Conference abstracts abbreviations

Using the organizational structure developed in Writing on Your Own task 8B, write the first full draft of your conference abstract, title, and author list. Remember to define abbreviations and acronyms that are critical to understanding your work, incorporate keywords into your abstract and title, and use tense and voice in conventional ways. Avoid the use of citations. Make sure that you write for the appropriate audience. 

The poster text is divided into the same general IMRD sections as the journal article Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Similarly, most posters include an Acknowledgments section, some have an abbreviated References section, and all have a title and author list. Most posters do not include an abstract, in part because of space limitations and in part because an abstract already appears in the conference proceedings. Like the journal article, the IMRD structure of the poster follows an hourglass shape. The top (Introduction) and bottom (Discussion) sections have a broader focus, while the middle sections (Methods and Results) have a narrower focus. Each section of the poster can be divided into individual moves or steps that guide viewers in a conventional way through the content of each section. These moves are analyzed in the next part of the chapter. 

The whole problem of abbreviated titles is aptly reviewed by Mitchell in his preface to the second edition of the World List, where he states that the use of abbreviated titles is a necessity in scientific literature, but unless the abbreviations have been devised so that each one indicates only one periodical and also unless they are in general use, they fail of their purpose. The Royal Society Scientific Information Conference, held in London from June 21 to July 2, 1948, recommended that the World List abbreviations be adopted by abstracting agencies. 

The Chemical Abstracts Service offers the direct connection from the CA abstract (where only the abbreviated journal title is mentioned) to the expanded title and the source of supply. The CAS Source Index provides this link. CASSI not only includes every type of publication, such as journals, technical reports, monographs, conference reports and patent groups, which have been cited in Chemical Abstracts from 1907 to the present time, but also all source material cited in Beilstein Handbuch der Organischen Chemie up to and including 1963 and in Chemisches Zentralblatt from 1830 to 1940. Libraries in 29 countries, which hold the cited journal or book, are named beside the publication source entry. The inventory of 361 libraries is listed, 290 cited in the USA, 71 in other countries. 

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