An abstract is a brief, comprehensive summary of the contents of the paper or master's thesis.
Abstracts should range between 150 and 250 words. Place the abstract on its own page after the title page (i.e., page 2). Write the heading “Abstract” in bold, centered at the top of the page, and place the abstract below the heading.
Abstracts are written as a single paragraph without indentation of the first line.
Keywords are words, phrases, or acronyms that describe the most important aspects of your paper or master's thesis. They are used for indexing in databases and help readers find your work during a search. Keywords address essential paper or thesis elements, such as the following: research topic; population; method; application of results or findings.
Write the label “Keywords:” (in italics) one line below the abstract, indented 0.5 in. like a regular paragraph, followed by the keywords in lowercase (but capitalize proper nouns), separated by commas. The keywords can be listed in any order. Do not use a period or other punctuation after the last keyword. If the keywords run onto a second line, the second line is not indented.
Adapted from American Psychological Association publication manual (7th ed.).