STYLE AND SPEED IN PUBLISHING ABSTRACTS* By G . F . L e w e n z , I . Z a r e m b e r a n d Technical Information Division, E s s o Research and Engineering Company, Linden, N. J .
E . H. Brenner Central Abstracting Service, American Petroleum Institute, New York, N. Y.
A t e c h n i c a l - a b s t r a c t publication is a docum e n t of unique i m p o r t a n c e . It c o m p a c t s into highly u s a b l e f o r m t h e r e p o r t e d findings f r o m a wide v a r i e t y of s o u r c e s . Its r e a d e r s c o m e t o depend on i t f o r c o m p l e t e n e s s ( a t l e a s t within policy r a n g e s ) a n d a c c u r a c y . If it c o n t a i n s inf o r m a t i v e a b s t r a c t s i n s t e a d of s i m p l e l i s t i n g s o r a n n o t a t i o n s , they r a n k i t with p r i m a r y s o u r c e s o f i n f o r m a t i o n . T h i s i s why m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n g r o u p s a r e paying c l o s e a t t e n t i o n to the w h a t s , w h y s , and hows of i n f o r m a t i v e a b s t r a c t s , a n d of m e a n s to s p e e d t h e m to r e a d e r s . I n f o r m a t i v e a b s t r a c t s c a n s e r v e two p u r p q s e s : (1) a " c u r r e n t - a w a r e n e s s " function a s a s o u r c e of i n f o r m a t i o n on new t e c h n i c a l d e velopments, and (2) a s o u r c e f o r r e t r o s p e c t i v e s e a r c h i n g . T h e s a m e a b s t r a c t u s u a l l y cannot a c c o m p l i s h both p u r p o s e s equally w e l l , h o w e v e r . F o r c u r r e n t - a w a r e n e s s , a n a b s t r a c t should be m a d e a v a i l a b l e quickly a n d h a v e m a x i m u m readability. F o r retrospective searching, it should have m a x i m u m i n f o r m a t i o n . T h e s e two s e t s of c r i t e r i a t e n d to be m u t u a l l y e x c l u s i v e . T h e r e is l i t t l e doubt t h a t C h e m i c a l Abs t r a c t s ( C A ) , with i t s fine index, i s t h e b e s t over-all retrospective searching source availa b l e to t h e c h e m i s t . Its a b s t r a c t s a r e p a r t i c u l a r l y v a l u a b l e when the r e a d e r knows e x a c t l y what h e i s looking f o r . H o w e v e r , a s a c u r r e n t a w a r e n e s s i n s t r u m e n t it i s f a r f r o m i d e a l . Its a b s t r a c t s a r e not e a s y to r e a d , one a f t e r t h e o t h e r , when o n e i s t r y i n g to keep u p with new developments. A c u r r e n t - a w a r e n e s s a b s t r a c t should p e r m i t the b u s y r e a d e r to d e c i d e quickly w h e t h e r o r not the i t e m a b s t r a c t e d c a n be of i n t e r e s t to h i m , a n d i t should l e a v e h i m , a f t e r he h a s r e a d all o r p a r t of t h e a b s t r a c t , with both the t i m e a n d the inclination to r e a d m o r e a b s t r a c t s . Such a b s t r a c t s do not m a k e a s c o m p r e h e n s i v e a r e t r o s p e c t i v e s e a r c h i n g tool a s C h e m i c a l A b s t r a c t s . H o w e v e r , s u c h a b s t r a c t s c a n be useful f o r s e a r c h e s on a s p e c t s of applied technology if a s p e c i a l i z e d index o r c l a s s i f i c a t i o n s y s t e m , s u c h a s that of the A m e r i c a n P e t r o l e u m Institute (A PI) , i s a v a i l a b l e . T h i s p a p e r will d i s c u s s the s t y l e of t h e c u r r e n t - a w a r e n e s s a b s t r a c t s w r i t t e n by the American Petroleum Institute's Central Abstracting S e r v i c e , c o m p a r e t h e m with C h e m i c a l A b s t r a c t s in r e g a r d to s p e e d of d e l i v e r y , a n d then a d d s o m e c o m m e n t s about Z s s o R e s e a r c h ' s a b s t r a c t i n g p r o g r a m , which u s e s the A P I a b s t r a c t ing s e r v i c e s to c o v e r about o n e - h a l f of i t s 1i t e r a tu r e a b s t r a c t ing r equi r e m e n t .
STYLE O F THE API ABSTRACT A s a c u r r e n t - a w a r e n e s s s e r v i c e , quick, e a s y r e a d a b i l i t y i s t h e f i r s t goal in the A P I ' s abstracting program. T h e new d e v e l o p m e n t ( o r the scope of e x tensive experimentation, reported in the original) i s c o m m u n i c a t e d i m m e d i a t e l y . The f i r s t s e n t e n c e of the a b s t r a c t i s t h e c r i t i c a l one. T h e s u c c e e d i n g s e n t e n c e s e m a n a t e logically f r o m i t . T h e r e a d e r l e a r n s qualitatively what w a s done a n d what w a s found. Reading the f i r s t s e n t e n c e o r two m a y b e enough to t e l l h i m t h a t t h e a r t i c l e , although it i s in a r e l a t e d f i e l d , h a s no b e a r i n g on h i s work o r i n t e r e s t s ; h e c a n then m o v e on to a n o t h e r a b s t r a c t . If, on t h e o t h e r h a n d , the a b s t r a c t s e e m s of i n t e r e s t , he will get enough i n f o r m a t i o n by r e a d i n g it t h r m g h to have the " f l a v o r " of t h e o r i g i n a l a r t i c l e . He c a n then d e c i d e w h e t h e r h i s i n t e r e s t i s s t r o n g enough to j u s t i f y looking a t t h e o r i g i n a l p a p e r . The a b stract i s never a replacement for the original. It d o e s not l i s t t h e m e l t i n g point a n d r e f r a c t i v e i n d e x of e a c h new o r g a n i c compound. It n e e d not do t h i s , s i n c e t h e 140 j o u r n a l s a b s t r a c t e d by t h e API a r e generally available in petroleumcompany l i b r a r i e s . T h e A P I a b s t r a c t , although i n f o r m a t i v e , i s r e l a t i v e l y s h o r t ; t h e a b s o l u t e m a x i m u m i s 200 w o r d s of t e x t . T h e a b s t r a c t i n c l u d e s v e r y f e w of the c h e m i c a l symbols, formulas, abbreviations, u s e d by Chemical Abstracts. These short-cuts save space, but they m a k e CA h a r d e r to r e a d . The t i t l e c o m e s a t the beginning of the A P I a b s t r a c t , but t h e bibliog r a p h i c data (author, j o u r n a l t i t l e , e s . ) c o m e at t h e e n d , w h e r e t h e y do not i n t e r r u p t t h e flow of f a c t u a l i n f o r m a t i o n . F i n a l l y , the A P I u s e s a l a r g e r type f a c e than C h e m i c a l A b s t r a c t s . F i g u r e 1 shows a CA a b s t r a c t a n d a n A P I a b s t r a c t of t h e s a m e p a p e r . T h e CA a b s t r a c t obviously contains m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n . It could be a s u b s t i t u t e f o r t h e o r i g i n a l p a p e r . But t h e r e c a n be no doubt that a m o n g people who a r e r e a d i n g a n a b s t r a c t s publication to find out w h a t ' s new, t h e A P I ' s s t y l e will be m o r e e f f e c t i v e . M o r e people will r e a d m o r e a b s t r a c t s in the - 4 P I ' s s t y l e b e f o r e they r e b e l a t f u r t h e r r e a d i n g of a b s t r a c t s . In c a r r y i n g out i t s p r o g r a m , A P I h a s t h e a d v a n t a g e of a staff of f u l l - t i m e , p r o f e s s i o n a l a b s t r a c t e r s . T h e s e people a r e p e r s o n a l l y t r a i n e d by the e d i t o r s . F u r t h e r m o r e , b e c a u s e they work t o g e t h e r in a c e n t r a l l o c a t i o n , a d i r e c t exchange o f i d e a s i s imrnedlately p o s s i b l e w h e n e v e r t h e r e i s a point to be d i s c u s s e d .
'Presented before the Division of Chemical Literature of the American Chemical Society, New York, N. Y., September 1 2 , 1360.
48
e., ~
49
S T Y L E AND S P E E D IN PUBLISHING ABSTRACTS
2,4'-DiphenylbiphenyI,. Richard 11. li'iley and B. J . LVJkefieId (Ciiiv. of Louisviilc, LmIis\~iIle,K y . ) . J . Ori:. C l i c i i i . 2 5 , 132-4( 1960).-Tlie previously uiiknow!t 2-PhCc HIC6H4Ph-4 ( I ) was st-nthesized. Redti. of 2-02SCsHiCsHiNOr-4,obtained as.a b>--product i i i the iiitration of Phr (Gull and Turner, Crl 2.3, 2902), with Sn a n d HCI gave 6570 2-H?SCsH,CsH,YH9-4 (11). I1 ( I 5 9 . ) arid 2" g. .4c20 heated 2 hrs. on a steam bath, the soln. poured illto 400 ml. ice HzO, the mixt. warnled 30 min. on a steam bath, cooled, the ppt. filtered off, and r e c r p t d . from aq. EtOH gave 10 g. 2-AcHSCsH~CaH~NHXc-4 (III), m. 198-200". 11 ( 6 g.) 111 HCI diazotized a t O " , the soln. allowed to warm to 5 6 " while adding 100 ml. C8Hb,the i n i x t . kept e t 5-6" while adding 5 N KaOH durirg 1 hr. with rapid stirring, stirred 1 hr. at 5-6' and 20 hrs. :at room temp., the C,Hs Iah-er sepd., dried, concd., the residue (5 g , ) sublimed, and the product (15 mg.) recrl-std. from C6Hbgave I, ill. 208-10°. 111 (10 g . ) i n 150 ml. AcOH a n d 15 ml. . k ? O treated with 10 g. aiihvd. KO.\c and 1 g. P?Ob, the soln. cooled to -so, treated with 5 . 5 g. redistd. SOCl iii 10 nil. ZlczO with stirring a t - Z O O , the mixt. stirred 15 min., poured 011 500 g . ice and HjO, extd. twice with 200 rnl. C,H,, the ext. washed twice with 50 ml. ice H:,O, dried, warmed to 35-40' until no more S was evolved (1 hr,), filtered, the filtrate steam distd., the residual t a r (10 9 . ) chromatographed on acid .\1?03, eluted with Csl-ia. the eluate coming through the coluinn before the colored material evapd. to dryiiess, and the product (0.3 g , ) recrystd. from C8Hs or PhMe gave I . ni. 209-10°, X (MeOH) 257 a n d 274 lnp (log c 4.55 and 4 . 5 5 ) , Y 1605, 1529, 1484, 1455, 1403. 13511, 1170, 1076, 1005, 908, \Villiarn Brdker 839, 748, 686 crn-1
2,4'-DIPHENYLBIPHENYL w a s synthesized by a s e r i e s of r e a c t i o n s s t a r t i n g with 2 , 4'-dinitro- or 2, 4'-diacetamidodiphenyl, and i t s ultraviolet absorption c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s w e r e c o r r e l a t e d with data f o r o t h e r quaterphenyls and r e l a t e d compounds. F o r all'p-quaterphenyls. both the wave length of maximum absorption and the extinction coefficient inc r e a s e with the n u m b e r IJf nuclei p r e s e n t ; f o r a l l m quaterphenyls, the position of the maximum r e m a i n s consYant a t a b u t 250 m, but the extinction coefficient i n c r e a s es with the n u m b e r of nuclei. T a b l e and 17 r e f e r e n c e s . R . H . Wlley and B. J.VYakefield (Univ. Louisville) (J.O r g . C h e m . 2 5 , No. 1:132-34(Jan. 1960)
Fig. 1
- Same article abstracted by CA (top) and API
(bottom).
Apart f r o m the readability f e a t u r e , the API abstracting s e r v i c e 'has certain further adv a n t a g e s f o r t h e p e t i * o l e u m -r e f i n i n g i n d u s t r y . 1 . It c o v e r s n o n - c h e m i c a l m a t e r i a l of i m portance t o the industry, for example, theoretical s t u d i e s on f r i c t i o n a n d l u b r i c a t i o n . 2 . It i n c l u d e s s e m i - t e c h n i c a1 m a t e r i a l . T h i s m a t e r i a l , e .g , d e s c r i p t i o n s of p e t r o c h e m i c a l p l a n t s , h a s n o p e r m a n e n t v a l u e , bu,t is i m p o r t a n t t o the d e v e l o p m e n t a n d e c o n o m i c s p e o p l e in the i n d u s t r y . 3. The subject breakdown in the A P I bulletin i s m u c h finer and m o r e meaningful to p e t r o l e u m r e f i n i n g i n d u s t r y r e a d e r s . A P I u s e s a b o u t 60 c a t e g o r i e s t o s u b d i v i d e a b o u t 200 a b s t r a c t s p e r i s s u e . F i g u r e 2 i s a p a r t i a l l i s t of t h e s e c t i o n h e a d i n g s u s e d i n the A P I b u l l e t i n . A f e a t u r e of t h e A P I b u l l e t i n t h a t is h e l p f u l i n l o c a t i n g r e f e r e n L e s i s t h e p r a c t i c e of p r i n t i n g a l l t h e a b s t r a c t s fr0.m a g i v e n i s s u e of a j o u r n a l a t t h e s a m e t i m e . A P I c a n do t h i s b e c a u s e , with i t s s t a f f of f u l l - t i m e p r o f e s s i o n a l s , n o j o u r n a l t a k e s m o r e t h a n o n e o r two d a y s t o be a b s t r a c t e d . At t h e f r o n t o f e a c h i s s u e of i t s b u l l e t i n t h e A P I p r i n t s a l i s t i n g of t h e j o u r n a l s a n d i t e m s c o v e r e d i n t h a t i s s u e ( F i g . 3 ) . C h e m i c a l A b s t r a c t s could n o t p u b l i s h all t h e a b s t r a c t s f r o m a g i v e n i s s u e
-.
CRUDES AND CRUDE TREATMENT GENERAL PROCESSES Distillation Extraction Sorption Combination Processes Miscellaneous Processes Retorting GASES MOTOR F U E L S General Thermal Treatments Catalytic Conversions Hydrogenation Hydrocarbon Synthesis
Combination Processes Gasoline Recovery Treating Miscellaneous Processes Compositions
WAXES ASPHALT O T H E R P E T R O L E U M PRODUCTS F U E L OILS OTHER F U E L S LUBRICANTS Manufacture Treating Compositions
Lubrication Miscellaneous
CATALYSTS A N D CATALYSIS CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS General Nitrogen Compounds Sulfur Compounds Hydrocarbons Oxygen Compounds Other Chemical Compounds Halogen Compounds
Fig. 2.
- Section headings used i n API abstracts
bulletins (Partial list).
of a j o u r n a l s i m u l t a n e o u s l y , without d e l a y i n g p u b l i c a t i o n of s o m e of i t s a b s t r a c t s f o r a long t i m e . T h e v o l u n t e e r a b s t r a c t e r s , no m a t t e r how good t h e i r i n t e n t i o n s , h a v e o t h e r i n t e r e s t s t h a t c o m e b e f o r e t h e i r CA w o r k ; i t is the r a r e volunt e e r who c a n p r e p a r e m o r e t h a n t h r e e or f o u r a b s t r a c t s at one sitting. It s h o u l d b e noted t h a t A P I l i m i t s i t s e l f t o c o v e r a g e of t h e 140 j o u r n a l s t h a t h a v e b e e n found to b e the chief s o u r c e s of i n f o r m a t i o n of i n t e r e s t Anal. Chem. (Aug. 1960) 56A, 1058,1069,1079,1107, 1110,1131,1135,1137,1141,1168,1171,1205,1206, 1211,1213,1215 Appl. Spectroscopy (Aug. 1960) 103 Bitumen, T e e r e , Asphalte, P e c h e (July 1960) 269, 275 Brennstoff-Chem. (July 1960) 62, 208,213 Chem. Eng. News (8/15/60) 41,60 1 8 , 2 8 , 4 1 , 56, 63,64, 82 Chem. Week (8/13/60) Control Eng. (Aug. 1960) 129,192 Diesel Power (Aug. 1960) - - E r d o e l u. Kohle (June 1960) 381,362, 388,390, 394, 396,
400,405,413,416,422,433,436.440,450 J. chim. phys. (June 1960) 4 4 9 , 4 9 0 , 5 0 0 , 2 8 , 3 4 J. Inst. P e t r o l . (July 1960) 233, 234, 237,147A, 151A J. Sci. Instr. ( J u l y 1960) 236, 242 Kolloid- Z. (July 1960) 20, 23, 61, 86, 97 Makromol. Chem. (June 1960) 1 , 1 3 , 2 7 , 3 6 , 4 4 , 7 2 , 8 1 . Nature (7/23/60) 311 NLGI Spokesman (Aug. 1960) 1 7 3 , 1 7 7 , 1 8 0 , 1 9 1 Oil Gas J. (8/8/60) 46, 52, 54, 56, 58, 63, 65, 6 6 , 6 8 , 7 1 , 7 4 , 7 7 , 7 8 , 80, 82, 86, 9 2 , 9 6 , 97, 99, 119,120, 122 P e t r o l . Refiner (July 1960) 103, 108, 112,115, 119,127, 133, 143, 145, 149, 157, 161, 164, 167,168, 180, 196, 204, 219, 220, 237
Fig. 3
- Portion
of t h e list of periodicals covered in an issue of an API bullerin.
G. F. L e w e n z , E. H. B r e n n e r , and I. Z a r e m b e r
50
to t h e p e t r o l e u m - r e f i n i n g i n d u s t r y . T h e s i z e of t h i s p r o g r a m thus b e a r s n o c o m p a r i s o n with C A ' s c o v e r a g e of o v e r 8,000 p u b l i c a t i o n s .
SPEED O F PUBLICATION A c u r r e n t - a w a r e n e s s publication s h o u l d , obviously, d e l i v e r i n f o r m a t i o n to i t s r e a d e r s with t h e g r e a t e s t p o s s i b l e s p e e d . It i s t h e r e f o r e p e r t i n e n t to study how C h e m i c a l A b s t r a c t s c o m p a r e s with t h e A m e r i c a n P e t r o l e u m I n s t i t u t e in s p e e d of d e l i v e r y of c h e m i c a l - s u b j e c t abstracts. Two s t u d i e s have b e e n m a d e . T h e f i r s t c o v e r s a b s t r a c t s of U . S. a n d o t h e r non-Soviet j o u r n a l s . T h e s e c o n d c o v e r s Soviet publications. In t h e f i r s t s t u d y , 84 c h e m i c a l - s u b j e c t a b s t r a c t s published in t h e J a n u a r y 2 a n d J a n u a r y 9 , 1959, i s s u e s of A P I T e c h n i c a l A -----b s t r a c t s w e r e c h e c k e d . T h e s e w e r e a b s t r a c t s of m a t e r i a l in non-Soviet ( U . S . a n d foreign) j o u r n a l s . A b s t r a c t s of 74 of t h e s e i t e m s a p p e a r e d i n C h e m i c a l A b s t r a c t s d u r i n g 1959, b e t w e e n F e b r u a r y a n d N o v e m b e r , with t h e t i m e d i s t r i b u t i o n shown i n T a b l e I. TABLE I COMPARISON OF ABSTRACT PUBLISHING SPEED CA s. API, both abstracting chemical information directly from original US. and other non-Soviet journals: Basis: 84 abstracts published by API in January 1959 Month -
........................... ........................... ............................... ................................. .................................. ................................... .................................. .................................. ................................. ............................... ................................ ............................... ........................
Prior to 1 9 5 9 . . January 1 9 5 9 . . February March April May June July August September October November Not covered in 1959.
Abstracts Found in CA 0 0
8 11 21
9
6 5 2
5 4 3 10
T h e s e c o n d study w a s b a s e d o n t h e A p r i l 17 a n d May 1 , 1959, i s s u e s of t h e A P I A b s t r a c t s of Soviet P e t r o l e u m T e c h n o l o g y . C h e m i c a l - s u b j e c t abstracts in these issues w e r e checked in the a u t h o r indexes of t h e 1959 i s s u e s of C h e m i c a l A b s t r a c t s t h r o u g h August 10, 1959. T h i s i s 3 . 5 m o n t h s a f t e r t h e d e l i v e r y of the A P I a b s t r a c t s . T h i s study d e a l t with two c a t e g o r i e s : The first category concerned chemicals u b j e c t a b s t r a c t s m a d e by t h e A P I d i r e c t l y f r o m c o p i e s of t h e J a n u a r y o r F e b r u a r y 1959 i s s u e s of 1 8 Soviet j o u r n a l s . Out of 53 A P I a b s t r a c t s of o r i g i n a l Soviet c h e m i c a l p a p e r s , 14 (2770) h a d a p p e a r e d in CA 0 - 3 . 5 m o n t h s a f t e r t h e i r A P I publication. None a p p e a r e d in CA b e f o r e A P I . S i m i l a r r e s u l t s w e r e obtained f r o m a r e c e n t r e c h e c k of e a r l y 1960 S a v i e t p u b l i c a t i o n s . T h e s e c o n d c a t e g o r y in t h i s Soviet l i t e r a t u r e study covered chemical-subject abstracts made
by A P I f r o m a b s t r a c t s published in non-Soviet s o u r c e s , s u c h a s the J o u r n a l of t h e I n s t i t u t e of P e t r o l e u m a n d the J o u r n a l of Applied C h e m i s t r y . ( T h e s e a r e a byproduct of A P I ' s c o v e r a g e of t h e non-Soviet, f u l l p a p e r s in t h e s e j o u r n a l s .) Of 3 1 a b s t r a c t s f r o m t h e s e s o u r c e s r e w r i t t e n by t h e A P I , 21 (6870) a p p e a r e d i n CA b e f o r e A P I ( a n d b e f o r e they a p p e a r e d in t h e A P I ' s s o u r c e j o u r n a l s ) , 3 (100/0)a p p e a r e d f i r s t i n t h e A P I bulletin, and 7 (22%) h a d not a p p e a r e d in CA 3.5 m o n t h s a f t e r publication by t h e A P I . T h e s e s u r v e y s show t h a t t h e A P I i s m u c h f a s t e r t h a n CA when a b s t r a c t i n g d i r e c t l y f r o m o r i g i n a l m a t e r i a l . CA, o n t h e o t h e r hand, i s g e n e r a l l y f a s t e r when A P I is u s i n g non-7oviet a b s t r a c t i n g s o u r c e s f o r Soviet m a t e r i a l .
COMMENTS ON ESSO RESEARCH'S ABSTFfAC TING PROGRAM M o r e t h a n half of t h e l i t e r a t u r e a b s t r a c t s t h a t E s s o R e s e a r c h d i s t r i b u t e s to t h e t e c h n i c a l staff of t h e a f f i l i a t e s of the S t a n d a r d Oil Company (New J e r s e y ) c o m e f r o m t h e A m e r i c a n P e t r o l e u m I n s t i t u t e ' s a b s t r a c t b u l l e t i n s . The r e s t of t h e a b s t r a c t s a r e p r o d u c e d by t h e C o m p a n y ' s staff of p r o f e s s i o n a l a b s t r a c t e r s and a r e b a s e d on s o m e 400 j o u r n a l s not c o v e r e d by the A P I services. E s s o R e s e a r c h ' s i d e a l a b s t r a c t i s a 125w o r d s t a t e m e n t beginning with a t o p i c a l s e n t e n c e t h a t g i v e s t h e s c o p e of t h e d o c u m e n t a b s t r a c t e d a n d the m o s t i m p o r t a n t o r interesting r e s u l t o b t a i n e d . T h e r e s t of t h e a b s t r a c t e l a b o r a t e s o n t h e f i r s t sentence but c o n t a i n s no s u b j e c t m a t t e r t h a t is not indicated o r i m p l i e d i n that s e n t e n c e . The title comes after the text. The 125-word maximum calls f o r some very tight w r i t i n g i f the a b s t r a c t is to give a w o r t h while a m o u n t of i n f o r m a t i o n , but it p e r m i t s t h e u s e of a r a t h e r l a r g e type f a c e without c r e a t i n g a n o v e r l y fat bulletin of a b s t r a c t s . ( E s s o Res e a r c h f e e l s that a f a t b u l l e t i n , by i t s m e r e size, would d i s c o u r a g e b u s y people f r o m r e a d i n g it.) In m a k i n g u s e of t h e A P I ' s a b s t r a c t s , E s s o R e s e a r c h d o e s not change t h e i r b a s i c f o r m a t . T h e t i t l e t h a t r u n s into t h e t e x t of the a b s t r a c t i s c o n sidered acceptable. This f o r m permits smooth r e a d i n g of t h e a b s t r a c t without i n t e r r u p t i o n by the bibliographic data. E s s o R e s e a r c h h a s not adopted t h e A P I s t y l e f o r the a b s t r a c t s p r e p a r e d by i t s own s t a f f , h o w e v e r . It p r e f e r s to continue beginning i t s a b s t r a c t s with a t r u e topical s e n t e n c e , b e lieving that this style transfers information faster than t h e a b s t r a c t t h a t begins with a t i t l e . (On t h e other hand, API feels that the title-first abstract i s e a s i e r to p r e p a r e . ) F i g u r e 4 c o m p a r e s a n Esso R e s e a r c h - s t y l e a b s t r a c t with one t h a t b e g i n s with a t i t l e ( A P I s t y l e ) . Both Esso R e s e a r c h ' s a n d A P I ' s a b s t r a c t s s p e e d i n f o r m a t i o n t r a n s f e r to r e a d e r s , c o m p a r e d with conventional a b s t r a c t s . The longer API abstracts a r e shortened for
S T Y L E AND S P E E D I N PUBLISHING ABSTRACTS
NEW F U E L DRYING FOR SAFER J E T FLYING. Linde Co. ' s method of drying j e t fuel by molecular s i e v e s ( A b s t r a c t No. 62062) can r e d u c e dissolved w a t e r concentration to
