How to Write an Abstract in APA

Download the article

wikiHow is a “wiki”, similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are written by multiple authors. To create this article, 17 people, some anonymous, worked to edit it and improve it over time. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of all facts cited and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 699,344 times. Find out more…

A good summary summarizes the key points of your paper without providing unnecessary details. APA style guide[1]
has a special format for abstract pages, so you should be aware of this format if you are writing an APA paper. Moreover, there are other details to keep in mind when it comes to writing an effective summary. Here’s what you should know.

Write and finalize your paper before writing the abstract.
Center the word “Summary” at the top of the page, below the header.
Write a paragraph of 150-250 words outlining the purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations included in your paper.

A page header, also known as a “running head”, should be included at the top of every page.[2]
- A shortened version of the title of your paper should be aligned in the upper left corner of the page. The number of characters must not exceed 50 characters, including spaces and punctuation marks.
- Each letter in the page header should be capitalized.
- The page number should appear in the upper right corner of the page. The APA abstract should be the second page of your paper, so the number “2” should appear in the corner.
Unless your instructor says otherwise, you should use 12-point Times New Roman font.[3]
- Some professors will also accept 10-point or 12-point Arial, but you should check with your professor before deciding to choose one.
All text on your abstract should be double spaced.
- “Double spacing” means that lines of text are separated by a blank line.[4]
- Except for the abstract, the entire paper should be double-spaced.
The word comes below the page header, as the first line of normal text.[5]
- The first letter of the word is capitalized, but the rest of the word is in lowercase.
- Do not bold, italicize or underline a word and do not use quotation marks. The word should stand alone and be written in a normal font.
The first line of your actual abstract should appear on the line immediately after the word “Summary”. Do not indent a paragraph.
- Keep it short. A standard APA abstract is 150 to 250 words long and is contained in one paragraph.
If necessary, place the keyword list on your summary page in a line immediately after the actual text of your summary.[6]
- An indent appears to start a new paragraph.
- Type the word “Keywords” in italics. Capitalize “K” and put a colon after it.
- In normal, non-italic font, after the colon with three to four key words that describe the work. Each of these keywords should appear in the abstract text. Separate them with commas.

Since your abstract is a summary of the content of your paper, you should write it after the content of your paper has been finalized.
- To reflect the fact that it is an abstract, your abstract should use the present tense when talking about the results and conclusions and the past tense when talking about the methods and measurements taken. Do not use the future tense.
- Reread your essay before writing your summary to refresh your memory. Pay particular attention to the purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations stated in your paper.
- Write a rough draft of the abstract without looking directly at your paper. This will help you summarize without rewriting key sentences from your paper.
The summary can be informative or descriptive.[7]
- An informative summary outlines the purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations included in your report. The summary should highlight the important points to enable the reader to decide whether to read the rest of the report or not. Its total length should be about 10 percent or less of the length of the report.
- Descriptive summaries include the purpose, methods, and scope defined in the report, but not the results, conclusions, or recommendations. These abstracts are less common for APA style and usually fall under 100 words. The purpose is to introduce the reader to the topic, essentially teasing the reader into reading the report to find out the results.
To write a comprehensive informative summary, you should ask yourself various questions about the purpose and results of your paper.
- For example, ask yourself why you conducted the study, what you did, how you did it, what you discovered, and what the findings mean to you.
- If your paper is about a new method, ask yourself what the advantages of the new method are and how well it works.
The abstract exists to summarize your paper, so including information in the abstract that is not used in the paper is a bit like false advertising.
- Even if the information is closely related to the information used in the paper, it does not belong in the abstract.
- Note that you can and should use different wording in your abstract. The information should be the same as the information in your paper, but the way the information is formulated should be different.
The abstract should be concise and worded in such a way that it can be read alone.
- Avoid phrases like, “This paper will look at…” Because the abstract is so short, you should jump straight to the facts and details of your paper rather than trying to explain how they relate to your paper.
- Do not rephrase or repeat the title since the abstract is almost always read along with the title.
- The summary should be complete in itself because it is often read without the rest of the paper.
Report your findings instead of commenting on them.[8]
- You can and should present your findings, but don’t try to justify them. The paper itself should be used to justify your findings and provide additional support, not a summary.
Do not use “I” or “we”. Instead, opt for third-person neutral words like “it,” “they,” “he or she,” and “one.”
- You should also stick to active verbs more often than passive verbs.
- For example, the strongest summary statement would be “research shows.” Avoid using phrases like “I researched” or “It was researched.”
Although abbreviations and acronyms may appear in the text of the essay, they should not appear in the abstract.[9]
- Also avoid trade names and symbols.