How to Write an Abstract in Linguistics: Useful Resources
Aus aktuellem Anlass, like they say in German: A friend of mine is writing her first abstract (yeeyyy), asked for some advice, and I sent her a few links collected these past few years.
Nothing from me here: I am only pointing to useful resources. Please share yours as well!
- The model abstracts of the Linguistic Society of America not only tell you what to do but how to do it on the basis of commented examples.
- The suggested outline for abstracts (scroll down to “Abstract Contents”) published by the LSA for its 2014 conference also gives useful tips.
- The guidelines for writing abstracts written by Johan Rooryck and Vincent van Heuven after
consultation of the Linguist List are available on the website of the 52th meeting of the Societas Linguistica Europaea (SLE 2019). [edit 24.10.2022: The link leads to another page and I cannot find the original one anymore]
- The document Writing linguistic abstracts by Maggie Tellermann is very helpful, too! [edit 24.10.2022: The link is broken, if anyone knows where to find the document, please drop me an email!]
Once your abstract has been accepted, celebrate, get some rest, and then check the LSA Paper Guidelines.
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Naomi Truan (January 7, 2021). How to Write an Abstract in Linguistics: Useful Resources. Ici et là. Retrieved March 17, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/psmd

Hello Naomi. I believe this (Maggie Tallerman) is the document you were looking for and recommended: https://dl.icdst.org/pdfs/files/c4f705620b45638e8752826731b0598d.pdf
Great, thanks a lot, that’s it!
Hello! May I please have a copy of the following? I teach a graduate research seminar at the National University of Singapore, and I’d like to use it in my class. Thanks! Mie
>The document Writing linguistic abstracts by Maggie Tellermann is very helpful, too! [edit 24.10.2022: The link is broken, if anyone knows where to find the document, please drop me an email!]
Hi Mie, I am not the owner of this document, and I am precisely asking for it in the blog post. If you find it, please let me know, I’ll repost it here 🙂