This investigation aims to assess awareness of genre and writing skills among science students via an abstract writing task, with recall and follow-up protocols to monitor the students, and to characterize the relationship between the abstract and the base article. Abstract writing involves specific data selection techniques of activities involved but nevertheless is highly relevant to scientists and science students alike. The investigation shows to what extent students target potentially problematic areas of the research article. Appropriate remedial tasks are then recommended, an illustration of pedagogical implications of task-based learning. (Contains 1 table.)