Preparing Your Abstract

Abstract

***You must use the provided template for uploading your project abstract. Download this template here!***

An abstract describes your project and the context for it in a way that is understandable for an audience of your academic peers. SOURCE abstracts are limited to 250 words or fewer. The content of the abstract varies somewhat depending on your discipline, and a good first step in writing your own abstract is to look for good examples in your own discipline - your faculty mentor can help you with this step. In addition, check out some abstracts from recent SOURCE presentations.

In general, all abstracts include the following:

• Quick tips on How to Write an Abstract.
• Motivation or problem statement: What is the problem you are addressing, and why does your discipline care about it? What practical, scientific or theoretical gap is your work filling? 
• Description of methods/procedure/approach: What did you do to address this problem, or to get your results? (e.g. analyzed historical documents, explored abstract expressionism through collage and other media, interviewed 17 students, conducted a set of experiments) 
• Description of results/findings/product: As a result of the above method, procedure, or approach, what did you learn/invent/create? If you are still completing your project, it is acceptable to describe preliminary or expected findings. 
• Conclusion/implications: How does what you've done address the problem or gap you identified at the beginning? What are the larger implications of your findings? 

Give yourself plenty of time to write your abstract and get feedback from your mentor, especially if this is the first time you've written one. It takes time to write a good abstract. Get feedback from your faculty mentor BEFORE you make your final submission. 

Final abstract must be 250 words or fewer.

Artist Statement

***You must use the provided template for uploading your artist statement. Download this template here!***

An Artist statement plays an important part in the presentation of your work. It should be personal and specific to your work and written using language that will be approachable for audiences with varying levels of art knowledge and experience.

Here are some other guidelines that may be helpful: 

• Quick tips on How to Write an Abstract/Creative Explanation
• Information about your specific piece of work: What is it, what did you use to create it? 
• Tell us about your inspiration: What inspired you to create this specific piece? Is there a story behind it? 
• Tell us about your process: What were the steps you took to create the piece? Was it done in phases or all at once? 
• How did you prepare: Tell us about how your education, coursework and personal experiences helped prepare you for and/or influenced this project. 

Again, work with your faculty mentor to prepare your artist statement and get feedback from them prior to submitting your project registration.

Final statements must be 250 words or fewer.

Project Explanation/Description

***You must use the provided template for uploading your project description. Download this template here!***

If an artist statement or abstract is not appropriate for your specific project, you may submit a project explanation.

Here are some suggestions for what to include: 

• Quick tips on How to Write an Abstract/Creative Explanation
• Information about your project: What is it, and what does it involve? 
• Inspiration, motivation, or problem statement: Why did you decide to do this particular project? If it is intended to address a gap in knowledge or practice, what is that gap and how does your project address it? 
• Tell us about your process: How did you put your project together? What materials did you use? Were any research methods or specific practices involved? 
• How did you prepare: Tell us about how your education, coursework and personal experiences helped prepare you for and/or influenced this project. 

As we've mentioned before, be sure to work with your faculty mentor to prepare your project explanation and get feedback from them prior to submitting your project registration.

Final explanation/descriptions must be 250 words or fewer.