Learn how to summarize your research for a scientific conference

Are you going to take part in an event and need to know how to summarize your research for a scientific conference? Let us explain.

The material is important because it’s through it that you’ll be able to present your work as a scientific abstract or in a paper.

How to summarize your research for a scientific conference

We’ve put together some tips for you to put into practice. Let’s go?!

1 – Be objective

When writing your abstract for submission to a scientific conference, remember that you need to be objective.

Conferences have very clear rules and most of them only accept abstracts between 200 and 500 words, i.e. there is a word limit. The same applies to papers. There is a page limit for submissions.

Be aware of this and be very concise!

So less is more! Be as succinct as possible, but without losing the quality of what you have to say. And when you write, start with what is most important in your work.

And what would be most important? Write about the aim of your research! Start the first phase of your summary with one of the sentences below:

• The aim of this work is to…
• The research aims to…
• The aim of this summary was…

Use information that catches the evaluator’s eye. Generally, evaluators receive a lot of research to evaluate and need to filter out the ones that can really add value. For example, out of 50 papers submitted, the evaluator will only qualify two or three abstracts.

So make the evaluator’s eyes light up with your text. Don’t make it just another piece of content sent in by interested students.

2 – What not to include and what to include

Don’t use acronyms or bibliographical references in your abstract. And if it’s an international conference, make the reference with a focus on the Brazilian context.

You need to locate yourself in time and space, right from the title of your paper, especially when it’s an international conference. Here are some examples:

• Soil analysis in northeastern Brazil between 2000 and 2010
• Climate change in Rio de Janeiro in 2016

3 – Pay attention to the conference theme

There are some excellent pieces of research, but they are rejected because their content has nothing to do with the theme of the event. A very common mistake made by those interested is to take the abstract of the dissertation – as it stands – and submit it to a scientific congress. This is a mistake!

You can pay for the dissertation abstract, check what it has to do with the theme of the event and write it up. That way, you’ll have a better chance of being approved.

Another factor is to carefully read the call for papers for the congress to see if your work is suitable. This is because there are calls for short courses, lectures and others. So, as well as scientific abstracts, you can submit your research in other ways. Take advantage of the opportunities!

Read the call for papers very carefully to check exactly what you can do.

4 – Translating the research

Another thing that many people overlook is translating the abstract into a foreign language. If you use Google translate, the evaluator will take one look and turn you down, no matter how amazing your work is. After all, you’ll be at a conference where the official language will be English or Spanish and you haven’t bothered to proofread it. So you won’t be able to take part.

Also be careful how the call for papers requires the abstract to be written. Some calls for proposals ask for a structured abstract, i.e. those that have to include: objective, methodology, good results and other elements.

Don’t send anything different from what is required in the call for proposals. Your research may be excellent, but it won’t be there at the event or program if it isn’t approved.

5 – Academic language

A scientific abstract is not a piece of science communication or science popularization. When you’re writing an abstract, there are a lot of technical terms that only people trained in your field understand and you don’t need to explain these words. Remember: less is more.

In short, don’t waste your time explaining something that is already common sense in that area or using jargon, for example.

6 – Persuasion

In your abstract, give voice and place to elements that show how innovative your research is and how different it is from anything else published today.

You’ll need to use persuasive language, because when you submit your article, you need to convince anyone who reads it that your research is important.

So use persuasion and show what sets you apart! ✨

+ Learn short phrases to include in the Professional Objective

Other precautions when summarize research for a scientific conference

summarize research for a scientific conference

Here are some more tips that may be useful in your academic journey:

• Don’t copy and paste the abstract of your dissertation;
• Some congresses require the full original article;
• Some events may charge for unpublished material, so be careful about sending content that has already been published in journals.
• A final tip is not to leave it to the last minute. When it comes to submission, set aside a day just for this. There are usually a lot of forms to fill in and this takes time.

In addition, other factors can interfere, such as a slow internet connection, difficult page loading and so on.

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