The abstract is a brief overview of the project. It should not be more than one page and 350 words and should include the project title, a statement of the purpose, a hypothesis, a brief description of the procedure, and the results. A copy of the abstract must be submitted through BOSEPO registration system. 

The science fair project abstract appears at the beginning of the research paper as well as on your display board. Also, it is a good idea to have copies in the form of fliers available for judges at your display. This gives judges something to refer to when making final decisions.

Almost all scientists and engineers agree that an abstract should have the following five pieces:

1. Purpose of the experiment/investigation 

• An introductory statement of the reason for choosing and doing this topic. This is where you describe the purpose for doing your science fair project or invention. You have to tell readers why they should care about the work you did.

• Motivate the reader to finish the abstract and read the entire paper or display board.
  
  

2. Hypothesis or problem

• State the problem you solved or the hypothesis you investigated.
  
  

3. Procedures used

• Summarise the key points of how the investigation was conducted.

• Do not give details about the materials used.

• Do describe the most important variables if you have room.
  
  

4. Observation/data/results

• This section should provide key results that lead directly to drawing conclusions. What answer did you obtain?  

• Be specific and use numbers to describe your results. Do not use vague terms like "most" or "some."
  
  

5. Conclusions

• Conclusions should be described briefly.  State what your project or invention contributes to the area you worked in. Did you meet your objectives? For an engineering project state whether you met your design criteria.

• State some applications and extensions of the research project.
  
  

Since an abstract is so short, each section is usually only one or two sentences long. 

A list of 4-5 keywords should be included at the end.

• Avoid jargon or any technical terms that most readers won't understand.

• Avoid abbreviations or acronyms that are not commonly understood unless you describe what they mean.

• Abstracts do not have a bibliography or citations.

• Abstracts do not contain tables or graphs.

• The abstract must focus on the previous 12 months' research (or less), and give only minimal reference to any earlier work.

• If you are working with a scientist or mentor, your abstract should only include procedures done by you, and you should not put acknowledgments to anyone in your abstract.

• Most authors agree that it is harder to write a short description of something than a long one. Here's a tip: for your first draft, don't be overly concerned about the length. Just make sure you include all the key information. 

• Then take your draft and start crossing out words, phrases, and sentences that are less important than others. Look for places where you can combine sentences in ways that shorten the total length. 

• Put it aside for a while, then come back and re-read your draft. With a fresh eye, you'll probably find new places to cut. Before you know it you will have a tightly written abstract.