Use of Abstracts

Application of abstracts is very wide in modern practice of publication. Every primary scientific document (a journal article, a paper for a conference, a scientific research re­port, etc.) should include an abstract which goes after the title and the name of the author and is used to classify papers for different informational purposes and for a quick identifi­cation of its content as well.

Abstracts can be published separately, or apart the ori­ginal paper by secondary services publishing information about the primary literature like the journal “Mathematical Review” or in proceedings of international conferences or con­gresses, i. e. specialized editions containing abstracts of the authors' contributions submitted to a conference.

Abstracts should not be confused with related but distinct terms used for different purposes: annotation, extract, summary and précis.

An annotation is a note added to the title or other bib­liographic information of a document by way of comment or ex­planation. One annotates a text when one furnishes it with critical, historical or explanatory notes (as footnotes, mar­ginal notes, or notes in an appendix). The subject of annota­tion may be any word, passage, or detail which is capable of being explained to the advantage of the reader.

An extract is used to signify one or more portions of a text selected to represent the whole.

A summary is a restatement within a scientific text (usu­ally at the end) of its important findings and conclusions and is intended to complete the orientation of the reader who has studied the preceding text. Since other vital portions of document (e. g. purpose, methods) are not usually condensed in a summary, the term should not be used synonymously with an abstract.

A précis applies to any brief clear-cut statement of essential facts, points, details, or the like. In school use it applies to a concise restatement made by a student in part in his own words (often as an exercise in composition) of the main ideas of a lecture, a book, a poem, a text assigned for colla­teral readings. In general use the term may apply to an abstract.

The term “abstract” is preferable to signify an abbreviated, accurate and condensed representation of a scientific document.

Types of Abstracts

To meet the interests of different readers (users of scien­tific and technical literature) and to specify the intentions of the authors abstracts can be successfully iden­tified either as indicative or informative according to the manner of the presentation of the material and the degree of the compression used for each type of an abstract respectively.

1. Indicative Abstracts. The function of an indicative abstract is to permit the reader to decide whether the article would be of value or in­terest to him, to bring his attention to the original paper. The indicative abstract is designed to tell the reader what subjects he will find in the article - to act as a guide to the article, not as a substitute for it. The typical length of the indicative abstract varies from 100 (or even less) up to 250 words and depends on the publishers' requirements.

2. Informative Abstracts. The function of an informative abstract is to provide the reader with the basic information of the article. The informative abstract is designed to give the reader important data from the original, providing sufficient details of quantitative and quali­tative information, and can substitute the primary document to some extent. The informative abstract is longer than the indica­tive one and may contain up to 500 words. Practically its length is limited by the publishers' requirements. It is more likely for the informative abstract to be published apart the original paper. It is intended for the use of the reader who does not access to or cannot use the original.