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A discourse analysis of the macro-structure, metadiscoursal and microdiscoursal features in the abstracts of research articles across multiple science disciplines
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, Vol 13, Iss 10, p e0205417 (2018), PLoS ONE
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2018.
-
Abstract
- The abstract of a scientific research article convinces readers that the article deserves to be read. Abstracts 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.
- Subjects :
- Science and Technology Workforce
Science Policy
Discourse analysis
media_common.quotation_subject
Social Sciences
lcsh:Medicine
Careers in Research
Research and Analysis Methods
Convention
Rhetorical question
Syntax
Sociology
lcsh:Science
Scientific Publishing
media_common
060201 languages & linguistics
Structure (mathematical logic)
Grammar
Multidisciplinary
Scope (project management)
lcsh:R
Quantitative Analysis
Linguistics
06 humanities and the arts
Syntax (logic)
Professions
Research Design
People and Places
Physical Sciences
0602 languages and literature
Earth Sciences
Scientists
Population Groupings
Engineering ethics
lcsh:Q
Discipline
Research Article
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 13
- Issue :
- 10
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....236663f258ca0fb8291bae0c40e9baa6