STEPS INVOLVED IN ABSTRACTING

• Once a writer or an abstractor of a document makes up his/her mind

to abstract a paper, such a person must follow some steps.
• The preparation of abstract starts with a record of references, then
content analyses, capturing of notes or annotations and lastly the
abstractors details and the arrangement of the abstract is provided
STEPS INVOLVED IN ABSTRACTING CONT’D

Recording the Reference

• This first step has to do with recording of the reference of the document or
the capturing of full bibliographic details of documents..
• No matter how good an abstract is, it may not be found by users and
therefore not useful if the bibliographic records of the document are not
properly recorded.
• The elements or details to be recorded include the title, author, author
affiliation, publication source etc. In the process of writing the reference
record, the abstractor may abbreviate to save space, however this should be
done to follow established rules; it should also be consistent while a list of
the abbreviations should be made available to users of the abstract.
STEPS INVOLVED IN ABSTRACTING
CONT’D
Content Analysis
• The next step in the process of abstract preparation is the content analysis in which
the abstractor creates narrative of the document’s content. He gets himself familiar
with the document.
• He goes through the paper, the different section of the document and ensures that
he has a good understanding of the subject matter of the content.
i. The Objective and Scope
ii. The Methodology
iii. The Results
iv. The Conclusions
v. Other Important Supportive Information
STEPS INVOLVED IN ABSTRACTING
CONT’D
Writing the Annotation/notes
• The next step is the writing of notes or annotations. These notes are
written on the highlights of the paper, on what the abstractor thinks
are the essential content of the paper.
• The notes are then pieced together or constructed into a short
paragraph about the document.
• The abstractor takes note of the important parts of the document
such as the scope, objective of the paper, significant contributions,
special features etc. The first draft of the abstract is written from
these notes.
STEPS INVOLVED IN ABSTRACTING
CONT’D
Arrangement of Abstract.
• The next step is the arrangement of an abstract which is preceded by the
presentation of abstractor’s details. The credit for the abstract is given to the
abstractor.
• Usually, only the initials are written with the full name appearing in the
abstract publication, though some use the full names of the abstractor.
• This is followed by the abstract arrangement which could be done
alphabetically by author or by subject terms; it could be a classified
arrangement when the abstract is complete, it should be revised and edited.
• This will ensure that errors of grammar, spellings and punctuation are
removed.
Conclusion

The procedure for preparing abstracts follows a standard which

abstractors adhere to when doing their job. Any deviation from the
steps would almost certainly result in a poorly prepared or a bad
abstract not fit for user’s consumption. Abstract are prepared so that
they are self-contained and understood by users such that they may not
need to consult the original paper.