Document Type : Articles

Authors

1 M.A. Department of Medical Library and Information Sciences, Faculty of Paramedical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Prof. Department of Medical Library and Information Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

3 Associate Prof. Department of Children Growth Center, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran

Abstract

Abstracts are regarded as valuable tools in assessing the relevance of documents during information retrieval. The determination of abstract compliance based on international standards is one of the methods which can be used for generating qualified information, reducing costs and establishing aligned coordination with international standards. Further, ANSI/NISO Z39.14 standard is one of the international standards presented by NISO committee which its final amendment was published in March 2015 and proposed some principles in terms of content and structural elements of different sources like theses. For this purpose, the present study aimed to evaluate the abstracts of Persian theses in different educational levels with ANSI/NISO Z39.14 standard at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU) during 2010-2014. 386 Persian abstracts were selected from among the abstracts in master’s theses, PhD dissertations, Medical Doctorate(MD) and specialized medicine theses at different schools. The standard texts of ANSI/NISO Z39.14 (R2015) were used as the instrument including 15 structural and 5 content elements. Results indicated that there was a significant difference between the consistency of structural and content elements of the standards among the abstracts of the selected theses at different educational levels in different schools. The results suggest that an instructional and a coherent model should be developed, based on international and latest edition standards such as ANSI/NISOZ39.14 guideline for abstracts which are necessary to be followed by all centers in order to improve the style of writing abstracts.

Keywords

  1. Alonso, M. I., & Fernandez, L. M. M. (2010). Perspectives of studies on document abstracting. Journal of Documentation, 66(4), 563-584. doi: doi:10.1108/ 00220411011052957
  2. ANSI/NISO. (2015). Guidelines for abstracts: An american national standard. Maryland: NISO Press.
  3. Cleveland, A. D., & Cleveland, D. B. (2013). Introduction to indexing and abstracting. ABC-CLIO.
  4. Cross, C., & Oppenheim, C. (2006). A genre analysis of scientific abstracts. Journal of Documentation, 62(4), 428-446. doi: doi:10.1108/00220410610700953
  5. Dhanavandan, S. & Tamizhchelvan, M. (2014). A Study on Library and Information Science Journals: An Indian Perspective. SRELS Journal of Information Management, 51(2), 117-128.
  6. Dupuy, A., Khosrotehrani, K., Lebbe, C., Rybojad M. & Morel P. (2003). Quality of abstracts in 3 clinical dermatology journals. Archives of Dermatology, 139(5), 589-593.
  7. Ezema, I. J., & Ugwu, C. (2013). Electronic theses and dissertations in Nigeria university libraries: Status, challenges and strategies. The Electronic Library, 31(4), 493-507.
  8. Hanson, C. W. (1971). Introduction to science-information work. London: ASLIB.
  9. Hiva, A., Abdollahi, L. (2011). Evaluation of compliance abstracts of journal articles Farsi Tehran University of Medical Sciences with ISO 214 & Vancouver's group guideline, in 1388. Payavard Salamat, 4(1-2), 54-61. [in Persian]
  10. Hua, F., Deng, L., Kau, C. H., Jiang, H., He, H., & Walsh, T. (2015). Reporting quality of randomized controlled trial abstracts: survey of leading general dental journals. The Journal of the American Dental Association, 146(9), 669-678.
  11. Kazempour, Z., & Ashrafirizi, H. (2010). Introduction to indexing and abstracting (Practical Guide). Tehran: Chapar. [in Persian]
  12. Kiriakou, J., Pandis, N., Fleming, P. S., Madianos, P., & Polychronopoulou, A. (2013). Reporting quality of systematic review abstracts in leading oral implantology journals. Journal of dentistry, 41(12), 1181-1187. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jdent.2013 .09.006
  13. Korevaar, D. A., Cohen, J. F., Hooft, L., & Bossuyt, P. M. (2015). Literature survey of high-impact journals revealed reporting weaknesses in abstracts of diagnostic accuracy studies. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 68(6), 708-715. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2015.01.014
  14. Makani, N., Vaez, R., Pourmohammad, A. (2015). A survey of Compliance of Persian Abstracts of Research Articles in Medical Journals of Universities of Medical Sciences (Type 1) with the Vancouver Guideline and ISO 214 Standard. Journal of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, 22(3), 309-318. [in Persian].
  15. Montajeb, F., Atai, Z., & Safizadeh, H. (2012). Maintaining ISO 7144 Standards and Research Elements in Dissertations of Different Schools from 1999 to 2004, Kerman University of Medical Sciences. Journal of Strides Development Medical Education, 6(1), 57-65. [in Persian].
  16. Pao, M. L. (1989). Concepts of information retrieval. Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited
  17. Papi, A., Khalaji, D., Rizi, H. A., Shabani, A., & Hassanzadeh, A. (2014). The rate commitment to ISO 214 standard among the persian abstracts of approved research projects at school of health management and medical informatics. Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 3(1), 22-27. doi: 10.4103/2277-9531.131913
  18. Shabani, A., Askari, E., Homaei, R., & Saadat, R. (2011). The level of adherence to abstracting standards (ISO 214) observed in Persian abstracts of general medicine theses in Arak University of Medical Sciences. Health Information Management, 8(3), 382-394. [in Persian].
  19. Tenopir, C. & Jacso, P. (1993). Quality of abstracts. Online, 17(3), 44. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ464332
  20. Zeeneldin, A., Diyaa, A., Moneer, M., Elgammal, M., Buhoush, W. (2014). Review of 40-year MD theses in Medical Oncology. Journal of the Egyptian National Cancer Institute, 26(3), 109-118.