Q: Can a paper be published without an abstract?

Detailed Question -

As I was browsing for literature reviews, I came across one article without an abstract. Is it acceptable?

3 Answers to this question
Answer: An abstract is very important in an academic paper to be published. The reason for this is that it provides a summary of the article. The abstract tells the readers what the paper contains start from the introduction to the conclusion before perusing the whole article. It is important to know the background to the study, the methodology (where applicable), the result, conclusion and the recommendation if any. The overview is given in the abstract. Going through the abstract may help a reader to know if the article contains information he or she wanted or not. Therefore, an abstract is essential and required in a published paper.
Answer:

Generally, it is not acceptable for journal articles to be published without an abstract.  This is because the abstract provides the reader with information about what to expect in the paper. Thus, by reading an abstract, a reader can decide whether or not to read the entire article. However, there is a possibility that some journals might not require an abstract for certain types of articles, particularly short ones, such as short communications or letters to the editor. However, in general, an abstract is considered mandatory for all full-fledged articles.

The reason why you didn't find the abstract for an article during your literature search, could, however, be different, and is probably related to the database rather than the journal. Some databases provide access to full-text articles, while others only supply article citations, with or without abstracts. It is possible that the database where this article is stored does not supply the abstract.
 

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Answer: Thank you for your reply. I appreciate it.