Are Structured Abstracts Easier to Read Than Traditional Ones
Are Structured Abstracts Easier to Read Than Traditional Ones
复制标题
结构化摘要比传统摘要更容易阅读吗
DOI:
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发表时间:
1997
期刊:
影响因子:
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通讯作者:
M. Sydes
中科院分区:
文献类型:
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作者:
J. Hartley;M. Sydes
Background: Structured abstracts (which contain sub-headings such as this one) have replaced traditional abstracts in most current medical journals. Evaluation studies have shown that such abstracts usually contain more information, are of a higher quality, and facilitate peer review.
Aim: The aim of the studies reported here was to investigate an additional, but as yet unexamined, feature of structured abstracts – namely whether or not they might be easier to read.
Method: Eight studies were carried out. The first two compared the Flesch and the Gunning readability scores of traditional abstracts that were published in particular journals with those of structured ones that were published in the same journals after these journals had moved to using structured abstracts. The next two examined the Flesch and the Gunning readability scores of traditional and structured abstracts when they were written by the same authors. The next two examined the ability of readers to re-construct scrambled versions of abstracts to see if it was easier to re-construct structured abstracts than it was to re-construct traditional ones. The last two examined readers’ judgements of the readability of pairs of traditional and structured abstracts.
Results: The first two studies showed that there were no significant differences in the readability scores of the earlier and the later abstracts. The next two studies showed, however, that when authors revised traditional abstracts to produce structured versions then the structured abstracts had higher readability scores. The next two studies showed that when readers were asked to re-sequence sentences taken from traditional and structured abstracts, they sometimes found this harder to do with traditional abstracts. The last two studies showed that readers rated structured abstracts more readable than traditional ones.
Conclusions: These studies suggest that structured abstracts may be easier to read than traditional ones – sometimes!
Base: Les exposes structures (qui comportent des sous–titres comme celui–ci) ont remplaceles resumes traditionnels dans la plupart des journaux courants de medecine. Les evaluations ont montreque ces resumes contiennent en general plus d’informations, sont de meilleure qualite, et facilitent l’examen par des pairs.
But: Les etudes rapportees ici avaient pour but d’examiner une caracteristique supplementaire des resumes structures qui n’a pas encore eteetudiee —a savoir leur lisibilite.
Methode: On a effectuehuit etudes. Les etudes 1 et 2 ont comparela lisibilitede resumes traditionnels publies dans des journaux particuliers avec celle de resumes structures publies dans les memes journaux apres que ces journaux aient changepour publier des resumes structures. Les etudes 3 et 4 ont examinela lisibilitede resumes traditionnels et structures ecrits par les memes auteurs. Les etudes 5 et 6 ont examine la capacitedes lecteurs areconstruire des versions destructurees de resumes pour voir s’il est plus facile de re–construire des resumes structures que de re–construire des resumes traditionnels. Enfin, les etudes 7 et 8 ont testela perception qu’ont les lecteurs de la lisibilitede resumes traditionnels et structures.
Resultats: Les etudes 1 et 2 ont montrequ’il n’y a pas de differences significatives de lisibilitedes resumes anterieurs et posterieurs. Les etudes 3 et 4 ont montrecependant que quand les auteurs ont revu des resumes traditionnels pour produire des resumes structures, il s’est averealors que les resumes structures sont plus faciles alire. Les etudes 5 et 6 ont montreque, quand on demande aux lecteurs de reconstruire des resumes traditionnels et structures, ils trouvent parfois que c’est plus difficile afaire avec des resumes traditionnels, et que les effets sont plus marques quand les deux versions sont tres differentes par le style et dans le detail. Les etudes 7 et 8 ont montre que les lecteurs ont evaluedes versions structurees des memes resumes comme significativement plus lisibles que les versions traditionnelles.
Conclusions: Ces etudes suggerent que les resumes structures peuvent tre plus faciles alire que des resumes traditionnels — parfois!