其他摘要：Background: Although structured abstracts are spreading in English journals, little is known about papers written by non-English languages. Methods: Using the PubMed, we retrieved clinical trial reports written by 7 non-English languages from 1987 to 2001 and examined them. Results: The share of structured abstracts were as follows (whole period and 1999-2001 in parenthesis): German, 17.3% (48.2%); French, 16.1% (45.1%); Italian, 21.3% (76.3%); Spanish, 44.7% (74.9%); Russian, 4.9% (17.4%); Chinese, 21.3% (100%) and Japanese, only 3.5% (10.4%), respectively. The ranking lists were also arranged based on the share of structured abstracts in 7 non-English language journals. Discussion: Structured abstracts written in the non-English language have become popular particularly around 2000. However, the recognition among these countries varies widely. In Japan, researchers, clinicians, editors, and information specialists have to recognize the importance of structured abstracts in reporting clinical trials with an ever-increasing demand of evidence-based medicine.
