Frequently Asked Questions

An abstract is a short summary of the content of a journal article. In the Sciences, it often describes their methods and intent, and often includes a very short summary of the results. In the Humanities it focuses on the high points of their argument. Here are some examples:

In the Sciences

from "Assessment of genetic diversity, population structure, and gene flow of tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) across Nepal's Terai Arc Landscape."

"With fewer than 200 tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) left in Nepal, that are generally confined to five protected areas across the Terai Arc Landscape, genetic studies are needed to provide crucial information on diversity and connectivity for devising an effective country-wide tiger conservation strategy. As part of the Nepal Tiger Genome Project, we studied landscape change, genetic variation, population structure, and gene flow of tigers across the Terai Arc Landscape by conducting Nepal’s first comprehensive and systematic scat-based, non-invasive genetic survey. Of the 770 scat samples collected opportunistically from five protected areas and six presumed corridors, 412 were tiger (57%). Out of ten microsatellite loci, we retain eight markers that were used in identifying 78 individual tigers. We used this dataset to examine population structure, genetic variation, contemporary gene flow, and potential population bottlenecks of tigers in Nepal. We detected three genetic clusters consistent with three demographic sub-populations and found moderate levels of genetic variation (He = 0.61, AR = 3.51) and genetic differentiation (FST = 0.14) across the landscape. We detected 3–7 migrants, confirming the potential for dispersal-mediated gene flow across the landscape. We found evidence of a bottleneck signature likely caused by large-scale land-use change documented in the last two centuries in the Terai forest. Securing tiger habitat including functional forest corridors is essential to enhance gene flow across the landscape and ensure long-term tiger survival. This requires cooperation among multiple stakeholders and careful conservation planning to prevent detrimental effects of anthropogenic activities on tigers."

In the Humanities

from "A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Childish Gambino’s Music Video 'This is America'."

"The portrayal of African Americans in the United States has been approached throughout the years in different fields. Childish Gambino’s song and music video “This is America” offers an interesting view regarding gun control in the United States, African American stereotypes and their representation in mass media. In order to propose an interpretation of Gambino’s lyrics and video, I provide a multimodal discourse analysis using the visual semiotic framework (Machin, 2010) and the systemic functional linguistics (Halliday, 1978). The findings highlight the manipulated discourse that is present in the media regarding not only African Americans but other minority groups. This “new racism” (Littlefield, 2008) has an impact on the audience, which in turn perpetuates the negative ideas and stereotypes of the African American community."

Abstracts can help you quickly decide on whether a resources is relevant to your research.