THE RETHORICAL STRUCTURES OF ARTICLE ABSTRACTS IN

LAW FIELD PUBLISHED IN SCOPUS INDEXED INTERNATIONAL

JOURNAL

Abstract

Even though many studies have been undertaken to investigate the rhetorical
structures of abstracts in research articles, there needs to be more research
that focuses explicitly on the move patterns of abstracts in the law field
published in a Scopus-indexed international journal. Such an examination is
necessary to address the notion that journal indexation may affect the quality
of textual arrangement in abstract writing. This paper aims to analyze the
rhetorical structures present in the abstracts of research articles published in
Indonesian law journals indexed in Scopus. The paper assessed 40 research
article abstracts from Scopus-indexed journals using Hyland's (2000)
analytical approach. The research method employed in this study is
qualitative analysis, as it will explore the phenomenon's why and how in
conjunction with the rhetorical structures, specifically Hyland's five moves,
that might appear in Scopus-indexed international journal articles. The moves
consist of Introduction (I), Purpose (P), Method (M), Product or result (Pr),
and Conclusion (C).
Keyword: Rhetorical Structures, Move Analysis, Research Article Abstracts,
Scopus Indexed Journal

Introduction

The writing genre of research article abstracts has been indisputably significant for scientific
publication, especially scopus indexed-journal. The inclusion of an abstract in a research article
is of paramount importance as it serves as a fundamental component for journal editors during
the initial screening process (Flowerdew & Wang, 2016; Praminatih, 2023; Husamah, et.al,
2022; Qurratu’aini, Kurniawan, & Lubis, 2022). It determines whether the work should proceed
to further review or be rejected. Besides,
readers often make the decision to read or not to read an article based on its abstract (Groves &
Abbasi, 2004). As reported by Kurniawan & Sabila (2021), the growing importance of abstracts
can be attributed to two factors. Firstly, abstracts serve as concise representations of the entire
content of an article, encompassing the background information and concluding remarks.
Secondly, the widespread utilization of online scholarly databases enables global access to
research reports through the public availability of abstracts.
 The research article abstract, a genre embedded in research articles, has received attention
from writing scholars due to its significance (Fatma & YAĞIZ, 2020; Amnuai, 2019; Omidian,
Shahriari, & Siyanova-Chanturia, 2018; Tankó, 2017; Can, Karabacak & Qin, 2016; Ahmed,
2015; Doró, 2013; Marefat & Mohammadzadeh, 2013; Kafes, 2012; Tseng, 2011). According to
Swales (1990), an abstract is a concise synopsis of an article, while ANSI (1979), as cited in
Lorés (2004), defines it as a simplified version of the article since an abstract accurately
represents the structure and content of their originals. The significance of research abstracts is
highlighted by authors who use them as a selling point for publication.

Firstly developed by Swales in the 1980s, move analysis is widely used to examine
numerous genres, including research articles, theses, and essays. Move analysis can be used to
identify text structure in academic writings, such as research paper abstracts, across numerous
fields (Kumar, Laghari,& Arslan, 2023; Song, Chen & Zhao, 2023; Noorizadeh-Honami &
Chalak, 2018). Therefore, the utilization of rhetorical moves in the construction of an abstract is
a common practice employed to ensure the abstract is effectively organized and coherent
(Gustilo, Comillo,, Valle & Comillo, 2021). With the growing need for high-quality academic
and scientific text models, move analysis has gained attention in recent years (Putri &
Kurniawan; 2021).

According to Swales (2004), the term "move" refers to a unit of speech, either written or
spoken, that serves a communication purpose. Move analysis is a genre-based method that has
gained significant attention in recent years as a means of determining the structure of research
articles (RAs). Swales (1981, 1990) as cited in Brett (1994) conducted significant research in the
field of analysis under consideration. The analysis of moves is a genre-based methodology
employed to ascertain the organizational framework of research articles (RAs), and it has gained
significant prominence in academic research. Nwogu (1997) defines a "Move" as a textual unit
consisting of many linguistic elements, including lexical meaning, propositional meanings, and
illocutionary pressures.

Furthermore, Hyland (2000) in his work distinguished a move-structure classification on

abstracts. The author partitioned the structure into five distinct components. The components of
the study are an introduction, purpose statement, methodology, findings, and conclusion. By
employing this particular framework, the researcher will find it more convenient to compose an
abstract, while the reader will experience enhanced comprehension. According to Hyland (2000),
individuals from various disciplines exhibit distinct patterns in writing abstracts. In the field of
soft sciences, such as linguistics or social sciences, it is common to situate the discourse within
an introduction. Conversely, individuals in hard sciences, such as natural sciences or technical
fields, tend to focus more on describing the methodology.

Indeed, numerous studies have been conducted concerning the rhetorical structures
(move-structures) of research articles abstracts in the past. A wide variety of variables have also
been previously covered by a great number of notable authors. Some of which concerns with the
language background, particularly the first language (L1) of the authors (e.g., Nurcik,
Kurniawan, & Lubis, 2022; Kaya & Yagiz, 2020; Al-Khasawneh, 2017). Other studies examine
the comparative analysis of abstracts in research articles written in various linguistic mediums
(e.g., Fatma & YAĞIZ, 2020; Pratiwi & Kurniawan, 2021; Li, 2020). As a matter of fact, the
potential of variables have even been investigated by comparing study abstracts from different
areas. (e.g., Husamah, Suwono, Nur, & Dharmawan, 2022; Gani, Kurniawan, Gunawan & Lubis,
2021; Juanda & Kurniawan, 2020; Amnuai, 2019; Malmir, Khany & Aliakbari, 2019).

Despite the abundance of published studies on the rhetorical devices and linguistic
realizations in abstracts, little to no other research, particularly in the field of law, has yet to
examine this topic. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify the moves and steps used
that appear in the article abstracts in law field published in scopus indexed international journal.
In order to gather the necessary data and fulfill its aim, this study addresses the following
research questions: How do rhetorical structures of RA abstract in scopus-indexed journal
written by Indonesian law scholars? What moves and steps are found in RA abstract in law field
published in scopus indexed international journal?

Research Method
Design of Research

The qualitative design will be employed by the researcher to conduct this study. This
design was appropriate because it will be concerned with establishing answers to the why and
how of the phenomenon in question. According to the procedure used by the researcher
suggested by Creswell & Creswell (2018), The technique intends to define and offer an overview
of the problem of the rhetorical structure of the abstract section of an international scopus
indexed journal in the law field.

The Corpus of The Study

This study covers 40 abstracts in the law field of an international scopus-indexed journal.
The researcher purposively will select 40 journal abstracts in 2022-2023. The researcher will
only chose law abstracts of scopus journal. The following table shows this study's subject:

Table 1
The corpus of the study

No Years Average length of Number of

Words Count Abstracts
1 2022 250 20
2 2023 250 20
Total 40
 Research Instrument
The instruments of this research will be a checklist. Data for this study will be gathered
through the documentation review of legal abstracts. Getting the needed information about the
research items is made easier by data collecting. The Hyland move theory will be used to analyze
the data in the research's abstract portion. Hyland's model will be used for this study because it is
more comprehensive and current. The example below served as a model for the abstracts part of
a research paper:
Table 1
Hyland Move-step a section of abstract.
Move Step Description
Introducti 1 Arguing for topic
on (I) significance
2 Making topic
generalization
3 Defining the key term(s)
4 Identifying gap
Purpose 1 Stating general and/or
(P) specific
purpose of the research
including the
hypothesis
Method 1 Describing
(M) participants/data
sources
2 Describing
instrument(s)
3 Describing procedure
and
context
Product 1 Describing the main
(Pr) specific
findings of the research
Conclusio 1 Deducing conclusion
2 Evaluating the
n (C) significance of
the research
3 Stating limitation
4 Presenting
recommendation or
implication

Technique of Collecting The Data

Several processes will be involved in collecting the data for this research:
.
1. The researcher will collect and copy 40 documentation of abtracts from the years 2022-
2023 randomly
2. The researcher will sort out the abstracts from the years 2020-2022 that had been obtained
for research.
3. Researchers will examine the abstracts using checklist instruments from Hyland’s theory
(2000) by checking the moves-steps of the 40 abstracts.
The Technique of Analysis The Data
A qualitative analysis will be used by the researcher. Through the use of qualitative content
analysis methodologies, the research data will be evaluated. This method was used to collect
information from 40 selected abstracts. The researcher will in some way use Hyland (2000) tools
to assess the data after reading abstracts. The researcher would afterwards highlight terms that
identified moves and steps. The usage of keywords in the form of words, phrases, or keywords
corresponding to each move-step in Hyland's model will make it easier to categorize each
sentence in the abstract. Furthermore, it will be assumed that the placement of the sentences
affected how the data was categorized. Subheadings and subtitles were also employed in the
conclusion to set the stage for analysis. The researcher will then choose 20% of the data at
random for examination and utilize the Cohen Kappa theory to tabulate the data in order to
determine the degree of agreement between researcher and co-rater. The frequency of agreement
moves-steps between the researcher and co-rater will be manually calculated by the researcher.
The data will be analyzed, the research questions will be answered, and a conclusion will be
reached after assessing the rhetorical structure of the chosen 40 abstracts.
Validity and Reability
It will be crucial to include a co-rater in the validation of the data analysis that will be
employed in this study. A lecturer from Bengkulu University's postgraduate study program will
serve as the co-rater. He will be chosen by the researcher since she is a specialist in rhetorical
structures and has done research on them. To reach a high level of agreement, the researcher and
co-rater will work together. The results will be presented in accordance with Cohen's Kappa after
the researcher and co-rater have finished analyzing the move-step in abstracts.
The data will be shown according to Cohen's Kappa principle. According to Brown (1996),
the greatest possible score is 1.00 and the least possible score is 0.00. The score was then
interpreted using a modified version of Cohen's kappa score range proposed by Kanosilapathan
(2007). The range was scored as follows: 0.20 for Very poor, 0.21 to 0.39 for poor, 0.40 to 0.59
for moderate, 0.60 to 0.79 for good, and 0.80 to 1.00 for excellent. The scale value is formulated
as follows:
Pr ( a )−Pr ⁡( e)
K=
1−Pr ⁡( e)
By way of:
K = The Rhythm of Consensus
Pr(ɑ) = the overall likelihood of agreement
Pr(е) = the total likelihood of arbitrary agreement

Table 2
Kanosilapathan Adapt Cohen's Kappa Score.

Kappa Value Strenght of Agreement

<0.20 Very Poor
0.21-0.39 Poor
0.40-0.59 Moderate
0.60-0.79 Good
0.80-1.00 Excellent
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Appendix 1
Checklist Instrument
Rhetorical Structure Paragraph/sentence number

Move 1 Introduction

Step 1 Arguing for topic

significance

Step 2 Making topic

generalization

Step 3 Defining the key term(s)

Step 4 Identifying gap

Move 2 Purpose

Step 1. Stating general and/or

specific purpose of the research
including the hypothesis

Move 3. Method

Step 1 Describing participants/data

sources
Step 2 Describing instrument(s)
Step 3 Describing procedure and
context
Move 4. Product
Step 1 Describing the main
specific findings of the research
 Move 5 Conclusion

Step 1 Deducing conclusion

Step 2 Evaluating the significance of
the research
Step 3 Stating limitation
Step 4 Presenting recommendation
or implication