GRAMMAR AND SYNTAX IN

SCIENTIFIC WRITING HTTP://WWW.JBTDRC.ORG/SYMPOSIUM/TOPIC

S/GRAMMAR_SYNTAX.HTM

Dr. K. Satyanarayana

BE SIMPLE AND CONCISE

The first and the most important rule of

communication is simplicity. For those of us for

whom English is not the native language, it is

even more important to use simple words.

Once the first draft is ready, check each word,

phrase and sentence critically. Examine each

sentence to ensure that it is needed. If so, can it

be shortened or simplified? Can any words or

expressions be deleted without significantly

affecting the message being conveyed?

AIM FOR A SIMPLE STYLE

A fancy, literary or overblown style is not appropriate

in scientific writing. Avoid the use of pompous words

in place of simple ones, and metaphorical expressions

and hyperbole (exaggeration for effect). Use short

words instead of long ones. They are equally, if not,

more effective in conveying the meaning. For

example, use

do not accomplish

cause not etiology

part not component

begin not commence, initiate or inaugurate

before not prior to

AIM FOR A SIMPLE STYLE

Choose the concrete over the abstract; words over

symbols; initials or abbreviations; English words

over foreign, and familiar words over unfamiliar.

Table 1 shows some examples taken from various

sources.

Difficult version Simpler, preferred

version

In studies pertaining to the

identification of phenolic

derivatives, drying of the paper

gives less satisfactory results.

Phenolic derivatives

are easier to identify

if the paper is left

wet.

TABLE 1: DIFFICULT EXPRESSIONS OR

SENTENCES, AND THEIR SIMPLER VERSIONS

Difficult version Simpler, preferred

version

It has been a moot question in the

minds of microbiologists whether the

gonococcus possesses a capsule.

Microbiologists question

whether the gonococcus has

a capsule.

In the present report the results of a

series of experiments are described in

which wine and beer drinkers were

tested to see whether...

We tested wine and beer

drinkers to find out

whether…

The etiology of dependency in elderly

people, and therefore the need to seek

residential care, is multifactorial.

There are many reasons

why elderly persons become

dependent and seek

residential care.

Various types of household appliances

were found to have differing amounts

of sales attraction in different areas of

Australia.

Refrigerators sold better in

Chennai, and radiators in

Chandigarh.

AVOID VERBOSITY

Verbosity (use of extra words) not only wastes

space, but also adds to confusion.

Journals are more likely to accept short articles,

since space is at a premium.

Deletion of unnecessary words improves

grammatical construction and style, and makes

the text easier to read and understand.

SUPERFLUOUS NOUN PHRASES

These phrases used with nouns are not needed

and can be omitted without any loss of meaning

or emphasis.

The amount of

The case of

The character of

The situation where

The extent of

The concept of

The magnitude of

The purpose of

WEAK MODIFIERS

actually

fortunately

rather

certainly

particularly

fairly

available

hopefully

several

quite

AVOID JARGON

In scientific writing, jargons often complicate

expression, and are often inaccurately used.

Sometimes, jargon may make meaning

ambiguous. Technical words should be used only

where essential and appropriate.

Jargon can be of several types; these are

exemplified below.

AVOID JARGON

Shorted form of words used in conversation

The lab data confirmed the diagnosis (correct form:

The laboratory data confirmed the diagnosis).

Verb-object relations are ignored

We stocked vegetables in the refrigerator (correct

form: We stocked the refrigerator with vegetables).

Nouns are not used with their proper

formal meaning

No pathology was found in the lung (correct form: No

abnormalities were found in the lung).

AVOID JARGON

Euphemisms used to hide/minimize harsh

reality

Many health care providers lack adequate skills in

communicating potential adverse effects of the

planned surgical procedure (correct form: Many

surgeons cannot tell patients about possible bad

outcomes of surgery).

There are no simple solutions for minimizing

jargon in scientific writing. The thumb rule is

that the message should be conveyed directly and

clearly.

AVOID AMBIGUITY

It is difficult for an author to find out mistakes in

his writing, unless there is adequate time gap

between writing and reading.

Therefore, one can never be sure if his text

conveys the intended meaning to his readers. It

therefore helps to get the opinion of a dependable

colleague.

In addition, one should ask one's co-authors to

read the manuscript and tell you what it means

to them. The objective is to ensure that a reader

without experience in the field would understand

the paper.

CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORD

Use general and technical dictionaries whenever

you have doubt about the correct meaning of a

word or phrase. Guides to accepted usage, such

as Fowler's Modern English Usage or Strunk and

White's The Elements of Style, are also helpful

tools in writing well.

CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORD

Make sure that you are using words correctly. Does the context change the meaning of the word? The following words are often incorrectly used as synonyms:

amount, concentration;

content, level;

various, varying, varied, a variety of;

different, differing;

alternate, alternative;

imply, infer;

minimal, negligible, slight;

delete, exclude, eliminate;

equal, equivalent;

anticipate, expect;

CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORD

The following commonly used words often have

an imprecise meaning, depending on their

context. If you have used these words, check your

text again to ensure that their meaning is clear

and as intended, and that these have not been

used as 'filler' words, in place of another more

precise word.

area level situation

character system field

nature structure conditions

problem process

COMMON GRAMMATICAL PROBLEMS

As these are common problems, it would be

worthwhile for you to check them out using a

grammar book if you are not already familiar with such usage

DANGLING OR MISRELATED

PARTICIPLES

After completing the questionnaires, blood pressures were measured. (Dangling - the test subjects/patients have disappeared completely and there is no indication of who completed the questionnaires or whose blood pressure was measured).

After completing the questionnaires, the blood pressure of subjects was measured. (Misrelated-although the word 'subjects' is included, the participle 'completing' is here related to their blood pressure, not to themselves.)

After completing the questionnaires, the subjects had their blood pressures measured. (Correct)

DANGLING OR MISRELATED

PARTICIPLES

Reviewing the available data, the cause of death

was natural not chemical. (not clear who did the

reviewing?)

It can be better rewritten as one of the following:

Reviewing the available data, the committee

concluded that the death was due to natural causes

and not due to chemical poisoning.

A review of available data led to the judgment that

the patient's death was due to natural causes, not

due to chemicals.

UNIDENTIFIED OR AMBIGUOUS

ANTECEDENTS OF PRONOUNS

Failure of treatment with penicillin could not have

been predicted because of the defective assay method

used. Unfortunately, this occurs in many hospitals.

(Does the 'this' refer to the failure of treatment, the

defective assay method, or the inability to predict?)

Cimetidine is highly effective in suppressing gastric

acid secretion in such cases. It is unfortunate that it

is not prescribed more often. (The first it is an

'opening it' that has nothing to relate back to, and the

second it is intended to relate back to cimetidine, but

the reader may think of 'gastric acid secretion' as its

antecedent.) Unfortunately, this drug is not

prescribed often enough. (This is clearer.)

RELATIVE PRONOUNS

That, which and who are often misused.

ABSTRACT NOUNS INSTEAD OF VERBS

Scientific writing often contains too many abstract nouns that have been derived from verbs. These should be avoided; instead, the original verb should be used. A useful tip is to look out for words ending in '-ation' - they are often abstract nouns derived from verbs.

The identification and classification of the various histologic types of lymphomas are vital steps towards the introduction of new therapies and the reduction of mortality. (Original)

Identifying and classifying the histologic types of lymphomas are vital steps towards introducing new therapies and reducing mortality. (Preferred)

ABSTRACT NOUNS INSTEAD OF VERBS

An investigation of the underlying causes was

carried out. (Original)

The underlying causes were investigated. (Or:

We investigated the underlying causes.)

(Preferred)

ABSTRACT NOUNS INSTEAD OF VERBS

The following words - 'empty' verbs - should raise

suspicion that a construction with an abstract

noun is lurking:

accomplished experienced obtained

given performed achieved

facilitated occurred proceeded

implemented attained indicated

produced carried out involved

required conducted made

done effected

NOUN CLUSTERS AND STACKED

MODIFIERS

In scientific writing, groups of words are often used together to describe an effect or process. When more than two words are used together, the meaning may become ambiguous.

In such cases, it may be unclear what is modifying what. The hyphen can be a great help in clarifying these modifiers. Here are some non-scientific examples that make the use of the hyphen clear:

- An Indian rice importer: Someone from India who imports rice from anywhere.

- An Indian-rice importer: Anyone who imports rice from India.

- A small arms dealer: A short person who will sell you any kind of gun

- A small-arms dealer: A person of any height who will sell you a handgun.

CONSISTENCY OF STYLE

Be consistent throughout your document with

various things like spellings, use of capital

letters, abbreviation, style of writing numbers

and punctuation.

SPELLINGS

Check words with more than one accepted form

of spellings, plural forms and hyphenated forms.

If a word has several accepted spellings (viz.

British and American), use one style consistently

throughout the manuscript.

CAPITALS

Capitalize proper nouns, names of organisations,

units, etc and ensure consistency throughout the

text.

ABBREVIATIONS AND INITIALS

It is common to use acronyms in reports and articles. Use the full word the first time along with the acronym in parenthesis; thereafter the acronym should be used alone. If your report contains many acronyms, make a list in an appendix.

Alternatively, when a long term is repeated (for example the setting of your study) it can be abbreviated without being reduced to initials. For example, Jai Vigyan Project on Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease may be referred to the first time in full, then as 'the Jai VigyanProject' or even 'the RF/RHD Project' or 'the Project', whichever seems appropriate.

NUMBERS

Generally, measurements, percentages and any

numbers that are not whole numbers (integers)

should be written using numerals. However,

numbers at the start or end of a sentence should

be expressed in alphabets (or you could rearrange

the sentence to bring the numerical value to a

location somewhere in the middle), as should also

be done for single digit numbers (numbers under

10). Make sure all abbreviations for units are

correct; use SI unit symbols.

- Ninety-two patients were followed over a period

of three months by 12 researchers.

PUNCTUATION

Make sure that every quotation has a beginning

and an end. This is also true for parenthesis and

brackets.

OTHER STYLE ERRORS TO AVOID

Impersonal constructions and the passive voice

Use active voice where possible. It is a common misapprehension that the first person should not be used in scientific writing. It is not unscientific to report what you (or you and your fellow investigators) did in the first person.

The present study was undertaken in order to investigate… (Wordy and impersonal)

We undertook this study to investigate… (Better)

We investigated… (Even better)

'In the opinion of the present author' - pompous.

Say: 'In my opinion', or leave the phrase out altogether.

OTHER STYLE ERRORS TO AVOID

Using two words instead of one

A laparotomy was performed the next day and

the diagnosis of appendicitis was confirmed.

(Clumsy)

A laparotomy the next day confirmed the

diagnosis of appendicitis. (Better)

OTHER STYLE ERRORS TO AVOID

Overused phrases, fad words and slang

Try and remove these from your writing

wherever you can. They weigh your writing down

and make it flaccid, unoriginal and uninteresting.

The prepered and simpler alternatives are shown

on right against each.

to impact to affect, to have an effect

to interface to work together, to meet

the bottom line is what this means is

rationale reason

CONTRACTIONS

Except in rare cases where they are used for

rhetorical effect, contractions are too informal for

treatises, essays and scientific writing.

don't - do not

it's - it is

can't - can not

DEHUMANISING WORDS

One should avoid the use of words which may be considered derogatory, e.g. in a case report, it may be better to characterize the patient as 'a man who had been taking alcohol daily for several years', rather than term him as 'an alcoholic man'. A few similar examples are:

person, not individual

patient, not case

woman, not female

man, not male

patient with diabetes, not a diabetic

patient with cirrhosis, not a cirrhotic

CONFUSED AND MISUSED PAIRS

Homophones are pairs of words with the same

sound but different meaning and can be misused.

adapt, adopt;

discrete, discreet;

principle, principal;

sheer, shear;

here, hear;

council, counsel;

complement, compliment

SPELLINGS

Misspelling of words ending in 'able' or 'ible' and

'ance' ('ant') or 'ence ('ent') is very common.

Many such errors can be checked with spell-

checkers and thesauruses in word processing

programmes. Editorial offices are also generally

on the look out for such errors; however, it helps

if authors are careful in their writing.