Differences Between Abstracts and Full Text Articles
Author Information
Author(s): Cohen K, Bretonnel, Johnson Helen L, Verspoor Karin, Roeder Christophe, Hunter Lawrence E
Primary Institution: University of Colorado School of Medicine
Hypothesis
How do the structural and content aspects of abstracts differ from those of full text journal articles?
Conclusion
Abstracts and article bodies differ significantly in structure and content, which may impact text mining efforts.
Supporting Evidence
- Article bodies have longer sentences than abstracts.
- There is a heavier use of parenthesized material in article bodies compared to abstracts.
- Three out of four linguistic features examined were significantly differently distributed between abstracts and article bodies.
Takeaway
This study found that the way abstracts and full text articles are written is very different, which can make it harder for computers to understand the full articles.
Methodology
The study analyzed 97 full-text journal articles, comparing structural and linguistic features between abstracts and article bodies.
Limitations
The study is primarily descriptive and does not explore the effects of the observed differences on specific tasks.
Statistical Information
Statistical Significance
p<0.01
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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