When I review papers, one thing which I try to ensure is that the abstract
actually summarises the findings of the paper. It's not that I don't want
to be bothered reading the paper. Sometimes the university doesn't have a
subscription to the journal; often I want to put a good summary into my
bibliofile (which then becomes a machine for teaching and writing reviews).
But too many times the abstract says only what the author did, not what
(s)he _discovered_. The most annoying thing I ever see is "The results are
discussed". Well, I should hope they are!
When my wife worked for CABI, the abstracting service on which many people
in Africa and India depend but can't always afford copies of entire papers
or journals, she was taught to rewrite the abstract so that it was a true
and complete summary of the discoveries and deductions. That meant putting
in numbers as well. In our case, that means actually quoting figures for
stiffness, strength, or whatever.
The most extreme instance I know is a very well-regarded and excellent book
on plant cell walls which has an entire chapter devoted mechanical
properties. Unbelievably, it doesn't quote any numbers at all. Not even a
strain to break (which is probably the least contentious number possible)!
So please, so that Ulrike can get all the information she needs as easily as
possible, quote all your numbers in the abstract.
Julian Vincent
|