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- Tom Lang, MA
- Tom Lang Communications
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- • Most important part of a
scientific article, after the
title:
- - Read more often than any part but the title
- - Often the only other part read
- • Must be understandable without reading the article
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- • Often physically separated from
the article
- • Usually does not contain tables, figures, or references
- • Often must meet word
limitations
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- • Abstracts help readers decide:
- - Whether to read an article
- - Whether to retrieve an
article
- - Whether to expect
publication
- of the full article
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- • Abstracts are NOT substitutes
for the article and should NOT be cited as references; they do not
contain enough information to evaluate the research
- • They can be cited in parentheses in the text
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- • Between 30% and 60% of
published abstracts are never followed by a complete scientific article
about the research!
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- • Descriptive (indicative) abstract
- • Informative abstract
- • Structured abstract
- • Meeting abstract (and posters)
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- • Describes or indicates the information in the article, does not
summarize it
- • Usually limited to 150 words
- • Not recommended for original
research articles but often necessary for review articles
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- VEGETARIAN DIETS AND WEIGHT
STATUS
- Vegetarian diets are associated with lower body weight, lower incidence
of certain chronic disease, and lower medical costs compared with
non-vegetarian diets. We reviewed the literature to learn the extent to
which and by what mechanism(s) a plant-based diet may affect body
weight.
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- • Most common type of abstract
- • Summarizes the information in the article
- • Consists of four parts: 1) introduction (purpose; background), 2) methods,
3) results, 4) conclusions
- • Usually limited to 150 to 200 words
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- LIFESTYLE CHANGES AND PROSTATE CANCER
- (PURPOSE) We evaluated the effects of lifestyle changes on prostate
specific antigen (PSA). (METHODS) 93 volunteers with serum PSA 4 to 10 ng/mL were randomly assigned to
make lifestyle changes or to a usual-care control group. (RESULTS) PSA
decreased 4% in the experimental group but increased 6% in the control
group (p = 0.016). (CONCLUSIONS) Intensive lifestyle changes may affect
the progression of early, low-grade prostate cancer in men.
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- • Summarize each part of an article under a separate heading:
- Background Patients Methods Results
- Purpose Setting Outcomes Conclusions
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- • Only the results and conclusions usually have complete sentences
(unlike other types of abstracts)
- • Usually limited to 250 words
- • Often required for articles reporting randomized controlled trials
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- INTENSIVE LIFESTYLE CHANGES FOR REVERSAL OF CORONARY HEART DISEASE
- Context: To determine the
feasibility of patients to sustain intensive lifestyle changes for 5
years.
- Design: Randomized controlled
trial.
- Patients: 98 patients with
moderate to severe coronary heart disease were assigned to a lifestyle
change group or to a control group.
- Intervention: Intensive lifestyle
changes (vegetarian diet, aerobic exercise) for 5 years.
- Main Outcome Measures: Adherence to intensive lifestyle changes.
- Results: 71% experimental
patients maintained comprehensive lifestyle changes for 5 years.
- Conclusions: Patients can
maintain lifestyle changes for long periods.
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- • Summarize research (not an article), often before it is finished
- • Published in conference
proceedings (as opposed to a journal) or presented as posters
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- • May be accompanied by lectures,
slides, or conversations (posters)
- • May contain figures, tables, and references (unlike other abstracts)
- • May have different space or word limits than publication abstracts
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- 1. Write the abstract after the article has been written
- 2. Highlight phrases and sentences in the article for inclusion
- 3. Sort phrases and sentences under headings of a structured abstract
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- 4. Use the headings as a checklist to help identify other needed
information
- 5. Describe the primary comparison; other results and conclusions need
not be mentioned
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- 6. Edit and shorten the text to the proper format
- 7. Check completed abstract against article for consistency of purpose,
results, and conclusions
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- Abstracts can be difficult to
write:
- • The act of clarifying
meaning may reveal incongruities in the article
- • Choosing the appropriate level
of detail can be difficult
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- Abstracts can be difficult to write:
- • Choosing information to include can be difficult
- • Writing must be concise to meet
word or space limits without loosing content
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- Prefer the active voice:
- Patients were saved by the
- treatment. è The
treatment
- saved patients.
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- 2. Avoid "empty" constructions:
- There were 53 patients enrolled in . . .
- In order to operate, . . .
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- 3. Avoid nominalizations:
- Patients receiving treatment è Treated patients (or patients treated with. . .)
- Stabilization of the neck can be done with. . . è Stabilize the neck with
. . .
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- 4. Choose stronger words:
- Prior to è Before
- Enzyme levels were
- lowered è declined
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- 5. Use numerals:
- Seventy-seven percent is è 77% is
- Four thousand are è 4,000 are
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- 6. Use plurals to eliminate
articles:
- The scan was è Scans were
- Each boy was given è
- Boys were given
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- 7. Use parallel comparisons:
- Patients who received therapy had a median life expectancy of 7 years,
compared to 2.3 years for those who did not receive therapy. [23 words] è Median life expectancy
was 7 years for treated patients and 2.3 years for untreated patients. [15
words]
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- 8. Remove prepositional phrases:
- Injuries to the spine è
- Spinal injuries
- One of the most important è
- An important
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- Shortening text without losing content, or including more content in the
same number of words, requires writers to think critically about both
science and language.
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Notes