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WRITING CHEMICAL RESEARCH PAPERS

ABSTRACTS, KEYWORDS, AND HIGHLIGHTS

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Importance of AbstractImportance of Abstract

• Like Title, most widely read part of paper

• Sets the tone for the rest of the paper - impresses the reviewer

• Used by abstracting services – good Abstract = high impact

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Features of a Good AbstractFeatures of a Good Abstract

• Gives a concise summary of the whole paper: objectives and scope, methods, results, conclusions

• Covers all key points

• Gives a clear message

• Economizes on words and omits extraneous material

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Features of a Poor AbstractFeatures of a Poor Abstract

• Contains information or conclusions that are not in the paper

• Omits an important key point• Contains extraneous material (e.g.

method detail, literature review, personal comments)

• Contains jargon and too many abbreviations

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Other Good Points for AbstractsOther Good Points for Abstracts

• Uses past or present passive tense

• Avoids abbreviations, except when repeating complex terms or phrases

• Omits bibliography and references to figures and tables in the paper

• Omits figures (except for Graphic Abstracts – see later) and tables

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Possibly the Shortest Possibly the Shortest Abstract EverAbstract Ever

E = mc2

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Writing an Effective AbstractWriting an Effective Abstract

The first four steps

1. Find the major objectives and conclusions

2. Identify phrases with keywords in the Methods section

3. Find the main results from the

Discussion or Results sections

4. Combine the above information into a single paragraph

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Writing an Effective AbstractWriting an Effective Abstract

The next steps5. Make sure your hypothesis or key

method is stated in the opening sentence

6. Remove any background information, review or description of methods

7. Remove extraneous words or phrases

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Writing an Effective AbstractWriting an Effective Abstract

The final steps8. Revise the paragraph so that it now

conveys only essential information 9. Make sure it meets the guidelines of

the targeted journal 10. Give the Abstract to a colleague

(preferably one who is not familiar with the manuscript) and ask him or her whether it makes sense

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Graphical AbstractsGraphical Abstracts

•Graphical abstracts are now required by many journals•They convey to the reader the essence of a paper’s content in pictorial form•They are usually published in the contents pages (and the contents web page) of each issue of the journal•Color is often allowed, and a striking graphic abstract can increase impact

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Examples of Graphical Abstracts 1Examples of Graphical Abstracts 1

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Examples of GraphicalGraphical Abstracts 2

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Examples of Graphical Abstracts 3Examples of Graphical Abstracts 3

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Examples of Graphical Abstracts 4Examples of Graphical Abstracts 4

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Structured AbstractsStructured Abstracts

Some journals (especially biochemical/biomedicaltypes) require ‘structured abstracts’, inwhich the text is divided into three or fourseparate sections, usually in the following form:

1. Introductory paragraph2. Descriptive section, outlining aims and

methodology 3. Results summary paragraph4. Conclusions section

As for standard abstracts, the text of structuredabstracts is limited (say, 250 or 300 words; sometimes more)

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Alcohol intake and risk of incident gout in men: a prospectivestudyHyon K Choi, Karen Atkinson, Elizabeth W Karlson, Walter Willett, Gary Curhan

 

SummaryBackground The association between alcohol consumption and risk of gout has been suspected since ancient times, but has not been prospectively confirmed. Additionally, potential differences in risk of gout posed by different alcoholic beverages have not been assessed.Methods Over 12 years (1986–98) we used biennial questionnaires to investigate the relation between alcohol consumption and risk of incident gout in 47 150 male participants with no history of gout at baseline. We used a supplementary questionnaire to ascertain whether reported cases of gout met the American College of Rheumatology survey gout criteria.Findings We documented 730 confirmed incident cases of gout. Compared with men who did not drink alcohol, the multivariate relative risk (RR) of gout was 1·32 (95% Cl 0·99–1·75) for alcohol consumption 10·0–14·9 g/day, 1·49 (1·14–1·94) for 15·0–29·9 g/day, 1·96 (1·48–2·60) for 30·0–49·9 g/day, and 2·53 (1·73–3·70) for 50 g/day (p for trend <0·0001). Beer consumption showed the strongest independent association with the risk of gout (multivariate RR per 12-oz serving per day 1·49; 95% CI 1·32–1·70). Consumption of spirits was also significantly associated with gout (multivariate RR per drink or shot per day 1·15; 95% CI 1·04–1·28); however, wine consumption was not (multivariate RR per 4-oz serving per day 1·04; 95% CI 0·88–1·22).Interpretation Alcohol intake is strongly associated with an increased risk of gout. This risk varies substantially according to type of alcoholic beverage: beer confers a larger risk than spirits, whereas moderate wine drinking does not increase the risk.Lancet 2004; 363: 1277–81

Example of Structured AbstractExample of Structured Abstract

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KeywordsKeywords

•Keywords are important words or expressions that summarize the subject matter of the paper

•They are designed to help subject searching, so a good choice of words will increase the impact of your paper

•A list of keywords (5 or 6 are usually required) will not normally include words already used in the title, although they will usually be in the Abstract

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Examples of Abstract and Keywords 1Examples of Abstract and Keywords 1

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__________

________

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Examples of Abstract and Keywords 2Examples of Abstract and Keywords 2

_________________

________________ ____

__

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HighlightsHighlights

Some journals request submission of a number (say four or five) of ‘highlights’, which are meant give a brief summary of the contents of the manuscript.They are typically a short collection of ‘bullet points’ that convey the core findings of the article.

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Example of ‘Highlights’Example of ‘Highlights’

From Applied Catalysis A 411-412, 7-14(2012)• Highly c-axis oriented ZnO nanowires were grown on glass using aqueous solutions•The growth temperature does not exceed 95 oC in any step of the synthesis•The photocatalytic and wetting properties were studied upon UV radiation•ZnO nanowires show superior photocatalytic activity•We report a reversible photo-induced transition from hydrophobic to super-hydrophilic