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Detailed description of statistical methods for biological studies is provided in Section 10.

Should there be an article?

A detailed description of statistical methods for biological studies is provided in Section 10.

I googled and found that "description" can be both count and non-count. In my case, either option seems acceptable. The first option seems to represent, I guess, a more loose set of sentences describing statistical methods.

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  • After I posted my answer, I read the link you posted, and I don't think "description" is used how you describe in your first example. Could you expand on that part of your question?
    – Joe Pinsonault
    Commented Jan 20, 2017 at 6:36
  • "Detailed description" in the first example seems to indicate a technique (how you make a description rather than the description itself), which would be uncountable. "A detailed description" would refer to one actual description (of more than one possible descriptions).
    – user3169
    Commented Jan 20, 2017 at 6:41
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    The lack of article there would be unusual in speech but is not uncommon in terse annotation, e.g. (For detailed description, see section 10). What we have here seems to be an inline annotation, which might have gone into a footnote, or been placed in parentheses, depending on house style/conventions. books.google.com/…
    – TimR
    Commented Jan 20, 2017 at 12:40

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I think the indefinite article is required here. Oxford Leaners Dictionary doesn't give enough information about the noun. But if you read here, the uncountable version only refers to an action of giving a written or spoken account.

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To me, the first example simply looks like they forgot a word, or that it's trying to sound really casual by omitting "a".

I would not have interpreted it as meaning a plural of any kind. It would have used "was" instead of "is" in that case.

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