The art of writing successful research abstracts.

Successful dissemination of your research requires planning. Your abstract is a succinct presentation of a portion of your research specifically designed to capture the attention of the audience you have chosen. The art of writing a successful abstract involves planning, like any other work of art, and is accomplished in stages. This article provides pointers for dissemination of research, describes the stages involved in writing competitive abstracts, and suggests alternative approaches to writing abstracts.