# How to write an abstract

An abstract is the question, the method, the result, and the limit. It is not the introduction copied short.

Four sentences are enough. What you asked. What you did. What you found, with the number. What the number does not support. If you do not have the number, do not invent one.

## Steps

1. **Question.** One sentence. The same question as the protocol.

2. **Method.** Design, people, and what you measured.

3. **Result.** The number, with the unit. No adjective in place of the number.

4. **Limit.** What the study cannot say. One sentence.

## ScholarIQ at this step

A paper page on this site shows the abstract only when OpenAlex has one. A blank abstract is unknown, not a summary we wrote. ScholarIQ does not rewrite the author's abstract.

## How long does this take for one person?

Count the records first. An abstract is the question, the method, the result, and the limit. It is not the introduction copied short. The time follows the count, not the size of a team.

## What do I write down before I stop?

The rule, the date, and the count. Four sentences are enough. What you asked. What you did. What you found, with the number. What the number does not support. If you do not have the number, do not invent one.

## Do I need a second reviewer?

Not to start. ScholarIQ does not score a second reviewer. If the protocol asks for dual review, a second person sees the same record.

## What is the usual error?

A file with no reason. Four sentences are enough. What you asked. What you did. What you found, with the number. What the number does not support. If you do not have the number, do not invent one.

## How do I know this step is done?

The count matches the records. If a flow-diagram box would not match, the step is not done.

## What goes in the methods?

The rule, the date, and the count. A reader must be able to open the same record.

## Can I skip this step?

No, if you will call the work a systematic review. If you skip it, write what you did. Do not hide the gap.

## What if I cannot finish?

Stop. Write how far you got. Records you did not screen are not exclusions.

## What does a supervisor check?

The rule, a sample of decisions, and the passage.

## What is outside this step?

A guideline panel, a CRO, and a GRADE meeting. A paper page on this site shows the abstract only when OpenAlex has one. A blank abstract is unknown, not a summary we wrote. ScholarIQ does not rewrite the author's abstract.