Activity: Browse Abstracts

Being able to efficiently scan scholarly articles for key information is critical in knowing the research conversations that are already taking place, and identifying where your research fits in. 

An abstract is a short summary of a research paper, usually about a paragraph. An abstract:

• lets readers get the gist or essence of a paper or article quickly, in order to decide whether to read the full paper;
• prepares readers to follow the detailed information, analyses, and arguments in a full paper;
• helps readers remember key points.

Search engines and bibliographic databases use abstracts, as well as the title, to identify key terms for indexing a published work, so there will often be options for browsing abstracts to quickly determine useful information. 

Activity: Browse Abstracts

Your can browse abstracts for a conference or association in your area of study by conducting a search in the main UW Libraries Search Bar  Links to an external site.and refining your results to "Conference Proceedings." 

Scan the results for potentially relevant articles and researchers that you might follow.

 

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