Academic abstract authors commonly use explicit or implicit resources of authorial self-representation in abstracts to present themselves and their research.Based on a self-constructed corpus of abstracts of English research articles spanning from 1976 to 2023,this study examines the evolution of explicit and implicit manifestations of authorial self-representations as well as the roles assumed by authors.Results show that authorial self-representation in academic abstracts has exhibited a clear upward trend,with explicit manifestations demonstrating more pronounced growth.Furthermore,authors of academic abstracts have constructed 4 distinct identities(researcher,writer,promoter and arguer)through authorial self-representation,realizing 17 different discourse functions.However,notable fluctuations have been observed across the three examined time periods(1976-1981,1997-2002,and 2018-2023),reflecting the evolving social contexts of knowledge commodification and the popularization of professional discourse.The findings can offer valuable insights for the composition and instruction of English academic abstracts.
abstract of research articlesauthorial self-representationauthor rolesdiscourse functionsa diachronic study
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