Linguistic changes in the transition from summaries to abstracts: The case of the Journal of Experimental Medicine

Key pointsThe introduction of Abstracts to replace article summaries in 1990 recognized changes to linguistic reporting that have been apparent during the century.The 1970s showed a dramatic increase in the informal language used in article abstracts and summaries.The Journal of Experimental Medicin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Learned publishing 2022-04, Vol.35 (2), p.271-284
Main Authors: Galli, Carlo, Colangelo, Maria Teresa, Guizzardi, Stefano
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abstract
Abstracts
academic writing
Linguistics
science writing
writing style
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Summary:Key pointsThe introduction of Abstracts to replace article summaries in 1990 recognized changes to linguistic reporting that have been apparent during the century.The 1970s showed a dramatic increase in the informal language used in article abstracts and summaries.The Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM) demonstrates an increase in first-person pronouns within article abstracts and summaries, but moves from singular to plural to represent the increase in multi-authored research works.Linguistic changes during the century also include a greater focus on the future rather than the past, and an increase in language that indicates ‘clout’ which signifies author self-confidence.
ISSN:0953-1513
1741-4857
DOI:10.1002/leap.1427