Streszczenie a abstrakt – próba zróżnicowania pojęć (na podstawie definicji leksykograficznych i praktyki wydawniczej)
Summary vs. Abstract: Towards a Differentiation Based on Lexicographical Definitions and Publishing Practice

Summary/Abstract: Summaries and abstracts are short, concise texts primarily designed to inform readers about the content of a work. This article examines the meanings of these terms in the Polish language and discusses how the corresponding text genres function in practice, based on an analysis of author guidelines, a website, and published scholarly articles from 40 randomly selected journals. Dictionary data indicate that the word streszczenie has a longer tradition in Polish (extending beyond academic contexts), is more productive in terms of word formation, has a broader semantic scope, and serves as a hypernym for abstrakt. Furthermore, one can only summarize something that has already been written or produced, whereas an abstract can serve as a preview of a text yet to be written. Lexical data alone prove insufficient to distinguish between a summary of a scientific text and an abstract, as both lexemes can function interchangeably (along with many other synonyms). An observation of how both concepts and genres function in practice has shown that a summary and an abstract are mandatory elements when submitting a text for publication. They may have similar length and structure, and they are required to be prepared in Polish and English. These terms are often used interchangeably; only 2.5% of journals (from the sample) consciously distinguish between the two types.

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