I can't answer to structured abstracts resulting in higher quality research; but, they do significantly help with retrieval. I am working on a workshop for Evidenced Based Veterinary Medicine and CAB does NOT index research type. (If I'm wrong on this, someone please tell me!) Having structured abstracts would assist with scanning and retrieving relevant articles from databases that are index challenged. Also, the vet med students will face the same challenge as the med students after graduation - how to get access to the full text. So, I second Pam Sieving's comment.
Rebecca S. Graves, MLS, AHIP
Educational Services Librarian
J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library
University of Missouri - Columbia
Columbia, MO 65212
(573) 882-0469
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Evidence based practice to librarianship and information science
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Feddern,
Tanya
Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2004 11:26 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Do structured abs. indicate a better research article?
***apologies for cross-posting***
Hello! Do you feel that a structured abstract indicates a) an easier-to-read article b) a better designed study or c) both? I find it easier to read a structured abstract, and it seems that they are more likely to include confidence intervals and p-values in the abstract than a traditional abstract. Structured abstracts seem more apt to include epi/EBM figures, such as the Positive Predictive Value and Number Needed to Treat.
There are studies that say the quality of abstract is superior if it's a structured abstract. However, does a structured abstract correlate with better-designed studies and/or easier-to-read studies? If anyone has cites handy supporting or disproving this, please let me know. I will summarize to the lists. If structured abstracts are linked with better studies, I was thinking perhaps it could be a handy pre-screener for us librarians wanting to choose articles for our EBM students to critically appraise.
Thank you,
Tanya
Tanya Feddern, MLIS, AHIP, MOT, OTR/L
http://www.geocities.com/nqiya/EBMbib.html
http://www.geocities.com/nqiya/index.html
Evidence-Based Medicine Assistant Professor; Reference & Education Services
Librarian University of Miami School of Medicine, Louis Calder Memorial Library
|