I recently learned from a journal editor that 稿件的编辑加工是一个bottleneck. Since I have been involved in journal publication for more than 15 years, first as an author and now as an English editor, I would like to share some views based on my own (limited) experiences. To eliminate such a bottleneck, three steps are required: 1) good scientific writing skill, 2) good English editing assistance, and 3) professional copy-editing service (usually provided by the editorial office of the journal). In U.S., most authors (at least in my field) are able to write research manuscripts on their own (Step one). They generally do not seek English editing services, but some do (Step two). In fact, my current school used to have a part-time editor, paid by the school (so there is no charge for authors who use this service). I am not sure what is available now. As for Step three, it depends on journal. One society called the AMS offers professional copy-editing at no additional charge. In fact, they are hiring another copy-editor right now. Another society called the AGU does not care how poor the English reads, in the title, the abstract, or the main text. Somewhere at its Web site, it states typos are authors responsibility. Its embarrassing, but no one seems to care. Since English journals in China tend to have many contributing authors with little English writing training, my suggestions for Step one are as follows. 1) The journal can provide a list of English editors and companies that have demonstrated their capability in scientific writing and editing in these specific fields covered by the journals scope. I want to recommend Liwenbianji ( 理文 编 辑 ; http://www.liwenbianji.cn/home ), but a managing editor told me some authors were not too satisfied by the outcome. I suspect that it depends; fair enough. 2) The journal contracts a service provider that is willing to offer bulk rate. The cost is charged to the authors, who need such a service, 3) Some journals, including Nature, have their associated but separated editing services, such as the Nature Publishing Group Language Editing ( http://languageediting.nature.com/ ). I think its a good idea. The editorial office can hire a staff to oversee this group, using Ph.D. candidates in the field whose English is already quite good, plus a managing English editor to ensure the quality of the final products. (I know some Chinese students who can write reasonably well, and their skills improve quickly after seeing tracked editing on their own work.) The cost should come from the authors who use this service, which should cover the staff, and provide income for the students and the managing English editor. I was told 99% of authors can afford to pay page charges, but I dont know what percentage can afford this additional service, which can be as high as RMB 0.40/word (or USD 0.06/word). (To be continued.)
The magnitude of the challenge of slowing the rate of biodiversity loss is demonstrated by the fact that most of the direct drivers of biodiversity loss are projected to either remain constant or to increase in the near future. (p. 14 of Ecosystems and Human Well-being: B i o d i v e r s i t y S y n t h e s i s) Better prediction of the impacts of drivers on biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and ecosystem services, together with improved measures of biodiversity, would aid decision-making at all levels. (p. 16 of Ecosystems and Human Well-being: B i o d i v e r s i t y S y n t h e s i s) Note: These sample sentences are taken from A Report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, which was produced by a group of scientists along with an Extended Writing Team and Review Editors.
Note: please skip these (#s) when you first read this Blog. This is probably one of the (#1) hardest questions for even the (#2) native speakers. To find out the (#3) rules, I once took a paragraph from a manuscript and visited three native speakers: a British researcher, an American professor who writes very well, and a newsletter editor who can turn a research abstract into an article for laymen. So, what were the (#4) answers I received? If there are obvious rules about where to include or not to include the, then these people should hand me the (#5) same answer. Well, to my delight, their answers were all different. So, what can we learn from this little experiment? Do not worry too much about the, if you are a non-native author. There are hard (meaning solid) rules, which you can learn from books. However, the (#6) reviewers are unlikely to reject your manuscript simply because you got the(m) wrong at too many places. Pay attention to the six the-s I marked above, and send me your comments if you think I am wrong, which is possible. Send me your abstract if you want to know how many extra the-s you have put in, and how many you might have missed. Happy Blogging! p.s. Here is a useful rule: Leave it out, whenever you can. This rule can also be applied to anything we write, in English or in Chinese. No need to add any feet to a snake :) (Revised on Oct. 13th, 2009)
This article is written for you, if you have been told recently by a journal editor that your manuscript needs to be edited by a “native speaker.” You don’t need to read further, if you understand that here a “native speaker” has its specific meaning: it means a native speaker of English who also has some expertise in what you do and CAN write. We are all Chinese. (Ok, some of us are Chinese xxx, with different nationalities.) Most of us speak fluent Chinese, likely with some regional accent. Does that mean we all can write Chinese articles well? The answer is clearly NO. Not only that, a research paper on life science, written in Chinese by a scientist who is a native speaker of Chinese, often reads like Greek to a layman. It’s true that all “normal” British people are native speakers of British English. Most of them, however, cannot help you with your manuscript even if they have Ph.D. degrees. What you need is someone who knows how to write research papers well, preferably someone who has a good publication record in your field. Most importantly, you can learn how to write well yourself, if you are determined to do so! Updates: I became an English editor of a journal whose chief editor had some concerns about hiring me. This Blog helped him to make his decision, and I was hired.
Follow these steps to refine your figures: Design each figure by highlighting the features you want to share with your readers; Keep only whats necessary (panels, shadings, contours, labels, and writings); Arrange all the figures in a logic way. Test: You should be able to give a 15-min talk using these figures alone. The four goals of an illustration are precise, clear, fluid and familiar. Being Precise: A common mistake is a figure is much more complex than the text. Everything should be as simple as it can be, yet no simpler. --Albert Einstein Being Clear: A good figure has a well-written caption, which begins with a title phrase. Test: A well-written caption should provide enough information to stand alone. Being Fluid and familiar: Match the information in the text with that in the illustration; Use familiar units; Use consistent layout. You may read something like this in a paper: Figure 5 clearly shows (a brief statement). And you look at the figure, and wonder what the heck the authors are referring to Yes, this happens, but make sure it does not happen to your next paper J Do not assume the readers can see through your eyes; describe what you want others to see in words, sentences, and paragraphs if needed. Also see 科技论文的一个关键 by 贾伟 and 任胜利的博客 on 科技论文写作与投稿--PPT Before you submit the manuscript, you should revise it many times . You may feel bored. You may feel you are wasting time. However, revising is the key to strong scientific writing. Follow these steps to refine your manuscript: You need to obtain some distance from the current version. (Go for a long walk, go have a drink) You have to become a good reader, if you want to become a successful reviser. You should solicit criticism of your writing. As for how to revise the manuscript AFTER you have seen reviewers comments, it is a different matter. I hope to discuss this in future. References: The craft of scientific writing by Michael Alley (1987, 1996) Zuojun: This concludes the series. I will write about the English language itself next. Stay tuned.
Conclusions generally include a list of the key results from the papers middle, a discussion and a future perspective on the work. Do not define abbreviations again; Do not bring in new results or new ideas; Do not end the paper with a negative statement about the work; Avoid being too long (about 5%-10% of the length of the main text). Exception exists. When you need to have a thorough discussion on an issue, consider devoting an independent section (before the concluding one) and write to your hearts content. Back matter includes appendices and a bibliography. An appendix is a good place to show detailed information for a more technical audience. For bibliography , make sure you list relevant publications, the latest as well as the seminal ones. For detailed information on how to write discussion and conclusions, please visit 任胜利的博客 on 科技论文写作与投稿--PPT. References: The craft of scientific writing by Michael Alley (1987, 1996)
When a reader has come this far, he must be very interested in your work. Now, its up to you to keep his interest alive. You should Choose an appropriate strategy to describe your research; Create sections and subsections to guide your readers. Considering parallelism Example: 3.1 Relationship between currents and surface wind 3.2 Surface temperature and surface wind interactionNote: If we write Interaction between A and B, then it is parallel to the title of section 3.1. Provide transition 1. Transition between sections: Map the sections by using a list at the end of introduction. Smooth the entrances into sections by avoiding three common beginnings, namely an empty beginning, a too general beginning, or a too specific beginning. 2. Transition between paragraphs: Do not waste the first sentence to repeat what is said in the previous paragraph. 3. Transition between sentences: Finish describing one thing before starting another. Do not go back and forth. Provide emphasis You can use repetition, wording, illustration, and placement. Repetition: mentioning a particular result in the abstract, result section, and conclusion. Wording: using dependent clauses and infinitive phrases. because, since, as, although, when to filter out the high-frequency signal Finally, avoid writing Our results here are supported by Smith (1998). Its the other way around: These results support (or confirm) those by Smith (1998). References: The craft of scientific writing by Michael Alley (1987, 1996)
Introduction is where the author reviews what has been published by himself as well as by other people on the same (or a closely related) topic. To many people, introduction is the most difficult part of the paper to write. Therefore, one may want to outline it first (including a list of papers to be cited) and write it last (after you finish other parts of your manuscript). An introduction should answer the following questions: What exactly is the study about? Why is the study important? What is needed to understand the (new) work? How will the (new) work be presented? Note: If you need an abbreviation, define it first. (The one defined in the abstract does not count.) It is very important to clearly state which result was obtained by whom and when . As a reviewer and English editor of many journal manuscripts, there is nothing more confusing (and sometimes upsetting) when I cannot tell who did what. Many colleagues I talk to share the same view. So, unless you want to confuse (and even upset) your reviewers and readers, please write explicitly and give credit to yourself as well as to your colleagues where credit is due . Avoid introducing too many new citations after the introduction. So, collect as many citations as appropriate in the introduction, and group them using an outline (to make sure the ideas flow smoothly). Before you start the research project, you should have read all is available on the topic (to avoid repeating what has been done). Since some project may take more than a year or two, you need to do another round of quick literature research before you finalize your manuscript for submission. As a reviewer or English editor, I actually check the reference list to see if there is a lack of new publications. For more information, please visit 任胜利的博客 on 科技论文写作与投稿--PPT References: The craft of scientific writing by Michael Alley (1987, 1996)
This article is written for you, if you have been told recently by a journal editor that your manuscript needs to be edited by a native speaker. If you think you are paying for editing one manuscript, then you are only half correct. Why? Please let me explain. You can read many books about how to write a research paper, but you cannot write well unless you write it yourself, revise it (many times), and have it edited (either by an experienced co-author or colleague, or by an English editor who has a strong science background in a field close to yours). If you wrote the manuscript yourself, you would benefit most (more than your co-authors who did little writing), if you go over the tracked changes carefully. You should feel the manuscript reads more smoothly after being edited, and as a result your ideas and reasoning are better expressed. (If not, then you should try a different English editor next time.) You should try to understand why the editor made each change. If you don't understand why, you should ask the editor to explain it. (If he refuses, then you should try another English editor next time.) In addition, you should share this edited manuscript with your co-authors so they can learn as well. If you have students, let them study the edited manuscript. If you follow my advice, you will get your moneys worth. Zuojun: This is something I have learned from and shared with my clients. When my clients improve their English, I will receive a much better manuscript next time. Then, I can improve the writing further because revising (including editing) is the key to good writing.
I have never given a true public speech myself; say standing in front of 5,000 people in an anti-Iraq war rally. However, I did have to face 40 undergraduate students (mostly juniors and seniors) in a dimmed classroom many times. Teaching non-major students at U. Hawaii on Global Environmental Change is not an easy task. The experience gained in that classroom helps me to be a serious Blogger, I think. I have two rules for my Blog: one is to do no harm, and the other is to respect my viewers. I see no reason for me to get into a fight with my viewers publicly, though I think public debates are much needed on many issues. I want to write things that may help people in some way, not matter how small, such as learning how to write research papers in English, or recommending a good (either fun or thought-provoking) movie. I try to keep each article short, and I revise it many times before posting it. I think Blogging is like giving a public speech. The counter tells me how many times viewers have stopped by to read (or glance at) a particular article of mine (ok, minus 5 or 10 times since I need to revise it a few times after I have posted it). What you see at my Blog site is what you would hear standing in front of me, except that my English carries some Chinese accent. Happy Blogging!
This article is written for you, if you have been told recently by a journal editor that your manuscript needs to be edited by a native speaker. You may ask: Who are you to write such an article? Its true that I have never used any English editing service myself. My background (including my education and publication records) can be easily checked out if you google my full name. In short, I am writing this article as an English editor (freelancer). I intend to offer unbiased views, and welcome your comments in Chinese or English (email: zuojun@zuojunyu.com). I started my own editing company more than two years ago. Naturally, I pay close attention to what is out there in order to stay competitive. When a journal editor mentioned Liwenbianji ( 理文 编 辑; http://www.liwenbianji.cn/home ), I immediately checked it out. I was quite impressed: What Liweibianji offers is exactly what I wanted to or wish to offer! (However, I am a freelancer, and I am happy doing what I have been doing: one client at a time, expanding my business through word of mouth.) What is so impressive about Liwenbianji ( 理文 编 辑 )? It uses established scientists in various fields (including meteorology and oceanography; so there is a bit of competition with my own business). It lists each editors background in both English and Chinese. I strongly recommend you to use its service, if you can identify an editor in your field. To be fair to my other competitors in the editing business, you should also google search scientific editing, and you will find more than one million links out there. For English editing, you get 45 times that! All you need to do is to check out the links on the first two pages, and you will find a few professional companies. Which one to use? I suggest that you follow these steps: 1) Does the company list its editors with their background information (education and other track records)? 2) What is the cost? 3) Does the company accept payment in RMB (if you have difficulty getting USD)? A friend brought to my attention a company that mainly serves Chinese, called PaperTalks.org ( http://papertalks.org/p/e/Default.aspx ). It uses oversea Chinese as its editors (and clients). Each manuscript is edited first by the International Scientist and Expert Team, and then copy-edited by the U.S. Professional Editor Team. I suspect PaperTalks will have more clients than Liwenbianji, because its Chinese editors can reach out to their classmates and colleagues in China through word of mouth. The weakness is some of its Chinese editors are not yet well established in their fields (since some of them are still students or post docs). In the mean time, take advantage of what these companies offer for free. Go to their websites and learn as much as you can! As for me, if your manuscript is not about meteorology, oceanography, or environmental sciences, I dont think I want to get involved, RMB or USD
How to choose a strong title? A strong title offers two things: 1) the topic of the research; 2) its unique identity that is different from all other papers in the field. Test: Does it stand out from a computer search, say using Web of Science? How to find a strong title for a paper? Being precise (using the right words and appropriate level of accuracy); Using no more than three or four details; Avoiding being too long; Avoiding unfamiliar abbreviations. The abstract is to help readers to decide whether or not they need to read this paper. When you cannot find a concise title to separate your work from others, you can use the abstract to do so. Rules for using abbreviations in the abstract: Define only those that you will use in the abstract, not those you will use in the main text. For example: The sea-surface temperature (SST) in the eastern Pacific Ocean becomes abnormally warm every 3-5 years, known as the El Nino. The authors use SST data derived by satellite to show another El Nino is on the way. Note that the purpose for defining abbreviations is for speedy writing and reading. Avoid using confusing abbreviations, such as AS (just-in-time definition for Arabian Sea), NC (North China), etc. Just-in-time definition is what I prefer; however, most journals in my fields (oceanography and meteorology) still do not accept just-in-time definition. (Its time for evolution.) For more information, please visit 任胜利的博客 on 科技论文写作与投稿--PPT References: The craft of scientific writing by Michael Alley (1987, 1996)
This I Believe is an international project engaging people in writing and sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives . Over 60,000 of these essays, written by people from all walks of life , are archived here on our website, heard on public radio, chronicled through our books and television programming, and featured in weekly podcasts. The project is based on the popular 1950s radio series of the same name hosted by Edward R. Murrow. Source: This I Believe website. Zuojun: I have really enjoyed listening to many programs on the NPR (National Public Radio), where I first heard about this project. If you want to write an essay and submit it to the project, I will be glad to read it and offer my comments. My email is zuojun@zuojunyu.com.
If you know how to swim, you must have learned it in the water. The same is true for writing. You have to keep on writing in order to learn how to write well. If you are writing a paper of more than 3,000 words, you should consider putting together an outline first. An outline defines the logic flow of your paper. If you add titles for subsection, sub-subsection, and even sub-sub-subsection, you should see a well-paved path. If not, you need to revise it. Then, you can add bits and pieces to where they belong to. You may take out the sub-sub-subsection titles when you are ready to submit the manuscript. Here is an example (for a paper using a numerical ocean model and data assimilation technique): I. Introduction 1.0 Opening paragraph 1.1 Background (review publications) 1.1.1 Observational background 1.1.2 Theoretical background 1.1.3 Modeling background 1.2 Present research II. Methodology 2.1 Data 2.1.1 Atmospheric data 2.1.2 Air-sea flux data 2.1.3 Ocean data 2.1.3.1 Data used for assimilation 2.1.3.2 Data used for validation 2.2 Models 2.2.1 Model basics (equations, etc.) 2.2.2 Forcing field 2.2.3 Basin, resolution, and boundary conditions 2.2.4 Initial conditions 2.2.5 Output sampling and averaging III. Results 3.1 Main run 3.1.1 Mean state 3.1.2 Seasonal variability 3.1.3 Interannual variability 3.2 Sensitivity to winds 3.3 Sensitivity to mixing … IV. Summary and discussion 4.1 Summary 4.2 Discussion 4.2.1 Unresolved issues 4.2.2 Future work Remember: Scientific writing is hard work. Scientific writing is not science. Scientific writing is a craft. It is a skill that must be developed through practice, practice and more practice. References: The craft of scientific writing by Michael Alley (1987, 1996)
How to choose a nice template: Some of the templates under Blog in English are no good, due to the lack of tech support (as I was told). So, pretend that you were going to Blog in Chinese, and go use one of its broadband templates. You may need to manually add hard returns to truncate a sentence sometimes (say for your personal info), otherwise a block in the left column may go out of bound. How to upload a photo for your Blog page: To upload (or replace) a photo of yourself, its better to use Internet Explorer than Mozilla Firefox (as I was told). I guess Bill Gates still has more power over the internet than most of us. The tech support at the sciencenet is quite good, so do contact them for help. Happy Blogging!
When you think you have obtained enough new results for a paper, you can do what I did using the following three steps. Step 1: Gathering a set of figures. Design these figures with great care so that they can help you to tell a story; say, using them to give an informal, 25-min talk to a small group. This process itself may take weeks, depending on your project. Since I am an ocean modeler, I may have to add a few numerical experiments to make my story more convincing. You put these figures in the order they would appear in your manuscript. Make sure you keep on revising them, namely, by refining existing ones, adding new ones and taking out some old ones. The goal is to bring out the important features that you want your readers to see in each figure clearly. Step 2: Writing detailed captions. Though a picture may be worth a thousand words, a detailed caption is often needed for a research paper. Some people like to use a detailed caption (for a good reason as discussed next) so detailed that a reader can simply look at the figure and read the caption to understand what the author is trying to convey. Other people may prefer to use a brief caption and leave the detail in the main text, which is fine, too. If you prefer a brief caption, you should still try to write as much as you can about each figure at the initial stage of manuscript preparation. You can always move much of the “caption” to the main text later on. The good thing about this practice is when you are done with figures and captions, half of the paper is written! (You may go to Step 3 now, if you prefer a brief caption.) Why should one give sufficient details in the caption? I am sure that I am not the only scientist who reads a new paper in this order: title and abstract, followed by figures and captions (so detailed captions would benefit readers like me, and I am not alone), and finally the discussion and conclusions. After that, I may or may not read the rest of the paper. (Yes, it’s possible that I may not read beyond the abstract, not necessarily because the paper is poorly written, but because I’m simply not interested in the topic at the time.) Step 3: Giving an informal talk (in English, if you can). Though it may take a lot of time for you to put together a ppt presentation, it is worth it. The preparation process itself forces you to think hard about how to convince your audience (and later on your reviewers when you submit the manuscript) that your results are new and worth publishing. You should keep on thinking about how to tell a good story, to the point that you are able to flip through these slides in your mind. Do talk to yourself (in English, if you can), or to a colleague who is willing to listen. It does not matter if this colleague understands you or not; if he does, that is even better. (Some of my colleagues call this practice, the Janitor's Syndrome. I know this works for me when I am really stuck during my research, and I may suddenly get a new idea if I start to tell a friend about my difficulty, who may not even be a scientist.) Talking requires brain power, and may even stimulate one’s brain unexpectedly! (Revised on April 11, 2016) from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:20090211_thousand_words-01.jpg Go back to: “科学网大学”英文服务中心: 英文写作小贴士 http://blog.sciencenet.cn/home.php?mod=spaceuid=306792do=blogid=432195
English is not my mother tongue. Today, people say to me:”How did you learn to write so well?” I learned basic English in China, where I had the best English teacher of the whole school (Shangdong College of Oceanography, now Ocean University of China) and graduate school (Zhongshan University). Still, I could barely write (or talk) when I came to US in 1986. Now, I can write research papers with confidence, I have clients from Japan and Korea as well as China. If you are a beginner and want to publish research papers in English journals, please follow me chapter by chapter. I will help you so some day you can write research papers in English with confidence. In order to write (English) well, one must read, read and read. If you don’t have time for novels written in English, read publications in English on the topics you are most familiar with. It is other people’s writing you are reading now, but soon the words, phrases and sentences will become your own. This is how you acquire basic knowledge of English for writing. Remember: Rome was not built in one day, nor is one’s ability to write well in English. (Revised on April 11, 2016)
Check Your English Vocabulary for Medicine (Check Your English Vocabulary series) Updated to include new terms and references, this workbook helps nonnative English speakers improve their knowledge and understanding of core medical terminology. Students, nurses, doctors, and other medical staff can test and build their medical English vocabulary with a combination of self-study exercises, practical speaking activities, and amusing crosswords, puzzles, and word games. Ideal for home and class-based study, these exercises ensure that language is not a barrier for medical professionals whose first language is not English. download: Check Your English Vocabulary for Medicine
标签: English
