Variations of Identity in Single-and-Multi-Authored Economics RA Abstracts

The aim of this study is twofold: firstly I will identify manifestations of identity in RA abstracts written by Italian economics scholars (single-authors) and secondly I will investigate how these manifestations of identity may vary in multi-authored RAs abstracts. In particular, the focus of this study is to describe the rhetorical roles authors may take on, the use of self-references and related determiners, and other devices which authors may use to establish identity, such as critical lexis, the use of persuasive language and abbreviations. I will also investigate the generic characteristics of this type of abstracts to see if and to what extent they veer from the IMRD structure.