Abstract too long, or missing

abstract-lengthon by default (info)Japanese / English

An abstract over the length limit, or a paper with sections that has no abstract

Example

Flagged

# Naps and memory ## Introduction We studied how naps affect memory. ## Methods Forty students learned a list of words.

What chaff prints

3:1 This paper has sections but no abstract

Fixed

# Naps and memory ## Abstract With forty students, we tested whether a nap helps them remember words. ## Introduction We studied how naps affect memory. ## Methods Forty students learned a list of words.

What chaff prints

no finding

chaff.yaml used for this example

genre: academic/paper

How to fix

Cut the abstract to a sentence or two each for the aim, the method, the results and the conclusion. If there is none, add an "Abstract" section before the body.

Why it matters

Readers decide from the abstract alone whether to read the paper. An abstract that runs long takes as much time as the paper to judge, and tends to exceed the venue's word limit. A paper with sections but no abstract makes the reader read on before learning what the study is. The abstract is the text under an "Abstract" heading, the paragraph after a line that says only "Abstract", or the text after "Abstract:" at the head of a paragraph. The Japanese abstract (要旨) of a bilingual paper is measured in characters.

What it does not flag

Whether an abstract is present is checked only in a document with two or more headings that name a paper's sections (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion). The label itself ("Abstract:") is not counted. Only the academic paper genre runs this rule.

Turning it off or relaxing it

Silence this one spot (in the document)

Relax it for the team (the reason is kept as a comment in chaff.yaml)

npx chaffjs relax abstract-length --why "reason"

Turn it off for the team (chaff.yaml)

rules: abstract-length: off

Technical details

Layer: L3
Status: stable
Severity: info
Languages: Japanese and English
Suited to: academic, legal, docs, literature, speech

Levels

Set a level for this rule under rules in chaff.yaml. With nothing set, it runs at the level its genre gives it (see By genre below).

strict	up to 250 words in the abstract
normal	up to 400 words in the abstract
relaxed	up to 500 words in the abstract

By genre

Runs by default in: academic/paper
Turned off by the genre in: legal/contract, legal/statute, legal/judgment, legal/patent, docs/manual, docs/faq, docs/glossary, literature/fiction, literature/essay, literature/poetry, literature/play, speech/address, speech/transcript
Not suited to, and not run in: technical/spec, technical/readme, blog/tech, blog/essay, blog/owned-media, business/proposal, business/report, business/email, business/press-release, business/meeting-notes

Genres

Message

The abstract is too long

The abstract has {count} characters (up to {limit})

The abstract has {count} words (up to {limit})

This paper has sections but no abstract

Rewrite depth (chaff fix-plan --depth): structure — sections, headings and paragraphs are reorganised

This page is built from the rule's definition file:packages/chaff/rules/abstract-length.yaml