Topic 1 - Differences Between Abstract and Summary

Differences Between Abstract
and Summary
1. Abstract vs. Summary. Main differences.
2. What is an abstract.
3. What is a summary.
Abstract vs. Summary
The terms summary and abstract are often used interchangeably resulting in
some confusion, but there is a distinct difference between abstract and
summary.
A summary is a condensed version of a longer work. An abstract is a brief

summary of a research article, thesis, etc. An abstract is a type of summary. It is
usually used in social science or scientific papers, and is generally 300 words or
less.
The cause of confusion
The problem arises because there are

two distinct types of abstracts –
descriptive and informative.
хxx The informative abstract is another name for

a summary; the descriptive is not.
Main difference
Abstract is always at the beginning.
Summary is closing the document at the very end of it.

What is an abstract. Descriptive abstract.
As it was mentioned there are descriptive and informative abstracts.
The descriptive abstract is usually only 2 or 3 sentences in length.
Descriptive summaries often play the role of reviews for fictional or literary
works: books, movies, video clips, articles, essays etc. In this case, the
descriptive summary can include statements about sense and significance of
the summarised work.
Example of a descriptive abstract:
A descriptive abstract of the essay “A Modest Proposal” (132 words)
“A Modest Proposal is preventing the Children of poor People in Ireland, from being a Burden to their
Parents or Country and for making them beneficial to the Public”, is a satirical essay written in the 18th
century by author Jonathan Swift.
The essay, curtly named “A Modest Proposal”, is one of the most savage and ironical pamphlet ever
written. The speaking character in the essay, called the “Proposer”, is an unknown personage who,
“innocently” and “modestly” proposes to combat poverty in (18th century) Ireland “by using the children
of Irish poor people as food for wealthy citizens”. The essay imitates the style of a scientific social-
survey, being organised as a classical rhetoric work defending an idea or principle.
“A Modest Proposal” satire shows Swift’s outrage at the cruelties and stupidities of his contemporary
society. In a broader sense, the pamphlet combats the tendency of modern human to “social
cannibalism: the murder of humans in the name of bettering the lives of others”.
An informative abstract (summary) is an
abbreviated version of the most significant
points in a book, article, report or meeting. It
is usually about 5% to 15% of the length of
the original.
It is useful because it condenses material,
informing the reader of the original’s most
important points.
Include in the informative abstract
Purpose: An abstract should identify why the article was written. A brief introduction should reveal the
main purpose of the article.
Important Specifics: Include only those names, dates, places or costs that are essential to
understanding the original.
Conclusions or results: Emphasize outcomes of surveys/tests, research conclusions, and proposed

solutions to the problem.
Recommendations or implications: Include important recommendations, along with other pertinent

information.
Omit in the informative abstract
Opinion: Don’t include your own opinions.
New Data: Don’t compare the work with other articles, books or conferences; stick only to that information
included in the original.
Irrelevant Specifics: Don’t include biographical data about the author.
Examples: Illustrations, explanations and descriptions are unnecessary in an abstract.
Background: Material in introductions to articles provides information and anecdotes that are of little
importance to understanding the article.
Reference Data: Exclude information from footnotes, tables and bibliographies.
Jargon: Technical language or jargon may confuse the reader.

Example of the informative abstract:
Automatic summarising: The state of the art
by Karen Sparck Jones
Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge -UK
This paper in its final form will appear in Information Processing and Management, Special Issue on
Automatic Summarising, 2007.
Abstract. This paper reviews research on automatic summarising in the last decade. This work has
grown, stimulated by technology and by evaluation programs. The paper uses several frameworks to
organise the review, for summarising itself, for the factors affecting summarising, for systems, and for
evaluation.
The review examines the evaluation strategies applied to summarising, the issues they raise, and
the major programs. It considers the input, purpose and output factors investigated in recent automatic
summarising research, and discusses the classes of strategy, extractive and non-extractive, that have
been explored, illustrating the range of systems built.
The conclusions drawn are that automatic summarisation has made valuable progress, with
useful applications, better evaluation, and more task understanding. But summarising systems are still
poorly motivated in relation to the factors affecting them, and evaluation needs taking much further to
engage with the purpose summaries are intended to serve and the contexts in which they are used.
What is a Summary? When do I use it?
Like an abstract, a summary is just a condensed write-up on the topic

discussed in your paper. However, summaries are more open ended than
abstracts, and can contain much more varied information. They can be
included in virtually any type of paper, and do not have a specific word count
limit. Always check with your instructor for those types of guidelines before
handing in your summary and paper.
The term summary can refer to several things. A summary can be a synopsis
of a book, article, film or play. Here, the outline of the plot can be termed as a
summary. An executive summary, which is seen at the beginning of a
business report, proposal and plan, is also a summary; it summarizes the
entire content, highlighting the central points of the document.
How to Reading the text
summarize? Background exploration

Text exploration
Notes revision
Writing the summary
Writing of the first draft

Revision of your work
Paraphrasing and Quoting
When you are writing a summary of a given text or documents, you
should always use your words; a brief quote can be sometimes used.
Since the main purpose of this type of summary is condensing the
text, it should contain the main ideas and concepts of the original text
clearly and concisely.
Your opinions and criticism of the original text should not be
written in the summary. In addition, it shouldn’t contain things like
examples, details or any unnecessary information.
Evaluative summary Content Evaluation:
< How carefully is the subject researched? Is
Evaluative summaries differ from the material accurate and up-to-date?
other abstracts and summaries in < Is the writer or speaker objective?
only one way: your opinion of the < Does the work achieve the goal? Did the
material is included in the evaluative writer cover the topic adequately? Are there
summary. You should blend your irrelevant materials in the work?
assessment throughout the entire < Is the material relevant to the audience for
summary and not just lump all of your whom you are writing your evaluative
summary?
opinions at the end. This lets the
Style Evaluation:
reader know what you thought of < Is the material readable? Is it easy to follow?
each point addressed in the article. < What kind of vocabulary does the writer use?
These are some questions that you < Are there technical terms or jargon?
should answer for readers of your
evaluative summary.
Thanks for your attention!

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Differences Between Abstract

A summary is a condensed version of a longer work. An abstract is a brief

The problem arises because there are

хxx The informative abstract is another name for

Summary is closing the document at the very end of it.

As it was mentioned there are descriptive and informative abstracts.

The descriptive abstract is usually only 2 or 3 sentences in length.

Conclusions or results: Emphasize outcomes of surveys/tests, research conclusions, and proposed

Recommendations or implications: Include important recommendations, along with other pertinent

Irrelevant Specifics: Don’t include biographical data about the author.

Examples: Illustrations, explanations and descriptions are unnecessary in an abstract.

Reference Data: Exclude information from footnotes, tables and bibliographies.

Jargon: Technical language or jargon may confuse the reader.

Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge -UK

Like an abstract, a summary is just a condensed write-up on the topic

summarize? Background exploration

Writing the summary

Writing of the first draft

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