Dumb Question: Abstracts...

[DeadCactus]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I get what an abstract is, but when do you publish an abstract? Is it when you have the data and conclusion, but haven't finished an entire paper? Is it when the research just doesn't warrant getting an entire paper published?

 

[CielloStelatto]

When a paper is published, the abstract is what is usually made publicly available - i.e. through pubmed or the journal's website, etc. Also, many conferences will publish a compilation of abstracts collected from the projects/posters from the conference.

 

[DeadCactus]

What do people mean then when they say they've published an abstract?

 

[FSAP]

What do people mean then when they say they've published an abstract?

They mean their abstract was published as not part of the article. It's usually in a conference associated journal where the poster was presented. The abstract can be published as part of the paper later. You can choose whether to include both on our CV. I try to pad mine as much as I can at this point, so I figure including them should not hurt.

 

[Resident2011]

Me too, can't really understand the idea of abstracts. My question:

When someone says that s/he has 10 abstracts and 2 publications, does that mean that there are 8 papers which are too bad to be published ?? Why do we have to put our research experiences as abstracts when we can publish them ??

Please, anyone expand on this. I feel very ignorant !!

 

[CielloStelatto]

Me too, can't really understand the idea of abstracts. My question:

When someone says that s/he has 10 abstracts and 2 publications, does that mean that there are 8 papers which are too bad to be published ?? Why do we have to put our research experiences as abstracts when we can publish them ??

Please, anyone expand on this. I feel very ignorant !!

First of all, nobody forces anyone to "put our research experiences as abstracts" if they're publishable. To get an article published in a decent journal, the paper should be well written and describe a full, completed experiment that significantly adds to the scientific literature. However, there are other ways of getting your results into the scientific field. One very common way is through presenting (either a ppt talk or a poster session) at a conference. Most conferences will put together a short "journal" of the "conference proceedings," which would include abstracts of the posters and talks from the conference. It does not mean that the research presented there was bad, or that it's not publishable. For example, one can present at a conference in the middle or end of an experiment, get feedback from colleagues of your field, and then put together an article to submit to a journal. Thus, one project can lead to multiple abstracts, though typically one publication. Does that help?

 

[Resident2011]

Thanks Ciello !! That definitely helps 🙂

 

[miscalculated]

Many conferences just accept any old abstract, they are not subjected to peer-review and as such are not worth much.