An abstract should provide enough of a preview that a typical reader will know whether or not they wish to read the paper. It should reveal both the purpose and conclusions of the paper.
Introduction
The purpose of the introduction
Most academic introductions follow an ‘inverted pyramid’ structure: they start broad and narrow down to a specific thesis or research question. The introduction should reveal:
- some broad knowledge of the overall topic
- references to related and prior work in the field of investigation
- succinct overview of the major point of the paper