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Abstracts and abstract writing

Links

Writing abstracts.  http://writing.colostate.edu/references/documents/abstract/

Articles: Web pages about abstracts and abstract writing

From  http://www.earthresearch.com/writing-abstract.shtml

From  http://www.cs.sjsu.edu/100w/html/abstract_writing.html

How to make your information available to more readers

You can make your research or technical publications more widely usable, by adding an abstract in English when you publish in a language other than English.

What is an abstract?

An abstract is a concise summary of a published document such as an article, book, thesis or report.

Why have an abstract?

An abstract makes it possible for readers to quickly find out the content of a document, so they can decide whether they need to consult the full text.

The abstract is the only version of the paper most international readers will ever read, especially if your work is written in a language other than English. As English is the international language of science, providing an abstract in English will give your work a much higher profile outside your own country and make it much more accessible to international workers in the same field.

Who should write abstracts?

For English abstracts included in otherwise non-English publications, anyone with a reasonable knowledge of the subject and a good command of English can write the abstract: the author or editor, or another colleague.

Where are abstracts used?

There is an increasing trend for journals published in a language other than English to include abstracts in English. This makes the information available to many more people, not only in English-speaking countries. Other documents such as books, theses and reports also benefit by the inclusion of an abstract in English.

Abstracts services

An even more important reason to write abstracts in English is to help the editors of abstracts services or journals to understand the work and write abstracts for it. While some abstracts services are able to write their own abstracts in English of material in other languages, most information that is not in English does not become accessible through an abstracts system.

How to write abstracts

For an abstract to be useful, it must be carefully written: otherwise readers are left without important information, and abstract services will find it difficult to summarize the work in their publications.

The remainder of this guide contains suggestions on what kind of documents should have abstracts written for them, and how to go about preparing useful abstracts.

What kind of information should be abstracted?

Abstracts are most useful when they are written for material that reports something new. This will be either new research findings (for example in a scientific journal, theses or perhaps the proceedings of a conference), or presents or reviews material in a new way (for instance in a technical journal, book, report, or bulletin).

Writing abstracts: the informative approach

Most abstracts are written to give readers a good idea of the content of the paper. These detailed abstracts usually follow a similar order to a scientific paper:

• A brief statement of the purpose of the study, unless it is obvious from the title or the main content of the abstract.
  Basic information on the organisms, materials and locations used.
  Selected details of the experimental methods, including the duration of the study, the treatments, methods and equipment used.
  The key results, with a description of them and some of the main figures and their statistical significance.
  Finish with a brief note on the significance of the results.

From  http://www.rpi.edu/dept/llc/writecenter/web/abstracts.html

Abstracts

by John December and Susan Katz

What is an abstract?
An abstract is a stand-alone statement that briefly conveys the essential information of a paper, article, document or book; presents the objective, methods, results, and conclusions of a research project; has a brief, non-repetitive style.

Although an abstract appears as the first section of a paper, it should be written last. You need to have completed all other sections before you can select and summarize the essential information from those sections.

Many abstracts are published without the complete paper itself in abstract journals or in online databases. Thus, an abstract might serve as the only means by which a researcher determines what information a paper contains. Moreover, a researcher might make a decision whether to read the paper or not based on the abstract alone. Because of this need for self-contained compactness, an abstract must convey the essential results of a paper.

Many publications have a required style for abstracts; the "Guidelines for Authors" provided by the publisher will provide specific instructions. This document describes general guidelines.

What goes in an abstract?
In doing any research, a researcher has an objective, uses methods, obtains results, and draws conclusions. In writing the paper to describe the research, an author might discuss background information, review relevant literature, and detail procedures and methodologies. However, an abstract of the paper should:

• describe the objective, methods, results, and conclusions;
• omit background information, a literature review, and detailed description of methods;
• avoid reference to other literatures.

What is the style of an abstract?
The style of an abstract should be concise and clear. Readers do not expect the abstract to have the same sentence structure flow of a paper. Rather, the abstract's wording should be very direct. For example, the following abstract is a self-contained description of an imaginary physics project. The key elements of an abstract are in boldface, and its style conforms to the suggestions above.

Abstract

This study's objective was to determine the strangeness measurements for red, green, and blue quarks. The Britt-Cushman method for quark analysis exploded a quarkstream in a He gas cloud. Results indicate that both red and green quarks had a strangeness that differed by less than 0.453 x 10-17 Zabes/m2 for all measurements. Blue quarks remained immeasurable, since their particle traces bent into 7-tuple space. This study's conclusions indicate that red and green quarks can be used interchangeably in all He stream applications, and further studies must be done to measure the strangeness of blue quarks.

How do you write an abstract?
Writing an abstract involves boiling down the essence of a whole paper into a single paragraph that conveys as much new information as possible. One way of writing an effective abstract is to start with a draft of the complete paper and do the following:

1. Highlight the objective and the conclusions that are in the paper's introduction and the discussion.
2. Bracket information in the methods section of the paper that contains keyword information.
3. Highlight the results from the discussion or results section of the paper.
4. Compile the above highlighted and bracketed information into a single paragraph.
5. Condense the bracketed information into the key words and phrases that identify but do not explain the methods used.
6. Delete extra words and phrases.
7. Delete any background information.
8. Rephrase the first sentence so that it starts off with the new information contained in the paper, rather than with the general topic. One way of doing this is to begin the first sentence with the phrase "this paper" or "this study."
9. Revise the paragraph so that the abstract conveys the essential information.

For further information: Wilkinson, Antoinette Miele. The Scientist's Handbook for Writing Papers and Dissertations. 1991.

From  http://www.washington.edu/oue/summer_institute/writing.html

From  http://writing.colostate.edu/references/documents/abstract/

For the more friendly CSU version, go to  http://writing.colostate.edu/references/documents/abstract/

Introduction: Writing Abstracts

Abstracts are formal summaries writers prepare of their completed work. Abstracts are important tools for readers, especially as they try to keep up with an explosion of information in print and on the Internet.

Definition of Abstract

Abstracts, like all summaries, cover the main points of a piece of writing. Unlike executive summaries written for non-specialist audiences, abstracts use the same level of technical language and expertise found in the article itself. And unlike general summaries which can be adapted in many ways to meet various readers' and writers' needs, abstracts are typically 150 to 250 words and follow set patterns.

Because readers use abstracts for set purposes, these purposes further define abstracts.

Purposes for Abstracts

Abstracts typically serve five main goals:

• Help readers decide if they should read an entire article
• Help readers and researchers remember key findings on a topic
• Help readers understand a text by acting as a pre-reading outline of key points
• Index articles for quick recovery and cross-referencing
• Allow supervisors to review technical work without becoming bogged down in details

Deciding Whether to Read an Entire Article

Readers use abstracts to see if a piece of writing interests them or relates to a topic they’re working on. Rather than tracking down hundreds of articles, readers rely on abstracts to decide quickly if an article is pertinent. Equally important, readers use abstracts to help them gauge the sophistication or complexity of a piece of writing. If the abstract is too technical or too simplistic, readers know that the article will also be too technical or too simplistic.

Remembering Key Findings

Even after reading an article, readers often keep abstracts to remind them of which sources support conclusions. Because abstracts include complete bibliographic citations, they are helpful when readers begin writing up their research and citing sources.

Understanding a Text

Like other pre-reading strategies, reading an abstract before reading an article helps readers anticipate what’s coming in the text itself. Using an abstract to get an overview of the text makes reading the text easier and more efficient.

Indexing Articles

Even before computers made indexing easier, abstracts helped librarians and researchers find information more easily. With so many indexes now available electronically, abstracts with their keywords are even more important because readers can review hundreds of abstracts quickly to find the ones most useful for their research. Moreover, cross-referencing through abstracts opens up new areas of research that readers might not have known about when they started researching a topic.

Reviewing Employees' Technical Work

Although many managers and supervisors will prefer the less technical executive summary, some managers need to keep abreast of technical work. Research shows that only 15% of managers read the complete text of reports or articles. Most managers, then, rely on the executive summary or abstract as the clearest overview of employees’ work.

Types of Abstracts

Although you'll see two types of abstracts—informative and descriptive—most writers now provide informative abstracts of their work.

Descriptive Abstract

A descriptive abstract outlines the topics covered in a piece of writing so the reader can decide whether to read the entire document. In many ways, the descriptive abstract is like a table of contents in paragraph form. Unlike reading an informative abstract, reading a descriptive abstract cannot substitute for reading the document because it does not capture the content of the piece. Nor does a descriptive abstract fulfill the other main goals of abstracts as well as informative abstracts do. For all these reasons, descriptive abstracts are less and less common. Check with your instructor or the editor of the journal to which you are submitting a paper for details on the appropriate type of abstract for your audience.

Sample Descriptive Abstract

"Bonanza Creek LTER [Long Term Ecological Research] 1997 Annual Progress Report"
http://www.lter.alaska.edu/pubs/1997pr.html

We continue to document all major climatic variables in the uplands and floodplains at Bonanza Creek. In addition, we have documented the successional changes in microclimate in 9 successional upland and floodplain stands at Bonanza Creek (BNZ) and in four elevational locations at Caribou-Poker Creek (CPCRW). A sun photometer is operated cooperatively with NASA to estimate high-latitude atmospheric extinction coefficients for remote-sensing images. Electronic data are collected monthly and loaded into a database which produces monthly summaries. The data are checked for errors, documented, and placed on-line on the BNZ Web page. Climate data for the entire state have been summarized for the period of station records and krieged to produce maps of climate zones for Alaska based on growing-season and annual temperature and precipitation.

(accessed January 26, 1998)

Informative Abstract

An informative abstract provides detail about the substance of a piece of writing because readers will sometimes rely on the abstract alone for information. Informative abstracts typically follow this format:

1. Identifying information (bibliographic citation or other identification of the document)
2. Concise restatement of the main point, including the initial problem or other background
3. Methodology (for experimental work) and key findings
4. Major conclusions

Informative abstracts usually appear in indexes like Dissertation Abstracts International; however, your instructor may ask you to write one as a cover sheet to a paper as well.

Sample Informative Abstract based on Non-experimental Work

Environmental Impact Statement. Federal Register: December 11, 1997 (Volume 62, Number 238). "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Revision of Special Regulations for the Gray Wolf." Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior.

http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-SPECIES/1997/December/Day-11/e32440.htm

On November 22, 1994, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published special rules to establish nonessential experimental populations of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho. The nonessential experimental population areas include all of Wyoming, most of Idaho, and much of central and southern Montana. A close reading of the special regulations indicates that, unintentionally, the language reads as though wolf control measures apply only outside of the experimental population area. This proposed revision is intended to amend language in the special regulations so that it clearly applies within the Yellowstone nonessential experimental population area and the central Idaho nonessential experimental population area. This proposed change will not affect any of the assumptions and earlier analysis made in the environmental impact statement or other portions of the special rules. (accessed January 26, 1998)

Sample Informative Abstract based on Experimental Work

Palmquist, M., & Young, R. (1992). The Notion of Giftedness and Student Expectations About Writing. Written Communication, 9(1), 137-168.

Research reported by Daly, Miller, and their colleagues suggests that writing apprehension is related to a number of factors we do not yet fully understand. This study suggests that included among those factors should be the belief that writing ability is a gift. Giftedness, as it is referred to in the study, is roughly equivalent to the Romantic notion of original genius. Results from a survey of 247 postsecondary students enrolled in introductory writing courses at two institutions indicate that higher levels of belief in giftedness are correlated with higher levels of writing apprehension, lower self-assessments of writing ability, lower levels of confidence in achieving proficiency in certain writing activities and genres, and lower self-assessments of prior experience with writing instructors. Significant differences in levels of belief in giftedness were also found among students who differed in their perceptions of the most important purpose for writing, with students who identified "to express your own feelings about something" as the most important purpose for writing having the highest mean level of belief in giftedness. Although the validity of the notion that writing ability is a special gift is not directly addressed, the results suggest that belief in giftedness may have deleterious effects on student writers.

A More Detailed Comparison of Descriptive vs. Informative

The typical distinction between descriptive and informative is that the descriptive abstract is like a table of contents whereas the informative abstract lays out the content of the document. To show the differences as clearly as possible, we compare a shortened Table of Contents for a 100-page legal argument presented by the FDA and an informative abstract of the judge's decision in the case.

Table of Contents of the Argument

Court Brief (edited Table of Contents) Filed Dec. 2, 1996, by the Department of Justice in defense of FDA's determination of jurisdiction over cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products and its regulations restricting those products to protect children and adolescents. http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/cases/tocnts.htm Statement of the matter before the court; statement of material facts

1. The health effects of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco
2. The basis for the assertion of jurisdiction
   1. The evidence that nicotine in cigarettes and smokeless tobacco "affect[s] the structure or any function of the body"
   2. The evidence that the pharmacological effects of nicotine in cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are "intended"
   3. The evidence that cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are "combination products"

3. The rule
   1. Cigarettes and smokeless tobacco as combination products
   2. The regulatory goal
   3. Youth access restrictions
   4. Advertising and promotion restrictions

Questions Presented

Arguments

Congress has not precluded FDA from regulating cigarettes and smokeless tobacco under the FDCA.

1. "Customarily marketed" cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are not exempt from regulation under the FDCA
   1. Standard of review: Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
   2. Chevron, step one
   3. Chevron, step two: FDA's application of the FDCA to cigarettes and smokeless tobacco is "based on a permissible construction of the statute"

2. The Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act, and the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Reorganization Act do not foreclose FDA from regulating cigarettes and smokeless tobacco under the FDCA
   1. No statute, or combination of statutes, can override the FDCA in the absence of express preclusion or other clearly expressed Congressional intent
   2. Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act
   3. Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act
   4. Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Reorganization Act

3. The separation of powers doctrine does not prohibit FDA's regulation of tobacco products

Nicotine in cigarettes and smokeless tobacco is a drug, and cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are drug delivery devices under the FDCA.

1. Cigarettes and smokeless tobacco fall squarely within the Act's drug and device definitions
   1. Cigarettes and smokeless tobacco "affect the structure or any function of the body"
   2. Nicotine's effects are intended by the manufacturers

2. FDA's application of the medical device provisions to cigarettes and smokeless tobacco does not affect FDA's jurisdiction over these products
   1. Cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are combination drug/device products and may be regulated under the Act's device authorities
   2. FDA's application of device provisions to cigarettes and smokeless tobacco is reasonable

The restrictions imposed by FDA on advertising and other promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco are fully consistent with the first amendment.

1. The agency's regulations must be judged pursuant to the Supreme Court's Central Hudson standard
   1. The Central Hudson standard and the proper First Amendment analysis
   2. Recent rulings by the Supreme Court in 44 Liquormart, and by the Fourth Circuit in Anheuser-Busch and Penn Advertising
   3. In applying the Central Hudson test, the Court's decision should be based on the record created by the Agency, and the reasonable determinations made by FDA are not to be disregarded

2. The government's interest here is plainly substantial
3. FDA has demonstrated that advertising affects tobacco use by minors, to the detriment of the public health, and that the agency's restrictions on advertising of these products should alleviate that problem to a material degree
4. FDA's advertising restrictions are narrowly tailored
   1. The restrictions are designed to preserve the flow of information to lawful consumers
   2. The availability of non-Speech related regulatory alternatives does not invalidate FDA's regulations
   3. Each of FDA's individual advertising restrictions is narrowly tailored

Conclusion

(accessed January 26, 1998)

Informative Abstract of the Decision

Summary of Federal District Court’s Ruling on FDA’s Jurisdiction Over, and Regulation of, Cigarettes and Smokeless Tobacco

May 2, 1997

http://www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/bg97-9.html

On April 25, 1997, Judge William Osteen of the Federal District Court in Greensboro, North Carolina, ruled that FDA has jurisdiction under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to regulate nicotine-containing cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. The Court held that "tobacco products fit within the FDCA’s definitions of ‘drug’ and ‘device,’" and that FDA can regulate cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products as drug delivery devices under the combination product and restricted device provisions of the Act.

With respect to the tobacco rule, the Court upheld all restrictions involving youth access and labeling, including two access provisions that went into effect Feb. 28: (1) the prohibition on sales of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to children and adolescents under 18, and (2) the requirement that retailers check photo identification of customers who are under 27 years of age.

The Court also upheld additional access and labeling restrictions originally scheduled to go into effect Aug. 28, 1997, including a prohibition on self-service displays and the placement of vending machines where children have access to them. The Court also upheld the ban on distribution of free samples, the sale of so-called kiddie packs of less than 20 cigarettes, and the sale of individual cigarettes. However, the Court delayed implementation of the provisions that have not yet gone into effect pending further action by the Court.

The Court invalidated on statutory grounds FDA’s restrictions on the advertising and promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. Judge Osteen found that the statutory provision relied on by FDA, section 520(e) of the Act (21 U.S.C. 360j(e)), does not provide FDA with authority to regulate the advertising and promotion of tobacco products. Specifically, the Court found that the authority in that section to set "such other conditions" on the sale, distribution, or use of a restricted device does not encompass advertising restrictions. Because Judge Osteen based his ruling on the advertising provisions on purely statutory grounds, he declined to consider the First Amendment challenge to those parts of the rule. The government is appealing the advertising portion of the ruling.

(accessed January 26, 1998)

Bibliographic Citation or Identification

As more and more databases are stored and accessed electronically, abstracts are more frequently reproduced apart from the entire article or document. In a large corporation or government entity, for instance, an abstract of a progress report might be circulated and stored in a dozen offices or on multiple computers even though the report itself is filed in only one location. Clear identification is crucial so that readers who want to review the entire text can locate it from the information given with the abstract.

Depending on where your writing is printed and stored, you'll need to include different kinds of identifying information with your abstract:

Bibliographic Citation

If your writing will be printed and disseminated as a book, part of a book, or an article in a journal or magazine, give a full bibliographic citation that includes all the publication information so that readers can find print copies of the article (even if your abstract will appear in unrelated electronic databases). For example, an abstract for a journal article begins with this citation:

Harris, L.D., & Wambeam, C.A. (1996). The Internet-Based Composition Classroom: A Study in Pedagogy. Computers and Composition, 13(3), 353-372.

If you need more help with citation format, please see our Introduction to Documentation tutorial.

Organizational Identification

If your abstract is part of a corporate or government document that will not be printed or disseminated outside the organization, you need only include your name, the title of the document, its completion date, a project name (if you produced the document as part of the work on a larger project), and an authorization or organizational number (if there is one).

If your abstract will be circulated outside your organization (for instance, if you work for a consulting company that writes reports for other companies), add to the information above: your company or organization name, the name of the organization that commissioned the document, a contract number (if there is one), a security classification (as appropriate for government documents), and key words to help in cataloguing your abstract.

Internet Citation

If you're "publishing" your own work on the World Wide Web or if your writing will appear on the Internet as part of a full-text electronic database, you can save readers time by citing the Internet address for the full text. Typically, writers note both print publication information and the URL (universal resource locator)--the http or www address--with the abstract.

For example, one of the abstracts cited in this module has this citation that includes both bibliographic information and the Internet address:

Environmental Impact Statement. "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposed Revision of Special Regulations for the Gray Wolf." Federal Register: December 11, 1997 (Volume 62, Number 238). Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior. http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-SPECIES/1997/December/Day-11/e32440.htm

For more information on how to document Internet sources, please visit our Documentation Styles page and from there link to the tutorial on the documentation style of your choice.

Processes for Writing Abstracts

Unless you work for an abstracting service, you'll usually write abstracts of your own finished work. This section explores some strategies for drafting your abstract. Strategies and advice on revising and editing are located in Key Issues in Preparing Abstracts. Choose a method below to see which would best suit your writing process:

Cut and Paste Method

Beginning with reading may seem odd since you wrote the paper, but it can frequently be the fastest way to write an abstract because it allows you to "lift" as much of the abstract from your original paper as possible.

Guidelines for Cut and Paste Method

1. As you read through your own paper, highlight or copy sentences which summarize the entire paper or individual sections or sub-points of your main argument.
2. Write (or copy) a sentence that summarizes the main point.
3. Add sentences that summarize sections (or write new sentences for sections that lack a concise summary sentence).
4. If you're writing a descriptive abstract, you're ready to begin revising.
5. If you're writing an informative abstract, look through your paper for details, particularly of key findings or major supporting arguments and major conclusions. Paste these into your abstract and proceed to editing for consistency and length--frequently in the original "cuts" you will still have more detail than is necessary in an abstract.

Outlining Method

Frequently, the best place to start writing an abstract is to first make an outline of the paper to serve as a rough draft of your abstract. The most efficient way to do this is to write what Kenneth Bruffee calls a descriptive or "backwards" outline.

Backwards Outline Instructions

1. Read through each paragraph of your paper and write one phrase or sentence that answers the question "what does this paragraph do?"
2. Take your list of descriptions for each paragraph and look for connections: i.e., do these 3 or 5 paragraphs do something similar? What is it?
3. When you've reduced your outline to 4 or 5 accurate generalizations, you most likely have a descriptive abstract.
4. If you're writing an informative abstract, fill in key details about your content.

Detailed Backwards Outline

Because informative abstracts need more detail, the regular backwards outline may not be as useful a strategy for this type of abstract. Instead, do a backwards outline on the left-hand side of a piece of paper. Then, on the right-hand side, answer the question "what does this paragraph say?" for each paragraph in the paper. Then complete the steps below:

1. Take your first column and generalize down to 4-5 sentences about what the paper does.
2. Use these sentences as topic sentences for the paragraphs in your abstract.
3. Now, go to your second column and choose appropriate content for each section you outlined in #2. In other words, use the right-hand column to fill in details about what your paper says on each point outlined in #2.

Key Issues in Preparing Abstracts

These are some of the key issues in writing an abstract:

• Concise, Accurate Statement of the Main Idea
• Organization of Subpoints
• Use of Details
• Revising and Editing

Concise, Accurate Statement of the Main Idea

Abstracts begin with a one-sentence summary of the main point of your paper and often introduce the problem the paper explores. Especially for papers based on research, the first sentence (or two) of the abstract announces the subject and scope of the research as well as the problem and your thesis. That's quite a bit of information to condense into a sentence or two, and so the concise statement of the main idea often takes careful revision.

Choose from these options to read more about preparing a concise statement of the main idea:

Condensing Information for Non-research Papers

Most non-research papers can be summed up in a nutshell statement—a single sentence that boils down a paper to its essential main point and doesn't aim to capture details, supporting arguments, or types of proof.

One-sentence Summaries for Different Types of Papers
Each of these non-research papers summarizes its main point based on its overall purpose:

This paper argues that the "saving democracy" rhetoric surrounding the Gulf War was merely a mask for the U.S.’s interest in keeping oil prices down. (From a political science paper whose purpose was to construct an argument.)

Ethnography and ethnology are the preferred research methods of many anthropologists. (From an anthropology paper whose purpose was to inform others about a research methodology.)

Condensing Information for Research Papers

In addition to stating the main point of the paper, research-based papers often need to set up the context and scope of the research as well. Setting the context includes stating the subject of your work as well as the problem that prompted your research. You might also refer to major researchers who have already done work on your topic as a way of setting the context. Remember, too, that your abstract must always include the main point of your paper, so don't neglect that focus as you work on stating the problem and context. Click on theh following links to view examples of condensed statements in research papers:

Beware of Focusing too Narrowly

No one who has ever written a concise restatement of a complex point will claim that the work was easy or straightforward. Usually, a writer needs to work back and forth between revising the restatement and re-reading the paper to be sure the main idea is stated accurately and clearly. Having worked so hard on that point, though, don't assume that you don't need to revise other parts of your abstract. In this example, the writer restates only the main point and dismisses key information from the 15-page document that should be included in the abstract.

Sample Abstract with Overly Narrow Focus

Community Right-to-Know Notice. Federal Register: January 23, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 15). "Phosphoric Acid; Toxic Chemical Release Reporting." Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-WASTE/1998/January/Day-23/f1644.htm

EPA is denying a petition to delete phosphoric acid from the reporting requirements under section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 (PPA). This action is based on EPA’s conclusion that phosphoric acid does not meet the deletion criteria of EPCRA section 313(d)(3). Specifically, EPA is denying this petition because EPA’s review of the petition and available information resulted in the conclusion that phosphoric acid meets the listing criterion in EPCRA section 313(d)(2)(C) in that the phosphates that result from the neutralization of phosphoric acid may cause algal blooms. Algal blooms result in deoxygenation of the water and other effects that may ultimately lead to a number of serious adverse effects on ecosystems, including fish kills and changes in the composition of animal and plant life.

(accessed January 26, 1998)

Continue at  http://writing.colostate.edu/references/documents/abstract/

From  http://www.geology.ucdavis.edu/~gel109/labs/Abstracts.html

This website was originally written by Dawn Sumner.  

Writing a Good Abstract

Abstracts can be difficult to write. They should contain only the most important information, and this information needs to be presented in a systematic, clear writing style. The following note, written by Ed Landis (USGS) in 1966, beautifully explains the purpose and content of a good abstract.

ABSTRACT

A partial biography of the writer is given. The inadequate abstract is discussed. What should be covered by an abstract is described. Dictionary definitions of "abstract" are quoted. At the conclusion a revised abstract is presented.

For many years I have been annoyed by the inadequate abstract. This became acute while I was serving as editor of the Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. In addition to returning manuscripts to authors for rewriting of abstracts, I also took 30 minutes in which to lower my ire by writing, "A Scrutiny of the Abstract". This little squib has had a fantastic distribution. If only my scientific outpourings would do as well! Now the editorial board of the Association has requested a revision. This is it.

The inadequate abstract is illustrated at the top of the page. The passive voice is positively screaming at the reader! It is an outline, with each item in the outline expanded into a sentence. The reader is told what the paper is about, but not what it contributes. Such abstracts are merely overgrown titles. They are produced by writers who are either (1) beginners, (2) lazy, or (3) have not written the paper yet.

To many writers the preparation of an abstract is an unwanted chore required at the last minute by an editor or insisted upon even before the paper has been written by a deadline-bedeviled program chairman. However, in terms of market reached, the abstract is the most important part of the paper. For every individual who reads or listens to your entire paper, from 10 to 500 will read the abstract.

If you are presenting a paper before a learned society, the abstract alone may appear in a preconvention issue of the society journal as well as in the convention program; it may also be run by trade journals. The abstract which accompanies a published paper will most certainly reappear in abstract journals in various languages, and perhaps in company internal circulars as well. It is much better to please them than to antagonize this great audience. Papers written for oral presentation should be completed prior to the deadline for the abstract, so that the abstract can be prepared from the written paper and not from raw ideas gestating in the writer's mind.

My dictionary describes an abstract as "a summary of a statement, document, speech, etc..." and that which concentrates itself the essential information of a paper or article. The definition I prefer has been set in italics. May all writers learn the art (it is not easy) of preparing an abstract containing the essential information in their compositions. With this goal in mind, I append an abstract that should be an improvement over the one appearing at the beginning of this discussion.

ABSTRACT

The abstract is of utmost importance, for it is read by 10 to 500 times more people than hear or read the entire article. It should not be a mere recital of the subjects covered. Expressions such as "is discussed" and "is described" should never be included! The abstract should be a condensation and concentration of the essential information in the paper.

Here are two examples of informative abstracts. The TA's and I can give you many more examples.

From Geology 1996, v. 24, p. 835 (110 words)
Newly discovered Paleogene deltaic sequence in Katawaz basin, Pakistan, and its tectonic implications

Mazhar Qayyum, Alan R. Niem, and Robert D. Lawrence, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 97331-5506

ABSTRACT

In the Katawaz basin, Pakistan, the deltaic and turbidite facies of the Khojak Formation are the Paleogene analogue of the modern Indus River emptying into the Arabian Sea to form the Indus delta-fan system. Facies identified include upper continental slope to prodelta, distal to proximal distributary mouth bar, distributary channel, interdistributary bay, estuary, fluvial channel, natural levee, and flood plains of lower and upper delta plains. The proposed model is a fluvial-dominated, wave-modified delta that axially fed Khojak submarine-fan turbidites, exposed in the southwestern part of the basin. These sediments were eroded from the early Himalayan orogenic highlands and transported southwestward down the axis of the Katawaz remnant ocean basin.

From GSA Annual Meeting Abstracts, 1998 at Error! Bookmark not defined. (314 words)
STRATIGRAPHIC ARCHITECTURE OF A COLLISIONAL BASIN, NUTZOTIN MOUNTAINS SEQUENCE, ALASKA RANGE, SOUTH-CENTRAL ALASKA

Manuszak, Jeffrey M., Ridgway, K. D., and Lareau, B. N..

The Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Nutzotin basin is located within the collisional zone between the allochthonous Wrangellia composite terrane (WCT) and the former continental margin of western North America. Over 3,000 m of sedimentary strata within the basin have been uplifted and are well exposed in the eastern Alaska Range. New sedimentologic and stratigraphic data suggest to us that the Nutzotin basin formed as a flexural foredeep in response to the collision of the WCT and was filled primarily by submarine fan deposystems. Measured stratigraphic sections and lithofacies analysis show that the bulk of the sedimentary fill consists of an upward coarsening package defined by four facies associations. The lowest facies association (FA1) consists predominantly of black shales with minor thin limestones and limestone conglomerates. FA1 represents the initial sediment starved stage of basin formation. The limestone conglomerates are interpreted as being derived from Triassic limestones of the approaching WCT. The next stage of basin development is defined by interbedded mudstone and thin-bedded, normally-graded sandstones of FA2. We interpret FA2 as sandy low-density turbidite deposits of outer submarine fan environments. FA3 defines the uppermost part of the upward coarsening package and consists mainly of clast-supported conglomerates and massive to horizontally stratified sandstones. We interpret FA3 as gravelly and sandy high-density turbidite deposits of the proximal and middle parts of the submarine fan complex. Overlying FA3, are macrofauna-rich mudstones (FA4) which are interpreted as muddy shallow shelf deposits representing the last stage of deposition in the basin. Paleocurrent and compositional data indicate that the upward coarsening basin fill formed as a result of northward (transverse) and southeastward (axial) progradation of submarine fan deposystems away from the leading edge of WCT. The well-exposed stratigraphic architecture of the Nutzotin basin may provide a better understanding of basin development within collision zones and be a useful model for future petroleum exploration in frontier collisional basins of the western Pacific.

Conclusions should contain similar information as that contained in the abstract. Commonly, the conclusions section is longer and includes more of the interpretational subtleties and a restatement of the scientific importance of the work. The reader reads the conclusions last; include the items you most want the reader to remember. For your GEL 109L paper, you want me to remember your great facies descriptions and process interpretations.

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