A discourse analysis of the macro-structure, metadiscoursal and microdiscoursal features in the abstracts of research articles across multiple science disciplines.

Sing Bik Cindy Ngai,Rita Gill Singh,Alex Chun Koon,Michael Szell

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0205417

Sing Bik Cindy Ngai, Rita Gill Singh + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205417

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Abstract

The abstract of a scientific research article convinces readers that the article deserves to be read. s can also determine the success of publications and grant applications. In recent years, there has been a trend of cross-disciplinary collaborations in the science community. Scientists have been increasingly expected to engage not only experts of their own disciplines, but also other disciplines with the scope of interest extending to non-experts, such as policy-makers and the general public. Thus, the macro-structure, metadiscoursal and microdiscoursal features exhibited in scientific article abstracts merit attention. In our study, we examined 500 abstracts of scientific research articles published in 50 high-impact journals across five science disciplines (Earth, Formal, Life, Physical and Social Sciences), and performed quantitative analysis of the move structure as well as use of boosters and linguistic features. We found significant interdisciplinary variations in the move structure, boosters and linguistic features employed by these science disciplines. We confirmed that each science discipline possesses a distinct set of macro-structural, metadiscoursal and formalization features, which contribute to its own unique discipline-specific convention. Understanding and observing the disciplinary rhetorical choices and communication conventions will allow scientists to align the abstracts of their studies with the expectations of the targeted audience.

Highlights

An abstract of a scientific research article is defined as “a description or factual summary of the much longer report, and is meant to give the reader an exact and concise knowledge of the full article” [1]
Since there is a dearth of literature on how formalization is used in science abstracts, we filled this gap by drawing on previous research studies’ [17, 26] quantitative analyses of linguistic features that manifested formalization in texts, whereby we mainly examined such formalization features exhibited in highimpact abstracts across multiple science disciplines and comparing the interdisciplinary variations in a contemporary context
By analyzing the genre of research article abstracts within the science community, we discovered a significant number of variations in the macro-structure, metadiscoursal and microdiscoursal features exhibited in different science disciplines

Summary

Introduction

An abstract of a scientific research article is defined as “a description or factual summary of the much longer report, and is meant to give the reader an exact and concise knowledge of the full article” [1]. The abstract is the first section of an article, and can be regarded as “a standalone genre” allowing readers to identify articles of their interest and determine the article’s relevance [2]. An abstract facilitates readers in determining whether to read the whole. A discourse analysis of scientific research article abstracts across multiple disciplines article [3]. While an abstract should summarize, one of its main purposes is to arouse interest and persuade readers that the article deserves to be read [4, 5]. State the purpose/aim, thesis or hypothesis and give a brief outline of the aim of the paper

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