Structured abstracts debuted in JAMA more than 20 years ago.1,2 Since then, this format has come to dominate the landscape of medical journals. Virtually all medical journals today use structured abstracts for articles reporting the results of research papers, although the sections and subheadings vary from journal to journal. Some data suggest that structured abstracts are more effective than unstructured abstracts for communicating the content of an article.3-5