Q: Can you say why the example below is a poor abstract?
Highlight at least three reasons why this is a poor abstract.
This innovative experiment will determine what will make enzymes effective and what will them ineffective. We tested different sample of enzyme in a spectrophotometer and recorded their absorption rates six sample were placed in the spectrophotometer but two contained no enzyme these acted as blank for the other samples the four remaining samples contained catecholasr ranging from 0.5ml to 1.75m the second half of the experiment contained four test tubes with a constant amount of catecholase but the pH level ranged from four to eight it was found that if the enzyme was present in large amount
For a couple of reasons, we may not be in a position to provide all the inputs you are seeking.
Firstly, here, there is only an abstract to respond to. In a real situation, that is, on the journal site or even as a manuscript, the abstract is presented along with the title and keywords, which helps to provide readers a bit more information (than that provided here) in order to help decide whether they wish to read the full article, which is the prime purpose of an abstract.
Also, as this may be an assignment, it may be best for you to work your way through to the answer. What we can do though is to provide some resources here on what makes for compelling abstracts. You may go through these, and with the learning gained from this, be able to respond to the question through your own efforts, which would be the purpose of the assignment.
Having said that, a few issues that stand out from a writing perspective alone are with the spellings and punctuations. In one instance, ‘catecholase’ is spelt as ‘catecholasr.’ Then, the second sentence is one long, run-on sentence with no commas or period/s. Issues such as these hinder reading, which is the opposite of the main intent of an abstract. For issues with the scientific part, it would be necessary to look at the paper.
Here now are the resources that may help you.
- A 10-step guide to make your research paper abstract more effective
- Which tense should be used in the abstract of a paper?
- How to write a purposeful research paper abstract [Microlearning course]
Note: The last link is for a course on R Upskill, a learning programs platform for researchers by Researcher.Life (or simply, R), a brand from the same parent organization as ours. Apart from this course, R Upskill offers many others for various aspects of a researcher’s work, from scientific writing to research promotion to grant writing to career planning. Feel free to explore the platform and even try a few courses, as they are free for a certain period.
Hope that helps. All the best for your assignment!
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