The abstract section of an academic paper is the concise summary of the entire research which research scholars endorse a word count range of 100-300 words. As such, the mini IMRAD (Introduction. Methodology. Results and discussions) and conclusions and/or recommendations must be written from the researcher's perspective and thus with no reference points. It is like the researcher's brief narrative to researchers around the globe, the makeup of his/her research. Therefore, s/he uses a sentence to outline the problem that necessitated the research with its allied probing questions (here, the principal objective or research question is stated), the means the researcher would take to answer or solve the problem that warrants the investigation (methodological approach, data collecting instruments, sampling procedures, analytical methods etc.), the main findings from the data accrued, a discussion of the findings, drawn conclusions and recommendations. 

Owing to this, it is adviced that researchers refrain from citing the works of others when writing abstracts. The section is like giving a researcher 15 seconds to give a narrative to readers for them to have a mental picture of the entire research s/he has conducted. Thanks

                              Dickson Adom

As far as I know, there is no clear answer on this. Journals may differ in their expectations. One text we use with our graduate students written by Wendy Belcher recommends that writers do not include references in their abstracts. You may find her book helpful: 

Belcher, W. L. (2009). Writing your journal article in 12 weeks: A guide to academic publishing success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Try to avoid. If absolute essential you can give as follows:

Name of the author{s}, Name of the journal, volume page[s} year.

The abstract section of an academic paper is the concise summary of the entire research which research scholars endorse a word count range of 100-300 words. As such, the mini IMRAD (Introduction. Methodology. Results and discussions) and conclusions and/or recommendations must be written from the researcher's perspective and thus with no reference points. It is like the researcher's brief narrative to researchers around the globe, the makeup of his/her research. Therefore, s/he uses a sentence to outline the problem that necessitated the research with its allied probing questions (here, the principal objective or research question is stated), the means the researcher would take to answer or solve the problem that warrants the investigation (methodological approach, data collecting instruments, sampling procedures, analytical methods etc.), the main findings from the data accrued, a discussion of the findings, drawn conclusions and recommendations. 

Owing to this, it is adviced that researchers refrain from citing the works of others when writing abstracts. The section is like giving a researcher 15 seconds to give a narrative to readers for them to have a mental picture of the entire research s/he has conducted. Thanks

                              Dickson Adom

There is no single answer. Different journals or calls-for-papers sometimes specify in their author instructions. If they don't then check previous papers in the same journal/conference archive, and/or contact the journal editor or conference organizer.

There may be no need for reference in abstract, In a matter of fact I agree with one of the answers given by Dickson Adom. Abstract is a short paragraph in summary of the major elements of the study to give the reader an inkling of the basic features of the work simple. It should be in the writers own words as much as possible and should not be too wordy.

Thank you Prof. Dickson Adom, Prof. Mercy Idika Prof. Alex Gillett for your insightful suggestions in this regard.

The inclusion of references reduces your available word count, which is always very tight. Regard your abstract as being an advert for your paper, and not being the paper itself. 

NO

Considering the best practices around the Academic world, abstract should not contain any references. It is supposed to be a very short summary of the research work done. The urge to cite references in abstract will only give the researcher away as not in control of his work. 

please don't include references or citations in your abstract. i believe you will be in a safer side never to include no matter the type of journal. all the journals journals i have ever seen across the globe don't

It is better that your abstract does not contain any reference.

No,

In most of the international and national journals, as per the journals guide lines abstract should be structured without any references.  I have not put references in the abstract , the papers which  i have published.

abstract/mukhalas/khulasa/summary 

outlines the study and is usually accompanied by detailed paper.

if an abstract is for presentation at a conference r workshop and is not accompanied by detailed lectures or study-- it must have references

whereas if it is sent for publication and is accompanied by detailed article there is no need of including references with abstract.

Standards are given by publishers and reviewers.

The answer is NO

bhai full length paper er kunu abstract e reference hoy na. But in case jodi tumi kunu poster ya template publish korcho kono first report jekhane lekhar beshi kichu nei, sheikhane oboshyoi reference dite paro..but oitake abstract bola jabe na

A paper may be about a confirmation or rebuttal of prior published work, and must, of course, cite that. The mention can therefore be in the abstract, but the citation itself should be left for the accompanying paper.

Could you post an example here abstract with references

The answer is dependent on the type of research. E.g. (my bolding):

"ABSTRACT: New discoveries and dating of fossil remains from the Rising Star cave system, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa, have strong implications for our understanding of Pleistocene human evolution in Africa. Direct dating of Homo naledi fossils from the Dinaledi Chamber (Berger et al., 2015) shows that they were deposited between about 236 ka and 335 ka (Dirks et al., 2017), placing H. naledi in the later Middle Pleistocene. Hawks and colleagues (Hawks et al., 2017) report the discovery of a second chamber within the Rising Star system (Dirks et al., 2015) that contains H. naledi remains. Previously, only large-brained modern humans or their close relatives had been demonstrated to exist at this late time in Africa, but the fossil evidence for any hominins in subequatorial Africa was very sparse. It is now evident that a diversity of hominin lineages existed in this region, with some divergent lineages contributing DNA to living humans and at least H. naledi representing a survivor from the earliest stages of diversification within Homo. The existence of a diverse array of hominins in subequatorial comports with our present knowledge of diversity across other savanna-adapted species, as well as with palaeoclimate and paleoenvironmental data. H. naledi casts the fossil and archaeological records into a new light, as we cannot exclude that this lineage was responsible for the production of Acheulean or Middle Stone Age tool industries.

Homo naledi and Pleistocene hominin evolution in subequatorial Africa. "Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316862593_Homo_naledi_and_Pleistocene_hominin_evolution_in_subequatorial_Africa [accessed Jul 2, 2017].

Dear Prof Ian,

Please can you elaborate to me the kind of research that allows for an abstract construction with citations like the one you have posted? Please, kindly explain why it is allowed in the context of that 'type' of research? Thanks in advance.

Dickson Adom

@Dickson Adom: The researchers are now building on the foundations they themselves previously laid (Berger, Dirks, Hawks and their et als) on the 2 chambers and date ranges. So they are now doing a survey and presenting a summary of their (own) previous work. Here they now bring together their Results from previous papers, and consolidate it in this paper. In this synoptic view, they tie up loose ends and strengthen their arguments where there has been criticism.

It is not a matter of references in the Abstract being "allowed". It was necessary here so that the reader of the Abstract will not be deceived into thinking that this paper reports a discovery of a new anthropological specimen. It is instead a "tidying-up" of what had previously been reported as new discoveries, together with the long-awaited new reporting of the best estimate of the fossil age.

The paper does not follow a IMR&D template, as it is mainly a review paper.

Note still that the bare minimum of citations are given, and that the bibliographic details and other lesser references are relegated to the References section of the paper.

No the abstract should not have any reference.

Should abstract contain any reference?

Think there is no hard & fast rules on this.  Including reference in an abstract is depending on the researcher's needs whereby including reference in abstract have its disadvantages & advantages.  Examples of disadvantages include taken up unnecessary word counts, abstract shouldn't include detail references etc.  Sometimes, researcher needs to include reference e.g. his / her conceptual framework is underpinning on fairly renown theoretical framework that s/he needs to cite for the very first time appears in the abstract etc.  Each researcher needs to apply his / her best judgment as most of the abstract's length is limited.  Moreover, the researcher can check for any author's guideline on writing abstract from each journal / university.

There is no rule saying that we cannot cite another work in an abstract section. If there is a need to cite some work in an abstract section, go for it.

Thanks.

Regards

Even if there are no rules in scientific research to indicate that issue, the researcher is also free to develop or refer to resources that reinforce a conclusion that may be found in the research abstract

The abstract must summarize the work done in the paper, not the work done in the literature, therefore we don't need references. 

Abstract is an idea , a thought & inclination & it is also mean for an individual who else these mode of experience & reasoning .To me it has no reference & as such no existence & as such abstract may not have any reference .

This is my personal opinion 

Hi

Actually, it is just a summary of all  what has been written in the study. You can mention to any necessary references in the introduction, the statement of the problem, or in the literature section (the theoretical background). 

Liqaa 

Extended abstracts may have references.

In general, abstract don't need to add references 

It is advisable to skip references in the abstract unless it is highly essential.

@Ian Kennedy

Thank you so much for your enlightenment.

I think it's not necessary to add references to abstract. 

Thank you all for your suggestions.

There is no need for reference in abstract , that will make your abstract week and mentioned to other that this is not your work completely , so your abstract must deal with the focal point in your research and what are the main conclusions that attract the reader.Best wishes.

It depends on the journal's policy. Some journals require abstracts without references, others allow references. If you send an abstract for a conference to appear in the proceedings book, it is common to have references. In summary, there is no clear answer that applies to all abstracts.

kind regards, Rainer 

Well, there are no strict rules that forbid referencing in abstracts. However, if you do reference a study in the abstract of your paper, write the complete reference. My advice is to reference one paper at most in the abstract, and only if your paper is a reaction to the referenced study. References use a lot of space and abstracts should be kept short.

It depends on which type of abstract, for instance, some conference abstracts accept references (extended abstract) and some do not allow. However, for regular articles in a journal, you may not require references (citations).

In some cases, especially in mathematics, there is also a need to cite the reference in the abstract to avoid plagiarism and to make the contribution of the present article clear and concise. See the link for an example:

Article Fibonacci Factoriangular numbers

Absolutely NO. If an author has not enough material to write an abstract of his own work and needs the help of his references, then it is better not to publish such a paper as containing nothing new. 

No, you can't include any reference in the abstract. The abstract of any paper should focus on the work has done by the author only. This section should contains the work importance, some results, its applications and its benefit to industry and others.

Hello , It is not written anywhere that the abstract should or shouldn't include this and that . So there may be the confusion . As per my view there is no need of including the references in the abstract . It is written so that it gives idea about the readers he work . Anyone interested further can read the complete article.so absolutely no need of including references.Then what is the use of abstract than???

Thanks Tareq, Actually to write the abstract there are definitely the structured formats. I was just commenting on the inclusion of references in the abstract part. In my view there is no need of including in my field atleast. As for mathematics studies someone has told above that there is need of it but , frankly I don't have any idea regarding that field

For most scientific documents, the abstract contains no references. But, I observed a few conference abstract with references.

I think abstract should only summarize the work you did but not referencing other people's work. This can be done in your introduction and literature review sections.

Personally I don't think abstracts should have referencing. Most often than not, they contain texts that have be cited already.

Including references in an abstract is quite rare. Probably, the editor wanted some sort of emphasis. A rare editor, I may say.

While I have not seen any hard and fast rules, I believe the abstract should not include any references and that expectation should be made clear to students and authors prior to submission of the work. If the abstract is indeed an implied summary of the work presented, the inclusion of a reference in the abstract detracts from the authors ability to formally synthesize the material. If you are submitting an abstract for original research, references may be indicated and required depending on the factual contents of the abstract.

no it is not a good idea including references in the abstract. may be key words should be included.

Generally, no

hello

As far as I know, Abstract should not contain any reference .

If publishing in a journal I'd read their guidelines re citation. Also model yourself on other notable authors in your field. If someone else's idea was used as a springboard for your central idea, I'd certainly cite that author in the abstract. Note the advice re mathematics above. Not many do it but there is no rule that I have read.

I found myself in the same dilemma. Am glad that majority of us recommend exclusion of the references. I was restricted to 350 words for the abstract. I concur that the references are not necessary because the main body will have them and there will be a reference list at end of the paper.

no dear, it is a crux of your work

NO!!

In general words - like "it is well known", an abstract can also refer to some Names of those who made a substantial contribution in the field the article is related to.

No!!!

I saw this only once in my life. But in that case it was correct, since this citation was very significant in this section. If such a reference is present, this highlights your attitude to cited work. A scientific article is literature also. Therefore, the use of certain literary techniques, is quite possible (within reasonable, do not confuse with name-dropping, for example).

In some cases, reference in an abstract can be considered as tribute, the gift, even the joke. The most important thing is to understand why you are doing this? Is it possible to do without it?

But, in the general case the references in the abstract should not present.

I have learned that in the abstract references are not necessary.

Best from,

Litart

In general NO, but if it's essential or indispensable (e.g., referring to a previous publication, which the new paper follows or add more to it), you (may) add a reference, especially if adding it will shorten a part of the abstract. However, try to avoid such irregularities in the abstract style.

Abstract references are not at all required . Abstract is meant to give idea about your research.

Dear Dr. Sumit Kumar Maji, I have seen articles having citations in their abstract.

Generally, citation of references anywhere within an abstract is almost invariably inappropriate.

As it is known, the abstract is what users and researches will read when deciding whether your article pertains to their interests and needs. For this reason, your abstract is an extremely important and powerful representation of your article. As an author, you should spend time ensuring that it is readable and that it contains a complete description of your research.

As a best option, it is important to follow the instructions to authors to avoid any mistakes a head of abstract and manuscript development. 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.

No sir abstract not contain any references.it is small summary of the whole article.

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.

regards

It used to. But due to contemporary issues in journal publication, like precision and interest enhancement for the reader, publishers have decided to minimize the length of abstracts hence affecting the number of words inherent in an abstract. This, definitely, made most journals to expunge the inclusion of citations and other unnecessary indices that may assist in the minimization of the number of words, to serve the required purpose for abstract.

It is appropriate to avoid citations/references in an abstract UNLESS otherwise required in the rare circumstances cited by some contributors earlier.

An abstract is usually presented separately from the main article, therefore, it must be able to stand-alone. For this reason, References should be avoided, however, if required, then cite the author(s) and published year(s).

Dear Prof. Sumit Kumar Maji,

I have read many articles in my field (Optics and Material) and I rarely find references included in the abstract.

I generally agree with the answers that no references are needed. Most of the reasons for citing research are not relevant for the abstract. However, as Ian Kennedy pointed out, sometimes there are types of abstracts where references are used. I just came across an abstract by two noted researchers in my field that had 5 references. Most of the references were used to "open a gap," that is since this research was meant to be an argument against the research cited, the citations were appropriate. However, had they not cited the research and simply stated that the argument existed, the abstract would still be fine.

There is no rule about citation of references in the abstract.Dr Joel Bloch's reply is the appropriate reply to this question

Since abstract is a brief summary of the work, hence inclusion of references should be avoided.

Please also have a look at this useful ResearchGate link.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_it_acceptable_to_cite_any_references_in_the_Abstract

I have not yet seen any research abstract that contains references/citations. Abstracts are generally brief summary of the whole paper and many times should follow word/character limits, so it would be good idea to avoid references in abstract.

I agree with the perspective on the "stand-alone" nature of abstracts without references in the abstract portion of manuscripts.

I think the abstract isn't the place for references.

Actually till now I have not seen any abstract with references . Do you have any please post it

Hello all , abstract is your study explained in short . Why we want any others references in this part of article then ?

Abstract has to convay the paper information idependent of the paper. Thats why normally references will not be there in the abstract and most of the journals follows that. Even though the paper is not accessable, still journal allows to read the abstact. So there we need independent abtract.

Environmental Science and Technology does not permit citations in the abstract so I will not. Besides, a well written abstract will provide everything one needs for a first look at a work.

Abstract of any research paper should be without any reference and citation, because its reflects the overall summary of your manuscript.

I do not include the reference in the abstract.

Citing somebody's name as the key figure followed in theoretical or practical framework is more usual. It is not unreasonable to include a citation in an abstract if the new research is a major extension, rebuttal, or counterpoint of the cited article. best