Analysis of abstracts taken from
four different medical research papers
When writing for academic purposes and audiences, researchers may be required to cope with great amounts of reading and writing to transform and share knowledge. Strikingly, abstracts are the first part that readers encounter but they are the last part that researchers write. Once a paper is finished, an abstract of the entire paper is prepared as a formal summary of the paper.
Broadly speaking, the term abstract refers to the short text that is based on a longer text. The main purpose is to transmit information in a clear, concise, and objective way (Pintos & Crimi 2010). According to Swales and Feak (2004, cited by Pintos & Crimi 2010) abstracts are more important to readers than to the writer as they are summaries of the main points made by the author with the aim of attracting the readers´ attention to go on reading.
A similar concept is stated by APA style manual (2005, cited in Purdue Owl, 2007) when it is said that an abstract is a brief, comprehensive summary of the article which allows the reader to survey the contents. However, abstracts need to present enough information and be readable, so it seems necessary to be concerned not only with the content but also with linguistic specifications, order in the presentation of ideas and economy of expression (Purdue Owl, 2010).
As Feak (1993) suggests, this piece of writing consists of an introduction, a study design, an objective, the materials and method stages, the results and finally the conclusion, in the same way that papers consist of. On their way, Hubbuch , Swales and Feak (2000 , 2004, cited in Pintos , Crimi 2010) have agreed to write one sentence for each part of the research paper as it is supposed to compress the maximum information in a minimum space. The purpose of this work is to explore four abstracts from medical research papers to compare characteristics in them, and to see whether the aims of this type of text have been achieved.
In the abstract from the article by Martinez et al. (2009), an academic style requirement that can be identified is accuracy. Concise and specific information is given by the researcher through the use of scientific prose. This can be seen when it is pointed out that the participants are users of venlafaxine, fluoxitin, citalopin or dosulepin. This specific information presented with no other details could be easily understood by professional in the medicine field.
Another element to be analysed is the use of abbreviations and digitals that may contribute to the accuracy and specificity as when the writer comments that the United Kingdom General Practice Research Database has been consulted or when in the results session it is reported that “568 cases of sudden cardiac death associated with venlafaxine use was 0.66 relative to fluoxetine use” (Martinez et al., 2009, para Abstract).
In addition, one of the features of a good abstract is its possibility to allow the reader to survey the contents of the research paper quickly (Crimi & Pintos, 2010). Martinez et al. (2009) include one sentence for each one of all the sessions with the exception of the results which is developed in three sentences as more data is necessary. Data and to the point description of what the researcher did through the use of passive voice and past tense is accomplished. In the results the researchers pointed out that 207 384 participants were followed up and they used conditional logistic regression to calculate the ratio of sudden cardiac death.
The abstract from the article by Wijeysundera et al. (2008) shares the same characteristics. In the same fashion as the entire article, different parts are briefly outlined with the aim of presenting the purpose of the investigation, describing participants’ background, showing results and drawing conclusions. It might be added that present tense is used when the researchers conclude that results provide evidence that preoperative non- invasive cardiac stress testing is associated with improved one year survival. The use of this tense provides the researchers’ argument with a sound effect on the reader.
Furthermore, specific and accurate terminology is observed to support the findings. For instance the researcher talks about 271 082 patient in the entire cohort that underwent stress testing and that an analysis of subgroups testing was associated with harm in low risk patients (RCRI 0 points HR 1.35, 95%). Here the acronym is explained as Revised Cardiac risk Index.
The abstract based on the article by Jorgensen et al.(2009) about breast cancer mortality in mammography screening in Denmark appears to fulfil the purpose of expressing the major ideas of the argument suggested by the researcher and it also tends to be a reader’s guideline for users to choose between one paper or another. Thus, the reader may have a clear idea of what the researcher have done, their purpose, the necessary participants, materials and steps performed. It is reported by the authors that they wanted to determine whether the reduction in breast cancer mortality was due to the introduction of mammography screening.
The last piece of writing, taken from the research paper by Beckert et al. (2008) is developed as a single short text, fitting academic style requirements about its format as regards the centred capitalized headline and the inclusion on a separate page, features that coincide with the previous three abstracts explored. The authors have summarized the main ideas of the paper through three sections: background, where they briefly outline the aim of the work, and their hypothesis that antihypertensive therapy may reduce the risk of stroke. An aspect to be highlighted is the use of hedging, for instance in the verb suggest, the modal may and the adverb possibly to moderate the claim of the research.
Furthermore, the Methods section is developed in two sentences by means of using concise information as when it was mentioned that“3845 patients from Europe, China Australia and Tunisia who were 80 years of age or older and had a systolic blood pressure o 160mm Hg or more who received either the diuretic indapamide or matching placebo” were the participants and elements of the research (Beckert et al, 2008, p.1887). The characteristic of this brief outline is the use of scientific prose without irrelevant details which could distract the reader’s attention.
The conclusion is connected with the previous section as the result shows evidence that antihypertensive treatment in persons 80 years or older is beneficial. The facts outlined seem to be logically connected to describe the steps of the research so the reader will be guided to take the decision whether to continue reading the entire paper or searching another one that meets the purpose of getting information
All ideas exposed and exemplified, this comparative analysis attempts to show the similarities in the characteristics, linguistic element and academic style requirements met by the four abstracts taken from medical research papers. They appear to be effective in the sense they achieve the aim of providing concise and specific information so that professionals that are in search of content in their specialized field can do so by means of a single approach to them.
Reference
Beckert, Peters,R.,Fletcher,A.,Straessen,I.,Liu,L.,Dumitrascu,D.,Stoyanavsky,V.(2008) Treatment of Hypertension in Patients 80 years of Age or Older The New England Journal of Medicine (2008) 358:1887-98
Jorgensen, K., Zal, P., Goetzche, P. (2008).Breast cancer mortality in organized mammography screening in Denmark: comparative study. BMJ 2010; 340: 249 doi: 10.1136
Pintos, V., Crimi, Y. Research Papers: Abstracts. Universidad CAECE retrieved from wwww.campusuniversidad.com.ar
Wyseisundera,D.,Beatti,E.,Elliot,F.,Austin,P.,Hux,J.,Laupacis,A.Non invasive cardiac stress testing before elective major non-cardiac surgery: population based cohort BMJ 2010;340:249 doi:10.1136
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