Hello, I'm a newbie and I'm pleased to meet you all!
 
I am working on a research paper on “abstracting and indexing” in publishing industry and I have few queries related to my topic.
 
1. Do the authors do the abstracts by themselves or they get their abstraction done.

•  If the authors get the abstract done by others, can I know where do they get it done?

 
I'd welcome if somebody guide me in giving information on the mentioned above, so that I could complete my research.
Look forward to getting to know you all.
 
Best Wishes,
RK
 

RK, all the academics I know would do their own abstracts - it's not as if it's difficult when you've already written the paper.

Most of the members of WriteWords are creative writers more than academics - I don't know if anyone has any different opinion?

Yes, I'd agree with Emma- it's unusual to 'farm out' your abstract writing, particularly when they're such short documents and so crucial. I can't quite imagine an abstract done via software? (Although I'm sure lots of my current students would be delighted if they thought such a thing existed!)

Thank you Emma for your quick response. 

2.Are there are any automated abstraction software service providers, so that the authors can get their abstraction done through the software? 

No.

What sort of abstracts are you referring to? Usually 'abstract' refers to the summarising paragraph at the top of a research paper.
When you refer to 'authors' on this site, we'd assume you meant authors of published novels or non fiction books rather the academics writing research papers, in which case the 'abstract' would be a back cover blurb, or maybe a review written by a journalist or book reviewer.
Edited by NMott at 12:18:00 on 28 January 2014

Hi NMott,
I was refering to the usual abstracts written by authors.of published books

According to my research, there are three fundamental groups of people who may write abstracts: authors of the documents, subject area experts, or professional abstractors.
 
Firstly, I agree that the author would be the best choice as abstractor because presumably he/she knows more about the document than anybody.
 
Since a real good abstract plays an important role in promoting their document, sometimes authors can fail to see what information may truly be important to the reader.
 
So, I am in search of the 2nd and 3rd category, where the authors get the abstract done by others to promote their document.