学术英语写作4 How to Prepare the Abstract

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3. Content

The abstract should (1) state the principal objective and scope of the investigation. (2) describe the methods employed. (3) summarize the results. (4) state the principal conclusions.
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When you are referring to what the paper itself does or what is actually in the paper itself, use the Present Simple tense, for example: The paper presents a new methodology for… In this paper we apply… This study reports an important design for… We consider a novel system of…

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Passive/Active voice
You can use we to refer to your research group or team, but do not use it to refer to people or humanity in general. If you are referring to people in general, it’s better to use a construction with It (It is known/thought that…) rather than We know/think that… You can use words like here and in this study to let your reader know when you are referring to your own work.

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Past Simple/Present Perfect
(a) I lived in Beijing for five years. (b) I have lived in Beijing for five years. (c) I broke my glasses. (d) I have broken my glasses.

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1. Definition
What

is an abstract?
An abstract can be defined as a summary of each of the main sections of the paper. A well-prepared abstract enables readers to identify the basic content of a paper quickly and accurately, to determine its relevance to their interests, and thus to decide whether they need to read the paper in its entirety.
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Structured abstracts are just like informative abstracts except that structured abstracts have subheadings (Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions). This type of abstract is most often found in clinical journals.
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2.Types of Abstracts
informative
abstract structured abstract indicative abstract (descriptive abstract)
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An informative abstract is designed to condense the paper. It can and should briefly state the problem, the method used to study the problem, and the principal data and conclusions. Often, the abstract supplants the need for reading the full paper. This is the type of abstract that precedes the body of the paper in most journals.
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The models



Model 1 In sentence 1 the writer provides background information. In sentence 2 the writer combines the method, the general aim and the specific aim of the study in one sentence. In sentence 3 and 4 the writer summarizes the methodology and provide details. In sentence 5 the writer indicates the achievement of the study. In sentence 6 the writer presents the implications of the study.
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4. Structure

When you write your Abstract, follow the specific instructions from the journal to which you are planning to submit your manuscript.
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4.1 Building a model You are now ready to build a model of the Abstract by writing a short description of what the writer is doing in each sentence.
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Model 2 In sentence 1 the writer combines what the paper does, the method or materials used, the contribution and the aim of the study. In sentence 2 the writer refers to the method in more detail and provides numerical details of the results.

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(c) We found that the pressure increased as the temperature rose, which indicated that temperature played a significant role in the process. (d) We found that the pressure increases as the temperature rises, which indicates that temperature plays a significant role in the process.

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The problem with using the passive in formal writing is that the agent (the person who performed the action of the verb) is often not mentioned in the sentence. In other words, we say that something was done or was identified but we don’t say ‘by me’ or ‘by other researchers’, so the reader may not know who did it or who identified it. This can cause confusion and for that reason it is sometimes clearer to use a dummy subjห้องสมุดไป่ตู้ct (This article/the present paper) rather than the ‘agentless’ passive (x is presented).

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Indicative abstract (descriptive abstract) Indicative abstract = Table of contents in paragraph form This type of abstract is designed to indicate the subjects dealt with in a paper, much like a table of contents, making it easy for potential readers to decide whether to read the paper. They may be used in publications such as review papers, and conference reports.

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4.2 Testing the models

The next step is to look at the way the model works in your target papers.
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5. Grammar and Writing Skills
Tense
pairs Passive/active voice
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Present Simple/Present Continuous
(a) I live in Beijing. (b) I’m living in Beijing. (a) describes a permanent situation and (b) describes a temporary situation. The Present Simple tense is used in science writing to state accepted facts and truths —but what qualifies as an accepted fact or truth is often your decision.
Unit 4
How to Prepare the Abstract
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1. Definition of abstract 2. Types of abstracts 3. Contents 4. Structure 5. Grammar and Writing skills 6. Revising the abstract 7. Summary

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You can also use a ‘dummy’ subject to take the place of I or we: This article describes an algorithm for clustering sequences into index classes. The present paper presents a set of criteria for selecting such a component.