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In the paper that I am writing, I am only showing some results from a more rigorous/full-scale study. So as to highlight the importance of the results in the new paper, I am thinking of including one or two statements which state the full results that we have obtained (not published).

However, I can't include all the results from the full-scale study in this paper, because of size limitations. So is it appropriate to include these one or two sentences which demonstrate the results of the full scale study, but not include any data supporting these sentences in the abstract and summary?

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  • @nate, and Patricia, I meant 1 or 2 sentences in the abstract and summary :)
    – alpha_989
    Commented Aug 13, 2016 at 22:09

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I don't think so. Unless you have another published paper that you can refer to, I wouldn't put anything about the full result in this paper nor its abstract. Since you don't have that paper (yet?), there's no good way to refer to such a result without a way to back it up.

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The purpose of the abstract, from the point of view of the audience, is to help people decide whether they want to read the paper or not.

If the extra sentences do not create interest, you have merely wasted space in the abstract.

If the extra sentences do influence someone to read the paper, the situation is much worse. They will be looking for more information. They will expect to find either direct support for the statements, or a reference to another paper discussing them. You will have wasted the time they spend looking for those things, and it often takes longer to be sure that something is missing than to find it if it is there.

If readers learn that your abstracts do not accurately reflect the paper contents, they may be less likely to choose your papers to read.

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