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Included in:

- user-manual
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An abstract is a concise overview of an article or of a chapter in a book.
They are frequently found in the frontmatter of academic, research, and analytical papers.
//Abstracts with subheadings are structured abstracts, whereas abstracts without subheadings are unstructured.
//^ Not relevant for AsciiDoc
A complete (i.e., informative) abstract states the key topics and findings while a limited (i.e., descriptive) abstract briefly describes the structure of the content.

The abstract may be written using a section, open block, or paragraph and must bear the abstract style.
If used, the abstract must appear before the first section of an article (at the start of the <<Preamble,preamble>>) or at the start of a chapter in a book.
An abstract may not be used _before_ a part or chapter in a book.

Here's an example of an abstract at the beginning of an article, defined using a section:

[source]
----
= Article Title

[abstract]
== Abstract

Documentation is a distillation of many long, squiggly adventures.

== First Section
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Here's an example of the same abstract defined using a paragraph:

[source]
----
= Article Title

[abstract]
.Abstract
Documentation is a distillation of many long, squiggly adventures.

== First Section
----

In the book doctype, the abstract section must be a level below the chapter.

[source]
----
== Chapter Title

[abstract]
=== Chapter Abstract

Documentation is a distillation of many long, squiggly adventures.

=== First Section
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An abstract defined using an open block or paragraph does not require a title and does not depend on a subsequent section to terminate.

[source]
----
= Article Title

[abstract]
.Optional Abstract Title
--
This article will take you on a wonderful adventure of knowledge.

You'll start with the basics.
Beyond that, where you go is up to you.
--

Your journey begins here.
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TIP: To include a quote at the beginning of a chapter in a book, wrap the quote block inside an abstract block.