英文论文写作过程中，往往一些常见、简单的单词在使用时，会被忽略其用法的一些限制，LetPub结合多年服务于英文科技论文的编辑经验，搜集了一些中国作者在英文写作中经常出现的错误，列出最常见的“和”一词来举例，希望对您有所帮助。 “and” vs. “or” What is and in the affirmative may be or in the negative: Our results indicated X, Y, and Z, but they did not indicate A, B, or C. —— LetPub英文科技论文写作杂谈之10 此文同步 刊载于 LetPub SCI论文写作辅导材料 ： http://www.letpub.com.cn/index.php?page=sci_talk_1 0 LetPub 提供 专业英语润色 、 同行资深专家修改 、 专业SCI翻译 、 发表支持 www.letpub.com.cn
英文论文写作过程中，作者往往会有偏向性的经常使用某一个单词，而忽略了其是否使用正确，并且符合英语本身的表达习惯，LetPub结合多年服务于英文科技论文的编辑经验，搜集了一些中国作者在英文写作中经常出现的错误，列出最常见的“respectively”一词来举例，希望对您有所帮助。 Over-use of respectively. In American English the construction apples have skins, peaches have fuzz, and bananas have peels is more common than apples, peaches, and bananas have skins, fuzz, and peels, respectively, though both of them are technically correct. Solution was added to containers A, B, and C does not need a respectively at the end. Also, respectively ONLY applies to two lists with the same number of items. “P and Q were enrolled in the studies X, Y, and Z, respectively”-which belongs to which? —— LetPub英文科技论文写作杂谈之9 此文同步 刊载于 LetPub SCI论文写作辅导材料 ： http://www.letpub.com.cn/index.php?page=sci_talk_9 LetPub 提供 专业英语润色 、 同行资深专家修改 、 专业SCI翻译 、 发表支持 www.letpub.com.cn
英文论文写作过程中，往往一些较常见的词组会被使用在文章中，但是，有些词组，本不适合使用在科技论文中，而且经常被错误的使用，LetPub结合多年服务于英文科技论文的编辑经验，搜集了一些中国作者在英文写作中经常出现的错误，列出最常见的“On the one hand ... on the other hand”这一词组来举例，希望对您有所帮助。 On the one hand ... on the other hand On the one hand, she was pretty, but on the other hand, she had very bad manners. (The first thing is pleasant and the second is unpleasant.) On the one hand, the challenger had many years of political experience, but on the other hand, he had a reputation for corruption, so I voted for the incumbent. (The first thing makes the challenger a good choice; the second makes him a bad choice.) On the one hand, ice cream is delicious, but on the other hand it is fattening, so I only eat it once in the while. I see many Chinese authors trying to use this expression a lot, but it is frequently misused. One common mistake is to omit the the, but more often I see them lead sentences with On the one hand or on the other hand even though their meanings don't contradict each other, as if the phrases were filler. It's also a little informal for a scientific paper, so I usually just take it out. —— LetPub英文科技论文写作杂谈之8 此文同步 刊载于 LetPub SCI论文写作辅导材料 ： http://www.letpub.com.cn/index.php?page=sci_talk_8 LetPub 提供 专业英语润色 、 同行资深专家修改 、 专业SCI翻译 、 发表支持 www.letpub.com.cn
英文论文写作过程中，逗号的使用往往会改变一句句子所要表达的意思，这种现象往往在一些复合从句的表达中出现，LetPub结合多年服务于英文科技论文的编辑经验，搜集了一些中国作者在英文写作中经常出现的错误，下面列出最常见的一类句子举例，希望对您有所帮助。 Restrictive vs. Nonrestrictive Clauses An author sent me this: Local residents, impacted by ecological restoration projects, should be compensated. Local residents impacted by ecological restoration projects should be compensated. Would that be okay if I remove commas here? Thanks. Actually, that would change the meaning. In its current form, the words who are are implied before impacted. Local residents, who are impacted by ecological restoration projects, should be compensated. This means that 1. all local residents are impacted by ecological restoration projects and 2. they should be compensated. Here, who are impacted by ecological restoration projects is called a non-restrictive clause because it is only describing the residents. Local residents who are impacted by ecological restoration projects should be compensated. This means that 1. some local residents are affected by these projects and some are not. 2. only those who are affected should be compensated. Here, who are impacted by ecological restoration projects is a restrictive clause, because it restricts the meaning of the sentence to only some local residents and not others. So the question is this: Is the original writer telling us that all the local residents referred to in this paper are impacted by the projects and therefore due compensation or arguing that only some of them deserve (or need) compensation? It should be pretty clear from the rest of the paper. —— LetPub英文科技论文写作杂谈之7 此文同步 刊载于 LetPub SCI论文写作辅导材料 ： http://www.letpub.com.cn/index.php?page=sci_talk_7 LetPub 提供 专业英语润色 、 同行资深专家修改 、 专业SCI翻译 、 发表支持 www.letpub.com.cn
英文论文写作过程中，往往会遇到不同英文单词都可以表达同一个中文意思，但其实这些单词的内在含义是不同的，LetPub结合多年服务于英文科技论文的编辑经验，搜集了一些中国作者在英文写作中经常出现的错误，列出最常见的“需求”一词来举例，希望对您有所帮助。 demand vs. need Demand is often used in economics. It refers to how much people want something or, more specifically, whether they're willing to buy something and how much they're willing to pay for it. There can be a demand for things that people need but there can also be a demand for things that people merely want. Need refers to how much people need something, regardless of whether they know they need it and regardless of whether they want it. We have a need for food. We have a need for oxygen. We have a demand for STEM-educated professionals, for oil commodities, for sitcoms... Short, short version: Need is need. Demand is desire. 此文同步 刊载于 LetPub SCI论文写作辅导材料 ： http://www.letpub.com.cn/index.php?page=sci_talk_6 LetPub 提供 专业英语润色 、 同行资深专家修改 、 专业SCI翻译 、 发表支持 www.letpub.com.cn
英语论文写作过程中，往往会遇到一些中西文化的差异，而如果这些差异没有引起写作者重视时，很可能就是导致审稿人阅读文章产生疑惑的原因之一。LetPub结合多年服务于英文科技论文的编辑经验，搜集了一些中国作者在英文写作中经常出现的错误，列出最常见的“国籍与种族”一组词来举例，希望对您有所帮助。 nationality vs. ethnicity (noun) vs. (noun) nah shun AL ih tee vs. eth NIH sih tee (al rhymes with pal) (eth rhymes with Seth) Nationality The state of being a citizen of a specific country or otherwise a member of a national group. Ethnicity The state of belonging to a group with a shared ancestral, national or cultural tradition In common usage in the U.S., nationality and ethnicity mean very different things. Nationality means What country's on your passport and birth certificate? and ethnicity means Who were your ancestors. In my case, my nationality is American and my ethnicity is mostly Italian and Irish. In other English-speaking countries, however, nationality and ethnicity are almost interchangeable. (This is probably because most countries are believed to have been founded and principally populated by one group of people. This would be various specific Celts for Ireland, Scotland and Britain proper, Franks for France, Indians in India, etc. This belief is not always true, but it is usually there. The people in the U.S., however, have always considered themselves to come from more than one ancestral group. (Back in the 1700s, having Germans and Britons and Dutchmen in the same room counted as a highly diverse meeting, and the concept of ethnic diversity has expanded since.) So nation and ancestry were more clearly two separate things for Americans than for other people.) To U.S. readers, talking about the nationalities of participant in a medical study does not make sense may be confusing because they will be thinking about citizenship and passports and not about shared genes or even shared recipes and eating habits. 此文同步 刊载于 LetPub SCI论文写作辅导材料 ： http://www.letpub.com.cn/index.php?page=sci_talk_5 LetPub 提供 专业英语润色 、 同行资深专家修改 、 专业SCI翻译 、 发表支持 www.letpub.com.cn
英文论文写作过程中，往往会遇到不同英文单词都可以表达同一个中文意思，但根据其词性以及本身含义，在英语中所表达的含义不尽相同，LetPub结合多年服务于英文科技论文的编辑经验，搜集了一些中国作者在英文写作中经常出现的错误，列出最常见的“研究”一词来举例，希望对您有所帮助。 Research vs study Some authors say research when they mean study. Research, as a verb, means to perform a study or studies, but research as a noun refers to the sum of many studies. Chemical research means the sum of all chemical studies. If you find yourself writing a research or in this research, change it to a study or in this study. 此文同步 刊载于 LetPub SCI论文写作辅导材料 ： http://www.letpub.com.cn/index.php?page=sci_talk_4 LetPub 提供 专业英语润色 、 同行资深专家修改 、 专业SCI翻译 、 发表支持 www.letpub.com.cn
英文论文中，同一个单词可能会有两种或两种以上的词性，而在其中，有部分单词会因其单词词性不同导致所表达的中文意思也不相同，在写作时，这些单词往往会被错误的使用，而LetPub结合多年服务于英文科技论文的编辑经验，搜集了一些中国作者在英文写作中经常出现的错误，列出最常见的“证据”一词来举例，希望对您有所帮助。 Evidence Evidences isn't really the plural of evidence. One piece of evidence and two pieces of evidence are both just evidence. (The same is true of literature.) The reason why evidences doesn't show up as wrong on spellchecker is because it's registered as a verb. It's a roundabout way to say shows. 此文同步 刊载于 LetPub SCI论文写作辅导材料 ： http://www.letpub.com.cn/index.php?page=sci_talk_3 LetPub 提供 专业英语润色 、 同行资深专家修改 、 专业SCI翻译 、 发表支持 www.letpub.com.cn
英文论文写作过程中，往往会为一些想要表达的句子或者单词添加一些补充信息使其内容能够更丰富，但是，却忽略了这些信息是否都是必要的或是重要；第二种现象是将所补充的信息放在了句中错误的位置，这就导致了审稿人阅读文章时产生疑惑。LetPub结合多年服务于英文科技论文的编辑经验，搜集了一些中国作者在英文写作中经常出现的错误，下面分别列出这两类现象的例子并加以解析，希望对您有所帮助。 Info-packing: Example: As the best-known form of programed cell death, apoptosis is pivotal to tissue development and regeneration. This sentence is claiming that apoptosis is pivotal BECAUSE it has been studied so much (when in fact the reverse is true). Unless the paper is about the history of the human study of programmed cell death (and it wasn't), then this information is completely unnecessary. Apples, which come from trees, are used to make better pies than grapes. Unless the fact that apples come from trees is why they make better pies than grapes, then this information does not belong in this sentence. If it's important, put it in its own sentence. If it's not important, leave it out. Another type of info-packing is even worse: Ginny was the first girl to enter the classroom with pink shoes does not mean that Ginny was the first girl to enter the classroom, only that none of the previous girls, if any, had been wearing pink shoes. Ginny, who was wearing pink shoes, was the first girl to enter the classroom gets this idea across. However, it implies that the fact that she was wearing pink shoes was somehow important to either why she was the first one into the classroom or to whatever had just been mentioned in previous sentences. Now replace “the first girl” with “the first study,” as I have seen so many times in research articles, be aware of its position in your sentence. Info-packing —— LetPub英文科技论文写作杂谈之2 此文同步 刊载于 LetPub SCI论文写作辅导材料 ： http://www.letpub.com.cn/index.php?page=sci_talk_2 LetPub 提供 专业英语润色 、 同行资深专家修改 、 专业SCI翻译 、 发表支持 www.letpub.com.cn
英文论文写作过程中，有些中西文化的差异是需要注意的，如在不同文化中，所认为的经典元素是不同的，LetPub结合多年服务于英文科技论文的编辑经验，搜集了一些中国作者在英文写作中经常出现的错误，对“Aristotelian elements”举例加以说明，希望对您有所帮助。 Aristotelian elements (noun, plural) Earth, air, fire and water (sometimes accompanied by a fifth element, aether ). These are the substances that Western people from the ancient Greeks through the Middle Ages believed the physical world to be made. Everything was supposed to be some mixture of earth, air, fire, and water. Many Greek philosophers (with exceptions, like Democritus, who coined the term atom) believed in these elements, but they are named after Aristotle because he was the most famous. No one seriously believes in them any more, but people believed in them for so long that they still show up in Western culture in astrology and in works of fiction set in medieval times, like the popular Dungeons and Dragons games. Aether is supposed to be quintessence, the uncorruptable material that makes up the stars. It's loosely comparable to plasma. From this word, we get the modern word ether, which means both the chemical ether and also sky/air/nothingness. (What people thought air was before realizing that it had matter.) Any pre-modern concept of the elements that is based on their observable traits (such as phases of matter), is called classical elements. Some cultures have five (e.g. Chinese culture) or seven classical elements instead of four. Some have just one. Aristotelian elements —— LetPub英文科技论文写作杂谈之1 此文同步 刊载于 LetPub SCI论文写作辅导材料 ： http://www.letpub.com.cn/index.php?page=sci_talk_1 LetPub 提供 专业英语润色 、 同行资深专家修改 、 专业SCI翻译 、 发表支持 www.letpub.com.cn
最近，好几个人问到公共块出错的问题，都是出于一个原因，特在这里把老贴整理一下供大家参考。 问题： 20924057 Compiling Fortran... D:\FRAME2D.FOR D:\FRAME2D.FOR(314) : Warning: Because of COMMON, the alignment of object is inconsistent with its type COMMON /EM/LM(6),ND,ASA(6,6),RF(6),SA(6,6)--------------------------^ D:\FRAME2D.FOR(314) : Warning: Because of COMMON, the alignment of object is inconsistent with its type COMMON /EM/LM(6),ND,ASA(6,6),RF(6),SA(6,6) ---------------------------^ 解答： 这是老Fortran的规则。看你的公共语句： COMMON /EM/LM(6),ND,ASA(6,6),RF(6),SA(6,6),SF(6),T(3,3) 根据程序的隐含规则，LM(6),ND一共是7个整型数，每个整型数4个字节，共28个字节，不是8字节的整倍数。紧跟着是双精度的ASA(6,6)，每个数是8个字节，可是ASA(1,1)不能从8字节整倍数位置开始存储，这就是the alignment of object is inconsistent with its type 的意思。 对于警告错误，可以忽略，一般不致于影响执行结果。如果要改的话，有几种办法： 1）在公共语句中，把双精度数放在前边，整形数跟在后边； 2）在ASA()前插一个整型变量（哪怕是没用的），用来占用4个字节，以使得后面的双精度数可以从8字节整数倍位置开始存储。 准则：作为好的编程习惯，建议在公共块中，把实型变量排在前边，把整型数据放在后边，就不会有对位不整的错误！ 仅供参考。 补充：（05.06.01） 公共块不是用堆栈实现的，是内存中的一段连续存储的数据。 按照Fortran的规定，当读取双精度数据时，总是假定前面的数据长度是双精度数字节长度（8个字节）的整数倍。 对于本例，ASA(1,1)从第29个字节开始存放8个字节；可是读取的时候，要从第33个字节（28不是8的倍数，32是28之后最小的8的倍数）开始读入8个字节，这就是定位（alignment）错误。 所以F90之后不提倡用公共块共享数据，而可用更为灵活的module来代替公共块共享数据。 公共块是过时的语言功能
Good study design and forward planning 在本帖中， 理文编辑 学术总监Dr. Daniel McGowan将向大家展示如何做好研究设计和预先规划工作。 Rejection following peer review can mean a considerable amount of additional work for many authors to get their studies published. In the worst cases, their studies may be simply un-publishable. Much heartbreak and hard work can be avoided by simply planning and designing your study properly in advance. In the long run, this will save you time, allowing you to get on with the research for your next big paper. No-one wants to have to repeat experiments because the controls were inappropriate or the case/sample numbers were insufficient to provide enough statistical power. Frequently though, researchers rush into experiments without making all the proper considerations, and this can result in delays when their manuscripts reach the peer review stage. Remembering a few basic principles of study design can help to reduce the risk of outright rejection and repeated experimentation. 1. Have a hypothesis or research question Having a hypothesis or appropriate research question enables you to frame your research within an appropriate context, which in turn will help you apply the appropriate controls. It will also help you describe the rationale for your study when it is time to write it up. Having a hypothesis also means that the objectives of the study are clearly defined, thus reducing the chance that your study will be open-ended and possibly criticised for being incomplete. You can then logically work through these objectives and, importantly, present your results in a logical manner rather than haphazardly. 2. Ensure that the appropriate methods are used Once you have a clear idea of the aims of your study, and the specific research question you are setting out to answer, you will need able to determine what methods would be appropriate to achieve these. Important considerations include deciding whether subjective, qualitative data will be sufficient to address your question, or whether there is a need for more quantitative methods. For basic science studies, such considerations might include the following questions. Will the combination of RT-PCR and in situ data be enough, or is there a need for qPCR? Is Western blotting alone sufficiently sensitive or do you need to also perform immunohistochemistry and cell counting experiments to show a difference between groups? For clinical studies, important considerations include the choice of controls, sample sizes, statistical tests and approach, all of which are described in more detail in the points below. 3. Ensure that the appropriate controls are used Controls are included in experiments to rule out alternative hypotheses. Theres an old saying that nothing can be proven, only disproved, and this is precisely why appropriate controls are necessary: to disprove any feasible alternative interpretations of the data you obtain and/or to eliminate or minimize the effects of extraneous variables. Consider what alternative hypotheses exist, and systematically rule them out by performing experiments that disprove them. There are generally two types of controls: positive and negative. Positive controls show that a negative result is not due to a failure of the experimental system. Negative controls provide an indication of the background noise or baseline value with which to compare values from your experimental sample. In quantitative studies, a relative control or housekeeping control is required to show that changes in the apparent levels of a target gene or protein are not caused by differences in the amounts of protein or DNA in the sample. These levels can be used as a baseline to measure changes in relative levels of a target gene or protein. Common housekeeping molecules include -actin and GAPDH. In clinical trials, subjects in a placebo group in intervention trials, and normal control subjects in observational trials, need to be matched as closely as possible to those in the treatment or disease group in terms of age, sex and numerous other potential confounding factors. In randomized controlled trials, accepted procedures for assignment to groups also need to be followed (see, for example, the ICH good clinical practice guidelines at: http://www.ich.org/LOB/media/MEDIA482.pdf). 4. Use sample sizes large enough to provide a definitive result Many studies fail to achieve the desired impact or to fully support a given hypothesis because the effect is too small or the variability too large to show statistical significance. Often this can be simply overcome by increasing the sample size. However, once a study has been performed and the data analyzed, it can be impossible to go back and increase the numbers without starting all over again. For this reason, pilot studies are often performed in advance of larger scale studies. Talk to a statistician. Determine the size of the effect of your treatment and/or the variability in your population before starting large-scale studies, and use this information to determine the sample size required to give you statistical power. Doing this can save you time, money and potential disappointment later. 5. Use appropriate statistical tests to analyze your data Statistical analysis of your data is essential to show that an effect is genuine and significant. Tests of significance demonstrate the robustness of your findings, essentially showing how unlikely it is that your findings were obtained by chance. Are your data continuous or discrete? Are they normally distributed or non-normally distributed? The nature of your data will determine how they should be analyzed and what tests are appropriate. If in doubt, consult a statistician who will be able to advise you on the most appropriate tests to use and what these tests indicate. Determining the right tests to use in advance will save you having to repeat your analyses if you got it wrong first time round, with the distinct possibility that no significant effect will be observed when the appropriate tests are used. For clinical trials, the following guidelines may be useful: http://www.ich.org/LOB/media/MEDIA485.pdf. 6. Remove investigator and patient bias Many experiments involve subjective measurements or assessments performed by the investigators, as opposed to objective results provided by the experimental system. If the investigator has prior knowledge of the groups to which individuals/samples belong, then investigator bias is a distinct possibility, and this can invalidate any of the findings obtained. In such cases, where the investigator is a factor inherent in the experimental system, it is essential that the investigator is blinded to the groups to which individuals or samples belong. Doing so ensures the objectivity of the findings and improves their reliability. Such blinding can refer to treatment in an intervention trial, or to assessment or interpretation of clinical findings in an observational trial. Similarly, the outcome of a treatment could be influenced if a patient knows if they are receiving a placebo or drug; such patient bias should be avoided, by blinding the patient to the nature of the treatment. Being aware of the potential for bias before commencing experimentation can again save the need for time- and resource-consuming repeats. 7. Comply with ethical requirements There are strict regulations regarding the use of human and animal subjects, and in many countries, regarding the use of stem cells, cell lines and genetically modified materials. Failure to comply with these regulations will prevent publication of your findings and could lead to legal issues; at best, it will limit the range of journals to which you can submit your findings. Make yourself aware of these regulations before you commence your study and ensure that all requirements are complied with so you dont encounter problems later on. As well as ethical requirements regarding experimentation, there are also strict guidelines provided by most journals regarding the requirements for authorship, and these also need to be complied with. Clinical trials should comply with the Declaration of Helsinki (http://www.wma.net/e/policy/b3.htm) in addition to any local requirements. Informed consent is essential for most trials involving human subjects. Animal studies should comply with local and national regulations, although many journals are now aligning themselves with standards such as the NIH Guidelines for the Care and Use of Animals (http://oacu.od.nih.gov/regs/guide/guide.pdf). Finally, many journals require a statement describing who gave ethical approval for the study. 8. Clinical study registration Many top-tier journals now request that prospective clinical trials involving human participants should be registered online in an accessible database. Many journals will instantly reject studies of this type that have not been registered. More information on this can be found at http://www.icmje.org/faq.pdf. International clinical trial registries include the Chinese Clinical Trials Register (http://www.chictr.org/), the Japanese Primary Registries Network (http://rctportal.niph.go.jp/), The International Standard Randomised Control Trial Number database (http://isrctn.org/) and Clinical Trials.gov (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/). Registration should be done before the first participant is enrolled, but many of the databases do allow retrospective registration. However, by registering the trial once you receive ethical consent you will save time and overcome a major obstacle to publication. All studies are different and therefore have different requirements regarding appropriate study design. The points above are just a few of the important considerations that should be made prior to the commencement of experimentation, and the general principles apply to a variety of different study types. It is true that sometimes even peer review fails to detect flaws in study design, as shown, for example, in the following report on randomized controlled clinical trials published in Chinese journals: http://www.trialsjournal.com/content/10/1/46. However, if you want your study to stand the test of time, be published in a top-tier journal and to be widely accepted by the international research community, then planning ahead and designing your study to make it robust and reliable will only serve to save you time, money and heartbreak later on. 在这里还需提请各位注意，Dr. McGowan 的母语是英语，无法阅读中文，因此请大家尽量使用英文回帖，如有任何需要与他沟通的学术和语言问题也请使用英语，Dr. McGowan 会及时回复大家的。 Dr. Daniel McGowan 曾任 Nature Reviews Neuroscience 副编辑，负责约稿，管理和撰写期刊内容。于2006年加入理文编辑（Edanz Group） 并从2008年起担任学术总监。Dr. Daniel McGowan 有超过十年的博士后和研究生阶段实验室研究经验，主要致力于神经退化疾病、分子及细胞生物学、蛋白质生物化学、蛋白质组学和基因组学。
Overcoming the language barrier: writing in English for non-native authors 在本帖中， 理文编辑 学术总监Dr. Daniel McGowan将向大家展示克服语言障碍，非英语母语科研人员如何写作? Journal editors, overloaded with quality manuscripts, may make decisions on manuscripts based on formal criteria, like grammar or spelling. Don't get rejected for avoidable mistakes; make sure your manuscript looks perfect (quote from a senior executive at a large international publishing house). Scientific writing is difficult enough for many authors who have English as their first language; for non-native English-speaking authors, writing a paper in English represents a massive challenge that can make or break their papers chances of publication. With increased pressure on publication space and increased demands on editors time many journals are introducing language screening protocols to check submissions before they reach the editors desk; some editors simply choose to overlook papers that are too poorly written to consider or send for review in the knowledge that, among the submissions they receive, will be well written studies containing interesting and robust science. However, all is not lost for non-native English-speaking authors: by being aware of some of the most common scientific writing language errors and how to avoid them, you can improve the quality of your paper and increase its chances of being accepted. It is helpful to think of the writing process in the same way that you think about performing experiments; that is, the language needs to be easily and accurately understood by the reader, without multiple possible interpretations arising. In experiments, we use controls to rule out alternative hypotheses. In language, we must avoid ambiguities and unnecessary text (such as repetition and redundancies) to get our message across clearly. Scientific writing should possess what I call the three Cs: clarity, conciseness and correctness (accuracy). The key to achieving this is to be as brief and specific as possible without omitting any details that might be essential for the reader to fully understand your meaning. In other words, say no more than you need to accurately convey your message. Although writing that fails to meet this standard is sometimes described as sloppy or lazy writing, authors are frequently unaware that what they have written is unclear and ambiguous. Thus, attention to detail and an appreciation of how your writing could be misinterpreted are essential. What follows is just a small selection of error types that, when present in large numbers, could result in your paper going straight to the rejected pile. Articles/Plural vs singular Articles (a/the) are adjectives that modify nouns. Where they are used incorrectly the reader can be left wondering if you are referring to a specific thing or to a non-specific item or category. Worse, they could interpret the text incorrectly and make a wrong assumption. Incorrect use of articles can also lead to confusion relating to singular vs plural senses. The word the should be used in conjunction with a noun referring to a particular item or group of items (it can be used with both plural and singular nouns); for example, the sections were/the section was then stained with HE implies that the sections you had referred to in recent sentences were stained. By contrast, a should be used in conjunction with non-specific nouns; for example, a section was then stained infers that a single section, any section, was stained. A should only be used to refer to a single item or category, and should not be used in conjunction with plural nouns; that is, a sections would be incorrect. Asian authors frequently leave articles out of sentences making them sound awkward and unnatural, which would be the case when omitting the the in adenovirus was injected into the fourth ventricle. The antibody was injected into the hippocampus (articles required to specify a particular antibody, presumably already referred to in the text, and a specific hippocampus, belonging to a subject already described). A new method of extraction was devised (a used rather than the because this statement introduces this method to the reader; therefore it is non-specific at that time. Once introduced to the reader, the new method of extraction should be used to refer to that method in the specific sense). Nouns are used in the plural sense by adding an s to the end (in most cases). In the absence of an article, it can sometimes be unclear if the wrong sense (plural vs singular) has been used. For example, in the sentence Acetyl group was added, the reader is not clear whether the author means An acetyl group was added or perhaps Acetyl groups were added. Thus, when referring to multiple items, the plural sense should be used to avoid potential confusion. This is commonly forgotten when describing figures (use arrowheads rather than arrowhead where there is more than one in the figure; likewise, use solid bars rather than solid bar when referring to a bar chart with multiple bars). A biopsy wa s obtained (describing a single biopsy). Biopsies were obtained from eight patients (no article necessary unless these biopsies had already been introduced to the reader, in which case they would need to be referred to in the specific sense The biopsies were obtained). Commas, hyphens and which Used incorrectly these three elements of writing can introduce ambiguities, and the potential for subsequent misunderstanding, into your writing. For example, in the sentence Because A42 levels were elevated in 75% of AD patients in studies using our method , it is critical to obtain fresh samples, moving the comma after method to follow the word patients (or addition of a new comma there) would completely change the meaning. Similarly, in the phrase calcium-induced calcium release, omission of the hyphen completely changes the meaning of the sentence. When the hyphen is present calcium-induced is a compound adjective modifying the noun calcium release; when the hyphen is absent, induced is a verb describing the effect of calcium on calcium release. Thus, it is critically important to use hyphens with such compound adjectives to avoid misunderstandings. However, no hyphen is required to combine an adverb and an adjective; for example highly intense staining and high-intensity staining are both correct, but highly-intense staining is not. Glutamate receptors mediated synaptic plasticity (tells the reader that Glu receptors are involved in the development of synaptic plasticity). Glutamate receptor -mediated synaptic plasticity (identifies synaptic plasticity involving Glu receptors as the subject of the sentence; note the change from plural to singular because receptor is being used in a general sense and not to refer to a single receptor). The word which, when used incorrectly, can also induce considerable confusion. It is often used incorrectly instead of that. Both introduce clauses that modify nouns, but that should be used to introduce defining or restrictive clauses and which should be used to introduce non-defining or non-restrictive clauses. For example, in the sections that were positive for GFP were subjected to cell counting procedures, the that introduces a defining clause that defines exactly which sections were subjected to cell counting. By contrast, in the sections, which were positive for GFP, were subjected to cell counting procedures, the sections that were subjected to cell counting are rather loosely defined, possibly referring to sections that have been described in the previous or recent sentences. The clause about GFP positivity provides the reader with additional information, but is not essential to understand the meaning of the sentence; that is, it is disposable. Because which is used in this way, writers need to ensure that it is absolutely clear what the which is actually referring to, possibly whatever immediately precedes it (most commonly) or possibly the main subject of the sentence. For example, the sentence microglia migrated to the site of the lesion, which was associated with increased levels of ED-1 is somewhat vague, because it is unclear if the which is referring to the lesion or to the migration of microglia. If there is ever any doubt about such a sentence, it is best to rephrase it completely; for example migration of microglia to the site of the lesion was associated with increased levels of ED-1 or microglia migrated to the site of the lesion, and immunohistochemical analysis revealed increased levels of ED-1 at this site, both of which are unambiguous. Data were normalised to the housekeeping gene actin, which was used as an internal reference (here, the which refers to actin, which is therefore the subject of the following clause). Data were normalised to the internal reference housekeeping gene actin, revealing increases in the levels of (to refer to the analyzed data in a subsequent clause, which would be inappropriate and introduce an ambiguity). Respectively The word respectively is frequently misused by native and non-native English-speaking authors alike, and, as with the other elements described above, its misuse can lead to confusion and ambiguities. It is often clearer not to use this term at all, but it can be useful to economise on words where there are two corresponding lists. For example, it is quite useful in the sentence The latencies to withdrawal from a painful stimulus in control and transgenic mice were 3 s and 2 s, respectively, meaning that control mice withdrew after 3 s and transgenic mice withdrew after 2 s. If describing something much shorter than The latencies to withdrawal from a painful stimulus, for example average weights, respectively is not necessary; Control mice weighed 203 g and transgenic mice weighed 172 g is better than Control mice and transgenic mice weighed 203 g and 172 g, respectively, which contains one additional word. Note that respectively can only be used to refer to two corresponding lists at one time, and cannot be used to refer to more. Thus, the sentence The latencies to withdrawal from 5 g and 10 g painful stimuli in control and transgenic mice were 3 s and 2 s, respectively is incorrect and impossible to understand. The proportions of monocytes positive for CD163, CD7 and CD11a were 45%, 63% and 70%, respectively (the respectively makes clear that the three percentages refer to each of the three markers in the same order). Comparisons Comparisons are frequently made in the results sections of papers, and it is especially important to compare like with like. One common error made by non-native authors is overlooking this simple rule and leaving the reader to make an assumption about what is being compared. At best, the language will appear unnatural but the meaning clear; at worst, the wrong meaning can be imparted. As an example, the sentence Expression levels of p53 in smokers were compared with non-smokers should actually be Expression levels of p53 in smokers were compared with those in non-smokers. Another frequent error with comparisons is the use of relative terms (for example, higher, greater, more) without a reference. In the sentence transgenic mice showed higher levels of cortisol it is unclear what these levels were higher than; thus, a than clause, such as than control mice, is required. The reader might make this assumption automatically, but in some cases alternative inferences will be possible; the goal of accurate scientific writing has to be the removal of all assumption. Because comparisons of results are critical to their interpretation and, ultimately, their significance, it is critical that you convey to the reader exactly what is being compared. Finally, the word between should be used for comparisons of two findings, but among should be used for comparisons of three or more. The levels of ubiquitinated proteins were higher in patients than in control subjects (the than clause provides a reference for the term higher). The levels of ubiquitinated proteins in patients were higher than those in control subjects (unlike the first example, where patients and controls are both on the same side of the comparing term, that is, they are both mentioned after higher, here, patients and controls appear either side of the comparing term; therefore, it is necessary to add than those to compare like with like). There was no significant difference in the levels of ubiquitinated proteins between patients and controls (between is appropriate here for a comparison of two groups). There were no significant differences in the levels of ubiquitinated proteins among AD patients, PD patients and controls (among is appropriate for comparisons of more than two groups; note the change to the plural differences because more than one type of difference is possible with more than two groups). Protein and gene nomenclature One very common cause of confusion is use of the incorrect nomenclature to describe changes in the levels of genes, their mRNAs or the proteins that they encode. Constant changing from describing gene expression levels to protein levels and back again can also add to the confusion, especially because the names are often the same. Therefore, it needs to be completely clear to the reader exactly what level you are talking about. Nomenclature differs among species, but generally gene names should be described in italics and protein names in normal font. Case (upper vs lower) is often used to distinguish between species: generally, for mouse, rat and chicken, gene names are spelt with an upper case first letter and the rest in lower case; for humans, primates and some domestic species, gene names are spelt with all capital letters. Descriptions of mRNAs generally use the gene name (for example, levels of p53 mRNA) or you can refer to the mRNA for a given protein (for example levels of the mRNA for p53). The word expression is usually used to describe gene expression and can induce confusion when used to describe protein and mRNA levels; in most cases referring to proteins the word expression can simply be replaced with the word level (or levels). Be aware of the correct nomenclature for your species of subject and ensure that everywhere you refer to a protein, gene or mRNA by name in the text it is completely clear which of those you are referring to. Expression of the Igf1 gene was increased in our transgenic mice (use if italics and the word gene ensure that no confusion is possible here). The levels of IGF1 mRNA were elevated in our patient group (correct nomenclature for human genes). The serum IGF1 levels were elevated in the transgenic mice (here, it is clear that the protein is being referred to; capitals are appropriate in this case, even though the species is mouse, because it is the correct nomenclature for the mouse protein). Summary These are just a few of the most common errors made by non-native English-speaking authors in their scientific writing. There are of course many more that cant be dealt with here, but they all have the same result: a loss of clarity and/or introduction of ambiguity. If you apply the three Cs when writing your next paper, with an awareness of some of the traps that can lead to ambiguities or a loss of clarity, you will automatically improve your chances of getting your study published. If you also focus on removing any repetition and redundancy, and apply attention to detail to ensure that your meaning is clearly conveyed in each sentence, you will increase them further. As a general rule, it is a good idea to keep sentences simple, using shorter expressions wherever possible, rather than long, complicated and confusing. The slogan for the Beijing Olympics was One world, One dream; when it comes to scientific writing you should think One sentence, One idea. The simplest solution is always the best. Exercise Look at your most recent paper written in English and try to identify some of the errors described above. Post these examples on the forum as well as your suggested solutions to them. I look forward to seeing your efforts to correct these problems by applying the three Cs, and will offer comments on your solutions as well as offering a few of my own. Good luck! 练习 请各位检查一下近期自己写过的英语论文，回顾文中是否存在上述列举的错误。欢迎各位积极贴出典型的错误例句以及建议的修改方法，也期待大家应用上面说到的三C标准来纠正这些错误。我将逐一对大家修改好的例句进行回复，并列举出我自己遇到的此类问题。祝各位好运！ 在这里还需提请各位注意，Dr. McGowan 的母语是英语，无法阅读中文，因此请大家尽量使用英文回帖，如有任何需要与他沟通的学术和语言问题也请使用英语，Dr. McGowan 会及时回复大家的。 Dr. Daniel McGowan 曾任 Nature Reviews Neuroscience 副编辑，负责约稿，管理和撰写期刊内容。于2006年加入理文编辑（Edanz Group） 并从2008年起担任学术总监。Dr. Daniel McGowan 有超过十年的博士后和研究生阶段实验室研究经验，主要致力于神经退化疾病、分子及细胞生物学、蛋白质生物化学、蛋白质组学和基因组学。
标签: 常见错误
