However, nowhere in the abstract did the authors mention that these conclusions were based on just 5 cases and 12 controls out of the total sample of 126 cases and 806 controls. A recent study, for example, concluded that venlafaxine use during the second trimester of pregnancy may increase the risk of neonates born small for gestational age. Misleading readers could harm the cause of science and have an adverse impact on patient care. Therefore, it is critically important for authors to ensure that their enthusiasm or bias does not deceive the reader unjustified speculations could be even more harmful. Likewise, whatever errors should not be made in the text should not appear in the abstract (eg, mistaking association for causality).Īs already mentioned, the abstract is the only part of the paper that the vast majority of readers see. It goes without saying that whatever is present in the abstract must also be present in the text. For instance, in Example 1 there is no need to state “The antidepressant efficacy of desvenlafaxine (DV), a dual-acting antidepressant drug, has been established…” (the unnecessary content is italicized). Note that, in the interest of brevity, unnecessary content is avoided. Readers may wish to compare the content in Table 2 with the original abstracts to see how the adaptations possibly improve on the originals. This is unfortunate because the reader is interested in the paper because of its findings, and not because of its background.Ī wide variety of acceptably composed backgrounds is provided in Table 2 most of these have been adapted from actual papers. In most cases, however, a longer background section means that less space remains for the presentation of the results. There are some situations, perhaps, where this may be justified. Some authors publish papers the abstracts of which contain a lengthy background section. The purpose of the background, as the word itself indicates, is to provide the reader with a background to the study, and hence to smoothly lead into a description of the methods employed in the investigation. In most cases, the background can be framed in just 2–3 sentences, with each sentence describing a different aspect of the information referred to above sometimes, even a single sentence may suffice. What is not known about the subject and hence what the study intended to examine (or what the paper seeks to present) For this, the abstract must have some general qualities.
It is therefore the duty of the author to ensure that the abstract is properly representative of the entire paper. For the referees, and the few readers who wish to read beyond the abstract, the abstract sets the tone for the rest of the paper. Thus, for the vast majority of readers, the paper does not exist beyond its abstract. Only a reader with a very specific interest in the subject of the paper, and a need to understand it thoroughly, will read the entire paper. Only a dedicated reader will peruse the contents of the paper, and then, most often only the introduction and discussion sections. If a title interests them, they glance through the abstract of that paper. Finally, most readers will acknowledge, with a chuckle, that when they leaf through the hard copy of a journal, they look at only the titles of the contained papers. The abstract is the only part of the paper that readers see when they search through electronic databases such as PubMed. The abstract is the only part of the paper that a potential referee sees when he is invited by an editor to review a manuscript. The abstract of a paper is the only part of the paper that is published in conference proceedings. Although the primary target of this paper is the young researcher, it is likely that authors with all levels of experience will find at least a few ideas that may be useful in their future efforts. The present paper examines how authors may write a good abstract when preparing their manuscript for a scientific journal or conference presentation.
#WHATS A MANUSCRIPT HOW TO#
Earlier articles offered suggestions on how to write a good case report, and how to read, write, or review a paper on randomized controlled trials.
#WHATS A MANUSCRIPT SERIES#
This paper is the third in a series on manuscript writing skills, published in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry.
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