The Hebrew University

The Annual Graduate Conference in Political Science,

International Relations and Public Policy
In memory of the late Itzhak Rabin

Tips on how to write an abstract for the seminar

1. Opening: This will be your most important line: "This lecture deals with" rework
and polish this sentence. It's your paper's and abstract's business card.
2. Main argument: "The main point of this lecture is..."
3. Innovation: Mention explicitly what is the main contribution of your paper. Is it
innovative with its theory? Practice? Methodology?
4. Theory: Position the article in the scientific discourse. If you are not tight on space,
you may want to add relevant references.
5. Methodology: Tell us how you executed your research. Is it
Empiric/comparative/Quantitative/Qualitative? Briefly summarize the main stages
and components (for instance: "300 newspaper items were surveyed" or "The data
was taken from X database"). In some instances there is no point discussing
methodology. For example, in a purely theoretical paper.
6. Interest: Try to incorporate somewhere in the article something humorous, witty,
sophisticated or interesting. Don't overdo it, but don't leave the reader with a "dry"
piece either. If you suspect the gimmick might not go over well, or that it may even
cause resentment, you'd better not risk it. The title could be a good place to insert a
word game or double meaning.
7. Leave the abstract for a couple of days and then go back and read it with a fresh eye,
as if someone who is not familiar with the paper was reading it. Don't think about
yourself and the thoughts you've had while writing it. Instead, consider that the
person reviewing your article has many more abstracts and papers to read, and he
may be bored, tired or distracted. Give him or her an abstract that is clear and to the
point. Let the reader understand in one read what your lecture is about.
8. When you finish, ask colleagues for their comments and feedback.

Just a Few more notes...

Firstly, these suggestions are for both beginning and experienced researchers who would
like to improve their abstract writing abilities. We find that there is a correlation between
well written abstracts and acceptance rates for conferences. A well written abstract reflects
the quality of the research behind it and enables the reader to understand what is the
paper's objective, what are its arguments, the way they are established and the paper's
over-all contribution to the professional discourse.

Secondly, the tips reflect writing and discussion techniques that are dominant in the social
science field in general, and in the political science field in particular. However, they do not
reflect all disciplines and are not necessarily best suited for every need. We advise
researchers to review them with a critical eye and decide whether they reflect the discourse
they belong to, or the one they would like to belong to.

Thirdly, these tips are for abstracts of about 350 words in English. If you are asked for a
longer abstract it is advisable to extend on those issues relating to the broader community
of readers or on the subjects in which the contribution of your article is most prominent.

Fourth, you should consider the style of your article. Generally speaking, the preference in
the social sciences is for a simple, clearly articulated argument, without complicated jargon.
This is an explicit guideline in some of the best journals in the field today. We can only agree
with this suggestion.

Best of luck!
Dr. Dalia Gavrieli-Nuri (Hadassah College(
Prof. David Levi-Faur (Hebrew University)
Prof. Samuel Lehman-Wilzig (Bar-Ilan University)