Chapter 11 Part 1在线视频

Hello everyone

I am Yang Bo

from Capital Medical university

Now

we are going to talk about

Chapter 11 Abstract

According to the definition of the word “abstract”

which denotes “pulling out” or “drawing away”

it should be a self contained

short and powerful statement

Its purpose is to tell the readers

not just the basic information

contained in the paper

but also why the paper was written

and what value it adds

In a word

the abstract should be a condensed

version of the paper

As the most concentrated section of SCI papers

the abstract takes much more efforts

and time to write and refine

because it is essential for the editors

or the readers to know

more of your whole study

This chapter includes 6 parts

Functions of ABSTRACT

Structure of ABSTRACT

Writing tips for ABSTRACT

Case analysis

Summary

Practices

Functions of ABSTRACT

An abstract usually has three main functions

First it provides a summary of the paper

by highlighting specific key elements

from each of the other sections of the text

So the abstract

would allow the readers to assess the study

without actually reading the whole paper

A secondary function of the abstract

is to provide a complete mini version

of the research paper

for the readers who only have access

to the abstract

A well written abstract

makes it retrieval by various search engines

A poorly written abstract

may make the paper inaccessible

in a literature search

At last

the abstract plays a critical role

in “selling” a paper to the editors

reviewers and potential readers

A good abstract entices the audience

to learn more of the whole text

while a poor quality abstract

would confuse

or turn off the potential readers

The structure of Abstract

Similar to the structure of the paper

the abstract should follow the IMRaD format of

introduction

methods

results and discussion

The abstract briefly provides

a general understanding

of what was studied introduction

how the study was done methods

what was found results

and what conclusions were drawn discussion

The Introduction part in the abstract

starts with a general topic

what is known in the field

and knowledge gap or problem

what is unknown in the field

and narrow down to the study objective

hypothesis question

which is the main aim of the study

the major hypothesis tested

or research question posed

The Methods part in the abstract should include

essential details to indicate

how the hypothesis was tested

including design

setting

subjects

participants

patients

interventions if any

the main outcomes

and a brief description of statistical methods

The Results part in the abstract should present

only the most pertinent results

The results in the abstract

could be arranged in a logical order

including chronological order

and importance order

which is most to least

or least to most important order

Alternatively

you could present the details of the results

in the same order

as the details in the study question

The Discussion part in the abstract

should be what the authors conclude

from study results

It could provide a statement of relevance

indicating implications for clinical practice

or health policy if needed

An abstract can be written in 2 main formats

simple or traditional format

and structured format

The simple traditional abstract

is written in a single paragraph

that follows the IMRaD format

and must be written in complete sentences

Compared to the traditional abstract

the structured abstract provides more details

with clear headings

for the main components of the abstract

So it is easier to search and more simple to read

Besides

this format enables the readers

to quickly judge the values of the findings

for further research or clinical practice

The structured abstract

could be written in phrases

and complete sentences

The format needed for structured abstracts

differs from journal to journal

and some specific abstract formats

are required depending on the study design

You need to prepare the abstracts

in the format specified by the journal

The four major medical journals are

new England journal of medicine the Lancet

Journal of the American Medical Association

and British Medical Journal

The formats of abstracts required by them

all follow the IMRaD structure

but with different names for some components

The major pattern of subheadings

in the structured abstract is a 4-heading format

which is required by

New England Journal of Medicine

and the Lancet

The major subheadings

in the abstract of New England Journal

of Medicine include

Background

Methods

Results

and Conclusions

The major headings in the abstract

named as “summary” of the Lancet include

Background

Methods

Findings

and Interpretation

In these two journals

the Background section in the abstract

corresponds with the Introduction part

in the IMRaD format

The Findings section is consistent

with the Results part

and the Interpretation

section is in accordance with Discussion part

in the IMRaD format

The other patterns of subheadings

in the structured abstract of journals

is the 8-heading format

in British Medical Journal

and the 9-heading format

in Journal of the American Medical Association

The 8-heading format

in the abstract of British Medical Journal includes

Objectives

Design

Setting

Participants

Interventions

Main outcome measures

Results

and Conclusions

The Objectives section

corresponds with the Introduction part

in the IMRaD format

The Design

Setting

Participants

Interventions

and Main Outcome Measures sections

are the Methods part in the IMRaD format

The 9-heading format

in the abstract of

Journal of the American Medical Association

for Reports of Original Data includes

Importance

Objective

Design

Setting

Participants

Interventions for clinical trials

or Exposures for observational studies

Main Outcomes and Measures

Results

Conclusions and Relevance

In this journal

The Importance and Objective sections

are consistent with the Introduction

part in the IMRaD format

For Meta analysis paper

the Methods part in the IMRaD format

is presented as Data Sources

Study Selection

Data Extraction and Synthesis

Main Outcomes and Measures

The information of funding

trial registration number

and sometimes copyright if any

should be placed right after the conclusion part

in parentheses

as in New England Journal of Medicine

or separately as in the Lancet

Journal of the American Medical Association

and British Medical Journal