Recommendations for writing an abstract (author’s summary) for scientific papers in a journal
An abstract (author’s summary) is a summary of a longer work of a scholarly nature.
The abstract can be published independently, isolated from the main text, and, therefore, should be understandable without reference to the publication itself.
From the paper abstract, the reader should be able to understand the essence of the research.
From the abstract, the reader should determine whether it is worth referring to the full text of the paper for more detailed information.
The abstract is the primary source of information in domestic and foreign information systems and databases indexing the journal.
The abstract is available on the journal’s website for public review on the Internet and indexed by network search engines.
The abstract in English is included in the English-language block of information about the paper, uploaded to the English-language journal website and prepared for foreign abstract databases and analytical systems (citation indexes).
The abstract should state the essential facts of the work and should not exaggerate or contain material absent in the main body of the publication.
An abstract structure that follows the paper’s structure and includes an introduction, aims and objectives, methods, results, and conclusion (findings) is welcomed.
However, the subject, topic, and aim of the work are indicated if they are unclear from the paper’s title; it is advisable to describe the method or methodology if they are new or of interest from the paper’s perspective.
The work results are described very accurately and informatively. The primary theoretical and experimental results, factual data, discovered relationships, and regularities are given with preference to new findings and data of long-term significance, important discoveries, conclusions that refute existing theories, and data that, in the author’s opinion, have practical value.
Conclusions may be accompanied by recommendations, evaluations, suggestions, and hypotheses described in the paper.
The information contained in the paper’s title should not be repeated in the abstract.
The abstract should not contain superfluous introductory phrases (for example, “the author of the paper considers…”), historical references (if they do not constitute the main content of the document), a description of the previously published works, and well-known provisions.
The abstract text should use syntactic structures, typical for the language of scientific and technical documents, and avoid complex grammatical constructions.
The text should use meaningful keywords from the paper’s text, be concise and clear, and be free of secondary information and general and insignificant formulations.
The text should be consistent, and separate statements should logically follow one another.
Abbreviations and symbols, except the commonly used ones, are applied in exceptional cases or with their transcripts and definitions for the first used in the abstract.
The abstract does not refer to the publication number in the paper’s references.
The publication content determines the abstract text volume (the amount of information, its scientific value, and/or practical importance); it should not be less than 100–250 words.
An example of the structured author’s summary from a foreign journal:
Purpose: Because of the large and continuous energetic requirements of brain function, neurometabolic dysfunction is a key pathophysiologic aspect of the epileptic brain. Additionally, neurometabolic dysfunction has many self-propagating features typical of epileptogenic processes, that is, where each occurrence makes the likelihood of further mitochondrial and energetic injury more probable. Thus, abnormal neurometabolism may be not only a chronic accompaniment of the epileptic brain, but also a direct contributor to epileptogenesis. Methods: We examined the evidence for neurometabolic dysfunction in epilepsy, integrating human studies of metabolic imaging, electrophysiology, microdialysis, as well as intracranial EEG and neuropathology. Results: As an approach of noninvasive functional imaging, quantitative magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) measure abnormalities of mitochondrial and energetic dysfunction (via 1H or 31P spectroscopy) are related to several pathophysiologic indices of epileptic dysfunction. With patients undergoing hippocampal resection, intraoperative 13C-glucose turnover studies show a profound decrease in neurotransmitter (glutamate-glutamine) cycling relative to oxidation in the sclerotic hippocampus. Increased extracellular glutamate (which has long been associated with increased seizure likelihood) is significantly linked with declining energetics as measured by 31P MR, as well as with increased EEG measures of Teager energy, further arguing for a direct role of glutamate inhyperexcitability. Discussion: Given the important contribution that metabolic performance makes toward excitability in the brain, it is not surprising that numerous aspects of mitochondrial and energetic states link significantly with electrophysiologic and microdialysis measures in human epilepsy. This may be of particular relevance to the self-propagating nature of mitochondrial injury, but may also help define the conditions for which interventions may be developed. © 2008 International League Against Epilepsy.
Another example of the abstract for the paper entitled “The Influence of High-Level Values on Brand Preferences of Student Youth”.
ABSTRACT
Purpose — Student youth make up a significant share of global consumers. Retailers view these consumers as an important segment of the market, substantiating the study of the effect of values on these consumers’ behavioral motivations. This paper aims to address current lack of data on the motivational influence of high-level values (HLVs) on young consumers. Our aim is to analyze the motivational influence of these values on brand choice in certain product category markers to develop a methodology for segmenting consumers based on their values, and for evaluating brand preferences among these different segments.
Design/methodology/approach — A sample was obtained by the snowball method and included 233 first-year undergraduate student respondents. The research was carried out via an online-structured questionnaire. Hierarchical cluster analysis using the Ward and Euclidean distance methods was used to determine segments. Statistical significance of the differences in brand preferences among segments is checked in conjugacy tables using the chi-square test at different significance levels.
Findings — Our findings show a clear potential for using HLVs to identify segments of consumers, showing a distribution of perceptions of brands among these segments. Frequency analysis revealed an uneven distribution of preferences among examined brands and differences in the motivational significance of HLVs for brands in different product categories.
Practical implications — Retailers can use these results to refine effective brand communication to young consumers and inform the formation of strategic retailer behavior in the sphere of shaping relationships with young consumers.
Originality/value — This unique study investigates the motivational influence of a complex of ten HLVs in young consumers. In this paper, we present a methodology for segmentation of this consumer group based on clustering for HLVs and assess brand preferences among these segments.
An author’s abstract is a brief summary of a longer work of a scientific nature published isolated from the main text and, therefore, should be self-explanatory without reference to the publication itself. It should state the essential facts of the work and should not exaggerate or contain material absent in the main body of the publication.
The author’s abstract serves as a reference tool (for the library or reference service), allowing the reader to understand whether or not to read the full text.
The abstract includes the concise paper’s aim and can contain background only related to it contextually.
- The purpose of the paper in concise form. Background (background) can only be given if it is contextually related to the purpose.
- In summarizing the main facts of this paper, it is necessary to remember the following points:
– Follow the chronology of the paper and use its headings as a guide;
– Exclude irrelevant details;
– You write for a competent audience, so you can use the technical (specialized) terminology of your discipline, clearly state your opinion and keep in mind that you are writing for an international audience;
– The text should be coherent, using the words “consequently”, “moreover”, “for example”, “the benefits of this study”, “as a result”, and others or separate statements should logically follow one another.
– It is necessary to use the active, not the passive voice, i.e., “The study tested”, but not “It was tested in this study” (a common mistake in abstracts);
– The writing style should be compact (dense), so sentences will probably be longer than usual.