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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/48271
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/48271
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

 **The abstract** is a short description of the paper as a whole: e.g. with one or two sentences each:

- The specific area of interest your problem lies in

- The specific problem in that area your paper will address

- What your contribution is that will help this

- The results of your contribution. 

All four of these together should take no more than about a quarter page, they are a brief description with enough detail so a researcher can decide if they should read the details.

**The introduction** is a more detailed introduction to both the problem and your method of solution. You need to demonstrate it IS a problem, preferably by citing statistics or something, and citations to show how others have addressed it, or solved it. Then a more detailed overview (more detailed than the abstract) of your approach and how this differs from previous approaches.

**The Body** (which may include multiple parts, the setup, the experiments, the results of the experiments, etc) is all the gritty details a reader would need to duplicate your approach for themselves, do the experiments, and see the results you have produced. Typically this is "streamlined" for compactness, we don't include or mention _failed_ approaches, mistakes, dead-ends or dumb mistakes, just the exact path we found to success. This is not intended to entertain, it is not a chummy letter between friends, it is an official report of work accomplished.

**The conclusion** is a recap of just your results, what you believe you have proven ("We have demonstrated that protocols X, Y and Z applied in this order can improve crop yield by 15% to 25%"), and often a statement of **future work** that you intend to do or others might do to extend your research.

Original score: 5