Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
edu/ceadvice/2016/05/06/engr-231-intro-to-tech-comm/
Summary
The purpose of this memo is analyze genre characteristics of scientific literature review
abstracts. Specifically, how the audience, rhetorical context, and content impact the document
design and layout. Scientific literature is written for and by a discourse community consisting of
researchers, clinicians, and scientific professionals but is also accessible to the public.
Rhetorical Situation
Literature review abstracts are useful tools intended for the audience for two reasons – selection
and indexing. The purpose inherently shape the document design. An abstract is a valuable tool
for the audience to determine the purpose of the document. It briefly conveys pertinent
information to the reader, so they can make an informed decision as to continue reading or not.
The format of an abstract is standard, usually a single paragraph, around 200 words. They are
intended to be brief because most abstracts are viewed online through a journal or database. A
reader would access the database and search for key terms that are used in the abstract to find
an article amenable to his/her search terms. The keyword selection process works more
efficiently with a whole paragraph rather than searching solely through titles, because the author
can state a thesis or claim that may not be fully described through a title. As seen in the
attached examples, keywords are also listed separately from the abstract.
The examples attached are all intended for this scientific discourse community and include
technical terms as part of the keywords. The first two examples have overlapping search terms
because both articles discuss vaccine design, host immunity, and the fungal pathogen that
causes Valley Fever. The third example has an abstract that is just slightly over 200 words (see
Table 1 for full word count), but still practices the same format as the first two. The author sets
up authority and scope of the topic, then identifies an issue with the current condition, followed
by evidence and a conclusion. Overall, these are persuasive pieces, so the abstract contains
author claims with evidence discussed in greater detail further into the document. A significant
difference in the third example is the “check for updates” link to see what has been brought to
light since the publication of the review. These journals are peer-reviewed and always under
revision by peers in the discourse community.
Sentence-level Short, concise sentences More complex sentence Sentence length varies,
Grammar stating expertise and structure and varying correct use of commas
need. Complex sentence length. Definitions and and pauses, defined
listing purposes of the abbreviations included. abbreviations. Used
literature review. “However, …” twice.
Punctuation Italicized species names, Same punctuation as Lists of important
author names cited with Example #1. Lists of variables, elements
credentials, appropriate locations and lists of studied, correct
use of commas and disease progression. hyphenations.
hyphenations.
Passive voice “update on progress”, Active voice “accounts for” Passive voice used to
active voice. Passive is “scientific efforts”. describe process
used for summarizing undertaken “were
past experiments later in extracted”, “found”.
the document.
Visuals Large font for title, Same visuals as Example Same visuals as
journal name/logo and #1, word count was 173. Example #1, also
publisher logo at the top included a link to “check
of the first page. Author for updates” for
credentials listed below data/figures listed in the
names. article. New and relevant
for online publications.
Discussion
With regards to the professional writing genre, an abstract would be used in a laboratory report
or recommendation report. It includes background, purpose, methods, and major
findings/recommendations of the report (Chapter 18). A descriptive abstract is more commonly
used in literature review and lengthy documents because it summarizes the contents but does
not present any major data or recommendations. The goal of the abstract is for the author to
persuade the audience to read supporting evidence for the main claim or thesis statement.
Audience uses the abstract for two purposes – to determine whether to continue reading the
article and when sorting through numerous articles, hence the condensed layout and
information. The discourse community of scientific professionals set the intrinsic layout/design
criteria for abstracts based on these purposes.