SAMPLE ABSTRACT OUTLINEAn abstract should briefly:• (Re)-establish the topic of the research project.• Give the research problem and/or main objective of the project (thisusually comes first).• Indicate the methodology used.• Present the main findings.• Present the main conclusionsSee suggestions below, but also visit the section “EXAMPLES” athttp://www.languages.ait.ac.th/el21abst.htm1. Word limit: An abstract (including a bibliography or examples, ifneeded) must be no more than 500 words. Please note the word count atthe bottom of the abstract. Except for the instructions given below, nospecial form or format is needed for this initial submission of theabstract.2. Title: At the top of the abstract, put the title.Many abstracts are rejected because they omit crucial information rather thanbecause of errors in what they include. A suggested outline for abstracts (500words max) is as follows:1. Choose a title that clearly indicates the topic of the paper and is no morethan one line long.2. State the problem or research question raised by prior work, with specificreference to relevant prior research.3. State the main point or argument of the proposed presentation.4. Cite sufficient data, and explain why and how they support the main pointor argument. Explain abbreviations at their first occurrence.Last updated: March 13, 085. If your paper presents the results of experiments, but collection of resultsis not yet complete, then report what results you have already obtained insufficient detail so that your abstract may be evaluated. Also indicate thenature of the experimental design and the specific hypothesis tested.6. State the relevance of your ideas to past work or to the future developmentof the field. Describe analyses in as much detail as possible. Avoid sayingin effect "a solution to this problem will be presented". If you are taking astand on a controversial issue, summarize the arguments that lead you toyour position.7. State the contribution to research made by the analysis.8. While citation in the text of the relevant literature is essential, a separatelist of references at the end of the abstract is not always unnecessary.Sampleabstracts#1— Area: LinguisticsExample of a “longish” abstractTowards an Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures (APiCS)[name omitted]Max Planck Institute, Leipzig, Germany [e-mail omitted]Creole studies have seen various attempts at explaining the grammatical features ofcreole languages. Different scholars have variously emphasized the role of substrates,superstrates, and universal features. Many of these claims have been stimulating, but theywere often based on a small amount of merely suggestive data. There have been a numberof earlier broadly comparative studies, e.g Ferraz (1987) for Portuguese-based creoles,Goodman (1964) for French-based creoles, Hancock (1987) for Atlantic English-basedcreoles. Holm & Patrick (to appear) (Comparative creole syntax (Battlebridge)) havebeen the first to carry out a collaborative project: different scholars have decribed 18creole languages with respect to 97 morphosyntactic features.In this paper, we would like to report on an even more ambitious project, the Atlas ofPidgin and Creole Language Structures (APiCS), which continues this line ofcollaborative comparative creole work.The goal of APiCS is to gather comparable synchronic data on the grammatical andlexical structures of a still larger number of contact languages, i.e. 60-80 pidgin andcreole languages. The data will be presented in the form of maps and as an interactiveelectronic database. A companion volume will contain sociohistorical and grammaticalsketches of each language. This publication will be a comprehensive and authoritativereference work on creole language structures bringing together the expertise of dozens ofcreolists from around the world. APiCS will thus serve as an invaluable tool for teachingand research, making systematic data on creole languages readily available for a widerange of research questions (diachronic theories of creolization, uniformity and diversityof creoles, general properties of language contact, typological characteristics of contactlanguages).The language set should contain not only the most widely studied Atlantic and IndianOcean creoles, but also less well known creoles from Africa, Asia, Melanesia, andAustralia. Each language will be the responsibility of a single author (or team of authors).On the maps, each language will be represented by a dot. The data base will consist of150-200 structural features which will be drawn from all areas of language structure:phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicon.APiCS will be published as a two-volume work: The first volume will contain thedescriptions of the structural features and the maps, while the second volume will consistof concise prose descriptions of the sociohistorical context of each language, as well assynchronic grammatical sketches highlighting the major distinguishing features. Inaddition, the first volume will be accompanied by a CD-ROM containing the database inelectronic form together with an interactive map-generating and search tool that willallow various research questions to be addressed. The electronic version will also containsound files: For each language users will be able to listen to a short spontaneous narrativetext that is glossed and translated.Even though the project is still in its initial phase, about 40 experts of particular pidginsand creoles have committed themselves to contributing to this ambitious collaborativework.#2— Area: Geography (mapping)Example of a “short” abstractSHALLOW WATER MAPPING OF THE HAWAIIAN EEZ[name omitted]University of Hawaii, Pacific Mapping ProgramHonolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A.[e-mail omitted]The principal objective of this paper is to demonstrate the capability in Hawaii to conductnear shore mapping, accurately and inexpensively. The availability in Hawaii of acommercial and technical service to provide shallow water seafloor maps and ocean bottomimaging will enable high-quality monitoring of waste dumps, outfalls and pipelines, and willcreate a successful service here and, most likely, throughout the Pacific. The various City andCounty units and State departments will make wide use of the new mapping and