Scientific writing 2/3

English

in scientific papers

A word of introduction

Since English is not our native language, we are bound to encounter many obstacles when

writing in English. While writing, keep in mind that many readers

(addressees of the paper) are non-native speakers of English too.

How to make your and your readers’ lives easier?

Use simple indicative sentences.

American English/British English

Here, we focus on two major varieties of English, i.e. American and British English. The differences between these two become most apparent when it comes to spelling:e.g. meter – metre, analyze – analyse,

aluminum – aluminium.

Prior to writing a paper, it is worth checking which variety is preferred by the given journal (consult the instructions for authors).

The Ten Commandments1. pronoun (e.g. she/he/it, his/her/their) must

agree with its antecedent;2. case is important, e.g. just between you and me

(not just between you and I);3. a sentence should not end with a preposition

(e.g. on, off, of, into);4. verbs must agree with their subjects

e.g. she has, they have;5. don’t use double negatives:

she does not have no money she does not have any money

The Ten Commandments

6. never split an infinitivee.g. to go, to do, to write;

7. avoid clichés;8. join clauses with conjunctions and

remember to check your punctuation;9. don’t use hyperbole and methaphors;10. avoid fragment sentences (such as gerund

clauses).

Misuse of words• amount: refers to a mass or aggregate, it is okay

to say amount of energy, but it’s not okay to say amount of surfaces (note: the word number goes with countable nouns);

• and/or: avoid at all cost;• case: jargon, and thus should be substituted,

e.g. in this case = here; in most cases = usually; in all cases = always; in no case = never. There is a difference between in the case of (in the case of streptomycin = when streptomycin is concerned) and in case of (in case of fire = if there should be fire);

Misuse of words• each/every: do not mean quite the same – every

puts into a group (is used to generalize), each separates, e.g. We want every child to succeed, but Each child will find his own road to success;

• it: this common pronoun can cause problems when there is more than one antecedent, e.g. Free information about HIV, to get it call 911;

• like: often used incorrectly as a conjunction, use ‘as’ instead like it was said before as it was said before

Misuse of words• only: depending on where you put only, the

meaning of the sentence can change e.g. Only I hit him yesterday (I and nobody else); I hit only him yesterday (him and nobody else); I hit him yesterday only (yesterday and no other day);

• quite: avoid. Deleting quite doesn’t change the meaning of the sentence. Golden rule: quite is quite unnecessary;

• varying: means changing, often confused with various (different). For various concentrations = for different concentrations. For varying concentrations = for changing (non-constant) concentrations;

Misuse of words

• which/that: which introduces a clause that isn’t essential to the rest of the sentence; that introduces an essential clause e.g. CetB mutants, which are tolerant to colicin E2, also have an altered... (all are tolerant). CetB mutants that are tolerant to colicin E2 also have an altered... (only those that are tolerant, i.e. not all are tolerant).

• while: used when a time relationship exists, e.g. I noticed a police car while I was walking down the street; when contrasting two pieces of information, it is better to use whereas e.g. Body temperature of a dog is..., whereas of a human being...

Tense

When a scientific paper (either written by us or by somebody else) has been published in a

primary journal, it becomes knowledge. Therefore, out of respect, we use the present

tense (simple present).

Your own present work (not presumed to be established knowledge until it has been

published) must be referred to in the past tense (simple past).

Ergo

Most of the ABSTRACT should be in the past tense, because it refers to our own present

results; much of the INTRODUCTION should be in the present tense, because it emphasizes established knowledge; the MATERIALS AND

METHODS as well as the RESULTS should be in the past tense, as they describe our present

findings; much of the DISCUSSION should be in the present tense, unless we’re referring

our own present results.

Active and passive voice

In any type of writing, the passive voice is usually less precise and more wordy than the active voice.Do not be afraid to use active voice and thus to clearly name the agent of the action in the sentence. It’s better to state: I/we/the authors found than it was found, or this temperature caused the following reaction rather than the following reaction was caused by this temperature.

Singulars and plurals

1. If you use first-person pronouns, use both the singular and plural forms as needed. Do not use the ‘editorial we’ instead of ‘I’. The use of ‘we’ by a single author is outrageously pedantic and unnecessary;

2. Quantities: you should say ‘10 g was added’ not ‘10 g were added’. ‘10 g were added’ means that the 10 g were added 1 g at a time;

Singulars and plurals3. plural noun modifiers are formulated as follows:

six volts -> six-volt battery, ten miles -> ten-mile run, hundred litres -> hundred-litre container;

4. singular noun (the so-called ‘group’ nouns) + plural verbe.g. government/team/family are;

5. plural nouns that don’t end in ‘-s’: e.g. formula -> formulae, phenomenon -> phenomena, spectrum -> spectra, momentum -> momenta;

6. nouns that end in ‘-ics’ are usually singular:e.g. mathematics/physics/dynamics is.

Nouns

1. Lack of clarity and verbosity result from use of abstract nouns – therefore, instead of examination of... was carried out you should say we examined...; separation of the compounds was accomplished -> the compounds were separated; transformation of the equations was achieved -> the equations were transformed.

Nouns

2. Using nouns as adjectives – watch for too complicated clusters of nouns, which can be awkward and incomprehensible. Break them by using ‘of’: the transmission coefficient determination the determination of the transmission coefficient

3. Don’t be afraid to use of several times: the substances mixture temperature (unclear) the temperature of the mixture of substances

Numbers

1. From 1 to 9: spell out, ≥10: express in numerals, e.g. three experiments, but 13 experiments;

2. EXCEPTION! With standard units of measure, ALWAYS use numerals: 10 mL, 3 kg, 7 L, etc.

3. The only exception to the exception is that you should not start a sentence with a numeral. In such a case, either reformulate the sentence or spell out both the number and the unit of measurement.

Punctuation

1. Beware of commas – they can change the meaning. Below are two versions of one sentence. Are they identical? No!Male-chauvinist version:Woman without her man is a savage. (A woman is a savage without a man)Feminist version: Woman, without her, man is a savage. (A man is a savage without a woman)

Got any beef, jerky? = Do you sell beef, stupid?Got any beef jerky? = Do you have dried beef?

Paraphrasing

Three techniques:1. looking for synonyms e.g.

studies -> research, discoveries -> findings;2. changing word class e.g.

in the mountains -> in mountainous regions;3. changing word order e.g.

Ancient Egypt collapsed -> the collapse of Egyptian society began…

List of useful synonyms

Nouns Verbsgoalstudyresultsareabenefitcategorycomponentconceptcontroversyincreasemethodmethodquotationdrawback

targetresearchfindingsfieldadvantagetype, kindpartideaargumentexpansion, riseapproachtechniquecitationdisadvantage

reduceachievechangeexamineclaimclarifyfocuslimitshowremovepredictstrengthenspeed upcut

decreaseaccomplishalter, varyevaluate, studysuggestexplainconcentrateconfinedemonstrateeliminateforecastreinforceacceleratereduce

Cause and effect

Let’s assume that cause = heavy rain, and effect = flooding. We can express the relationship between them in a variety of ways:

Heavy rain causes flooding. Heavy rain leads to flooding. Heavy rain results in flooding. Heavy rain produces flooding.

Cause and effect

Conjunctions worth remembering:

Cause Effectbecause (of)sinceasowing todue to

sothereforeconsequentlywhich is why

e.g. Because of heavy rain, the flooding was severe. As/Since it rained heavily, the flooding was severe. Due to heavy rain, the flooding was severe.

Giving examples

Examples can be given in the following ways:• Many departments, for instance/for example

physics, offer interesting courses.• A few courses, such as/e.g. MBA, require

previous knowledge.• Many universities, particularly/especially UK

ones, ask for language certificates.• Certain departments have more candidates

than others. A case in point is medicine.

Useful abbreviationsWatch out for their notation (periods, spaces, italics): cf. = compare e.g. = for example (without spaces) i.e. = that is (without spaces) Fig. = figure (usually with a capital F) et al. = and others (no dot after et, italicize) ibid. = there p.a. = yearly (without spaces) p. = page; pp. = pages viz. = that is, namely

Describing changesIn the course of an experiment, many factors are subject to changes. It’s worth knowing how to describe them, e.g. using adverbs:

small change medium change large change

graduallyslightly

marginallyslowly

negligibly

substantiallysignificantly

steadilyconsiderably

quicklysharply

dramatically

rapidly

AdverbsThese adverbs often come in handy:

ENG

recentlyincreasingly

presentlycurrentlyoriginally

clearlyobviously

(not) surprisinglyalternatively

similarly(more) importantly

Articles

Almost all non-native speakers of English have problems with articles. There are several simple rules to make your lives easier.In general, the is used with:a) superlatives (the most interesting);b) time periods (the nineteenth century, the

1970s);c) unique things (the government, the Finite

Element Method, the Sun, the Earth);

ArticlesThe is used with:d) regions and rivers (the South, the River Trent);e) very well-known people and things (the Scottish

physicist Watt);f) institutions (the World Health Organization);g) positions (the middle);

Tip: Expressions such as something of something e.g. the end of this long lecture usually begin with the.

Articles

The is not used with:h) names of countries, except for the UK, the

USA, the Netherlands (and a few others);i) abstract nouns (poverty, love, imagination);j) companies/institutions/bodies named after

people/places (Sheffield University),k) things that are not unique:

an iterative method (one of many).

ArticlesWhen in doubt, consult Google Scholar:

If you have doubts whether something was obtained by ‘molecular dynamics’, ‘the molecular dynamics’ or ‘a molecular dynamics’, check other people’s choices.

1730 people opted for no article.

Only 233 people chose ‘the’, mostly in fixed expressions such as ‘the molecular dynamics technique’, ‘the molecular dynamics simulation’, ‘the molecular dynamics run’.

Only 122 people chose ‘a’, mostly in expressions such as ‘a molecular dynamics approach’.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are indispensable for expressing logical relationships in scientific papers. When used correctly, they demonstrate a good grasp of English.Conjunctions worth knowing:a) addition: Furthermore/Moreover/What is

more, child mortality rates must be examined.b) result: Prices are rising worldwide, and

thus/therefore/hence the investors buy more.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions worth knowing:c) reason: Due to/owing to its properties, this

metal is commonly used…d) order: Firstly/First of all, we investigated this...e) opposition: Although/Even though/despite the

fact that/in spite of the fact that this study concentrates mainly on...

Italics

When are italics used?a) Foreign words and expressions (mostly Latin):in vivo, in vitro, in silico, in vacuo, in toto, ab initio, ex nihilo, et al., ansatz, …

b) To emphasize something that the reader should notice:

We stress that any zero-temperature approach suffers from this problem.

In text that is already italicized, we emphasize by de-italicizing a word/expression/sentence.

Italics

When are italics used?c) In symbols used to denote variables and

constants, both in the text and in formulas:The reference temperature was T0=300 K.

We obtained the solution x=2.We consider points xi, where i<10.

The coordinate can be found by solving cos x=1.

ItalicsWhen are italics not used?a) Text in italics should never be in bold or

underlined. In formulas, we can sometimes find symbols both in bold and in italics.

b) Formulas: never italicize numbers, standard functions (sin, cos, exp, Re, sgn,…), operators (lim, sup, min,…), Greek letters (usually), and ‘d’ in the differential (this is sometimes done in the US).

Thus, x=1.3, whereas α=2.0.The function f is defined as f(x)=arc cos 4x.The derivative df/dh is undefined in this case.

MathematicsKnows no bounds, but certain conventions are not international.a) Scalar multiplication should not be denoted by a dot.

The dot should either be omitted or replaced by × (note that this symbol is different from the letter x).

Distance in uniform motion can be calculated as s=v·t. Distance in uniform motion can be calculated as s=vt. The speed of light is c=2.9979·108

m/s.

The speed of light is c=2.9979×108 m/s.

MathematicsCont.b) The decimal mark is denoted by a dot. The speed of light is c=2,9979×108

m/s.

The speed of light is c=2.9979×108 m/s.

c) Tangents and cotangents should be denoted with ‘tan’ and ‘cot’:

x=tg π. x=tan π.

d) When describing an axis on a graph, the units should be put in round brackets, not in square brackets.

Velocity of the particle, v [m/s]. Velocity of the particle, v (m/s).

Punctuation

Capitals

When do we use capitals?a) Names of organisations (Sheffield Hallam

University, Gdansk University of Technology);b) Days and months (Friday 20th June);c) Nationality words (Poland, the Poles, Polish);d) Titles (main words only, do not capitalize

words such as the, of) e.g. Different Applications of Nanotechnology

Apostrophes (’)

Apostrophes are mainly used in two situations:a) to show contractions, e.g. It’s generally believed (contractions are uncommon in academic English, in a paper rather write It is…);b) with possessives (note where the apostrophe goes), e.g. the professor’s secretary (singular), students’ marks (plural).

Semi-colons (;)

Semi-colons are used:1. when a comma would be too weak and a full

stop too strong:e.g. Thirty people were interviewed for the first

grant; thirty-one for the second.2. to divide up items in a list, when they have a

complex structure (e.g. contain commas).

e.g.

Colons (:)Colons are used:a) to introduce explanations

e.g. The meeting was postponed: the Dean was seriously ill.

b) to start a liste.g. Two factors were discussed: social and cultural.

c) to introduce a quotatione.g. As Einstein said: ‘God does not play dice’.

Quotation marks (“ ”/‘ ’)

In English, we use only upper quotation marks.a) single quotation marks emphasize a word or

introduce quotations from other writers:e.g. The word ‘quiz’ was first used in…

Goodwin’s analysis of habitat indicates that ‘it will be more difficult to…’.

b) double quotation marks show quotations inside quotations:e.g. As James remarked: ‘Martin’s concept of

“internal space” requires close analysis’.

DiscussionWords useful for discussing the positive and negative aspects of the results:

+ -benefitadvantagea positive aspecta positive featureproplusone major benefit of…

drawbackdisadvantagea negative aspecta negative featureconminusa serious drawback to…

DictionaryIt is good to have at least one comprehensive

(and up-to-date) bilingual dictionary, not necessarily scientific or technical.

How to use a dictionary?First, check the word you are looking for in a

STH-ENG dictionary, and then double check its meaning with an ENG-STH dictionary in order to avoid errors, such as ‘a spatial cubicle’ instead of

‘a spacious cubicle’, ‘favourite’ instead of ‘favourable’, or ‘sensible’ instead of ‘sensitive’.

Books worth consulting:

1. Robert A. Day, How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper;

2. Michael Swan, Practical English Usage;3. Stephen Bailey, Academic Writing – A

Handbook for International Students;4. Vernon Booth, Communicating in Science.

As a consolation…

English can be challenging, even for its native speakers

THE ENDThank you for your attention!