Abstract (summary)
An abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, conference proceeding or any in-depth analysis of a particular subject or discipline, and is often used to help the reader quickly ascertain the paper's purpose. When used, an abstract always appears at the beginning of a manuscript or typescript, acting as the point-of-entry for any given academic paper or patent application. Abstracting and indexing services for various academic disciplines are aimed at compiling a body of literature for that particular subject.
The terms précis or synopsis are used in some publications to refer to the same thing that other publications might call an "abstract". In management reports, an executive summary usually contains more information (and often more sensitive information) than the abstract does.
Read more about Abstract (summary): Purpose and Limitations, Structure, Graphical Abstracts, Abstract Quality Assessment
Famous quotes containing the word abstract:
“But the abstract conception
Of private experience at its greatest intensity
Becoming universal, which we call “poetry,”
May be affirmed in verse.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)