Should not the abstract remain self-contained?
What about citing figures or tables in it?
The abstract should have all the necessary information required for people to judge if they want to pursue it and read the article.
An exception may arise in the exceptional cases (e.g., when an article heavily draws on a previous work). For instance, in the following paper the author is replicating a previous study and had included a cite in the abstract:
Sydney Finkelstein (1997). Interindustry merger patterns and resource dependence: a replication and extension of Pfeffer (1972), Strategic Management Journal 18(10): 787–810.
Abstract: This paper reexamines Pfeffer’s (1972) classic study on interindustry merger patterns by replicating and then extending his findings. Pfeffer argued and found that resource dependencies, as measured by interindustry economic transactions, explained merger patterns. The replication investigates how robust the resource dependence explanation for interindustry mergers is when more precise methods are applied to a data set that essentially recreates Pfeffer’s. The extension examines the strength of the resouce dependence effect over time, and offers hypotheses that seek to explain both longitudinal and cross-sectional variation in the strength of this effect. Results indicate that while the significance of the resource dependence effect is once again observed, after applying more refined analytical methods to the data the explanatory power of resource dependence is greatly diminished. In addition, variation in the strength of the resource dependence effect suggests some boundary conditions for the theory, at least with respect to its ability to predict interindustry mergers.
Like most people, my answer would be "NO" . I prefer to have the abstract be self-contained and a stand-alone piece of work. Otherwise, it becomes hard to read. What is your opinion on including citations inside the abstract?
It does not make any sense. Abstracts are to guide librarians to sort your material and not to state a truth. That is how I can see it.
Dear Mahmoud Omid,
I think you are correct. Abstract should "be a ``stand-alone" piece of work otherwise it becomes hard to read".
Perhaps its more easy to use key words and/or book titles and/or author names to sort material you don't really master, or not?
@Vilemar Magalhaes: ...Abstracts are to guide librarians to sort your material and not to state a truth.
Exactly! Putting references in an abstract is a source of unwanted noise. For indexing and classification purposes, an abstract that summarizes a work is better that an abstract cluttered with references to external works.
And @Anup Kumar Bandyopadhyay has hit the proverbial nail on head in pointing out that an abstract should be stand-alone piece of work.
An abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, conference proceeding or any in-depth analysis of a particular subject or discipline, and is often used to help the reader quickly ascertain the paper's purpose. An abstract act as the point-of-entry for any given academic paper. It should be self-contained.
@James F Peters. Like that "a source of unwanted noise", agreeing with all of you saying that there is no place in abstracts for deliberations illustrated by references etc.
Dear Mahmoud Omid,
One or two references seem to be the norm, of course in some cases,but figures and tables are quite strange because abstract is a general framework of what is expected to be found in the paper. Early disclosure of data may adversely affect the readers' degree of interest.
Best regards,
R. Biria
I agree with all of you. An abstract should be self-contained and it isn't acceptable to cite references, figures or tables
Dear all,
I concur with your answers. Abstracts are squeezed, contracted summary of what the article is all about, what results (new or extensions ) it contains. References and other resources should be either in the introduction or next sections of the article for anecdotal descriptions of developments of the results, from where and to where the result of the paper is going, or it has to be in the reference section at the end of the article.
I must go with most of the colleagues here with No, however, in some cases you find your self obliged to cite something there, particularly when your work is about correcting or enhancing another work.
Dear Mahmoud,
It depends on the intention of the editors and the needs of the authors. In some cases it is useful to cite some references. A good picture or a table can spare a lot of words.
IMHO, just acceptable for a:
WELL KNOWN THEORY
FORMULA
METHOD
LAW
CONCEPT
QUOTES
The abstract should have all the necessary information required for people to judge if they want to pursue it and read the article.
An exception may arise in the exceptional cases (e.g., when an article heavily draws on a previous work). For instance, in the following paper the author is replicating a previous study and had included a cite in the abstract:
Sydney Finkelstein (1997). Interindustry merger patterns and resource dependence: a replication and extension of Pfeffer (1972), Strategic Management Journal 18(10): 787–810.
Abstract: This paper reexamines Pfeffer’s (1972) classic study on interindustry merger patterns by replicating and then extending his findings. Pfeffer argued and found that resource dependencies, as measured by interindustry economic transactions, explained merger patterns. The replication investigates how robust the resource dependence explanation for interindustry mergers is when more precise methods are applied to a data set that essentially recreates Pfeffer’s. The extension examines the strength of the resouce dependence effect over time, and offers hypotheses that seek to explain both longitudinal and cross-sectional variation in the strength of this effect. Results indicate that while the significance of the resource dependence effect is once again observed, after applying more refined analytical methods to the data the explanatory power of resource dependence is greatly diminished. In addition, variation in the strength of the resource dependence effect suggests some boundary conditions for the theory, at least with respect to its ability to predict interindustry mergers.
Citations should always be referred from the main content of the resaerch publication for its wholesomeness. That would make it as adequate relevance to the ongoing research
My opinion "no" because the Abstract give a summary of the work. If included detailed information, such as tables, there will be a unwarranted repeat.
A big "NO" because abstract provides the deatiling of the contribution in nut shell -leads the readers to understand the type of contribution and theory utilized. At the same time enables the audience to follow the rest of the paper. Therefore, it should not contain any citing. In some situation we come across abstract in which author gives citation - depends on the editor choice to approve or not.
But, would recommend no citation in abstract. Also, follow the points outlined during writing thr abstract.
1. Provide clear information about thr problem.
2. Give the theory or method you are using and how.
3. If you are presenting new theory explain the novelty.
4. If you are using existing theory the present it clrearly how it is better than the former one.
5. Provide the detailing why one should follow the paper.
6. Motivation of conducting the work and how one can get the benifits.
I believe - if one will follow the above mentioned points then your abstract and paper will be easy to follow.
Thanks
-Hari
The word abstract derived from the Latin abstractum, which means a condensed form of a longer piece of writing. This is usually a very concise summary of what the report or article is about. The abstract can be read to get a quick overview. It tells the reader what to expect in the work and it should be based on all that have written. An abstract should allow a reader to get the bare-bones information about a document without requiring them to read the actual document. As such citation of references within an abstract is undesirable. However, as mentioned by Andras, it depends on the intent of the editors and the journal’s format.
Dear All,
I think it is a good brain and style exercise to argue how summaries should be but the only persons who decide are journal editors.
Abstract of the paper, mainly give few aspects:
1. Title of the paper
2. Main Objective
3. A line on sample and statistical methods used
4. Main results
5. A line on practical implications
6. Key words
No need to give references in the abstract of 150 to 250 words.
Dear Mahmoud
I do not indertant the example above of Pfeiffer as a citation. It is.not being used as supportive argument. In this case it is OK.
Dear @Mahmoud and colleagues, no, there is no place for references in the abstract. As it was mentioned before, it is a bad style. Here are some more discussion on similar thread.
http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/4971/are-citations-in-abstracts-considered-bad-style
The aim of the abstract is to give a brief idea about the content of your paper. This is the next level of details compared to the title. It is aelf sufficient and atomic in the sense that it normally dors not contain any subsection. Therefore to include a reference either it has to be completely cited in the text of the abstract or should refer to the relevant subsection of the main paper.
A good abstract must be concise, readable, and quantitative. As pointed out they generally do not have citations (except when an article heavily draws on a previous work). A good abstract explains in one line why the paper is important. It then goes on to give a summary of your major results, preferably couched in numbers (with error limits). The final sentences explain the major implications of your work. Accordingly, answers to these questions should be found in your abstract:
I frankly dont know, whether to cite or not an abstract. However, I know that, for sure "abstract's should not have references cited".
Pp15.
http://pubs.acs.org/paragonplus/submission/esthag/esthag_authguide.pdf
No need to cite any ref in the abstract. As mentioned in the previous entries, abstract covers aim of the work, what was achieved in it and how it was achieved.
Yes, Dear Mahmoud Omid,
You have given the abstract with reference. This is more of the criteria/objective of the paper, less of reference.
It depends on situation to situation.
Dear Marcel,
I have seen several Nature abstracts citing references. One of them here at RG.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Arturo_Tozzi
Dear all,
The following is the guideline by Elsevier (one of the leading publishers) about how to organize the abstract:
A concise and factual abstract is required. The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. For this reason, References should be avoided, but if essential, then cite the author(s) and year(s). An abstract of between 50 and 250 words. Abstracts should not contain formulae or abbreviations.
http://www.elsevier.com/journals/european-journal-of-operational-research/0377-2217/guide-for-authors
Abstract normally present a concise account of research objective, methodology and results, possible implications of research and future work connected with findings. It should be a single paragraph text between 150 and 250 words. Since references are cited in the full paper and subsequently listed in the bibliography section of the paper/ review/ report; citing in abstract is undesirable. However, in case of seminar/ symposium/ conference proceedings or Abstract Book, where only abstract or extended abstracts are published, references can be cited appropriately.
I Don't think to add the reference in abstract. Usually the abstract is to view the reasons for the work and its importance and its findings and a brief conclusion.
I agree with that references are not usually cited in an abstract, but as prof. Omiad mentioned before an exception may arise in the exceptional cases (e.g., when an article heavily draws on a previous work). I think reader need to have an fast arrival to the idea, motivation, and its importance by the abstract to have or not the enough motivations to go on with the paper, so i see it better that author use his/her own world to build the abstract. My answer would be no, i prefer to not use references in the abstract.
I think one reference can be given. Readers can understand the purpose and relation much faster.
No. I have never seen any such paper. New publication means , there should be novelty , new application, innovation etc.
References are cited in the paper in support of the state of knowledge/prior art described in the paper, methodology adopted for the work and to corroborate the facts or statements given in the discussion part. Abstracts is a well-developed paragraph exact in wording that outlines the major points of the content and substantive results of the work . Therefore inclusion of references, charts, tables, figures in the abstract body is unwanted.
There is no question of acceptable or not acceptable, it is the requirement based. Still, majority of the researchers do not use references in abstracts.
Subhash,
You are very kind. But yet I am sure your abstracts or tour student's do not have citations in your abstracts.
In Brazil we have ABNT and like many places of the world each school has its own standards, but none I know says it is up to the student to decide it.
Vilemar
Regarding IEEE Conferences, there are abstracts and extended abstracts. "...The Abstract should be about 80–120 words. Avoid using abbreviations. Do not cite references in the Abstract. ...Extended abstracts may include figures and tables, but must not exceed 2 pages, including References, About the Authors, and Acknowledgement..."
I think knowing what an abstract actually is and the purpose it serves can be useful to us to write the abstract for our next paper more effectively. Abstract may be regarded as part of a larger document (paper, thesis, dissertation, ...) to summarize the document in a single paragraph. In particular, the abstracts of academic papers are read to determine whether or not the information is worth reading in detail.
Finally, these three elements—the title, abstract, and keywords—may well hold the key to publication success. Why is it important to get them right? Most electronic search engines, databases, or journal websites will use the words found in your title and abstract, and your list of keywords to decide whether and when to display your paper to interested readers. Thus, these 3 elements enable the dissemination of your research; without them, readers would not be able to find or cite your paper.
http://www.editage.com/insights/how-to-write-an-effective-title-and-abstract-and-choose-appropriate-keywords
Better look for topics than for keywords for many reasons. Define a topic and then generate keywords!
How to write a good abstract? The following paper (PDF file is attached) is trying to answer this question.
Abstract and keywords are included here:
Abstract: Abstracts of scientific papers are sometimes poorly written, often lack important information, and occasionally convey a biased picture. This paper provides detailed suggestions, with examples, for writing the background, methods, results, and conclusions sections of a good abstract. The primary target of this paper is the young researcher; however, authors with all levels of experience may find useful ideas in the paper.
Key words: Abstract, preparing a manuscript, writing skills
C. Andrade (2011), How to write a good abstract for a scientific paper or conference presentation, Indian J Psychiatry 53: 172-5.
Most journals provide clear instructions to authors on the formatting and contents of different parts of the manuscript. These instructions often include details on what the sections of an abstract should contain. Authors should tailor their abstracts to the specific requirements of the journal to which they plan to submit their manuscript. It could also be an excellent idea to model the abstract of the paper, sentence for sentence, on the abstract of an important paper on a similar subject and with similar methodology, published in the same journal for which the manuscript is slated.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3136027/
It’s is okay to add one or two references at the end of the abstract. if the abstract is for a conference. In case of full length paper the bibliography is mentioned in the paper itself, so there should be no citations in the abstract. The abstract should contain all information required for readers to judge if they want to read the paper.
1. In journals, yes. Not many of Abstracts include 'references', but I do see some contain references, include papers published on Nature.
2. In some books, publishers ask NOT to add references to Abstracts of book chapters. See this Tip from Springer manuscript guidelines:
"Tip – Don’t include reference citations or undefined abbreviations in the abstract, since abstracts are often read independently of the actual chapter and without access to the reference list." (from attached guidelines).
Graphical Abstracts
Using Graphical Abstracts is becoming a new trend for publication these days. You can actually create figures for your paper abstract. See this link from ELSEVIER about Graphical Abstract. There are several examples included at the link. https://www.elsevier.com/authors/journal-authors/graphical-abstract
Dear @Yuan-Yeu, thanks for bringing this info about graphical abstracts. I have followed the link attached and I have found many fine examples of such type of abstracts.
Example 3: Layer-by-layer capsules for magnetic resonance imaging and drug delivery, Hua Ai, Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, Volume 63, Issue 9, 14 August 2011, Pages 772-788. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2011.03.013
https://www.elsevier.com/authors/journal-authors/graphical-abstract
Dear @ Ljubomir Jacić, yes, there are different styles of Graphical Abstract. Attached paper shows one of its kinds. A graph is integrated into the Abstract. This scientific journal ACS Nano is pretty prestigious (Impact Factor = 13.3). If you go to its website, almost all the papers are with a graph-integrated abstract (I think they must have asked the authors to do so). Here is its web link: http://pubs.acs.org/journal/ancac3
There are three types of abstract: descriptive, informative and critical...
http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~pjh/modules/current/06991/lectures/writing/writing2_handout.pdf
The word count limit for the abstract is set by publishers that vary from journal to journal and typically range from 150 to 250 words. References cited within the body of abstract (which are already mentioned in the text) do count toward the word limit. So normally reference should be avoided to convey more significant information with maximum economy of word count. In the Abstract Books of Seminar/Symposia/ Conference, only abstracts are published. In this case, to make abstract self-contained some important citations (limited to 1 or 2) can be included in the abstract.
I have seen that some authors have cited articles in the abstract. However, it is inconvenience for the reader to get quick idea about that paper. I also think that it should not be done.
What is an abstract?
An abstract is a concise summary of a larger project (a thesis, research report, performance, service project, etc.) that concisely describes the content and scope of the project and identifies the project’s objective, its methodology and its findings, conclusions, or intended results.
Remember that your abstract is a description of your project (what you specifically are doing) and not a description of your topic (whatever you’re doing the project on). It is easy to get these two types of description confused. Since abstracts are generally very short, it’s important that you don’t get bogged down in a summary of the entire background of your topic.
From: https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/presentations_abstracts.html
What should an abstract include?
Despite the fact that abstracts vary somewhat from discipline to discipline, every abstract should include four main types of information.
- It should state the main objective and rationale of your project,
- it should outline the methods you used to accomplish your objectives,
- it should list your project’s results or product (or projected or intended results or product, if your project is not yet complete),
- and it should draw conclusions about the implications of your project.
From: https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/presentations_abstracts.html
Abstract must be fully self-contained and make sense by itself, without further reference to outside sources or to the actual paper. Because on-line search databases typically contain only abstracts, it is vital to write a complete but concise description of your work to entice potential readers into obtaining a copy of the full paper.
Other Considerations
https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/essays/abstract.html
An abstract must be a fully self-contained, capsule description of the paper. It can't assume (or attempt to provoke) the reader into flipping through looking for an explanation of what is meant by some vague statement. It must make sense all by itself. Some points to consider include:
- Meet the word count limitation. If your abstract runs too long, either it will be rejected or someone will take a chainsaw to it to get it down to size. Your purposes will be better served by doing the difficult task of cutting yourself, rather than leaving it to someone else who might be more interested in meeting size restrictions than in representing your efforts in the best possible manner. An abstract word limit of 150 to 200 words is common.
- Any major restrictions or limitations on the results should be stated, if only by using "weasel-words" such as "might", "could", "may", and "seem".
- Think of a half-dozen search phrases and keywords that people looking for your work might use. Be sure that those exact phrases appear in your abstract, so that they will turn up at the top of a search result listing.
- Usually the context of a paper is set by the publication it appears in (for example, IEEE Computer magazine's articles are generally about computer technology). But, if your paper appears in a somewhat un-traditional venue, be sure to include in the problem statement the domain or topic area that it is really applicable to.
- Some publications request "keywords". These have two purposes. They are used to facilitate keyword index searches, which are greatly reduced in importance now that on-line abstract text searching is commonly used. However, they are also used to assign papers to review committees or editors, which can be extremely important to your fate. So make sure that the keywords you pick make assigning your paper to a review category obvious (for example, if there is a list of conference topics, use your chosen topic area as one of the keyword tuples).
The abstract should not include diagrams , tables in general references and citation are not required in the abstract.
See super - short abstract!
"Abstracts go at the top of just about every research paper published in fields ranging from psychology to physics to entomology to — yes — seismology. They summarize all the complicated methods, results, and interpretations that follow, often in plainer language. Reading abstracts is a great way for researchers, curious lay people and the occasional science journalist to follow developments in fields where they're not experts. Abstracts are also often the only part of a paper available to the public without paying journal subscription fees...
And this super-short abstract by J.K. Gardner and L. Knopoff does the job..."
https://www.livescience.com/60920-shortest-abstract-surfaces-on-twitter.html
should not cite references in the abstract does not have much logic, this only summarizes the study
How to Write Abstract A condensed version of how to write an abstract was presented on the inside front and back covers of AU J.T. 8(1): July 2004 under the heading “How to Write the Titles, By-Line(s), Abstract and Keywords of Scientific Papers”. As many potential authors still have some difficulties in preparing the abstracts of their papers, the Editor decided to give detailed instruction on how to write abstracts of scientific and academic papers with the hope that this will aid authors. What is an abstract? An abstract is a brief, accurate, and comprehensive summary of the contents of the article without added interpretation or criticism. It allows readers to survey the contents of the article which follows quickly. In preparing the abstract, it is important to keep the sentences short and simple by covering with just one topic each and excluding irrelevant information. Nevertheless, an abstract should be informative by presenting the quantitative and/or qualitative information contained in the document. What are the functions of an abstract? An abstract has two functions, viz.: 1. Placed at the beginning of the article, it helps readers to know the brief content of the article, thus saving them time to read through the whole paper. Readers normally have their first contact with an article by seeing just the abstract and deciding on the basis of the abstract whether to read the entire article. Thus, an abstract must be informative and readable; it should be well organized, concise, and self-contained. 2. It is used by abstracting and information services to index and retrieve articles. Abstract journals can directly publish an abstract as it is, thus facilitating the publication of the article which has been published in the primary publication in Abstract Journal faster and more accurate. Characteristics of a good abstract A good abstract should be: 1. Accurate: An abstract should reflect correctly the objectives and contents of the article. Do not include information that does not appear in the body of the article in the abstract. If the investigation extends or replicates previous research, it must be recorded in the abstract, with a brief citation of the author (initials and family name) and year. It is suggested that the author compare the abstract with the outline of the article’s headings in order to verify the accuracy of the abstract. 2. Self-contained: Define all unique terms, abbreviations (except units of measurement), and acronyms in the abstract. Include names of the authors (initials and family name) and dates of publication in citations of other publications (and give a full citation in the list of references). If the article does not have a separate Keywords section, embed them in the abstract as this will enhance the readers’ ability to find them; this will also help in indexing. 3. Concise and specific: Each sentence should be as informative as possible, especially the lead sentence. Make it brief. The total length of the abstract should not exceed 120 words, in one (Con’t. on inside back cover) (Con’t. from inside front cover) paragraph, if possible. Begin the abstract with the most important information but do not repeat the title. It may include the purpose of the investigation, the results and conclusions, or whatever is the most important to inform the readers. 4. Coherent and readable: Write clearly. Here are some suggestions as to write clearly: • Use verbs rather than the noun equivalents. • Use the active rather than the passive voice, but without personal pronouns (I or we). • Use the present tense to describe results without continuing applicability or conclusions drawn. • Use the past tense to describe specific variables manipulated or tests applied. • Use the third rather than the first person. Some suggestions for preparing an abstract After finishing the whole content, the author should re-read the article and note down salient points, including the nature of the problems, objectives, methods, results, conclusions and suggestions for further investigation. Then combine them into the abstract later. Do not put anything which was not present in the text, or repeat the title. The objectives and methods, or the nature of the study should be briefly presented. For new methods, there should be the principle of practice, and the scope of accuracy. Do not cite any references, figures, or tables in the abstract. Accentuate newly discovered organisms or compounds. If there is a need to cite references, the sources should be provided in bracket in the abstract. There should be no list of references in the abstract. The abstract not to exceed 200 words or 3% of the article contents. Hint to write an abstract • Describe the main findings concisely and summarize the conclusions. • Include all the main information covered in the paper. • Write with a non-specialist style in mind. • Different points should be emphasized proportionally with that of the main body of the paper. • For short articles, the abstract should be written as a single paragraph;. • For long articles, split the abstract into two or more paragraphs if this is clearer for the readers. • Use past tense for what was found. • Include as much as possible the key words from the text in the abstract. • Avoid unfamiliar terms, acronyms, abbreviations, or symbols; or define them if there is no choice. • Use generic name, not trade names, for chemicals and drugs. • Identify organisms by their scientific names. • Do not include tables, diagrams, equations, or structural formulae in the abstract. • Avoid citing references unless the reference inspired the author to investigate further. • Use numerals for all numbers, except those that begins a sentence. It is suggested that authors recast sentences that begin with a number. • Abbreviate liberally. However, the abbreviations that need to be explained in the text must also be explained on first use in the text not only in the abstract.
reference // http://www.journal.au.edu/au_techno/2006/jan06/vol9num3_howto.pdf
regards
An abstract is a self contained brief summary of your manuscript/thesis. Thus I will never suggest to use any reference, table or figure in the abstract.
No, according to the rules of research writing, it is not possible to put any references in the abstract, which is a summary of the researcher's work and its results.
But each rule has an exception. If the research actually needs to cite, some can be put.
Dear All,
Thank you for interesting comments. Many readers will read only the abstract of your paper. For others, the abstract will induce them to read the paper in more detail. In either case, the abstract is VERY important. We should remember that abstract is often used to help the reader quickly ascertain the paper's purpose.
Some general features of a good abstract
https://www.letpub.com/index.php?page=author_education_on_the_importance_of_the_abstract_in_original_research_papers
- It is succinct and tightly written. Keep it simple!
- It states clearly the hypothesis or objectives.
- It avoids unnecessary experimental details and statistical methods.
- It does not include references, tables or figures.
- It has few or no abbreviations.
- It states concisely and comprehensively the paper’s major findings in an easily understood manner.
- It has concise, clearly stated conclusion(s) linked to the hypothesis or objectives.
- It has good grammatical writing.
Science paper's abstract has one word!
Do Large (Magnitude ≥8) Global Earthquakes Occur on Preferred Days of the Calender Year of Lunar Cycle?
"No."
https://boingboing.net/2018/01/19/science-papers-abstract-has.html
Want to analyze millions of scientific papers all at once? Here’s the best way to do it
"There is long-standing debate among text and data miners: whether sifting through full research papers, rather than much shorter and simpler research summaries, or abstracts, is worth the extra effort. Though it may seem obvious that full papers would give better results, some researchers say that a lot of information they contain is redundant, and that abstracts contain all that’s needed. Given the challenges of obtaining and formatting full papers for mining, stick with abstracts, they say..."
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/07/want-analyze-millions-scientific-papers-all-once-here-s-best-way-do-it
The abstract is a precise and compact document of your work. It describes the summary of the work. To the best of my knowledge, no references, figures are added in the abstract. There is a separate section for citing the references in the paper.
Thank you for the interesting discussions. I also agree with my colleagues, the answer is "No".
Dear Mahmoud,
References are not commonly cited in the Abstracts, but when the research is focused on a work, then it comes in the Abstract, that is , it comes as part of the major theme. For such, it is allowed. But ordinarily, it is not.
Obianuju P. Umeji
It is not appropriate to cite any references, figures, or tables in the abstract. However, sources can be provided in bracket if there is a need to substantiate certain facts and figures.
Dear Omid,
According to my point-of-view, citation in abstract is not at all acceptable. Abstract only describes the brief of the overall publication, especially all the important data and findings. Thus, there should be any necessity of citation.
Thanking you very much.
In the abstract we can cite refrence if it's the goal of the work the comparison with the work of the indicated refrence. However refrence no usually cited in the abstract.
it Is allowed by some journals, but then an abstract is a detailed summary
I think in case the article is based on a specific framework, than one can put the linked reference.
Abstract, in most cases, does not contain reference(s). However, if the whole paper is to correct or improve on previous work, referring to the previous work in the abstract becomes inevitable.
Abstract should not have any citation since it is the executive summary of the findings which are in the main work.
"The Abstract is the first thing you see in a scientific article but it is much easier to write it at the end when all the ideas are already structured, the tables and figures are in order, and the main discussion and conclusions were written. It will then be just a matter of cutting and pasting one or two sentences from the objectives, methods, results, and conclusions, in that order, and then do some small editing so that the summary, usually 150-300 words, acquires consistency..."
There is no suggestion for citation of references in abstract.
https://sciencetrends.com/hints-write-publish-good-medical-paper/
The following paper (little dated though) give a good summary on the importance of writing abstracts:
Pitkiiz Roy M.Obstetrics & Gynecology. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ABSTRACT, August 1987 - Volume 70 - Issue 2 - ppg 267
A bad abstract won’t by itself cause journal editors to reject a scholarly article, but it does incline them toward an initial negative answer, write Faye Halpern and James Phelan.
Most journals require authors to submit abstracts along with their articles. This requirement has two main rationales:
Reference: Writing an Effective Abstract: An Audience-Based Approach
https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2017/02/23/importance-writing-effective-abstract-when-you-submit-journal-article-essay
In my opinion, author may give reference of a research paper if work is an extension of that paper. Alternatively if conceptual theory is being explored for application in different area, paper reference may be quoted in Abstract,
A citation, also called a reference,[1] uniquely identifies a source of information, e.g.:
Ritter, R. M. (2002). The Oxford Style Manual. Oxford University Press. p. 1.
Wikipedia's Verifiability policy requires inline citations for any material challenged or likely to be challenged, and for all quotations, anywhere in article space.
A citation or reference in an article usually has two parts. In the first part, each section of text that is either based on, or quoted from, an outside source is marked as such with an inline citation. The inline citation may be a superscript footnote number, or an abbreviated version of the citation called a short citation. The second necessary part of the citation or reference is the list of full references, which provides complete, formatted detail about the source, so that anyone reading the article can find it and verify it.
This page explains how to place and format both parts of the citation. Each article should use one citation method or style throughout. If an article already has citations, preserve consistency by using that method or seek consensus on the talk page before changing it (the principle is reviewed at § Variation in citation methods). While you should try to write citations correctly, what matters most is that you provide enough information to identify the source. Others will improve the formatting if needed. See "Help:Referencing for beginners" for a brief introduction on how to put references in Wikipedia articles.
reference/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources
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