• Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop · Oct 2006

    Structured abstracts: do they improve the quality of information in abstracts?

    • Sandeep Sharma and Jayne E Harrison.
    • Saltaire Orthodontics, Bradford, United Kingdom.
    • Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2006 Oct 1;130(4):523-30.

    IntroductionThis retrospective observational study was designed to assess the impact on quality of changing from unstructured to structured abstract format. Six dental journals, 3 that adopted structured abstracts and 3 with unstructured abstracts, were used.MethodsOne hundred abstracts from original articles, published between January 1995 and December 1998, were selected from each journal. A 29-question checklist was developed and used to assess the quality of the information in the abstracts.ResultsThe mean score for abstracts published in all journal was 53.9% (SD 11.5; 95% CI 52.8%, 54.8%). There was no statistically significant difference between the scores of the first 50 abstracts and the second 50 abstracts from any journals with unstructured abstracts (P = .19-.80). The mean score of the second 50 abstracts from journals that adopted the structured abstract format was significantly higher than scores from journals with unchanged formats (P < or =.001).ConclusionsStructured abstracts provide higher-quality information. Journal editors should be encouraged to use a structured abstract format.

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