Writing Abstracts -- Example from Class k/title> <meta name="description" content=""> <meta name="keyword" content=""> <link rel=stylesheet type="text/css" href="http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/StyleEG/classvg.css" media="all" > <link rev="made" href="mailto:webmaster@www.physics.ohio-state.edu"> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <h1> Writing Abstracts -- Example from Class </h1> <p>Rules for writing abstracts <ul> <li>Content <ol> <li>Supply enough background that the reader can see relevance of paper. How much details depends on the anticipated audience. <li>Describe method/approach if central (new or specially modified) to the work, or indeed the point of the paper. Otherwise a few adjectives or one good verb may be sufficient. <li>Present new results in as non-technical language as possible so to be understood by widest audience <li>Don't include a result not in the paper. This flaw is more common to conclusion. </ol> <li>Style <ol> <li><em>Avoid</em> the obvious (this paper presents, I will show), the promissory note (comparisons with ... will be presented) <li><em>Use</em> strong well-known characters as <eM>subject</em> (but can be title phase if defined immediately); strong verb in <em>present, active</em> tense driving to; <em>object</em> that is new result. <li>Cut, cut and cut some more. </ol> </ul>. <h2>Example from a 1977 class paper</h2> <a href=""></a> <p><b>Original</b> [Deliberately separate sentences.</b>] <p> The design of the helium-neon laser is not complex by modern standards. <br> <br> They consist of only three essential components and operate by the processes of stimulated emission and light amplification. <br> <br> Because of their many advantages over other types of laser, helium-neon lasers are used for many applications in research and industry. <p><b>Revised</b> [<em>Emphasis </em> used to illustrate word choice.] The simplicity of the helium-neon laser illustrates basic laser principles. [or three basic laser components]<br> <br> Atoms excited by a discharge tube spontaneously emit an electromagnetic wave which in turn stimulates atoms to emit light in phase (in step) with the stimulating wave. <br> <br>This new emission amplifies the passing wave, and mirrors can enhance the process to produce an intense, coherent beam of light. <h2>Example from published paper</h2> <p> [<i>Nature Nanotechnolgy</i> <b>2</b>, 114-120 (2007) Ref: Mo Li, H X Tang, M L Roukes, Ultra-sensitive NEMS-based cantilevers for sensing, scanned probe and very high-frequency applications.] <p> Scanning probe microscopies (SPM) and cantilever-based sensors generally use low-frequency mechanical devices of microscale dimensions or larger. <br> <br> Almost universally, off-chip methods are used to sense displacement in these devices, but this approach is not suitable for nanoscale devices. <br> <br> Nanoscale mechanical sensors offer a greatly enhanced performance that is unattainable with microscale devices. <br> <br> Here we describe the fabrication and operation of self-sensing nanocantilevers with fundamental mechanical resonances up to very high frequencies (VHF). <br>[Specifically, self-sensing nanocantilevers can achieve very high frequencies.] <br> <br> These devices use integrated electronic displacement transducers based on piezoresistive thin metal films, permitting straightforward and optimal nanodevice readout. <br>[Further, integrated electronic displacement transducers on piezoresistive thin metal films permit straightforward and optimal nanodevice readout.] <br> <br> This non-optical transduction enables applications requiring previously inaccessible sensitivity and bandwidth, such as fast SPM and VHF force sensing. <br> <br> Detection of 127 MHz cantilever vibrations is demonstrated with a thermomechanical-noise-limited displacement sensitivity of 39 fm Hz<sup>-1/2</sup>. <br> <br> Our smallest devices, with dimensions approaching the mean free path at atmospheric pressure, maintain high resonance quality factors in ambient conditions. <br> <br> This enables chemisorption measurements in air at room temperature, with unprecedented mass resolution less than 1 attogram (10<sup>-18</sup> g) <hr> Your <a href="mailto:wilkins@mps.ohio-state.edu">comments and suggestions</a> are appreciated. <hr> <b>To cite this page:</b><br> Writing Abstracts -- Example from Class <br><http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/writing/Handouts/VGs/improved-abs.html><br> [Wednesday, 15-Feb-2012 00:51:09 EST]<br> <address>Edited by: wilkins@mps.ohio-state.edu on Friday, 04-May-2007 12:44:33 EDT</address> </body> </html>