Abstract: Generally speaking, the quality of English abstract is closely related to the influence factor of the journals. However, in Chinese journals, there is no objective criterion to evaluate the quality of the English abstracts and the quality of the English abstracts cannot satisfy the requirement of journals of quality. This paper aims to investigate the distinctive generic features, technical indices - length distribution, nominalization, and grammatical metaphor of the abstract in English journals - and the operating rules for the technical indices and their textual function. The results can serve as criteria for the evaluation of the English abstracts and play their modeling value in the writing of English abstracts or the translation of Chinese abstracts into English, thus to improve their quality.

Key words: abstract in English academic article, generic feature, technical index, modeling value