Writing an Abstract

1. Writing an Abstract Damascus, 29 February 2004 Milly Grillone International Junior Consultant

2. What’s an Abstract • An abstract is a condensed version of a longer piece of writing • It conveys the essential information of a paper, article, document, book • It presents the content and scope of a paper

3. Where do I start from? Key words An abstract must contain key words about what is essential in a report so that someone else can retrieve information from it.

4. How do I write an Abstract? You convey the essence of a whole paper into a single paragraph containing as much new information as possible. 1.Highlight the objective and conclusions 2.Identify keyword information 3.Compile the above highlighted into a single paragraph by condensing information

5. Style • Concise and Clear • Non-repetitive The abstract’s wording should be very direct “The----(title)-------presents…”

6. Steps • Read the paper with the goal of abstracting in mind (use the headings and table of contents as a guide) • Write a draft (don’t merely copy sentences from the paper): summarize information in a new way!! • Revise

7. Content Revision Revise your rough draft to • Correct weaknesses in organization • Drop unnecessary information • Add important information you left out

8. Grammatical Revision • Delete extra words and phrases • Rephrase the first sentence (“This study….”) • Fix errors (grammar, spelling, punctuation) • Improve transitions from point to point Syria’s major exports are directed towards the EU. And Syria is signing an agreement with the EU.(……)

9. Print your final copy and read it again to catch any oversights

10. A Sample Abstract (1) • Syrian Agricultural Trade 2003 illustrates the evolution of world and Syrian trade in line with the increasing economic and social interdependency among countries brought about by global market liberalization. • It intends to be a source of information and a tool for decision makers to consolidate Syria’s internal reform process, increase its outward orientation, build up a network of bilateral and multilateral agreements, promote trade liberalization and, thus, accelerate the country’s economic development

11. A Sample Abstract (2) • The first two chapters focus on general and agricultural world trade and related policies, hinting at the experience of the EU and the USA. The third chapter analyzes Syrian agro-food trade trends in the light of three main key dimensions: time, space and product. It also identifies the country’s new agricultural trade partners and traces a classification of the most suitable products for export. The report also provides variables and indicators allowing to asses the adaptation of Syrian products to world demand changes and to measure the degree of exports diversification. The fourth chapter reviews recent changes in institutions and policies as well as negotiation and implementation of preferential agreements of relevance for agricultural trade. • A special chapter is devoted to the description of the rules governing the accession process to the WTO. This information is meant to provide technical background to Syria’s request of adhesion to the organization and to be functional to a further progression of the country’s integration into the global trading system.