INTRODUCTION

An ABSTRACT is seen as a compression, map of multiple different pieces

of constituent data, instant, and simplified of information.

ORIGIN
Abstract is derived from the Latin word, abstrere. It means to draw away
from.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Thinking in abstractions is considered by anthropologists, archaeologists,
and sociologists to be one of the key traits in modern human behavior, which is
believed to have developed between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago. Its
development is likely to have been closely connected with the development of
human language, which (whether spoken or written) appears to both involve and
facilitate abstract thinking.
Abstraction involves induction of ideas or the synthesis of particular facts
into one general theory about something. It is the opposite of specification, which
is the analysis or breaking-down of a general idea or abstraction into concrete
facts.

Abstraction

can

be

illustrated

with Francis

Bacon's Novum

Organum (1620), a book of modern scientific philosophy written in the late

1

Elizabethan era of England to encourage modern thinkers to collect specific facts

before making any generalizations. Bacon used and promoted induction as an
abstraction tool, and it countered the ancient deductive-thinking approach that
had dominated the intellectual world since the times of Greek philosophers like
Thales, Anaximander, and Aristotle. Thales (c. 624 BC c. 546 BCE) believed
that everything in the universe comes from one main substance, water. He
deduced or specified from a general idea, "everything is water", to the specific
forms of water such as ice, snow, fog, and rivers. Modern scientists can also use
the opposite approach of abstraction, or going from particular facts collected into
one general idea, such as the motion of the planets (Newton (1642-1727)). When
determining that the sun is the center of our solar system (Copernicus (14731543)), scientists had to utilize thousands of measurements to finally conclude
that Mars moves in an elliptical orbit about the sun (Kepler (1571-1630)), or to
assemble multiple specific facts into the law of falling bodies (Galileo (15641642)).

DEFINITION
Pronunciation (US):

An abstract is a self-contained, short, and powerful statement that describes

a larger work. While it contains key words found in the larger work, the
abstract is an original document rather than an excerpted passage.

(University of North Carolina, 2004)

It is a sketchy summary of the main points of an argument or theory.

IMPORTANCE AND ITS PURPOSE

There are two most important reasons for abstracts are selection and
indexing. It is needed in journals, research, book proposals, theses,
dissertations. Abstracts allow readers who may be interested in a longer work to
quickly decide whether it is worth their time to read it. Also, many online
databases use abstracts to index larger works. Therefore, abstracts should
contain keywords and phrases that allow for easy searching.

TYPES
There are two types of abstracts: descriptive and informative. They have
different aims, so as a consequence they have different components and styles.
There is also a third type called critical, but it is rarely used.
1. Descriptive abstracts
A descriptive abstract indicates the type of information found in the work. It
makes no judgments about the work, nor does it provide results or conclusions of
the research. It does incorporate key words found in the text and may include the
purpose, methods, and scope of the research. Essentially, the descriptive
abstract describes the work being abstracted. Some people consider it an outline
of the work, rather than a summary. Descriptive abstracts are usually very short
100 words or less.

2. Informative abstracts
The majority of abstracts are informative. While they still do not critique or
evaluate a work, they do more than describe it. A good informative abstract acts
as a surrogate for the work itself. That is, the writer presents and explains all the
main arguments and the important results and evidence in the complete
article/paper/book. An informative abstract includes the information that can be
found in a descriptive abstract (purpose, methods, scope) but also includes the
results and conclusions of the research and the recommendations of the author.
The length varies according to discipline, but an informative abstract is rarely
more than 10% of the length of the entire work. In the case of a longer work, it
may be much less.

Graphical abstracts

During the late 2000s, due to the influence of computer storage and retrieval
systems such as the Internet, some scientific publications, such as Journal of
Colloid and Interface Science, started including graphical abstracts alongside the
text abstracts. The graphic is intended to summarize or be an exemplar for the
main thrust of the article. It is not intended to be as exhaustive a summary as the
text abstract, rather it is supposed to indicate the type, scope, and technical
coverage of the article at a glance.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION

Quality the source, structure, and content

Readability measuring such as FleschKincaid readability testsare

readability tests designed to indicate comprehension difficulty when
reading a passage of contemporary academic English.

Clear, concise, and powerful language.

SAMPLES

Library and Information Science (LIS) and Information Technology

(IT)
LISA: Library and Information Science Abstracts

Sources Covered: Over 324,750 records

Intended For: Academic, Community College, Government, Public
5

LISA: Library and Information Science Abstracts is an international

abstracting and indexing tool designed for library professionals and other
information specialists.
LISA currently abstracts over 440 periodicals from more than 68 countries and in
more than 20 different languages.
Subject Coverage
Major Areas of coverage include:

Artificial intelligence

Librarianship

Book reviews

Libraries and archives

CD-ROMs

Library management

Computer science

Library technology

applications

Library use and users

Information centers

Medical information

Information management

Online information retrieval

Information science

Publishing and bookselling

Information storage

Records management

Information technology

Telecommunications

Internet technology

Technical services

Knowledge management

World Wide Web

Abstract Data Types in Java

Paperback September 30, 1997

By Michael S. Jenkins

History and Social Science

An abstract of a social science or scientific work may contain the

scope, purpose, results, and contents of the work.
Read On...History: Reading Lists for Every Taste
(Read On Series)

Paperback October 21, 2013

by Tina Frolund

Mathematics and Sciences (Biology, Chemisty, Physics)

Abstracts of the First Sourcebook on Asian Research in Mathematics

Education: China, Korea, Singapore, Japan,
Malaysia, and India (Special Supplement to the
International Sourcebooks in Mathematics)

Paperback November 26, 2012

by Bharath Sriraman, Jinfa Cai, Kyeong-Hwa Lee

Creating Effective
Conference Abstracts and Posters in Biomedicine: 500
Tips for Success

Paperback March 1, 2009

by Jane Fraser, Louise Fuller, Ph.D. Hutber

Georgina, Catherine Dunbar

English and Literature

Abstracts and the Writing of Abstracts (Michigan Series in English

for Academic & Professional Purposes)

Paperback March 9, 2009

by John M. Swales , Christine Feak

Abstract Essays [Kindle Edition]

Malay Chakrabarti (Author)

Publication Date: December 9, 2013

 Psychology

Dyslexia: Overview, Abstracts and Guide to Books

Paperback September 1, 2002

by Oliver P. Moynihan

Physical Education

Research Abstracts in Physical Education and

Sports Sciences
Hardcover August 8, 2008

by C. Ashok (Author)

GENERAL EDUCATION

99 Jumpstarts to Research: Topic Guides for Finding

Information on Current Issues

Paperback October 15, 2001

by Peggy Whitley ,Catherine C. Olson, Susan Williams Goodwin

 Education Abstracts Volume

XV, No.3 -

1963 - History Teaching

Paperback January 1, 1963

by Unesco

Building Bridges--Selected

Abstracts of

the HTCC Undergraduate Student Research Conference: The best

work from the 2010 Honors Transfer Council
of ... research conference at UC Irvine

Paperback February 14, 2011

by Tim Adell , Susan Reese

Building Bridges: Selected Abstracts of the Honors

Research Conference of the Honors Transfer Council
of California

Paperback January 23, 2012

by Tim Adell

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.audioenglish.org/search/abstract.htm
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/abstracts/

http://www.proquest.com/products-services/lisa-set-c.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_(summary)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstraction

http://www.amazon.com/