"><strong>Final test:<\/strong> show the abstract to a colleague from another specialty. If they can state your main finding in one sentence after a single read, the abstract works.<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"faq\"><h3>Frequently asked questions<\/h3><details><summary>What is the ideal abstract length?<\/summary><p>Most journals cap it at 250 words \u2014 ABCD follows this standard. Every sentence must earn its place.<\/p><\/details><details><summary>Can I cite references in the abstract?<\/summary><p>No. The abstract must be self-contained: no citations, undefined abbreviations or data absent from the paper.<\/p><\/details><details><summary>What hurts an abstract the most?<\/summary><p>Vague results ('significant improvement') without numbers, and a textbook first sentence that does not state the gap the study fills.<\/p><\/details><\/div>\n<div class=\"au\"><span style=\"font-size:1.5rem\">&#9997;&#65039;<\/span><p>Written by <strong>Francisco Tustumi<\/strong>, digestive system surgeon (FMUSP), associate editor of ABCD.<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"trendmd-suggestions\"><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn how to write a structured scientific abstract that gets read and cited: 5-block structure, numbers in results and key terms for PubMed indexing.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6657,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1354],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6658","blog-posts","type-blog-posts","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistaabcd.org.br\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-posts\/6658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistaabcd.org.br\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistaabcd.org.br\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog-posts"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistaabcd.org.br\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistaabcd.org.br\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6658"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/revistaabcd.org.br\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-posts\/6658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6669,"href":"https:\/\/revistaabcd.org.br\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog-posts\/6658\/revisions\/6669"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistaabcd.org.br\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistaabcd.org.br\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistaabcd.org.br\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistaabcd.org.br\/pt-br\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}