An
abstract is a brief summary of a research article,
thesis, review,
conference proceeding or any in-depth analysis of a particular subject and is often used to help the reader quickly ascertain the paper's purpose. When used, an abstract always appears at the beginning of a manuscript or typescript, acting as the point-of-entry for any given academic paper or
patent application. Abstracting and indexing
services for various academic disciplines are aimed at compiling a body of literature for that particular subject.