An abstract is a summary of a research or a review article and includes critical information, including a complete reference to the work, its purpose, methods used, conclusions reached, and implications. For example, here is one such abstract from the Journal of Black Psychology authored by Timo Wandert from the University of Mainz, published in 2009 and titled “Black German Identities: Validating the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity.”

All the above-mentioned elements are included in this abstract: the purpose, a brief review of important ideas to put the purpose into a context, the methods, the results, and the implications of the results.