An APA (American Psychological Association) abstract page is one of the four major parts of an APA style paper. While an abstract is usually a short document, it usually contains a considerable amount of information. This is because an abstract is tasked with summarizing all the main points of a paper, the underlying research questions, the research itself and its conclusions. A sample of an APA
. abstract page should contain a summary of the main points or argument in a paper, which back up the thesis. The APA abstract page is written very similarly to an introduction of an MLA (Modern Language Association)format paper. The only difference between the two papers is the fact that an APA abstract page contains more of a description of what the paper is going to be about, rather than introducing the paper to the reading audience. Additionally, an APA abstract should appear on its own page in a certain format.The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) offers its readers a thorough, reliable and constantly updated information on APA style, including the format guidelines, tips and samples. The sample that OWL offers its visitors is located at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01. The sample follows a description of what an APA style abstract contains and how it should be formatted. According to this source, an abstract page should begin with the header that is used throughout the entire paper, and the first line should have the word abstract centered. The body of the abstract should follow on the next line without an indentation. The body of the abstract should contain a succinct and concise summary of the entire paper, including the original research question, the content of the research performed, the methodology used by researchers, the conclusions of the research and an analysis of the results. This source also advises that some writers may want to include a list of keywords from the paper at the end of the abstract. More reference links: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ http://www.docstoc.com/docs/12615231/APA-Sample-Breastfeeding-Abstract
