Research, Abstract vs Publication

[jturkel]

I have done a decent amount of research in basic science/bench labs, but never anywhere to where I have gotten anything published and don't know a lot of the terminology involved in the process, so I apologize in advance for my verbosity.

I currently do public health related (not basic science or bench research) and my PI just told me that the the research/information I have been collecting, analyzing, etc..... I have been working on has been approved or something for an abstract with some National Nutrition Group or Organization or something or other ( i dont remember). Now, all I know is that she said "abstract." I will have to ask her again more about it...but....my question is....what does it mean to have an abstract being written or approved or submitted? And how is this different/similar to an actual publication? Thanks!

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[tallandshort]

I have done a decent amount of research in basic science/bench labs, but never anywhere to where I have gotten anything published and don't know a lot of the terminology involved in the process, so I apologize in advance for my verbosity.

I currently do public health related (not basic science or bench research) and my PI just told me that the the research/information I have been collecting, analyzing, etc..... I have been working on has been approved or something for an abstract with some National Nutrition Group or Organization or something or other ( i dont remember). Now, all I know is that she said "abstract." I will have to ask her again more about it...but....my question is....what does it mean to have an abstract being written or approved or submitted? And how is this different/similar to an actual publication? Thanks!

It sounds to me like you are an author on an abstract that is about to be published, I'm assuming in some kind of journal? It's different than a having a paper published in a journal: a paper includes an abstract but also a lot more (materials and methods, data, analysis, references, etc.). When people refer to a "publication" they are typically refering to a paper publication, although an abstract publication is definitely better than no publications at all.

 

[tiedyeddog]

This is pretty meaningless to me.

An abstract is such a summary of the problem, work towards the problem, and your results. You usually submit an abstract before being able to present a poster or give a seminar or something like that.

Most people call a paper sent in for review a manuscript.

So could be one of two things:
1. she sent an abstract to a conference
2. sent an abstract for a paper(don't think it works this way....)

 

[jturkel]

It sounds to me like you are an author on an abstract that is about to be published, I'm assuming in some kind of journal? It's different than a having a paper published in a journal: a paper includes an abstract but also a lot more (materials and methods, data, analysis, references, etc.). When people refer to a "publication" they are typically refering to a paper publication, although an abstract publication is definitely better than no publications at all.

just spoke with her and she said it is for a conference in july...and includes the problem, methods, and results.....which i am still analyzing. is this abstract for a conference something worth updating medical schools about? or is it not a big deal?

This is pretty meaningless to me.

An abstract is such a summary of the problem, work towards the problem, and your results. You usually submit an abstract before being able to present a poster or give a seminar or something like that.

Most people call a paper sent in for review a manuscript.

So could be one of two things:
1. she sent an abstract to a conference
2. sent an abstract for a paper(don't think it works this way....)

lol....i apologize that you find this meaningless to you. i guess not everyone can be a superstar researcher, like you must be by the way you made that sound. thanks for the info, however. it is indeed an abstract for a conference.

 

[jturkel]

just spoke with her and she said it is for a conference in july...and includes the problem, methods, and results.....which i am still analyzing. is this abstract for a conference something worth updating medical schools about? or is it not a big deal?

bump....is an abstract for a conference something worth updating medical schools about? or not?

 

[JJMrK]

bump....is an abstract for a conference something worth updating medical schools about? or not?

Maybe. On it's own, maybe not. With something else interesting/combined with a letter or interest, it could be good.

 

[ShinyDome19]

An abstract is commonly not considered to be much but is something worth noting in your application. Depending on the conference, large conferences commonly "publish" a journal for the conference so that people who do not attend the conference can still have access to the topics discussed. These "publications" are != to journal publications. To help you understand the difference between the two, to have an abstract accepted at a conference means that you submitted at paragraph (generally < 400 words or so) which discribes your project/topic of research. Generally, one of the organizers of the conference looks over them to make sure they fit the topics of the conference..if so, its accepted...you then toss together a power point presentation or a poster and present what you have at the conference. I have done ~4 of these, several of which were simply the results of a priliminary study - meaning it did not have a complete data set, just more or less an idea which I put together and had a small amount of data to show that the idea might hold water. Hence, they are not thought of as highly as a true publication. Also, a lot of researchers will present their completed studies at conferences to get ideas and what not from others in their field prior to submitting it for journal publication. Some labs use these abstracts for small grant submissions and what not.

A journal publication on the otherhand, generally requires a complete project with full data being accounted for. Occassionally a small publication, or a note, is published as well...but these are all completed studies that have some significance to them. These all go into the hands of other researchers, generally who are in the same field of study, who have to approve your methods, train of thought, etc. A lot of times the reviewers will send the papers back to the authors having them address certain issues within the paper...it can go back and forth several times and then end up being rejected..or accepted for publication. This peer-review process makes the journal publications hold much more clout than conference abstracts which dont generally have a peer review to them.

But, as an undergrad researcher, I would definately mention the abstract as it shows that you contributed to some research. If you are going to get the chance to present the poster/presentation at the conference, then I would without a doubt put it on my application as, in my opinion, takes some decent knowledge of the subject to stand up infront of other researchers and talk/explain the research, and at times argue your findings with them.

 

[jturkel]

Maybe. On it's own, maybe not. With something else interesting/combined with a letter or interest, it could be good.

ok. thanks!

An abstract is commonly not considered to be much but is something worth noting in your application. Depending on the conference, large conferences commonly "publish" a journal for the conference so that people who do not attend the conference can still have access to the topics discussed. These "publications" are != to journal publications. To help you understand the difference between the two, to have an abstract accepted at a conference means that you submitted at paragraph (generally < 400 words or so) which discribes your project/topic of research. Generally, one of the organizers of the conference looks over them to make sure they fit the topics of the conference..if so, its accepted...you then toss together a power point presentation or a poster and present what you have at the conference. I have done ~4 of these, several of which were simply the results of a priliminary study - meaning it did not have a complete data set, just more or less an idea which I put together and had a small amount of data to show that the idea might hold water. Hence, they are not thought of as highly as a true publication. Also, a lot of researchers will present their completed studies at conferences to get ideas and what not from others in their field prior to submitting it for journal publication. Some labs use these abstracts for small grant submissions and what not.

A journal publication on the otherhand, generally requires a complete project with full data being accounted for. Occassionally a small publication, or a note, is published as well...but these are all completed studies that have some significance to them. These all go into the hands of other researchers, generally who are in the same field of study, who have to approve your methods, train of thought, etc. A lot of times the reviewers will send the papers back to the authors having them address certain issues within the paper...it can go back and forth several times and then end up being rejected..or accepted for publication. This peer-review process makes the journal publications hold much more clout than conference abstracts which dont generally have a peer review to them.

But, as an undergrad researcher, I would definately mention the abstract as it shows that you contributed to some research. If you are going to get the chance to present the poster/presentation at the conference, then I would without a doubt put it on my application as, in my opinion, takes some decent knowledge of the subject to stand up infront of other researchers and talk/explain the research, and at times argue your findings with them.

wow. thanks for the very elaborate post. i really appreciate the time you put into that.

one more question.....so if i were to send in an update to a school with this information, would i just say something along the lines of:

"an abstract of some of my research/work was submitted and accepted at a conference."

of do i want to specify which conference? i think its some national nutrition or health conference i dont remember to be honest. should i include anything else? schools are aware that i'm working in this particular program but i have not informed them about an abstract being accepted yet at the conference.

while this isn't typical research that most think of (basic science/wet bench, clinical), it is public health/educational research.....about teaching extensive nutrition programs to certain schools and seeing the results of different eating/health habits after being educated on things like nutrition, exercise, sun protection, etc......we do have results regarding the efficacy of the program, but i don't think it is at the level for an actual journal pub yet i suppose.

 

[ShinyDome19]

I would get the title of the abstract, the list of authors and the name of the conference and the date when its supposed to be held. Then write something like you stated and under it include the abstract information in a cited format.

"an abstract of some of my research/work was submitted and accepted at a conference."

JS Clark. Bacterial Culturability on New Multi-Nutritious Synthetic Media. Dudes of Microbial Ecology Conference. August 4, 2010. Anchorage Alaska.

or something like that...gives it a professional look and makes it easy to read.