We analyzed the generic features of 100 English abstracts of English and Chinese journals in information science.No significant differences were found in lexical density,nominal style and non-finite verb structures,therefore,Chinese journals were similar to English ones in concise,but the abstracts in the former were shorter than the latter,leading to the difference in information content.WE was more fre quently employed in English journals to assert the authors’positions.Chinese authors should perceive the changes in generic features of the academic papers and follow the international norms.