An Outline of Scientific Writing

For Researchers with English as a Foreign Language

Jen Tsi Yang

• Publisher: WSPC
• Year: 1995
• ISBN:
  9789814338035
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book is aimed at researchers who need to write clear and understandable manuscripts in English. Today, English is the official language of international conferences and most important publications in science and technology are written in English. Therefore, learning how to write in English has become part of the researcher's task. The book begins by discussing constructs of the English language such as sentence structure and word use. It then proceeds to discuss the style and convention used in scientific publications. Some of the topics covered include: Planning of a Manuscript; Authorship; References; Tables and Figures; Submission to a Journal; Production Schedules.

This book is written at such a level that the reader should not have to resort to a dictionary. It includes many examples and exercises to clarify the rules and guidelines presented.

Readership: Researchers with English as a foreign language.

Part I English Grammar

1 Word Choice

A paper will be more readable if words are used economically. Writing concisely may be contrary to common practice in some countries where, I have been told, authors are paid by the number of words published! Always remember that your goal is to facilitate communication, which is accomplished through concise and lucid writing in a well-organized manner.

A. DELETE UNINFORMATIVE WORDS AND AVOID REDUNDANCY

Using fewer words to convey a message almost always improves readability. It also requires more effort, as the mathematician Pascal once noted to a friend; “I am writing a longer letter than usual, because there is not enough time to write a short one.” The examples in the left-hand column below are unnecessarily wordy. The right-hand column displays improved versions. (This side-by-side format for displaying “before and after” examples is used throughout the book.)

brief in duration	brief
sufficient in number	sufficient
The wound was of a serious nature.	The wound was serious.
The solution was red in color.	The solution was red. (Red is understood to be a color.)
It was precooled before use.	It was precooled, (The prefix pre- implies before.
We repeated the experiment again.	We repeated the experiment.

EXERCISES.

1.	Rewrite each phrase to eliminate unnecessary and redundant words (Answers are given at the end of the chapter.)
a.	carefully investigate
b.	past history
c.	mix together
d.	human volunteers
e	original source
f.	advance planning
g.	globular in shape
h.	more preferable than
i.	seem to appear
j.	for a period of several minutes
k.	The role of cobra toxin is still a matter for speculation. (Hint: replace the words in italics.)
l.	The work will be completed in the not-too-distant future.
m.	The reaction rate was examined and found to vary considerably.
n.	The results would seem to indicate the possibility that impurities might be present.
o.	As a result of these experiments it became quite evident that overheating of the samples had occurred.
p.	As far as my own experiments are concerned, they show …
q.	It has been found that …
r.	It is interesting to note that …
s.	Needless to say, …

B. USE ONE WORD TO REPLACE A PHRASE

Many popular expressions can be expressed as a single word, or are better omitted altogether.

at this point in time	now
the reason was because	because

EXERCISES.

2.	Rewrite or eliminate the following phrases.
a.	in view of the fact that
b.	was observed to be
c.	in the near future
d.	in most cases
e.	it would appear that
f.	is suggestive of
g.	as to whether
h.	in the vicinity of
i.	it was evident that
j.	in the event that

C. AVOID GRANDILOQUENCE

The word grandiloquence is itself grandiose. It implies a pompous style that impresses no one and provokes ridicule. Recall the elegant and memorable words of Sir Winston Churchill: “Give us the tools and we will finish the job.” The greatest speeches in history were simple and to-the-point. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address was so brief that his audience was disappointed, but it has since come to be regarded as one of the most effective speeches ever delivered.

The same brevity and clarity should apply to scientific writing. On the left, below, is a sentence in which clarity is obliterated by grandiloquence; on the right, a much-improved version.

The validity of the structural information obtained will depend on the fidelity of reconstitution of the proteolipid in a native conformation under the condition or incorporation into vesicles.

Such structural information is valid only when the reconstituted proteolipid has the native conformation.

EXERCISES.

3.	Rewrite the following sentences into concise and effective English.
a.	Computations were conducted on the data.
b.	It may seem reasonable to suggest that the necrotic effect may possibly be due to toxins.
c.	In studies pertaining to identification of phenolic derivatives, drying of the paper gives less satisfactory visualization.
d.	A method, which was found to be expedient and not very difficult to accomplish and which possessed a high degree of accuracy on its results, was devised whereby …

D. AVOID CLICHÉS AND EUPHEMISMS

These are rarely helpful and frequently cryptic.

all in all	(delete)
if and when	if

Some common euphemisms are simply awkward. For instance, such evasions as

The patient expired

The patient passed away

The patient succumbed

The patient breathed his last

The patient has gone to his rest

are better expressed as

The patient died.

EXERCISES.

4.	Rewrite the following phrases and sentences.
a.	unless and until
b.	it goes without saying
c.	within the realm of possibility
d.	We sacrificed the animal.
e.	We performed euthanasia on the animal.

The following terms are usually better omitted or rephrased. Answers have not been provided; the reader should be able to suggest suitable answers.

approximately

a majority of

a number of

an order of magnitude faster

are of the same opinion

as a consequence of

as a matter of fact

As seen from our study, it is evident that

based on the fact that

due to the fact that

first of all

for the reason that

has the capability of

in a satisfactory manner

in order to

in terms of

is defined as

it has been reported by Dr. Lee that

it has long been known that

It is clear that much additional work will be required before a complete understanding.

it is worth pointing out in this context that

it may, however, be noted that

owing to the fact that

the question as to whether

there is reason to believe

with the possible exception of

E. USE SYNONYMS

A synonym is a word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word. There are two reason...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Part I English Grammar
• Part II Planning the Paper
• Part III Publishing a Manuscript
• Appendices