unit 3

2) Deciding "Yes" or "No"
The abstract of a paper is important because it
may directly influence the paper's acceptance to a learned journal: the reviewer or editor may be perilously close to a final judgment of the manuscript after reading the abstract alone. What makes a justification crucial is that many international conference sponsors just review the abstract and make the decision without referring to the whole text. A good abstract should attract audiences and promote thorough discussion on the relevant subject.
4) Formalized Structure
(1) Topic Sentence(page 35 egs) The first sentence in an abstract is usually called the "topic sentence." (2) Supporting Sentences(page 36 egs) Research methods, experiments, procedures, investigations, calculations, analyses, results, and other significant information item will be provided in this part, and it is taken as the "main body" of an abstract. (3) Concluding Sentence(s)(page 37 egs) As the ending part of an abstract, concluding sentences usually analyze the results, explain the application, and point out the significance of the research.
The length of an abstract greatly varies
depending on the length of the paper and where the abstract appears: each journal and/or abstracting index has a different requirement. As a general rule, an abstract will be approximately 3--5% of the length of the paper, but is seldom more than 2/3rds of a page. Keep the length of the abstract to a required percentage of that of the paper.
General Functions
Essentially, an abstract is a condensed statement of the contents of a paper. As a short, concise and highly generalized text, an abstract is viewed as a mini-version or a miniature of the document, summarizing the content of the main body. A well-prepared abstract enables readers to identify the basic content of a document more quickly and conveniently, to determine its relevance to their interest, and finally to decide whether they need to read the whole document.
Linguistic Features
1) Limited Length
An abstract is a miniature of the paper
with a strictly limited number of words. Normally, 200 words should be a sensible maximum for a relatively long paper or report, but never more than 500 words; 50- 100 words may suffice for a short article.
Unit 3 Abstract (1)
Topical Highlights
1.General Functions of Abstract: miniaturizing the text, deciding "yes" or "no", expanding the circulation. 2. Linguistic Features of Abstract: limited length, categories of abstracts, complete content, formalized structure. 3. Writing Requirements for Abstract: integrated, concise, consistent, and concentrated. 4. Special Attention: vocabulary (2) -frequent use of compound words, commonly-used contracted words and frequent use of antonyms.
Writing Requirements
1) Integrity .
2) Concise . 3) Consistency .
4) Concentration .
Integrity（完整）
Generally, an abstract should include
what the writer has done and what he has achieved within the scope of the topic, such as the research theories, research methods, investigations and/or experimental results and conclusions. To differentiate his paper work from others, the writer needs to stress his own contribution.
To write a good abstract, the writer
Concise（简洁）
must strip away the periphery, supporting information in his paper and expose the hard core of his contribution, defining the real substance of his manuscript in the simplest terms. Avoid displaying mathematical expressions; never number equations; omit tables. The writer's abstract is then a miniature version of the body of his paper, selfcontained and unambiguous.
3) Complete Content
The stract of a paper, which is self-
contained, should be unified and coherent in content. It is a concise summary of the results, conclusion and/or other significant items in the paper. Together with the title, the abstract must be adequate as an index to all the topics treated in the paper. It may also be used as a base for indexing. 1) PROBLEM 2)APPROACH 3) PRINCIPAL RESULT
2) Categories of Abstracts (1) Descriptive (Indicative) Abstracts
A descriptive, or indicative, abstract usually states the general subject matter of the document that follows. (2) Informational (Informative) Abstract An informational, or informative, abstract highlights the findings and results, briefly but quantitatively. (3) Informational-indicative Abstracts An informational-indicative abstract is a combined form that bears specific information about the principal findings and results and general information about the rest of the document.