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Subject:Re: Abstracts... From:"David L. Bergart" <bodafu -at- CCVAX -dot- SINICA -dot- EDU -dot- TW> Date:Thu, 30 Jun 1994 23:24:23 +0800
Margaret Redding <ab555 -at- FREENET -dot- CARLETON -dot- CA> asks
>I'm a bit puzzled about how I can know if the abstract truly
>reflects what is in the paper, if I don't have the paper.
You can't. This is a real problem if the abstracts are to be used for
something formal -- i.e. publication by an abstracting service -- but it they
are to be used in something like a blurb for a research institution or a
program for a symposium then there is more leeway. I've found that the
abstracts submitted for a symposium's program often differ significantly
from the abstract of the full manuscript submitted for the proceedings (this
really burns my bearings when I have to re-edit the damned things).
I'm rather curious about who wants you to "jazz" up these abstracts and make
them *interesting*. If these are abstracts in the formal sense, this is not
kosher -- researchers depend on the accuracy of the abstracts, and you can't
provide it without reference to the manuscript.
