Page 101 - PPW (Paper Proposal Writing)

An Abstract should NOT contain:

• Lengthy background or contextual information,
• Redundant phrases, unnecessary adverbs and adjectives, and repetitive information;

• Acronyms or abbreviations,
• References to other literature [say something like, "current research shows that..." or
"studies have indicated..."],
• Ellipticals [i.e., ending with "..."] or incomplete sentences,
• Jargon or terms that may be confusing to the reader,
• Citations to other works, and
• Any sort of image, illustration, figure, or table, or references to them.
Adapted from: https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/abstract

After learning about how to write an Abstract, read the statements below and mark (√) for
the Do’s and mark (×) for the Don’ts.

Statements Do’s/ Statements Do’s/
Don’ts Don’ts
Write your abstract after your paper Use overly technical language
has been completed.
Provide a clear and concise summary State the prediction of the study
of the proposal results particularly in quantitative
research
Forget to proof-read for typos Use synonyms or related key phrases

Repeat some information/ points few Describe your study background in
times an elaborative way
Apply past tense in methodology Include citations or references

Language Focus

Passive Voice (Present and Future)

PASSIVE VOICE (PRESENT AND FUTURE)

Passive voice is used when the subject of the sentence receives an action. In writing a
research proposal abstract, passive voice in present and future tense is employed when
you want to focus on the actions/ processes rather than the doer(s). Thus, the use of “by”
to introduce the doer is not obligatory. The use of passive in abstract is mostly found in
Methodology section.

Paper Proposal Writing 93