Conference abstracts need to be indexed for several reasons:
- To make them more discoverable. Conference abstracts are often the only way to find out about the latest research in a field, as they are often published before the full papers are available. By indexing conference abstracts, they can be made more easily searchable, so that researchers can find the information they need.
- To improve the quality of research. By making conference abstracts more discoverable, it can help to ensure that the best research is being disseminated. This is because researchers are more likely to read and cite abstracts that they can easily find.
- To support systematic reviews. Systematic reviews are a type of research that summarizes the evidence on a particular topic. They are often used to make decisions about healthcare policy or practice. By indexing conference abstracts, they can be included in systematic reviews, which can help to ensure that all the relevant evidence is considered.
- To track research trends. By tracking the number of conference abstracts that are published in a particular field, it is possible to see what research topics are being investigated. This can help researchers to identify new and emerging areas of research.
Conference abstracts do not need to include citations, as they are a brief summary of the research. But having the citations in the abstract shows how related the current research to the early works. However, they should include the following information:
- The title of the paper
- The authors’ names
- The conference name
- The date of the conference
- The keywords for the paper
By indexing conference abstracts, they can be made more accessible to researchers and can help to improve the quality of research.
There are a few reasons why most conferences are not indexed in Google Scholar:
- Not all conferences are peer-reviewed. Google Scholar only indexes peer-reviewed publications, which means that they have been reviewed by experts in the field to ensure their quality. Many conferences do not require peer review, so their papers are not indexed by Google Scholar.
- Conference papers are often not published in a formal journal. Most conference papers are published in the conference proceedings, which is a collection of papers from the conference. However, conference proceedings are not always considered to be formal journals, so they may not be indexed by Google Scholar.
- Conference papers are often not available online. Many conference papers are only available in print, which makes them difficult to find and index.
- Google Scholar is not able to index all publications. Google Scholar uses acrawlerto index publications, which is a computer program that searches the internet for new publications. However, the crawler cannot index every publication, so some conference papers may be missed.
There are a few things that conference organizers can do to increase the chances of their papers being indexed by Google Scholar:
- Require peer review. This will help to ensure that the papers are of high quality.
- Publish the papers in a formal journal. This will make the papers more accessible and easier to index.
- Make the papers available online. This will make them easier to find and index.