Unit 6. Academic article
6.1 Study the text below and answer the following questions: abstracts
A
bstract
is used in scientific or academic writing to summarize the major
content of a paper or a journal article.
An abstract communicates the scope of an academic paper, and, in doing so, it facilitates research. Abstracts help scientists to locate materials that are relevant to their research from among published papers, and many times scientists will only read a paper’s abstract in order to determine whether the paper will be relevant to them. Considering your audience and their needs will help you to determine what should be included in your abstract.
The most common type of abstract is the informative abstract. An informative abstract summarizes the key information from every major section in the body of the report, and provides the key facts and conclusions from the body of the report. A good way to develop an informative abstract is to devote a sentence or two to each of the major parts of the report. If space permits, you can provide contextual information such as background of the problem and the significance of the research, but you can also omit contextual information because the abstract is not supposed to serve as an introduction to the subject matter of the report—your introduction will serve that role. You can also omit citations for your sources in the abstract. If you summarize information that you borrowed from other writers, you do not have to repeat the citation in the informative abstract. You should, however, include key numerical facts to make the informative abstract brief. Readers will not be surprised to see numerical data in an informative abstract.
The abstract is a short summary of an article with a maximum length of 200 – 250 words. Most readers first scan the abstract in order to decide whether reading the rest of the article would be worthwhile. The abstract, therefore, serves as an important “window display” or “advertisement” for your work and provides an opportunity to impress the reader.
The research article abstract
The main problem with abstracts is that they are often so vaguely written that they do not grab the reader’s attention. One should always try to give the reader enough concrete information in an abstract to get them interested in your work.
An abstract of an academic article should include the following seven elements:
The abstract has to start with a brief theme sentence to orientate the reader about the overall issue addressed in the article. This sentence should grab the reader’s attention.
The abstract should then indicate the main aim or purpose of the study.
Next, the academic and/or practical importance of the study should be explained.
The methodology used in the study should also be briefly described.
The main findings of the study should be summarized.
A statement of conclusions should indicate the contribution made by the study in filling gaps in the literature.
Finally, the practical or managerial implications of the study’s findings should be highlighted where appropriate.
Also consider the following principles when writing the abstract:
Since the abstract is a summary of the article, nothing should be in it that it not also included in the main text.
An abstract is not an introduction. The article should be complete without the abstract. One way to ensure this is to write the abstract after you have completed the rest of the article.
The abstract is normally written as a single paragraph. It is self-contained (i.e., it should be understandable without requiring the reader to read something else).
The abstract should not contain any figures, tables or in-text references, just normal text. In-text references may, however, be included when one is replicating a previous study and this is specifically mentioned in the abstract.
Four main functions of an abstract can be recognized, three before reading and one after you have read it.
Before reading:
To summarize and highlight the main points so that the potential reader can decide whether to read the entire article or not.
It serves as a short version of the article for those who do not have time to read the whole text. It should, therefore, contain key facts, key phrases and conclusions.
To prepare the reader for reading the full text, to focus his/her attention on the direction of the argument and so give him/her an idea of what to expect.
After reading:
It is an aid to the reader’s memory after he has read the article. It is also serves as a reference.