That's a good rule for editing in general; if you can remove something without losing any value, remove it. (Apply this on multiple levels: a chapter in a book, a paragraph in a chapter, a word in a sentence.) Sometimes instead of thinking too much when one writes, it is better to just write, and delete the unnecessary parts afterwards. Sometimes I reduce my e-mails to half or less, when I have enough time to write them.

However, what gjm said: adding an abstract is even better. You can do both, of course.