Abstracts aren't publications, right?

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CMar830 said:
You have to be an author on a paper for it to be considered a publication, right? Abstracts don't count?
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I'm sure having your name on a manuscript is better, but I think an abstract is still a publication. Hey, it's in a journal, so that counts for something.
 
nice. thanks for the comments, guys.
 
i don't even know what an abstract is! can someone please explain?? 😕
 
On the same note, how about letters/comments within a journal? Do these count as publications?
 
bioboy2007 said:
On the same note, how about letters/comments within a journal? Do these count as publications?
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What journals are you publishing in that they publish abstracts and abstracts only? My personal opinion is that it has to be in a journal to be "published". Abstracts are only "published" in the sense that they are in a program for a scientific meeting. It is similar to your name being in a program for participating in a certain event. This is not nearly the same as publishing research in a journal. A lot of research put into abstracts are never actually published.
 
nubbey24 said:
What journals are you publishing in that they publish abstracts and abstracts only? My personal opinion is that it has to be in a journal to be "published". Abstracts are only "published" in the sense that they are in a program for a scientific meeting. It is similar to your name being in a program for participating in a certain event. This is not nearly the same as publishing research in a journal. A lot of research put into abstracts are never actually published. Therefore there is a big difference between an "abstract" and being "published" and anyone who has any knowledge whatsoever of research understands the difference between the two. You will not be fooling anyone into thinking you have a publication by saying that an "abstract" is a publication in my own opinion. Maybe the adcoms are less knowledgable then I think though...I don't know. It is ultimately up to you and what spin you put on your research. Just beware.
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I'm assuming that as long as I admit they're abstracts and don't try to pretend that they're papers, adcoms won't mind that I've included them. If they choose to dismiss them, that's fine, but I suppose they show that I've tangibly contributed to my lab's research. Papers sure would be nice though!
 
nubbey24 said:
A lot of research put into abstracts are never actually published. Therefore there is a big difference between an "abstract" and being "published" and anyone who has any knowledge whatsoever of research understands the difference between the two.
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I have enough knowledge of research to know that you are dead wrong. I have been listed as a co-author on abstracts which were published in both the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology and Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Most medical journals publish abstracts in their regular editions.
 
ADeadLois said:
I have enough knowledge of research to know that you are dead wrong. I have been listed as a co-author on abstracts which were published in both the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology and Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Most medical journals publish abstracts in their regular editions.
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Boom shocka locka!

I think you should be clear and say that you had an abstract published and not a paper. Getting an abstract published is an accomplishment and I think it is worth mentioning, just don't try to pass it off as publishing a paper.

I think this would be appropriate...

Publications:

Abstract published on blah blah in blah blah
 
ADeadLois said:
I have enough knowledge of research to know that you are dead wrong. I have been listed as a co-author on abstracts which were published in both the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology and Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Most medical journals publish abstracts in their regular editions.
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I stand corrected. In the journals that I have published in, abstracts are not published (Journal of Applied Physiology, American Journal of Physiology, Journal of Physiology) unless they have an accompanying paper to help explain the results achieved. Most journals that I have seen as well normally only publish an abstract if it has a paper to go along with it. This maybe different in clinical journals I guess, in which case I apologize and am glad that I learned something new. I agree that if this abstract is published in a journal then by all means you should list it as an accomplishment (or even if it is not in a journal and went somewhere else). I just wanted to advise against representing it as something that it wasn't. I didn't mean to offend you Deadlois. I am not a clinical researcher, (basic science) and so do not have as extensive knowledge as to how your journals work.
 
nubbey24 said:
I stand corrected. In the journals that I have published in, abstracts are not published (Journal of Applied Physiology, American Journal of Physiology, Journal of Physiology) unless they have an accompanying paper to help explain the results achieved. Most journals that I have seen as well normally only publish an abstract if it has a paper to go along with it. This maybe different in clinical journals I guess, in which case I apologize and am glad that I learned something new. I agree that if this abstract is published in a journal then by all means you should list it as an accomplishment (or even if it is not in a journal and went somewhere else). I just wanted to advise against representing it as something that it wasn't. I didn't mean to offend you Deadlois. I am not a clinical researcher, (basic science) and so do not have as extensive knowledge as to how your journals work.
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It's all good, I just wanted to make sure no one got the wrong information off of these threads.

Yeah, clinical journals tend to publish more abstracts than pure science journals. They're commonly published in "supplemental" editions, but they're in the journal nonetheless and just as accessible to a reader.

The only negative to abstracts is that they are easier to get accepted and carry the stigma as being the result of "data mining". For example, the research department that I worked in had a good number of residents rotate through. A lot of them would spend a few days mining through data until they found an interesting trend with an acceptable p value. Most of them got accepted. Of course, a pre-med who is able to get on an abstract is impressive, and is definitely worthy of being listed on AMCAS.
 
nubbey24 said:
What journals are you publishing in that they publish abstracts and abstracts only? My personal opinion is that it has to be in a journal to be "published". Abstracts are only "published" in the sense that they are in a program for a scientific meeting. It is similar to your name being in a program for participating in a certain event. This is not nearly the same as publishing research in a journal. A lot of research put into abstracts are never actually published. Therefore there is a big difference between an "abstract" and being "published" and anyone who has any knowledge whatsoever of research understands the difference between the two. You will not be fooling anyone into thinking you have a publication by saying that an "abstract" is a publication in my own opinion. Maybe the adcoms are less knowledgable then I think though...I don't know. It is ultimately up to you and what spin you put on your research. Just beware.
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As the above poster said correctly, an abstract is NOT a publication. It merely means you were part of a group who presented research at a conference and your name was part of the abstract submitted for that event.

It therefore goes under conference and NOT under publication
 
I am the editorial assistant to a researcher/Editor-in-Chief of a journal. I write all of his manuscripts based on his dictation. (He tells me what he wants to write, then I help organize it, correct the grammar, improve the wording.) This means that I am intimately familiar with all of his research (and I also spend a good deal of time reading manuscripts from people submitting to the journal). As his editorial/personal assistant, I do not get listed in the author section; only he does. However, I do always receive a direct acknowledgement in the acknowledgements section.

Can this be counted as a publication? What can this count for?
 
nubbey24 said:
...there is a big difference between an "abstract" and being "published" and anyone who has any knowledge whatsoever of research understands the difference between the two. You will not be fooling anyone into thinking you have a publication by saying that an "abstract" is a publication in my own opinion.....
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What's important is that you contextualize the work that you've done: say what you did and the status (submitted, in press, published, presented at meeting, whatever) of your work.
 
FutureDoc2005 said:
As the above poster said correctly, an abstract is NOT a publication. It merely means you were part of a group who presented research at a conference and your name was part of the abstract submitted for that event.

It therefore goes under conference and NOT under publication
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No, I've been a co-author for an abstract that was published in Journal of Nuclear Cardiology and Journal of the American College of Cardiology. These were not conference descriptions, they were published in the journals.

Do you want the citations?
 
ADeadLois said:
No, I've been a co-author for an abstract that was published in Journal of Nuclear Cardiology and Journal of the American College of Cardiology. These were not conference descriptions, they were published in the journals.

Do you want the citations?
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I think that people are overgeneralizing the process. Clinical and basic scientific research publications obviously have very different standards in terms of publication. It appears from Deadlois that in clinical journals, abstracts get published in journals. That being said, the most common form of abstract publication for basic science research is at a scientific meeting through which it has been submitted. Many times abstracts at meetings such as these do not actually span out into publications or manuscripts by themselves, but are pieces of research that may contribute to a larger research project that will be submitted for publication at a different time. I think that people are fighting over apples and oranges here. There is clearly a difference between abstract publication in basic science research and clinical research. Basic science does not (most journals) publish abstracts alone, while clinical journals evidentally do.

http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?myid=5561
 
Yikes! Lots of misinformation here.

I am a clinical research coordinator; I work with EM residents doing academic research.
(In clinical research ...) an abstract is definitely a publication. It's usually accompanied by a poster presentation at a conference, and published in a supplemental volume of the sponsoring society's journal. For example ...

Characteristics of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Patients Identified by an Emergency Department Screening Program
Douglas A.E. White, Barbara Bond, Emily A. Huber, Derrick S. Lowery, and Bradley W. Frazee
Acad Emerg Med 2006 13(5 Supplement 1): S22-S23.

This was presented at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine in May. The abstract was published in a supplemental volume of Academic Emergency Medicine.

Since an abstract can represent a year's worth of work for a prinicipal investigator, they are probably committed enough to the project to get it published as a full-length paper. But if they had to submit their CV somewhere before the paper got published, they would definitely list their abstract publication.

It is absolutely okay to list an abstract as a publication, as long as you clarify that it is an abstract and not a paper.
 
nubbey24 said:
Many times abstracts at meetings such as these do not actually span out into publications or manuscripts by themselves, but are pieces of research that may contribute to a larger research project that will be submitted for publication at a different time. I think that people are fighting over apples and oranges here.
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Excellent point. I haven't pipetted since Bio 1, and I can't speak for the bench crowd. You probably think it's hilarious that I just made one year sound like a long time to be working on project 😀
 
prana_md said:
Yikes! Lots of misinformation here.

I am a clinical research coordinator; I work with EM residents doing academic research.
(In clinical research ...) an abstract is definitely a publication. It's usually accompanied by a poster presentation at a conference, and published in a supplemental volume of the sponsoring society's journal. For example ...

Characteristics of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Patients Identified by an Emergency Department Screening Program
Douglas A.E. White, Barbara Bond, Emily A. Huber, Derrick S. Lowery, and Bradley W. Frazee
Acad Emerg Med 2006 13(5 Supplement 1): S22-S23.

This was presented at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine in May. The abstract was published in a supplemental volume of Academic Emergency Medicine.

Since an abstract can represent a year's worth of work for a prinicipal investigator, they are probably committed enough to the project to get it published as a full-length paper. But if they had to submit their CV somewhere before the paper got published, they would definitely list their abstract publication.

It is absolutely okay to list an abstract as a publication, as long as you clarify that it is an abstract and not a paper.
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Put wonderfully. This was my point, though I think you put it much better. Just be honest about the way you describe your publication.
 
prana_md said:
Yikes! Lots of misinformation here.

I am a clinical research coordinator; I work with EM residents doing academic research.
(In clinical research ...) an abstract is definitely a publication. It's usually accompanied by a poster presentation at a conference, and published in a supplemental volume of the sponsoring society's journal. For example ...

Characteristics of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Positive Patients Identified by an Emergency Department Screening Program
Douglas A.E. White, Barbara Bond, Emily A. Huber, Derrick S. Lowery, and Bradley W. Frazee
Acad Emerg Med 2006 13(5 Supplement 1): S22-S23.

This was presented at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine in May. The abstract was published in a supplemental volume of Academic Emergency Medicine.

Since an abstract can represent a year's worth of work for a prinicipal investigator, they are probably committed enough to the project to get it published as a full-length paper. But if they had to submit their CV somewhere before the paper got published, they would definitely list their abstract publication.

It is absolutely okay to list an abstract as a publication, as long as you clarify that it is an abstract and not a paper.
Click to expand...

Yes, definitely agree.
 
One thing that may clear up some confusion here - you can submit an abstract (a written summary) to a conference. These, based upon peer review, may be accepted and presented at the conference as a podium presentation/lecture or as a poster. These abstracts are often compiled and handed out to conference attendees so that they can see what is being offered at the meeting. Sometimes these are also published in the journal of the society that hosted the conference.

For example, say I wrote a 2-page 'abstract' to XYZ Society 2006 Conference. I applied for a podium presentation (I would speak to a crowd) but my paper was accepted for a poster. My 2-page paper may also be published in the proceedings of the conference, which is a part of Journal of XYZ. These papers are often referred to as 'conference papers' to differentiate between these abstracts and those described below.

There is another type of submission, also called an abstract, which is the 1-minute version of a full-length journal article. These 250-word or less blurbs are a sub-section of the attendant article and are submitted to a journal directly. These are useful for professionals already familiar with the field and who are more interested in the results than intro, methods, etc.

For example, say I am writing a full-length article. This will be a composite of several conference papers and unpublished data. This will be submitted to the Journal of 123. I will send them a number of sections: Intro, Methods, Results, Discussion, Cover Letter, Figures, and an Summary/Abstract. If accepted, it would be published in the J. 123.

Poster, conference paper, podium presentation, and full-length article; all are ways to show your work to the world, and thus, are all publications. The amount of work required (and prestige) for each is different, so be clear on your CV when you list them.
 
Most of them got accepted. Of course, a pre-med who is able to get on an abstract is impressive, and is definitely worthy of being listed on AMCAS.
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Especially when you're first author and the second author has an MS and the third author is an MD. 😛
 
RxnMan said:
One thing that may clear up some confusion here - you can submit an abstract (a written summary) to a conference. These, based upon peer review, may be accepted and presented at the conference as a podium presentation/lecture or as a poster. These abstracts are often compiled and handed out to conference attendees so that they can see what is being offered at the meeting. Sometimes these are also published in the journal of the society that hosted the conference.

For example, say I wrote a 2-page 'abstract' to XYZ Society 2006 Conference. I applied for a podium presentation (I would speak to a crowd) but my paper was accepted for a poster. My 2-page paper may also be published in the proceedings of the conference, which is a part of Journal of XYZ. These papers are often referred to as 'conference papers' to differentiate between these abstracts and those described below.

There is another type of submission, also called an abstract, which is the 1-minute version of a full-length journal article. These 250-word or less blurbs are a sub-section of the attendant article and are submitted to a journal directly. These are useful for professionals already familiar with the field and who are more interested in the results than intro, methods, etc.

For example, say I am writing a full-length article. This will be a composite of several conference papers and unpublished data. This will be submitted to the Journal of 123. I will send them a number of sections: Intro, Methods, Results, Discussion, Cover Letter, Figures, and an Summary/Abstract. If accepted, it would be published in the J. 123.

Poster, conference paper, podium presentation, and full-length article; all are ways to show your work to the world, and thus, are all publications. The amount of work required (and prestige) for each is different, so be clear on your CV when you list them.
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Well put Rxnman.
 
CMar830 said:
I'm assuming that as long as I admit they're abstracts and don't try to pretend that they're papers, adcoms won't mind that I've included them. If they choose to dismiss them, that's fine, but I suppose they show that I've tangibly contributed to my lab's research. Papers sure would be nice though!
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Yeah, I don't think anybody would think you were trying to pull a fast one if you stated it was an abstract in the opening line.
 
i'm not too familiar with the system or the process, but...

it seems to me many of you are missing the point.

if the OP has worked on something, gotten an abstract published...simply say it!

i don't think adcoms will be as nit picky as we're being...just be honest about it and don't embellish

clean and simple

just my thought after reading the thread
 
I agree with the above. Abstracts and publications are different but both are worth mentioning. See the AAMC's advice on putting together a CV:

http://www.aamc.org/members/facultydev/facultyvitae/fall05/cv.htm

If you have enough available space on the EC section of your primary app, you could do what I did last year and list each publication separately (I believe it was formatted so you had to do it this way but I can't remember). For the abstracts, I used the "other" category and clumped them all together and just cited them as I would in my CV. To cite an abstract (this is how my PI does it):

Names. Title. Journal Year;Vol(#)Suppl😛g.

Also make sure to designate (submitted) or (accepted) if you want to add some fluff. You can always update later.

For the poster who "published" in the J Am Coll Cardiol, they actually "publish" their abstracts for their annual scientific conferences in a supplemental which still doesn't count as a "publication". See my AAMC link. I'm a clinical researcher with many abstracts there...and no, we don't need the citation.
 
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