So you want to answer the Call for Papers? It includes suggestions for the content and presentation of the abstract, in addition to examples of the best abstracts submitted to the 2012-2013 selection that is abstract when it comes to ninth annual new york State University graduate student history conference.
Typically, an abstract describes the subject you’d like to present in the conference, highlighting your argument, evidence and contribution into the historical literature. It is almost always limited to 250-500 words. The term limit could be challenging: some graduate students usually do not fret throughout the short limit and hastily write and submit an abstract during the eleventh hour, which frequently hurts their chances of being accepted; other students attempt to condense the Next Great American Novel into 250 words, that could be equally damning. Graduate students who approach the abstract early, plan accordingly, and carefully edit are the ones most frequently invited to provide their research. For those who are intimidated by the project, don’t be – the abstract is a form that is fairly standardized of. Follow the guidelines that are basic and avoid common pitfalls and you will greatly boost your abstract.
Diligently follow all abstract style and formatting guidelines. Most CFPs will specify page or word length, as well as perhaps some layout or style guidelines. Some CFPs, however, will list very specific restrictions, including font, font size, spacing, text justification, margins, how to present quotes, how to present authors and works, whether or not to include footnotes or perhaps not. Make sure that you strictly stay glued to all guidelines, including submission instructions. If a CFP will not provide style that is abstract formatting guidelines, it is generally appropriate to stay around 250 words – abstract committees read many of these things and never look fondly on comparatively long abstracts. Be sure that you orient your topic that is abstract to any specific CFP themes, time periods, methods, and/or buzzwords.
Be Concise
With a 250-500 word limit, write only what is necessary, avoiding wordiness. Use active voice and pay attention to excessive prepositional phrasing.
Plan your abstract carefully before writing it. A abstract that is good address listed here questions: what’s the historical question or problem? Contextualize your topic. What is your thesis/argument? It ought to be original. What exactly is your evidence? State forthrightly that you will be using source material that is primary. How does your paper squeeze into the historiography? What are you doing in the area of study and how does your paper subscribe to it? How come it matter? We know the subject is very important for you, why should it be vital that you the selection committee that is abstract?
You ought to be as specific that you can, avoiding overly broad or overreaching statements and claims. And that’s it: don’t get sidetracked by writing too much narrative or over explaining. Say what you need to say and nothing more.
Keep your audience in your mind. How much background you give on a topic is determined by the conference. Is the conference a general humanities conference, a general graduate student history conference, or something like that more specific like a 1960s social revolutions conference? Your pitch ought to be suited to the essay writers specificity regarding the conference: the more specific the topic, the less broad background you have to give and vice versa.
Revise and edit your abstract to ensure its presentation that is final is free. The editing phase is also the time that is best to see your abstract as a whole and chip away at unnecessary words or phrases. The final draft should be linear and clear plus it should read smoothly. If you’re tripping over something while reading, the selection that is abstract will as well. Ask another graduate student to read your abstract to ensure its clarity or attend a Graduate Student Writing Group meeting.
Your language must be professional along with your style should abide by academic standards. Contractions may be appealing due to the word limits, nonetheless they should always be avoided. If citation guidelines are not specifically given, it is appropriate to use the name that is author’s title of work (in a choice of italics or quotation marks) in the text rather than use footnotes or in-text citations.
Misusing Questions
While one question, if really good, can be posed in your abstract, you need to avoid writing one or more (maybe two, if really really good). That you either answer it or address why the question matters to your conference paper – unless you are posing an obvious rhetorical question, you should never just let a question hang there if you do pose a question or two, make sure. A lot of questions takes up an excessive amount of space and leaves less room if you are going to address one or all in your paper and if you even know the answers to them for you to develop your argument, methods, evidence, historiography, etc. Often times, posing too many questions leaves the abstract committee wondering. Remember, you’re not likely to have previously written your conference paper, however you are anticipated to own done enough research that you can adequately cover in 15-20 minutes that you are prepared to write about a specific topic. Demonstrate that you have inked so.
Language that can help you be as specific as you possibly can in presenting your argument is fantastic but don’t get your readers bogged down in jargon. They’ll certainly be reading plenty of abstracts and will not would you like to wade through the unnecessary language. Ensure that it it is simple.
When students repeat claims, they often don’t realize these are generally doing so. Sometimes this happens because students are not yet clear on the argument. Contemplate it some more and then write. In other cases, students write carelessly and do not proofread. Make sure each sentence is unique and that it contributes to the flow of one’s abstract.
The committee that is abstract not require to be reminded of the grand sweep of history so that you can contextualize your topic. Place your topic specifically within the historiography.
The samples below represent the five highest scoring samples submitted to the selection committee when it comes to ninth annual graduate student history conference, 2012-2013. Two associated with samples below were subsequently selected for publication into the NC State Graduate Journal of History. Outstanding papers presented in the graduate student history conference are suitable for publication by panel commentators. Papers go through a review that is peer before publication.