It's certainly true that it can be easier to find key points in a structured
abstract.
Another important factor for those concerned with access by individuals
without resource to the collections of major libraries: a structured
abstract, used well, can provide a great deal of information. With universal
access to PubMed (well, given the technology being in place and functioning)
the abstract may provide critical information for patient care or research,
sometimes on an emergency basis, at other times while waiting for arrival of
the complete text.
Pam Sieving
Pamela C. Sieving, MA, MS
Biomedical Librarian/Informationist
National Institutes of Health Library
10 Center Drive room 1L09G
Bethesda, Maryland USA 20892-1150
301 451-5862 voice 301 402-0254 fax
[log in to unmask]
nihlibrary.nih.gov
________________________________
Amazing Research. Amazing Help.
-----Original Message-----
From: Feddern, Tanya [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2004 12:26 PM
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
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