And the Award for "Best Opening Sentence in an Abstract Goes To . . ."

4/8/2022

There are generally four types of opening sentences in research paper abstracts:

1. A statement of a real-world phenomena or a standard practice.
2. Stating a purpose or an objective.
3. A statement presenting current research action.
4. Stating a problem or uncertainty.

And then there is a fifth kind of opening sentence in a research paper abstract, exemplified by the zinger below:

Ducks are birds.

Someone please give the author his much-deserved award!

5 Comments

WJT link

4/8/2022 07:28:12

Ducks are birds. Yes, but how is this being affected by global warming?

Francis Berger

4/8/2022 08:20:39

@ Wm - You're going to laugh . . . the article in question did focus on how global warming affects duck populations in a specific region here in Hungary.

bruce charlton

4/8/2022 09:11:26

The next step will be 'calling a deer a horse' - and a duck Not a bird - presumably.

Francis Berger

4/8/2022 12:53:00

@ Bruce - Yes, I suppose the author does at least deserve credit for stating something real, even if it is rather obvious.

Come to think of it, making statements about obvious reality takes a great deal of courage. So kudos to him for stating that ducks are indeed birds. Much better than stating ducks are social constructs or some such thing.

WJT link

4/8/2022 13:55:15

You shouldn't just assume what class of vertebrates anyone identifies as belonging to. I think I'm going to add "mammal" to my Twitter profile right next to my pronouns.

Come to think of it, that opening sentence does rather remind me of the classic "Ninjas are mammals."

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/real-ultimate-power

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And the Award for "Best Opening Sentence in an Abstract Goes To . . ."

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