9789144084992

English for Scientific Research A Practical Guide to Good Science Writing English for Scientific Research is a practical guide and reference book for those who need some clear guidelines and models for writing academic articles in English. The models used are of scientific texts but the language points and structures are applicable to all empirical research. The basic aspects of English grammar relevant to scientific writing in general are explained initially. Other chapters take published articles as models for analysis and comment. Relevant language and structural patterns, typical of abstracts, summaries, introductions, methods, results, discussions and conclusions, are demonstrated, then discussed and practised in context. The self-study practice exercises are designed for readers to comment on and compare their comments with the detailed discussion in the keys. The purpose of this is to show how clear, correct and elegant English can be produced confidently in research papers.

Rowena Jansson | English for Scientific Research

Rowena Jansson was educated in Britain and has a BA and an MA in Applied Linguistics. She has worked for the British Council as an English Language Officer and Adviser for many years, writing materials and developing courses in academic English for science and engineering faculties of African and Middle Eastern universities. Her PhD explores the structure of academic discourse in science and technology – the theoretical basis of this very practical book. She runs Scientific English Language Services, teaching scientific English to postgraduate students in Sweden, and language-editing scientific papers.

English for Scientific Research A Practical Guide to Good Science Writing

All researchers who are not native speakers of English will find this book a useful and practical support in their research writing.

Doctoral students will find it essential.

Rowen a Ja nsson Art.nr 36442 ISBN 978-91-44-08499-2

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Art. No 36442 ISBN 978-91-44-08499-2 First edition 1:1 Š The author and Studentlitteratur 2013 www.studentlitteratur.se Studentlitteratur AB, Lund Cover design: Francisco Ortega Cover illustration: Shutterstock/blinkblink Printed by Graficas Cems S.L., Spain 2013

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Acknowledgements

I should like to thank those of my family, friends and students who have supported and encouraged me in the writing of this book. Special thanks are due to David Richardson, who rescued the material by re-designing the original course, re-writing, and converting every file into a suitable web format. My greatest thanks go to Tim Hume, who took on the role of literary agent and found a publisher, gave constant feedback and advice, and, finally, proofread the manuscript.

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Contents

Acknowledgements 3 Introduction 9 Chapter 1

Basic Science Writing 13

Basic Science Sentences 13 Noun Groups 15 Verb Groups 19 Modifiers 20 Language Point: Parenthesis 26 Keys to Chapter One 28 Key: Verb Groups and Noun Groups 28 Key: Nouns and Determiners 28 Key: Verb Groups 30 Key: Modifiers 30 Chapter 2

Abstracts and Summaries 35

Writing Abstracts 35 Presentation 35 Language Points 38 Guidelines: Writing Abstracts 38 Language Point: Acronyms 39 Language Point: Due to 40 Language Point: ‘And’ 41 Language Point: Excessive Use of ‘And’ 43

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Contents

1. Split the Sentence 43 2. Use a Synonym 44 3. Use a Semicolon 45 4. Rewriting 45 Language Point: Numbers 46 A word (or two) of caution 48 Writing Summaries 49 Keys to Chapter Two 52 Tips and tricks 52 Writing Abstracts: Key One 53 Writing Abstracts: Key Two 54 Writing Summaries: Key One 55 Writing Summaries: Key Two 57 Chapter 3

Introductions 61

Writing Introductions 61 Guidelines: Writing Introductions 63 How to Use Colons 67 How to Use Semicolons 72 Keys to Chapter Three 76 Tips and Tricks 76 Writing Introductions: Key One 76 Writing Introductions: Key Two 80 Colons: Key 86 Semicolons: Key One 89 Semicolons: Key Two 89 Semicolons: Key Three 91 Chapter 4

Methods 93

Writing Methods 93 Some Language Tips 94 Guidelines: Writing Methods 94 Language 94 Patterns of Organisation 103 Topic Sentences 104

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The Problem – Solution Pattern 107 The Most Important First – Least Important Last Pattern 108 The General – Specific Pattern 110 Keys to Chapter Four 115 Tips and Tricks 115 Writing Methods: Key One 115 Writing Methods: Key Two 116 Topic Sentences: Key One 118 Topic Sentences: Key Two 119 Most Important First Pattern: Key 120 General – Specific Pattern: Key One 121 General – Specific Pattern: Key Two 122 General – Specific Pattern: Key Three 123 Chapter 5

Results 127

Writing Results 127 Guidelines: Writing Results. 128 Writing Titles 136 Guidelines: Writing Titles 136 Advice 138 Making Connections 139 Information Distribution 141 Given and New 141 End Weight 143 Keys to Chapter Five 145 Tips and Tricks 145 Writing Results: Key One 145 Writing Results: Key Two 147 Writing Titles: Key 151 Making Connections: Key 152 Information Distribution – Given/New: Key One 154 Information Distribution – Given/New: Key Two 154

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Contents Chapter 6

Discussions and Conclusion 157

Writing Discussions and Conclusions 157 Guidelines: Writing Discussions and Conclusions 157 Language Point: Modal Verbs 158 Relative Clauses 168 Keys to Chapter Six 172 Tips and Tricks 172 Writing Discussions and Conclusions: Key One 172 Writing Discussions and Conclusions: Key Two 175 Language Point: Capital Letter After Colons 177 Relative Clauses: Key 178

References 181

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Introduc tion

The origins of this book lie in a classroom course first taught ten years ago to a small group of doctoral students in the Science Faculty of Kalmar University, Sweden. Then, as now, the majority of research students worked in science and technology, the aim of their studies being the production of a doctoral thesis. In these subjects such a thesis is a collection of related articles, most of which are published in academic journals prior to their defence. Publication of research is essential and the scale of this is huge: around one and a half million new articles are published in scientific research internationally every year.1 Since English is the language of publication those scientists who are non-native speakers of English can be at a linguistic disadvantage.

However, by the time scientists begin research studies their knowledge of English is considerable – their understanding and reading of the language usually greater than their writing skills. But, scientific articles are a highly specialised form of writing: they display a special structure, both in content and in language. This means that a language course, designed to point out these structures, rather than a general English course can be more efficient and effective. Over the last ten years my course has moved from the classroom to the Internet and has expanded and developed to meet the new technology and the far greater numbers of course participants from all over the world.

This book has taken the latest material used in the course and developed it in book form to assist international research students writing in scientific fields.

The book consists of six chapters: the first looks at basic aspects of English grammar that are relevant to scientific writing in general. There are exercises to practise these grammar aspects with keys at the end of the chapter. The 1 Alok Jha, Wellcome Trust joins ‘academic spring’ to open up science, The Guardian, 9 April 2012

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Introduction

following five chapters study the construction of specific sections of research articles: abstracts, summaries, introductions, methods, results, discussions and conclusions. Relevant language and structural patterns, typical of each section, are discussed and practised in context. Each of these chapters takes two typical sections from published articles as models for analysis and comment. These form the practice exercises on which you are encouraged to comment and then compare your comments with the discussion in the keys.

Authentic texts have been used to illustrate the organisational structure of the content, larger language structures, and smaller points of grammar.

The models and examples given in the book are chosen almost exclusively from articles published in academic journals in the natural sciences. Since it is the scientific community and not the writers of grammar books who decide how scientific research is presented it was felt that any other models would lack validity. This is not to say that all writers of scientific articles are models of stylistic elegance in English; they are not. Nor is this a criterion for being published. However, sometimes their work has been used in this book to demonstrate not merely how the job of writing a scientific article is carried out, but to show areas where it can be improved and how this can be achieved.

Two articles in particular are analysed to demonstrate the overall organisational structure of a research article.

Jaffee, B.A., Barstow, J.L. & D.R. Strong. 2007. Suppression of nematodes in a coastal grassland soil. Biology and Fertility of Soils Vol. 44 No.1. 19–26.

Wallentin, L., Wilcox, R.G., Weaver, W.D., Emanuelsson, H., Goodvin, A. Nyström, P. & A. Bylock. 2003. Oral ximelagatran for secondary prophylaxis after myocardial infarction: the ESTEEM randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Vol. 362. 789–797.

Smaller extracts from other articles are used to illustrate language points and as material for exercises.

Fischer-Posovszky, P., Kukulus, V., Tews, D., Unterkircher, T., Debatin, K-M., Fulda, S. & M. Wabitsch. 2010. Reservatrol regulates human adipocyte number and function in a Sirt1-dependent manner. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Vol. 92. 5–15.

Jeffery, C.J. 2003. Moonlighting Proteins: old proteins learning new tricks. Trends in Genetics Vol.19 No.8. 415–417.

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Khor, L.Y., Bae, K., Pollack, A., Hammond, E.H., Grignon, D.J., Venkatesan, V.M., Rosenthal, S.A., Ritter, M.A. Sandler , H.M., Hanks, G.E., Shipley, W.U. and A.P. Dicker. 2007. COX-2 expression predicts prostate-cancer outcome: analysis of data from the RTOG 92-02 trial. Lancet Oncology Vol.8 No.10. 912–920.

Li, Z., Henning, S.M., Zhang, Y., Zerlin, A., Li, L., Gao, K., Lee, R-P., Karp, H., Thames, G., Bowerman, S. & D. Heber. 2010. Antioxident-rich spice added to hamburger meat during cooking results in reduced meat, plasma, and urine melondialdehyde concentrations. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Vol. 91. 1180–1184.

Mercille, G., Receveur, O. & A.C. Macaulay. 2009. Are snacking patterns associated with risk of overweight among Kahnawake schoolchildren? Public Health Nutrition Vol.13 No.2. 163–171.

Robare, J.F., Milas, N.C., Bayles, C.M., Williams, K., Newman, A.B., Lovalekar, M.T., Boudreau, R. McTigue, K. Albert, S.M. & L.H. Kuller. 2010. The key to life nutrition program: results from a community-based dietary sodium reduction trial. Public Health Nutrition Vol.13 No.5. 606–614.

Wilson, J. and K. Stapelton. 2007. The discourse of resistance: Social change and policing in Northern Ireland. Language in Society Vol. 36. 393–425.

Wherever extracts have been used from these works the page reference is given in a footnote. Other examples and illustrations have been taken from assignments produced by previous course participants.

In its present form the book is a practical guide for individual study.

The practice exercises all have keys. These provide considerable discussion and comment on the material. No further instruction is necessary to work through the book successfully. However, the book can also be used as a course book either in a classroom or a web-based situation. It will always be a practical reference book: the guidelines for sections of an academic paper, to a certain extent, form a useful checklist when writing up your own research.

The focus of the book is on the language used in scientific papers rather than teaching you how to formulate a research paper. The latter is a job for your supervisor. But, as you will see as you work your way through the book, there are many language points and patterns which are specific to academic papers. You will also find a number of useful phrases and expressions which are used repeatedly in specific contexts. These language points, patterns, phrases and expressions can all be adapted profitably to your own writing.

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Introduction

Many non-native speakers of English are uncertain of which variety of English is the best to use in writing their research papers. In the genre of scientific writing there are only two varieties to consider: American and British. Neither is superior to the other. There are very small differences in spelling – generally in words of high frequency – and very few grammatical differences, so small that you are unlikely to notice them. These are insignificant and present no hindrance to comprehension. You can choose whichever variety of English that you like provided that you are consistent.

One of the principal articles used in this book is written in American English and the other in British English. These demonstrate not the differences in the two variants but the similarities; they are the same language.

What you will find in this book is that I appear not to be consistent myself.

For example, you will find two spellings of the same word: ‘multicenter’ and ‘multi-centre’. In fact, you will see that these come from two different authentic texts and are produced in their context – one in American and the other in British English.

You may also notice that I have followed the convention of writing foreign words and expressions in italics. Where the whole text is written in italics I have reversed this so that foreign words are distinguished by normal text. In scientific writing this applies to scientific names, which are written in Latin.

Unlike Latin, English is a living language. This means it is constantly changing although not so quickly as to make an appreciable difference to the writing of scientific papers. However, the changes are made by the users of the language in order to better accommodate their needs of expression.

Any future changes in this genre will be made by scientists themselves, and, once the scientific community accepts these changes, they will become the model. It always pays to keep an open mind and a vigilant eye, not only on the content of what you read but also on the language.

For those of you embarking on a doctoral thesis, the road is long and not easy. My hope is that by using this book your load will be lightened a little on the way.

Exeter, 2012 Rowena Jansson

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CH A PTER 1

Basic Science Writing

Basic Science Sentences Scientific writing is distinguished by complex noun groups and simple verb groups.

All noun groups must contain a noun. This is the last noun – the head noun – in the noun group.

All verb groups must contain a full verb – not just a participle.

Here are some examples to show you how this works.

Noun groups are written in italics.

Head nouns are written in bold italics.

Verbs are written in bold.

example one: In the acute phase, addition of indirect thrombin inhibition with intravenous unfractionated heparin or subcutaneous low molecular weight heparin to acetylsalicylic acid further reduces coronary events in non-STelevation myocardial infarction and in reperfusion-treated ST-elevation myocardial infarction1.

1 Wallentin, L., et al. 2003, page 794.

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NOTE

1 Basic Science Writing

A very long noun group typical of science research writing: reperfusion-treated ST-elevation myocardial infarction.

example two: Specific proinflammatory oxidized phospholipids that result from the oxidation of LDL phospholipids containing arachidonic acid are recognized by the innate immune system in animals and humans and lead to inflammation, which can promote atherogenesis and carcinogenesis.2

example three: Our results showed that oral ximelagatran treatment in combination with acetylsalicylic acid was more effective than acetylsalicylic acid alone in preventing the composite endpoint of death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and severe recurrent ischaemia, with a 3.6% absolute and 24% relative reduction in risk over the six-month treatment period.3

As you can see from the above examples the amount of text in bold is much less than that in italics. This tells you that the noun groups (italics) greatly exceed verb groups (bold). Noun groups are longer, there are more of them, and they are more complex.

Have a look at the Practice Exercise: Verb Groups and Noun Groups and see if you can identify them yourself.

Practice Exercise: Verb Groups and Noun Groups

Pick out the verb groups, the noun groups and the head nouns. Underline the noun groups (italics). Double underline the head nouns (bold italics) and circle the verb groups (bold).

2 Li, Z., et al. 2010, page 1180.

3 Wallentin, L, et al. 2003, page 794.

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1 Basic Science Writing

1 This led to the dash-Sodium trial, a randomized, controlled trial, that assessed the effects of multiple Na levels on hypertensive adults.

2 The mean urine volume at baseline was 1956 ml compared with 1985 ml at the 12-month follow-up visit.

3 There would still be substantial within-individual variations in response to decreases in salt in the diet in relation to lowering of blood pressure and perhaps cardiovascular risk.

4 Risks of too low salt intake are probably extremely small.

5 As part of the ksdpp-research, a total of 449 school-aged children (grade 4–6) provided a 24 h recall and their height and weight in 1994, 1998 and 2002, in three independent cross-sectional surveys.

Check your answers with the Key: Verb Groups and Noun Groups (page 28).

Noun Groups

Science has to be precise when talking about things and so the noun groups can be long and complex.

Components of a Noun Group

All noun groups must contain a noun. They may (or may not) contain a determiner and modifiers. If they do contain these the order in which they occur is: (Determiner) (Modifiers) Noun

A Basic Division of Nouns

There are several types of noun but the most important in scientific writing are Count Nouns and Uncount Nouns.

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Count Nouns

These can be singular or plural. This influences: • the determiners that go with them,

• the form of the verb in the present tense.

–– Determiners with Nouns

·· Determiner are grammar words like a, an, the, this, these, their,

our, its, etc.

–– Singular Count Nouns have a determiner, general or specific. ·· general: e.g. a report, an experiment ·· specific: e.g. the survey, this study

–– Plural Count Nouns have a determiner only when specific:

·· general: e.g. Patterns of food consumption change in time.

NOTE

·· specific: e.g. The constituents of the spice mix are listed below.

In practice there are cases in which the difference is only marginal.

A determiner indicates a rather more specific view on the part of the author.

No determiner indicates a more general view. The following examples are taken from the introduction to an article in which a general outline of the background to the research is made.

example one: Soon after anti-coagulation treatment stops, however, rebound ischaemia and myocardial infarction can occur. During the subsequent months, morbidity and mortality remain high because of recurrent thrombotic events.4

(Omitting the makes virtually no difference to the meaning.)

4 Wallentin, L., et al., 2003, page 789.

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example two: Such limitations have prompted development of new oral anticoagulants that are safer and more effective. 5

(Inserting the makes virtually no difference to the meaning.)

Uncount Nouns

These have no plural. This means that the verb of which they are the subject must be in the singular form. Some have no determiner unless there is specific reference. These nouns refer to qualities, substances, processes, etc.

NOTE

data can be singular or plural. But, the in-house EU Style Guide (2010) for official EU reports, etc., requires plural.

NOTE

examples: advice, agriculture, atmosphere, education, electricity, energy, environment, equipment, information, knowledge, news, research, safety, technology, training.

Some nouns can be both uncount and count nouns, e.g. disease.

• Uncount Noun – general, abstract sense –– You must wash your hands before entering the ward to

prevent infection and disease.

• Count Noun – singular, specific –– Bubonic plague broke out in Europe. The disease spread

rapidly.

• Count Noun – plural –– Coughs and sneezes spread diseases.

5 Wallentin, L., et al., 2003, page 789.

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The specific determiner ‘the’ has a useful function in back reference. It is used to bind a text together by referring to nouns previously mentioned.

The following example illustrates this: In the case where a mutation causes a disease, the existence of a moonlighting function for a protein could make more difficult the development of treatments for the diseases caused by the mutation. A treatment that corrects only one function of a multifunctional protein might not be sufficient to treat a disease.6

the diseases – specific, referring back to a disease the mutation – specific, referring back to a mutation Have a look at the Practice Exercise: Nouns and Determiners and see how you get on.

Practice Exercise: Nouns and Determiners

Look at the underlined phrases. What determiners would you put in or take out, if any? Give reasons for your decisions.

1 Gotland is a well-known botanical paradise. Since Linnaeus visited the island in 1741, skilled botanists and amateurs have travelled in his footsteps, and thorough studies of various aspects of the flora have been published (e.g. Johansson 1897, Sernander 1941, Pettersson 1958); thus, the knowledge of flora is better than for most other provinces.

2 Secondly, option for editing results may be limited in comparison with specific finite element mesh visualization tool.

3 Comparative method studies would be of use in planning of floristic studies and in comparison of floristic data.

4 Injection of CO2 is planned to be performed deep enough (lower than 800 m) in order to stabilize CO2 to its supercritical states with a lower density than the brine and, therefore, with a better storage efficiency.

Check your answers with the Key: Nouns and Determiners (page 28).

6 Jeffery. C.J., 2003, page 416.

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Verb Groups

The most common verb tenses you need for scientific writing are the present tense and the past tense.

The preSent tense in English has two forms: Simple and Continuous (sometimes called Progressive). For scientific purposes the Simple Present Tense is used to refer to: • a general truth,

• a regular or habitual action or event,

• a settled state of affairs including the present moment.

The Present Continuous Tense (the –ing form) is used to emphasize the present moment and often indicates that what is happening is not the normal state of affairs. It can indicate a contrast with the Simple Present Tense. You are unlikely to need this in scientific writing – avoid it.

The Simple Present Tense is the tense you need to use in writing Introductions and Conclusions and sometimes when making a general truth statement in Methods and Results sections of articles.

The Simple Present Tense inflects when the subject of the verb is third person singular i.e. he, she or it. The only problem in scientific writing is identifying the subject of the sentence and deciding if it is singular or plural. example one: • Another possibility is a leaching of salty sediment with K-minerals, which imply/implies a geothermal process.

The subject of the verb is a leaching (singular).

• Another possibility is a leaching of salty sediment with K-minerals, which implies a geothermal process.

example two: • However, analysis of the active fraction (crDNA) of these communities show/shows that MG-I are only active in the surface (0–6cm) sediment.

The subject of the verb is analysis (singular).

• However, analysis of the active fraction (crDNA) of these communities shows that MG-I are only active in the surface(0–6cm) sediment.

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NOTE

1 Basic Science Writing

The subject of a verb in scientific writing is not always the noun immediately in front of it.

The past tense is used in relating what you did in your Methods section and what you found out in your Results section. It is rarely a problem.

Have a look at the Practice Exercise: Verb Groups and see how you get on.

Practice Exercise: Verb Groups

Look at the following sentences and rewrite any verbs which you think are not in the correct form. Identify the subject of each verb that you change.

1 This paper sets out to find out how students presents their proposals for clinical supervisors.

2 The samples were collected onto PTFE filters using air filtration, and the use of two commercial samplers that works under a relatively high airflow was also tested.

3 In the beginning of the 21st century an increasing economic cleft was becoming discernible and today about a quarter of a million Swedish children lives in what can be seen as relative poverty.

4 Colour and pattern varies considerably among and within animal species.

5 A regular scanning of patients’ drugs support nurses in reducing the inappropriate use of medication.

Check your answers with the Key: Verb Groups (page 30).

Modifiers

These words give more information about the noun. They are placed in front of the noun and after a determiner, if there is one. Most adjectives are modifiers but nouns can also be modifiers.

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examples of noun modifiers: • a nutrition expert • a car bomb • a book club

Complex noun groups can have many adjectives. Factors to consider are: • position – which adjective comes first?

• punctuation – when to use commas

• compound adjectives – when to use a hyphen

Position

When you use more than one adjective in a noun group the order is: Qualifying + Colour + Classifying + Noun Modifier + Noun

Qualifying adjectives identify a quality. Examples that you probably use are: active, brief, clear, cold, complex, difficult, dry, fast, fresh, heavy, large,

long, new, rare, significant, special, strong, suitable, typical, useful.

These adjectives are gradable; they have comparative and superlative forms, and can have submodifiers like ‘very’ and ‘rather’, etc. in front of them.

Classifying adjectives identify a particular class that a noun belongs to. They answer the question ‘What kind of?’ Some examples you might use are: an alternative solution a physical impossibility a medical problem a chemical reaction

a possible alternative

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English for Scientific Research A Practical Guide to Good Science Writing English for Scientific Research is a practical guide and reference book for those who need some clear guidelines and models for writing academic articles in English. The models used are of scientific texts but the language points and structures are applicable to all empirical research. The basic aspects of English grammar relevant to scientific writing in general are explained initially. Other chapters take published articles as models for analysis and comment. Relevant language and structural patterns, typical of abstracts, summaries, introductions, methods, results, discussions and conclusions, are demonstrated, then discussed and practised in context. The self-study practice exercises are designed for readers to comment on and compare their comments with the detailed discussion in the keys. The purpose of this is to show how clear, correct and elegant English can be produced confidently in research papers.

Rowena Jansson | English for Scientific Research

Rowena Jansson was educated in Britain and has a BA and an MA in Applied Linguistics. She has worked for the British Council as an English Language Officer and Adviser for many years, writing materials and developing courses in academic English for science and engineering faculties of African and Middle Eastern universities. Her PhD explores the structure of academic discourse in science and technology – the theoretical basis of this very practical book. She runs Scientific English Language Services, teaching scientific English to postgraduate students in Sweden, and language-editing scientific papers.

English for Scientific Research A Practical Guide to Good Science Writing

All researchers who are not native speakers of English will find this book a useful and practical support in their research writing.

Doctoral students will find it essential.

Rowen a Ja nsson Art.nr 36442 ISBN 978-91-44-08499-2

www.studentlitteratur.se

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