Dear enthusiastic abstract authors, With the abstract submission deadline for the ECTS congress 2019 approaching (14 January 2019) here are some tips and tricks to increase the chances of your abstract being chosen for an oral presentation:
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- Structure your abstract to guide the reader through your research. Make sure transitions have a natural flow. Title
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- : Choose a specific, brief and conclusive title. Take time to think about it!
Introduction
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- : Highlight the importance of your scientific question placing it into context of a current knowledge gap. Describe the research aims or hypothesis of the study.
Methods
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- : Briefly describe methods used and data management.
Results
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- : Be succinct and draw attention to your most important findings. Be sure to include hard (numerical) data- an absolute pre-requisite for an oral presentation.
Conclusion
- : Be sure that your conclusions can be supported by the data presented and place your findings into perspective for future work.
- Stylistic advice: Remember the five C’s of abstract writing: Comprehensive, Concise, Clear, Cohesive and Catchy. Be concise and keep language simple and clear, while ensuring that there is a logical and coherent flow to the abstract. Explain all abbreviations and make sure that your information is comprehensible to a wide audience. Active verb forms disseminate your message better than nouns and passive voice!
- What to avoid: Stay clear of undefined hypotheses, poorly described methods, results without numerical data, and overstatements in conclusions! Read the abstract guidelines carefully to avoid any stylistics mistakes.
- The power of keywords: Use words your potential reviewers and audience may be looking for.
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Make your abstract an appealing means of promoting the originality of your project!
- Structure your abstract to guide the reader through your research. Make sure transitions have a natural flow. Title