IPATH Pop-Up Workshop
How to Write a Scientific Abstract
This workshop is led by Jacob Alhassan, PhD, IPATH Board of Directors.
This workshop is led by Jacob Alhassan, PhD, IPATH Board of Directors.
How to Write a GREAT Abstract for Your Academic Manuscript
- Background and Research Question(s) - In one or two sentences, give the reader a broad understanding of the background information for your study, and how your paper will contribute to a particular field. You may want to explicitly include your research question (Also known as the Study Objective.) in this section; make sure it is concise and to-the-point!
- Theoretical or Conceptual Framework - The readers should understand the epistemological and theoretical approach to your research problem. In one or two sentences, outline the theoretical or conceptual framework.
- Research Design and Methodology - Your abstract should include an outline of HOW your study was conducted. This includes a short description of your research design and methodology: sample size, methods for analysis, and the duration of the study. DO NOT mention specific details such as WHAT statistical software was used for analysis or include citations.
- Results - The results section should be the longest section of your abstract. In three to six sentences, describe the key findings of your study. Clearly describe, in detail, HOW your results answer your research questions(s) and remember to report negative findings. If relevant, be sure to include p-values, and confidence intervals for all statistical tests.
- Implications/Conclusions - In one to two sentences, describe the key points regarding the implications of your study for the academic field or the community impacted by your research.
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Below are the reference documents from the workshop. ![]()
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IPATH Annual Meeting Research Abstract Requirements
- Research abstracts are limited to 400 words.
- All abstracts should describe a real-world study/intervention as opposed to a literature review and a hypothetical application. This means there MUST be a scientific investigation conducted.
- DO NOT include citations, graphs, tables or abbreviations.
- The abstract is REQUIRED to show the human health impacts as it relates to quality of life, health outcomes, or well-being.
- The abstract should be organized with the following headings:
- Background - General description and study objective.
- Methods - A detailed description of HOW the research was conducted, the methods used to conduct the research study, or the community involved.
- Results - The results section must include a formal statistical analysis of quantitative or qualitative research investigation (where appropriate). Hence, robust results should be presented. For quantitative studies, this would usually mean including statistics, such as confidence intervals.
- Conclusions - The conclusions should support the results.

Jacob Albin Korem Alhassan, MSc., MSc., PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, College of Medicine
University of Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan, Canada
Jacob is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan. He is trained in health administration, public policy, area studies and population health from the universities of Ghana (Ghana), Durham (UK), Oxford (UK) and Saskatchewan (Canada). Jacob is an interdisciplinary activist scholar interested in how transport policies produce health inequities and the political aspects of transportation related public policy. He is interested in transport accessibility, safety and equity particularly in rural and remote contexts. Jacob has also worked on the role of intersectoral collaboration in promoting active transportation in urban contexts in Canada. His work is heavily focused on influencing transportation policy to promote accessibility and equity and has involved consultation and engagement with governments (federal, provincial and municipal), civil society organizations and marginalized communities.
Assistant Professor
Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, College of Medicine
University of Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan, Canada
Jacob is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan. He is trained in health administration, public policy, area studies and population health from the universities of Ghana (Ghana), Durham (UK), Oxford (UK) and Saskatchewan (Canada). Jacob is an interdisciplinary activist scholar interested in how transport policies produce health inequities and the political aspects of transportation related public policy. He is interested in transport accessibility, safety and equity particularly in rural and remote contexts. Jacob has also worked on the role of intersectoral collaboration in promoting active transportation in urban contexts in Canada. His work is heavily focused on influencing transportation policy to promote accessibility and equity and has involved consultation and engagement with governments (federal, provincial and municipal), civil society organizations and marginalized communities.