A discourse analysis of the macro-structure, metadiscoursal and microdiscoursal features in the abstracts of research articles across multiple science disciplines

The abstract of a scientific research article convinces readers that the article deserves to be read. Abstracts can also determine the success of publications and grant applications. In recent years, there has been a trend of cross-disciplinary collaborations in the science community. Scientists have been increasingly expected to engage not only experts of their own disciplines, but also other disciplines with the scope of interest extending to non-experts, such as policy-makers and the general public. Thus, the macro-structure, metadiscoursal and microdiscoursal features exhibited in scientific article abstracts merit attention. In our study, we examined 500 abstracts of scientific research articles published in 50 high-impact journals across five science disciplines (Earth, Formal, Life, Physical and Social Sciences), and performed quantitative analysis of the move structure as well as use of boosters and linguistic features. We found significant interdisciplinary variations in the move structure, boosters and linguistic features employed by these science disciplines. We confirmed that each science discipline possesses a distinct set of macro-structural, metadiscoursal and formalization features, which contribute to its own unique discipline-specific convention. Understanding and observing the disciplinary rhetorical choices and communication conventions will allow scientists to align the abstracts of their studies with the expectations of the targeted audience.

科研学术论文的摘要是吸引读者并使其确信该论文值得一读的核心内容，同时也会直接决定论文发表与基金申请的成败。近年来，科学界逐渐兴起跨学科合作的潮流。当前，科研人员不仅需要与本学科领域的专家开展协作，还需与其他学科的从业者进行沟通，其受众范围甚至延伸至政策制定者与普通大众等非专业群体。因此，学术论文摘要所呈现的宏观结构（macro-structure）、元话语（metadiscoursal）与微观话语（microdiscoursal）特征，均值得学界关注。本研究共分析了覆盖地球科学、形式科学、生命科学、物理科学与社会科学五大科学门类的50种高影响力期刊刊载的500篇科研论文摘要，并针对其语步结构、强势语（boosters）使用情况与语言特征展开了量化分析。研究发现，不同学科在语步结构、强势语使用与语言特征方面均存在显著的跨学科差异。本研究证实，每个科学门类均拥有一套独特的宏观结构、元话语与形式化特征，这些特征共同塑造了该学科专属的学术表达惯例。理解并遵循不同学科的修辞选择与传播惯例，能够帮助科研人员使自身研究的摘要契合目标受众的阅读期待。