What is the difference between abstract and conclusion?

When we write reports for our work, we often confused between the two.

5 years ago

European Patent Office (EPO) Netherlands

from what I have been taught, abstract is a short summary of the entire paper.

A good conclusion is quite tricky. It should not be a just a summary. One can briefly summarise what has been done but the core of a good conclusion should be what it means for now, for future... It is the added value of the paper where a scientist can show off. If I exaggerate most experiments can be done by a anyone with basic science skills. Good scientist however can interpret the data and explain what they mean.

5 years ago

Vit Sipal

European Patent Office (EPO) Netherlands

from what I have been taught, abstract is a short summary of the entire paper.

5 years ago

Hassan Barakat

Qassim University

I agree with you>>> a good conclusion it is not easy to write and it the most important part that could relate the article with the previous articles and further work taking out the recommendation of the current study.

4 years ago

Manish Garg

The London School of Economics and Political Science

Apart from being a good summary, abstract should be written in a way so that it awakens interest. Forces the reader to go through. Some 'abstractness'of thought help in achieving this objective.

The purpose of conclusion is slightly different. While reflecting on what has been written, it opens possibilities for the future. It may notice the limitations of the research, if any.

3 years ago

Mouhammd Alkasassbeh

Princess Sumaya University for Technology

the abstract is placed at the beginning which means one thing which it how to hook the readers. on the other hand,the conclusion, is mixed between what you did and what you will do.

Deleted profile

The abstract is a marketing issue so it should cover motivations and best results. The conclusion section is very similar to the abstract, it includes what you did, all results and perspectives.

3 years ago

Akinbode A. Adedeji

University of Kentucky

Abstract is what the readers see first - it should give an overview of what the study was about, the objective and justification (if space would allow) in brief, the methods, the results obtained and the conclusion made; while the actual conclusion should give your study a perspective - what results did you obtain with respect to the hypothesis you started with; state why you have the results you have; what are the key highlights of the study, and what are next steps or future study that can be done.

a year ago

Emad M. Abdallah

Qassim University

Abstract= what is your results?

Conclusion=what is the the value of this study?

Please let me know if these brief definitions is correct or not!

Many thanks

a year ago

Michael W. Marek

Wayne State College

An abstract should be a brief exeutive summary of the entire paper, including problem statement, a very brief summary of the methodoloty, and a preview of the findings and conclusions. Often a journal allows only a few hundred words to accomplish this. But the goal of the abstract is to stimulate enough interest to get people to read the entire paper.

The conclusion to your paper is at the very end, where you restate the value of your research.

But do not confuse "Conclusion" with "Conclusions." The Conclusions section is part of your discussion and it is where you explain the implications of your findings, or recommendnations for practice.

6 months ago

Furaha Chuma

The Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology

Normally an abstract is written at the beginning of a paper to explain briefly a summary of a paper right from the topic of a subject matter, methods and the findings while the conclusion explains the achievable results and the their applications to the entire world.

6 months ago

Esava Cabenalevu

University of the South Pacific

An abstract will tell the reader of any academic writing what will be argued, investigated or compared in the essay and this is normally placed at the beginning of any writing. As for the conclusion, it will show the results or the answer(s) to the argument, investigation or comparison stated in the abstract.