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Using Short-Form Communication in Academia

Atomic Å

Introduction

Short-form communication within academia and knowledge exchange.
Short-form communication continues to gain prominence in academia, providing a means to convey complex ideas succinctly and accessibly. This approach includes the use of abstracts, executive summaries, and brief reports to facilitate rapid dissemination and comprehension of research findings. Over the past few years, significant research has been conducted on the effectiveness and applications of short-form communication across various academic fields. This review synthesises key findings in 2024, highlighting core concepts, methodologies, and implications for future academic practices.​

Nomenclature
AI: Artificial Intelligence
LLM: Large Language Model
DOI: Digital Object Identifier
IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
JSTOR: Journal Storage
Scite.ai: An AI-powered platform for evaluating scientific articles
Scopus: A bibliographic database containing abstracts and citations for academic journal article
Atomic Academic: An LLM trained as a research assistant to utilise a short-form approach.



Key Concepts and Findings

Efficiency in Knowledge Dissemination:
Abstracts and Executive Summaries: Recent studies highlight the benefits of structured abstracts in enhancing research accessibility. According to Shamsi et al.1, structured abstracts improve readers' ability to quickly grasp research content, significantly enhancing the dissemination of knowledge in academic papers.

Brief Reports: Short-form reports, typically under 2,000 words, have seen increased utilisation for presenting preliminary findings or concise overviews of extensive studies. These reports allow for rapid publication and immediate impact within the academic community2.​

Impact on Academic Engagement:
Increased Readership and Citations: Research by Alperin et al.3 suggests that articles with succinct, engaging abstracts are more likely to be read and cited, indicating that short-form communication can significantly enhance the visibility and impact of academic work.

Engagement with Non-Specialist Audiences: Short-form communication also facilitates engagement with non-specialist audiences, including policymakers, practitioners, and the general public. Studies have shown that brief, clear summaries can bridge the gap between complex research and practical application4.​


Educational Applications:
Teaching and Learning: Short-form communication is increasingly being integrated into academic curricula. Educators are using brief, focused texts to teach critical reading and concise writing skills. According to a study by Wang and Zhan5, students who practice writing short summaries demonstrate improved comprehension and retention of complex material.​

Aspects of short-form content

Table 1 summarises various short-form communication styles used in academia, highlighting their descriptions, benefits, challenges, and references. Abstracts and executive summaries enhance accessibility and comprehension but risk oversimplification. Brief reports facilitate rapid dissemination but may lack detail. Peer review models improve learning and recognition of preprints, balancing speed with quality. Short-form content boosts readership and citations, though ensuring accuracy remains a challenge. Teaching and Learning applications is an interesting prospect for a myriad of reasons. One things apparent from the review is citations, readership and diversity of citation are trackable metrics and should be considered in output review.​

Table 1 – A table showing example aspects of short-form communication.
AspectDescriptionBenefitsChallenges
Abstracts1
(Structured2)
Brief summaries of research papers, typically 150-250 words.
Enhance accessibility, allow readers to quickly grasp main points.
Risk of oversimplification, may omit nuanced details.
Executive Summaries4
Concise overviews of longer documents, designed for quick understanding by non-specialist audiences.
Improve comprehension for broader audiences, bridge gap between research and practical application.
May lack depth, potential for misinterpretation.
Brief Articles/Reports2
Short articles, usually under 2,000 words, presenting preliminary findings or concise study overviews.
Facilitate rapid dissemination, allow timely sharing of research.
Limited space for detailed analysis, potential for incomplete representation of research.
Teaching and Learning Applications5
Using peer review models to enhance learning and recognition of preprints.
Speeds up publication and increases recognition of early-stage research.
Balancing speed with quality and thoroughness in peer review.
Readership and Citations3
Impact of short-form content on visibility and citation rates of academic work.
Increased readership, higher citation rates, greater impact.
Ensuring accuracy and completeness of summarised information.
Engagement with Non-Specialists4
Short-form content tailored to policymakers, practitioners, and the general public.
Broader dissemination, practical application of research findings.
Simplifying without losing essential context, avoiding oversimplification.


Methodology

The article was generated using Atomic Academic, a ChatGPT-4 tuned LLM. The initial draft was edited with Scite.ai, followed by a manual review and reference check. Citation editing was required. The search covered publications from January 2019 to June 2024, using keywords like "short-form communication," "academic abstracts," "executive summaries," and "brief reports."​


Discussion and Implications

The reviewed literature underscores the transformative potential of short-form communication in academia. Key advancements in the use of abstracts, executive summaries, and brief reports have shown that these formats significantly enhance the accessibility and impact of research findings. The increased readability and engagement associated with short-form communication suggest that it is a valuable tool for reaching broader audiences, including non-specialists. 👍

Educational applications of short-form communication are particularly noteworthy. Integrating these formats into academic curricula not only improves students' comprehension and writing skills but also prepares them for effective communication in professional settings. However, challenges remain in ensuring that short-form communication does not oversimplify complex ideas or compromise the depth of academic discourse. Future research should focus on developing guidelines and best practices for maintaining academic rigour in short-form communication.​


Illustration of citation metrics

A retrospective analysis of past citation data was conducted by Huang et al.6 to assess the diversity of institutions and geographic locations of citations for each research output. Specifically, Figure 1 shows:
  • Output A and B: Both have two citations. Output A is cited by institutions from two different countries, while Output B is cited only by institutions from one country, indicating lower diversity.
  • Output C and D: Both have five citations. Output C is cited by more institutions from various countries compared to Output D, indicating higher diversity.
Illustrative example of citation diversity

Figure. 1 - Illustrative examples show differences in citation counts, citing actors, and diversity6​.

Figure 1 illustrates that citation diversity, as measured by these indices, differs from traditional citation counts. Two outputs can exhibit significant differences in the diversity of citing entities even if they have the same citation count. For example, an article cited by a broader array of institutions will have greater citation diversity, despite having an equal number of citations


Conclusion

The past year has seen substantial progress in the application of short-form communication in academia, marked by significant improvements in knowledge dissemination, academic engagement, educational practices and large language model - artificial intelligence. These advancements underscore the potential of short-form communication to revolutionise academic writing and teaching. Future research should address challenges related to maintaining academic rigour and explore further applications of short-form communication in various academic fields.

Limitations
The methodology has limitations due to the ambiguous nature of paper and discussion theme selection. The use of AI tools like Scite.ai and Atomic Academic, while efficient, may introduce biases and miss nuanced studies. Extensive manual review was required, yet risks of oversight remain. Future reviews should include more human-curated methods to enhance robustness.



References

  1. Shamsi B, Christopher C, Fielding D, Frankston C, Fromme A, Huang P, et al. A framework for improving the accessibility of research papers on arXiv.org. arXiv. 2024 Feb. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2212.07286
  2. IEEE Professional Communication Society. [Online]. [cited 2024. Available from: https://procomm.ieee.org/transactio...nes-to-follow/preparing-structured-abstracts/.​
  3. Alperin JP, Gomez CJ, Haustein S. Identifying diffusion patterns of research articles on Twitter: A case study of online engagement with open access articles. Public Understanding of Science. 2019; 28(1): 2-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662518761733
  4. Emerald Publishing. Closing the impact gap Analysis 4: Future of learning & research outputs. [Online].; 2021 [cited 2024. Available from: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing....gap/analysis-future-learning-research-outputs.​
  5. Wang L, Zhan Y. A conceptual peer review model for arXiv and other preprint databases. Learned Publishing. 2019 Feb; 32(3). http://doi.org/10.1002/leap.1229
  6. Huang C, Neylon C, Montgomery L, Hosking R, Diprose JP, Handcock RN, et al. Open access research outputs receive more diverse citations. Scientometrics. 2024; 129: 825-845. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-023-04894-0
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgement of Scite.ai is an and OpenAI's fine-tuned Atomic Academic for aiding a rapid literature review.

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About author
Joshua Ferdinand
I have but one teaching, love one another.
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Why my five stars? In front of us is a metaphorical container, an outline of an urgent discussion to help preserve any sanity we have left in this too hectic world, not only in terms of information-presenting methodologies but the more important context of information density in society. (Long gone are the days of leisurely reading by candlelight or the fireplace. Unfortunately, reading for many, has become work, not pleasure.) Indeed, Atomic Academia IS focused on efficient brevity, and today's intellectual mechanics require quick-start manuals. Here are some of my rub-the-sand-out of my eyes remarks.
At the outset, I take note of this article being generated by Atomic Academic, a ChatGPT-4 tuned LLM. I have two comments in this regard. First, in not knowing the initial questions directed to the AI to generate the article, I cannot assess whether the author would be aware of my concerns or what I might be looking for. I see, "… providing a means to convey complex ideas succinctly and accessibly", but "… providing a means to convey complex ideas succinctly and accessibly", my wondering about non-research domains of novel idea presentation in succinct form (more on this in a moment). Second, this is the first time in my life I have addressed an AI "person" in writing a review. For me, it is a rather strange situation. However, I am comforted by knowing that humans have done a follow-up.
Two quick remarks:
  • The article is a "technological"/mechanical view of how new ideas might be introduced across a wide range of disciplines oriented to research. The interdisciplinary approach ("engages non-specialist audiences" and "Non-Specialist Audiences") is essential. A "piggyback" comment is the essential attention paid to the need for rigorous peer-review.
  • Normally, "communications" are reserved for the scientific/technological world, but short-form communications would be useful for non-research discourse in social sciences, philosophy, and history (among others). How might the form of communication look in these areas?
A larger question frames "Efficiency in Knowledge Dissemination", that of information density in our society. After a large number of cups of coffee, a friend of mine observed years ago my "pressure of speech" in producing a waterfall of ideas, her reply "TMI – too much information". The problem is not new, even in the general interest domain addressed by the Readers Digest founders (DeWitt Wallace and his wife Lila Bell Wallace) in 1922. How do we manage the problem, selecting that which is most critical shaping not only our social views but the technological aspect of "efficiency"? Perhaps the article should mention this as the source of need for an article like this.
Another possible inclusion in the article might be the style and format of communication presentation in the non-scientific/technological areas. I doubt if communications apply only to "research". Regarding the format on the article: "Introduction, Methodology", "Discussion", etc. I ask if such would be the best way of presenting a novel non-research aspect (interpretation, perspective, emerging discipline, etc.). As a certified teacher in technical writing, I often have thought about how what has been done in this domain might apply to philosophy (much needed), history, psychology, and forth. Of course, I worry about richness being sacrificed for abbreviating, because we are so harried as not to stop to smell the roses, the quantum cosmologist realizing the infinitesimal may be eating the infinite.
I did not detect any editorial nits.
Credibility
My PhD is in philosophy, and I have a life-time certification to teach technical writing in the Arizona community college system. I am President Emeritus, AAAS, Rocky Mountain Division. For some major papers/books, go to
https://philpeople.org/ (under "Jeremy Horne"). My ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9179-0815 NB: I am not a prufreeder, and I have a -35 degree parallax problem with my eyes; take it from there.

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