An abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, conference proceeding, or any in-depth analysis of a particular subject). It is often used to help the reader quickly ascertain the papers purpose and serves multiple purposes such as letting readers get the gist or essence of the paper or article quickly, in order to decide whether to read the full paper, preparing readers to follow the detailed information, analyses, and arguments in the full paper, and helping readers remember key points from the paper. An abstract should be concise, usually about a paragraph long, and should contain the most important key words referring to method and content. It should express the thesis or central idea and the key points of the paper, and suggest any implications or applications of the research discussed in the paper. An abstract should be intelligible on its own, without a reader’s having to read the entire paper. It should be the last thing that is written, once the conclusions of the paper are clear.