What is an Abstract?

The abstract is a brief summary of a paper used to tell a potential reader what to expect. This abstract should not have quotations from other sources, rather it should cover the paper's purpose as well as offering a brief summary of its conclusions. According to the APA style guide, student papers only need abstracts if required by a professor. 

APA Abstract Formatting

• The top of the page should have Abstract centered and bolded.
• The abstract should be written as a single paragraph and double-spaced.
• Do not indent the abstract paragraph.
• The abstract should be no more than 250 words. 
• At the end of your abstract, you can add a few keywords that apply to your paper.
• Keywords go in a new paragraph, indented. 
• Write Keywords in italics, add a colon, then list your keywords with a comma between each word. 
  • Keywords: example, words, formatting

For your paper, your abstract does not need to be more than 4-5 sentences long.

1. Position your cursor at the bottom of your title page, then go to the insert tab, click pages, and add a blank page.
2. Make sure your new page is set to double-spaced text.
3. Type Abstract and center your text.
4. Type your abstract beginning on the next line, without indenting to begin writing. Your abstract should be all one paragraph.
5. At the bottom of your abstract, hit enter, then write "Keywords" in italics with a colon (:) at the end. 
6. Choose a few keywords that fit your paper and list them with a comma after each one. 

Keywords: careers, librarian