Abstract

An abstract is a very much abbreviated oral or written summary of a book, a scientific or scholarly work, or the results of a scientific or scholarly study, usually without added interpretation or criticism. An abstract generally aims to provide scientific or scholarly information. A book of abstracts constitutes a valuable source of abridged information for all types of study and research work. The drawback of such abstracts is that they tend to take the place of the original which is relegated to dusty shelves where it runs the risk of being discarded.