Yeah, that struck me as a “WTF?” I mean, it may certainly be the case the authors decide their bottom line before coming up with the evidence and arguments for it, but you can’t infer that from the fact that the abstract comes first and gives its conclusion—they’re not (or at least shouldn’t be) written in the order you read the paper.
I would much prefer that an abstract give the paper’s conclusion! I’ve seen too many abstracts that either leave it off, or leave out the key insight driving that conclusion, forcing me to dig through the paper, and generally defeating the purpose of it.
Yeah, that struck me as a “WTF?” I mean, it may certainly be the case the authors decide their bottom line before coming up with the evidence and arguments for it, but you can’t infer that from the fact that the abstract comes first and gives its conclusion—they’re not (or at least shouldn’t be) written in the order you read the paper.
I would much prefer that an abstract give the paper’s conclusion! I’ve seen too many abstracts that either leave it off, or leave out the key insight driving that conclusion, forcing me to dig through the paper, and generally defeating the purpose of it.