Artikel
Is the readability of abstracts decreasing in management research?
The readability of scientific texts is critical for the successful distribution of research findings. I replicate a recent study which found that the abstracts of scientific articles in the life sciences became less readable over time. Specifically, I sample 28,345 abstracts from 17 of the leading journals in the field of management and organization over 3 decades, and study two established indicators of readability over time, namely the Flesch Reading Ease and the New Dale–Chall Readability Formula. I find a modest trend towards less readable abstracts, which leads to an increase in articles that are extremely hard to read from 12% in the first decade of the sample to 16% in the final decade of the sample. I further find that an increasing number of authors partially explains this trend, as do the use of scientific jargon and corresponding author affiliations with institutions in English-speaking countries. I discuss implications for authors, reviewers, and editors in the field of management.
- Language
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Englisch
- Bibliographic citation
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Journal: Review of Managerial Science ; ISSN: 1863-6691 ; Volume: 16 ; Year: 2021 ; Issue: 4 ; Pages: 1063-1084 ; Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer
- Classification
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Management
Business Administration: General
- Subject
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Readability
Management research
Replication
- Event
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Geistige Schöpfung
- (who)
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Graf-Vlachy, Lorenz
- Event
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Veröffentlichung
- (who)
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Springer
- (where)
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Berlin, Heidelberg
- (when)
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2021
- DOI
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doi:10.1007/s11846-021-00468-7
- Last update
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10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET
Data provider
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.
Object type
- Artikel
Associated
- Graf-Vlachy, Lorenz
- Springer
Time of origin
- 2021