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Impressive Academic Phrases for Writing Manuscripts

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If you are a graduate student or a researcher, you definitely know the challenges involved in composing academic documents. Right from the abstract to the conclusion, every section must follow a logical structure. Using appropriate language, tense, voice, and perspective to present your ideas is very important. As a good practice, researchers prior to writing a manuscript extensively read previously published literature. However, scanning for the right phrases and then using them as templates to fill in data obtained from their work can be extremely time-consuming! In the following article we present to you a “quick reference guide for impressive academic phrases”. Collated from hundreds of published manuscripts, these frequently used academic phrases are tailored to what every section of your article should achieve.

Benefits of Using Tailor-made Academic Phrases

  • Using these phrases will simplify your writing process. You can invest your time and efforts for something more productive.
  • These phrases will help you write in a clear and concise manner.
  • Ready-made phrases can expedite your process of organizing your data in a logical manner.
  • There are far less chances of plagiarism as these are generic phrases that find acceptance across all disciplines.
  • Editors and peer reviewers may find it easier to run through your data when expressed using standard or conventional phrases. This may assist in speeding up the review process and increasing your chances of a faster publication.
  • Think about your target audience – busy researchers and academicians! They will surely enjoy reading a manuscript that is crisp and engaging.
  • Structure of a manuscript is paramount! These phrases may also help you create a logical framework for your data.

Abstract is that element of a manuscript that convinces your reader why your article is worth reading. It is like a miniature article that clearly states the objectives and briefly explains all your key findings.

XYZ is the primary/main/leading/major cause of… XYZ is /are attracting considerable interest/gaining widespread attention due to… An intriguing/important/challenging aspect of XYZ is… As far as we know/to our knowledge this is the first study/no previous research has investigated… Very few studies have investigated/have shown/examined/focused on… One approach /alternative approach to solve these problems… The aim /overall objective/ultimate goal of… This paper reports/outlines/proposes/describes/presents a novel approach.. This manuscript examines/focusses on/addresses/investigates/sheds light on how to.. The aim of this study/work/research was to broaden/widen/extend/further the current knowledge about… Here, we describe/present a simple/novel/radical/effective/interesting solution for

Introduction and literature review

This section focuses on – what did you investigate and why it is important? Consequently, you have to provide some background information and thereafter introduce the aims or arguments of the paper.

An ever-increasing body of literatures shows that.. Very recently, XYZ have provided new evidences for… Several studies have hypothesized /proposed/put forward.. In recent years, there has been growing/considerable interest in… The last few years has witnessed/ seen a huge growth in XYZ. This study constitutes a relatively new area of research which has emerged from… In order to elucidate/reveal/understand the XYZ mechanism… For several years, researchers have been focusing on XYZ in an attempt to understand… To address these three gaps in research outlined above, we formulated the following research question… Overall, this review paper puts an emphasis on… Preliminary/ initial studies on XYZ primarily focused on… An increase/decrease in factor X was first reported/noted/identified by… Several studies, for instance [1], [4], and [9]  have suggested/highlighted/revealed/proposed/demonstrated…. XYZ et al. calculated/analyzed/estimated… ABC traced the developments/advancements /evolution of XYZ… PQR  maintains/suggests/underlines/argues/suggests that… Few authors have also suggested that… Although there are several studies consistent with XYZ , no study has till date examined… Previous studies reported by [A], [B] and [C] cannot be considered conclusive as…. Studies by XYZ have led to a more profound understanding of… Only a few studies in literature demonstrate… To fill this gap in literature, this manuscript/paper identifies… To develop/establish a novel/effective alternative… Our findings might be useful/vital/crucial for developing a simple/effective/cost-effective…method for.. Despite several reviews in the literature that address the importance of XYZ none of the recently published articles have comprehensively discussed the important roles of… While XYZ is well documented in literature ([1],[5],[8],[16]), to date, no research has… However, we argue that the reported literature suffers from certain limitations…

Materials and Methods

This sections provides details about the study site, organisms studies, experimental design, and computational or statistical methods used to analyze the data.

In our preliminary experiments, we determined that… This phenomenon was experimentally investigated by… The principle focus of this experiment was to calculate… The XYZ strain used in this study was kindly supplied by… Statistical analyses were performed by using … test with a significance level of … Data analysis (regression analysis/correlation studies) and graphical representations were performed using…

Results and Discussion

This section discusses all the outcomes relevant to the research question. One needs to highlight the significance of the results and indicate whether your findings support or reject the hypothesis.

When analyzing the data, we applied XYZ technique and… The current study confirmed the findings/found clear support for the… Our results demonstrated/found evidence that… From the results it is evident/clear that… Moreover, the results of the empirical studies showed that… Additionally, researchers have found a positive/negative relationship/correlation between… These findings/results are consistent/in line/in accordance with… in addition we assessed…, the findings revealed significant differences in… On the contrary, very few studies have reported… Equally important is the fact that there is strong correlation between… The limitations of the present study include… Although widely accepted, this method suffers from certain limitations .. It is interesting to note that… Further investigation/studies are required to precisely/accurately understand/elucidate… In addition to these findings, the results of our previous studies demonstrate…

Conclusions

The conclusions section highlights all the important trends and comparisons identified in the study. It also states the limitations as well as future recommendations to carry out subsequent research.

XYZ has shown promising results and thus could be a powerful technique/tool/method for… These findings could provide new insights into… The significant benefits/key contributions/main achievements of this study can be summarized as.. We believe that XYZ merits further research to discover/explore… and potential for… Also this remains a subject for future studies/experiments. Although further investigations are needed, the present study contributes to a better understanding/characterization of… In this review/article we addressed the current progress and challenges in… Nevertheless, there are still critical challenges regarding.. Furthermore, XYZ is a domain where much remains to be studied… As a final remark, it is also vital to mention…

We hope these academic phrases will assist you in the logical development of your manuscript and making it impactful. Let us know your feedback in the comments section below!

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phrases to use in scientific writing

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Effective Writing

To construct sentences that reflect your ideas, focus these sentences appropriately. Express one idea per sentence. Use your current topic — that is, what you are writing about — as the grammatical subject of your sentence (see Verbs: Choosing between active and passive voice ). When writing a complex sentence (a sentence that includes several clauses), place the main idea in the main clause rather than a subordinate clause. In particular, focus on the phenomenon at hand, not on the fact that you observed it.

Constructing your sentences logically is a good start, but it may not be enough. To ensure they are readable, make sure your sentences do not tax readers' short-term memory by obliging these readers to remember long pieces of text before knowing what to do with them. In other words, keep together what goes together. Then, work on conciseness: See whether you can replace long phrases with shorter ones or eliminate words without loss of clarity or accuracy.

The following screens cover the drafting process in more detail. Specifically, they discuss how to use verbs effectively and how to take care of your text's mechanics.

Shutterstock. Much of the strength of a clause comes from its verb. Therefore, to express your ideas accurately, choose an appropriate verb and use it well. In particular, use it in the right tense, choose carefully between active and passive voice, and avoid dangling verb forms.

Verbs are for describing actions, states, or occurrences. To give a clause its full strength and keep it short, do not bury the action, state, or occurrence in a noun (typically combined with a weak verb), as in "The catalyst produced a significant increase in conversion rate." Instead write, "The catalyst increased the conversion rate significantly." The examples below show how an action, state, or occurrence can be moved from a noun back to a verb.

Using the right tense

In your scientific paper, use verb tenses (past, present, and future) exactly as you would in ordinary writing. Use the past tense to report what happened in the past: what you did, what someone reported, what happened in an experiment, and so on. Use the present tense to express general truths, such as conclusions (drawn by you or by others) and atemporal facts (including information about what the paper does or covers). Reserve the future tense for perspectives: what you will do in the coming months or years. Typically, most of your sentences will be in the past tense, some will be in the present tense, and very few, if any, will be in the future tense.

Work done We collected blood samples from . . . Groves et al. determined the growth rate of . . . Consequently, astronomers decided to rename . . . Work reported Jankowsky reported a similar growth rate . . . In 2009, Chu published an alternative method to . . . Irarrázaval observed the opposite behavior in . . . Observations The mice in Group A developed , on average, twice as much . . . The number of defects increased sharply . . . The conversion rate was close to 95% . . .

Present tense

General truths Microbes in the human gut have a profound influence on . . . The Reynolds number provides a measure of . . . Smoking increases the risk of coronary heart disease . . . Atemporal facts This paper presents the results of . . . Section 3.1 explains the difference between . . . Behbood's 1969 paper provides a framework for . . .

Future tense

Perspectives In a follow-up experiment, we will study the role of . . . The influence of temperature will be the object of future research . . .

Note the difference in scope between a statement in the past tense and the same statement in the present tense: "The temperature increased linearly over time" refers to a specific experiment, whereas "The temperature increases linearly over time" generalizes the experimental observation, suggesting that the temperature always increases linearly over time in such circumstances.

In complex sentences, you may have to combine two different tenses — for example, "In 1905, Albert Einstein postulated that the speed of light is constant . . . . " In this sentence, postulated refers to something that happened in the past (in 1905) and is therefore in the past tense, whereas is expresses a general truth and is in the present tense.

Choosing between active and passive voice

In English, verbs can express an action in one of two voices. The active voice focuses on the agent: "John measured the temperature." (Here, the agent — John — is the grammatical subject of the sentence.) In contrast, the passive voice focuses on the object that is acted upon: "The temperature was measured by John." (Here, the temperature, not John, is the grammatical subject of the sentence.)

To choose between active and passive voice, consider above all what you are discussing (your topic) and place it in the subject position. For example, should you write "The preprocessor sorts the two arrays" or "The two arrays are sorted by the preprocessor"? If you are discussing the preprocessor, the first sentence is the better option. In contrast, if you are discussing the arrays, the second sentence is better. If you are unsure what you are discussing, consider the surrounding sentences: Are they about the preprocessor or the two arrays?

The desire to be objective in scientific writing has led to an overuse of the passive voice, often accompanied by the exclusion of agents: "The temperature was measured " (with the verb at the end of the sentence). Admittedly, the agent is often irrelevant: No matter who measured the temperature, we would expect its value to be the same. However, a systematic preference for the passive voice is by no means optimal, for at least two reasons.

For one, sentences written in the passive voice are often less interesting or more difficult to read than those written in the active voice. A verb in the active voice does not require a person as the agent; an inanimate object is often appropriate. For example, the rather uninteresting sentence "The temperature was measured . . . " may be replaced by the more interesting "The measured temperature of 253°C suggests a secondary reaction in . . . ." In the second sentence, the subject is still temperature (so the focus remains the same), but the verb suggests is in the active voice. Similarly, the hard-to-read sentence "In this section, a discussion of the influence of the recirculating-water temperature on the conversion rate of . . . is presented " (long subject, verb at the end) can be turned into "This section discusses the influence of . . . . " The subject is now section , which is what this sentence is really about, yet the focus on the discussion has been maintained through the active-voice verb discusses .

As a second argument against a systematic preference for the passive voice, readers sometimes need people to be mentioned. A sentence such as "The temperature is believed to be the cause for . . . " is ambiguous. Readers will want to know who believes this — the authors of the paper, or the scientific community as a whole? To clarify the sentence, use the active voice and set the appropriate people as the subject, in either the third or the first person, as in the examples below.

Biologists believe the temperature to be . . . Keustermans et al. (1997) believe the temperature to be . . . The authors believe the temperature to be . . . We believe the temperature to be . . .

Avoiding dangling verb forms

A verb form needs a subject, either expressed or implied. When the verb is in a non-finite form, such as an infinitive ( to do ) or a participle ( doing ), its subject is implied to be the subject of the clause, or sometimes the closest noun phrase. In such cases, construct your sentences carefully to avoid suggesting nonsense. Consider the following two examples.

To dissect its brain, the affected fly was mounted on a . . . After aging for 72 hours at 50°C, we observed a shift in . . .

Here, the first sentence implies that the affected fly dissected its own brain, and the second implies that the authors of the paper needed to age for 72 hours at 50°C in order to observe the shift. To restore the intended meaning while keeping the infinitive to dissect or the participle aging , change the subject of each sentence as appropriate:

To dissect its brain, we mounted the affected fly on a . . . After aging for 72 hours at 50°C, the samples exhibited a shift in . . .

Alternatively, you can change or remove the infinitive or participle to restore the intended meaning:

To have its brain dissected , the affected fly was mounted on a . . . After the samples aged for 72 hours at 50°C, we observed a shift in . . .

In communication, every detail counts. Although your focus should be on conveying your message through an appropriate structure at all levels, you should also save some time to attend to the more mechanical aspects of writing in English, such as using abbreviations, writing numbers, capitalizing words, using hyphens when needed, and punctuating your text correctly.

Using abbreviations

Beware of overusing abbreviations, especially acronyms — such as GNP for gold nanoparticles . Abbreviations help keep a text concise, but they can also render it cryptic. Many acronyms also have several possible extensions ( GNP also stands for gross national product ).

Write acronyms (and only acronyms) in all uppercase ( GNP , not gnp ).

Introduce acronyms systematically the first time they are used in a document. First write the full expression, then provide the acronym in parentheses. In the full expression, and unless the journal to which you submit your paper uses a different convention, capitalize the letters that form the acronym: "we prepared Gold NanoParticles (GNP) by . . . " These capitals help readers quickly recognize what the acronym designates.

  • Do not use capitals in the full expression when you are not introducing an acronym: "we prepared gold nanoparticles by… "
  • As a more general rule, use first what readers know or can understand best, then put in parentheses what may be new to them. If the acronym is better known than the full expression, as may be the case for techniques such as SEM or projects such as FALCON, consider placing the acronym first: "The FALCON (Fission-Activated Laser Concept) program at…"
  • In the rare case that an acronym is commonly known, you might not need to introduce it. One example is DNA in the life sciences. When in doubt, however, introduce the acronym.

In papers, consider the abstract as a stand-alone document. Therefore, if you use an acronym in both the abstract and the corresponding full paper, introduce that acronym twice: the first time you use it in the abstract and the first time you use it in the full paper. However, if you find that you use an acronym only once or twice after introducing it in your abstract, the benefit of it is limited — consider avoiding the acronym and using the full expression each time (unless you think some readers know the acronym better than the full expression).

Writing numbers

In general, write single-digit numbers (zero to nine) in words, as in three hours , and multidigit numbers (10 and above) in numerals, as in 24 hours . This rule has many exceptions, but most of them are reasonably intuitive, as shown hereafter.

Use numerals for numbers from zero to nine

  • when using them with abbreviated units ( 3 mV );
  • in dates and times ( 3 October , 3 pm );
  • to identify figures and other items ( Figure 3 );
  • for consistency when these numbers are mixed with larger numbers ( series of 3, 7, and 24 experiments ).

Use words for numbers above 10 if these numbers come at the beginning of a sentence or heading ("Two thousand eight was a challenging year for . . . "). As an alternative, rephrase the sentence to avoid this issue altogether ("The year 2008 was challenging for . . . " ) .

Capitalizing words

Capitals are often overused. In English, use initial capitals

  • at beginnings: the start of a sentence, of a heading, etc.;
  • for proper nouns, including nouns describing groups (compare physics and the Physics Department );
  • for items identified by their number (compare in the next figure and in Figure 2 ), unless the journal to which you submit your paper uses a different convention;
  • for specific words: names of days ( Monday ) and months ( April ), adjectives of nationality ( Algerian ), etc.

In contrast, do not use initial capitals for common nouns: Resist the temptation to glorify a concept, technique, or compound with capitals. For example, write finite-element method (not Finite-Element Method ), mass spectrometry (not Mass Spectrometry ), carbon dioxide (not Carbon Dioxide ), and so on, unless you are introducing an acronym (see Mechanics: Using abbreviations ).

Using hyphens

Punctuating text.

Punctuation has many rules in English; here are three that are often a challenge for non-native speakers.

As a rule, insert a comma between the subject of the main clause and whatever comes in front of it, no matter how short, as in "Surprisingly, the temperature did not increase." This comma is not always required, but it often helps and never hurts the meaning of a sentence, so it is good practice.

In series of three or more items, separate items with commas ( red, white, and blue ; yesterday, today, or tomorrow ). Do not use a comma for a series of two items ( black and white ).

In displayed lists, use the same punctuation as you would in normal text (but consider dropping the and ).

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The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

What this handout is about

Nearly every element of style that is accepted and encouraged in general academic writing is also considered good practice in scientific writing. The major difference between science writing and writing in other academic fields is the relative importance placed on certain stylistic elements. This handout details the most critical aspects of scientific writing and provides some strategies for evaluating and improving your scientific prose. Readers of this handout may also find our handout on scientific reports useful.

What is scientific writing?

There are several different kinds of writing that fall under the umbrella of scientific writing. Scientific writing can include:

  • Peer-reviewed journal articles (presenting primary research)
  • Grant proposals (you can’t do science without funding)
  • Literature review articles (summarizing and synthesizing research that has already been carried out)

As a student in the sciences, you are likely to spend some time writing lab reports, which often follow the format of peer-reviewed articles and literature reviews. Regardless of the genre, though, all scientific writing has the same goal: to present data and/or ideas with a level of detail that allows a reader to evaluate the validity of the results and conclusions based only on the facts presented. The reader should be able to easily follow both the methods used to generate the data (if it’s a primary research paper) and the chain of logic used to draw conclusions from the data. Several key elements allow scientific writers to achieve these goals:

  • Precision: ambiguities in writing cause confusion and may prevent a reader from grasping crucial aspects of the methodology and synthesis
  • Clarity: concepts and methods in the sciences can often be complex; writing that is difficult to follow greatly amplifies any confusion on the part of the reader
  • Objectivity: any claims that you make need to be based on facts, not intuition or emotion

How can I make my writing more precise?

Theories in the sciences are based upon precise mathematical models, specific empirical (primary) data sets, or some combination of the two. Therefore, scientists must use precise, concrete language to evaluate and explain such theories, whether mathematical or conceptual. There are a few strategies for avoiding ambiguous, imprecise writing.

Word and phrasing choice

Often several words may convey similar meaning, but usually only one word is most appropriate in a given context. Here’s an example:

  • Word choice 1: “population density is positively correlated with disease transmission rate”
  • Word choice 2: “population density is positively related to disease transmission rate”

In some contexts, “correlated” and “related” have similar meanings. But in scientific writing, “correlated” conveys a precise statistical relationship between two variables. In scientific writing, it is typically not enough to simply point out that two variables are related: the reader will expect you to explain the precise nature of the relationship (note: when using “correlation,” you must explain somewhere in the paper how the correlation was estimated). If you mean “correlated,” then use the word “correlated”; avoid substituting a less precise term when a more precise term is available.

This same idea also applies to choice of phrasing. For example, the phrase “writing of an investigative nature” could refer to writing in the sciences, but might also refer to a police report. When presented with a choice, a more specific and less ambiguous phraseology is always preferable. This applies even when you must be repetitive to maintain precision: repetition is preferable to ambiguity. Although repetition of words or phrases often happens out of necessity, it can actually be beneficial by placing special emphasis on key concepts.

Figurative language

Figurative language can make for interesting and engaging casual reading but is by definition imprecise. Writing “experimental subjects were assaulted with a wall of sound” does not convey the precise meaning of “experimental subjects were presented with 20 second pulses of conspecific mating calls.” It’s difficult for a reader to objectively evaluate your research if details are left to the imagination, so exclude similes and metaphors from your scientific writing.

Level of detail

Include as much detail as is necessary, but exclude extraneous information. The reader should be able to easily follow your methodology, results, and logic without being distracted by irrelevant facts and descriptions. Ask yourself the following questions when you evaluate the level of detail in a paper:

  • Is the rationale for performing the experiment clear (i.e., have you shown that the question you are addressing is important and interesting)?
  • Are the materials and procedures used to generate the results described at a level of detail that would allow the experiment to be repeated?
  • Is the rationale behind the choice of experimental methods clear? Will the reader understand why those particular methods are appropriate for answering the question your research is addressing?
  • Will the reader be able to follow the chain of logic used to draw conclusions from the data?

Any information that enhances the reader’s understanding of the rationale, methodology, and logic should be included, but information in excess of this (or information that is redundant) will only confuse and distract the reader.

Whenever possible, use quantitative rather than qualitative descriptions. A phrase that uses definite quantities such as “development rate in the 30°C temperature treatment was ten percent faster than development rate in the 20°C temperature treatment” is much more precise than the more qualitative phrase “development rate was fastest in the higher temperature treatment.”

How can I make my writing clearer?

When you’re writing about complex ideas and concepts, it’s easy to get sucked into complex writing. Distilling complicated ideas into simple explanations is challenging, but you’ll need to acquire this valuable skill to be an effective communicator in the sciences. Complexities in language use and sentence structure are perhaps the most common issues specific to writing in the sciences.

Language use

When given a choice between a familiar and a technical or obscure term, the more familiar term is preferable if it doesn’t reduce precision. Here are a just a few examples of complex words and their simple alternatives:

In these examples, the term on the right conveys the same meaning as the word on the left but is more familiar and straightforward, and is often shorter as well.

There are some situations where the use of a technical or obscure term is justified. For example, in a paper comparing two different viral strains, the author might repeatedly use the word “enveloped” rather than the phrase “surrounded by a membrane.” The key word here is “repeatedly”: only choose the less familiar term if you’ll be using it more than once. If you choose to go with the technical term, however, make sure you clearly define it, as early in the paper as possible. You can use this same strategy to determine whether or not to use abbreviations, but again you must be careful to define the abbreviation early on.

Sentence structure

Science writing must be precise, and precision often requires a fine level of detail. Careful description of objects, forces, organisms, methodology, etc., can easily lead to complex sentences that express too many ideas without a break point. Here’s an example:

The osmoregulatory organ, which is located at the base of the third dorsal spine on the outer margin of the terminal papillae and functions by expelling excess sodium ions, activates only under hypertonic conditions.

Several things make this sentence complex. First, the action of the sentence (activates) is far removed from the subject (the osmoregulatory organ) so that the reader has to wait a long time to get the main idea of the sentence. Second, the verbs “functions,” “activates,” and “expelling” are somewhat redundant. Consider this revision:

Located on the outer margin of the terminal papillae at the base of the third dorsal spine, the osmoregulatory organ expels excess sodium ions under hypertonic conditions.

This sentence is slightly shorter, conveys the same information, and is much easier to follow. The subject and the action are now close together, and the redundant verbs have been eliminated. You may have noticed that even the simpler version of this sentence contains two prepositional phrases strung together (“on the outer margin of…” and “at the base of…”). Prepositional phrases themselves are not a problem; in fact, they are usually required to achieve an adequate level of detail in science writing. However, long strings of prepositional phrases can cause sentences to wander. Here’s an example of what not to do from Alley (1996):

“…to confirm the nature of electrical breakdown of nitrogen in uniform fields at relatively high pressures and interelectrode gaps that approach those obtained in engineering practice, prior to the determination of the processes that set the criterion for breakdown in the above-mentioned gases and mixtures in uniform and non-uniform fields of engineering significance.”

The use of eleven (yes, eleven!) prepositional phrases in this sentence is excessive, and renders the sentence nearly unintelligible. Judging when a string of prepositional phrases is too long is somewhat subjective, but as a general rule of thumb, a single prepositional phrase is always preferable, and anything more than two strung together can be problematic.

Nearly every form of scientific communication is space-limited. Grant proposals, journal articles, and abstracts all have word or page limits, so there’s a premium on concise writing. Furthermore, adding unnecessary words or phrases distracts rather than engages the reader. Avoid generic phrases that contribute no novel information. Common phrases such as “the fact that,” “it should be noted that,” and “it is interesting that” are cumbersome and unnecessary. Your reader will decide whether or not your paper is interesting based on the content. In any case, if information is not interesting or noteworthy it should probably be excluded.

How can I make my writing more objective?

The objective tone used in conventional scientific writing reflects the philosophy of the scientific method: if results are not repeatable, then they are not valid. In other words, your results will only be considered valid if any researcher performing the same experimental tests and analyses that you describe would be able to produce the same results. Thus, scientific writers try to adopt a tone that removes the focus from the researcher and puts it only on the research itself. Here are several stylistic conventions that enhance objectivity:

Passive voice

You may have been told at some point in your academic career that the use of the passive voice is almost always bad, except in the sciences. The passive voice is a sentence structure where the subject who performs the action is ambiguous (e.g., “you may have been told,” as seen in the first sentence of this paragraph; see our handout on passive voice and this 2-minute video on passive voice for a more complete discussion).

The rationale behind using the passive voice in scientific writing is that it enhances objectivity, taking the actor (i.e., the researcher) out of the action (i.e., the research). Unfortunately, the passive voice can also lead to awkward and confusing sentence structures and is generally considered less engaging (i.e., more boring) than the active voice. This is why most general style guides recommend only sparing use of the passive voice.

Currently, the active voice is preferred in most scientific fields, even when it necessitates the use of “I” or “we.” It’s perfectly reasonable (and more simple) to say “We performed a two-tailed t-test” rather than to say “a two-tailed t-test was performed,” or “in this paper we present results” rather than “results are presented in this paper.” Nearly every current edition of scientific style guides recommends the active voice, but different instructors (or journal editors) may have different opinions on this topic. If you are unsure, check with the instructor or editor who will review your paper to see whether or not to use the passive voice. If you choose to use the active voice with “I” or “we,” there are a few guidelines to follow:

  • Avoid starting sentences with “I” or “we”: this pulls focus away from the scientific topic at hand.
  • Avoid using “I” or “we” when you’re making a conjecture, whether it’s substantiated or not. Everything you say should follow from logic, not from personal bias or subjectivity. Never use any emotive words in conjunction with “I” or “we” (e.g., “I believe,” “we feel,” etc.).
  • Never use “we” in a way that includes the reader (e.g., “here we see trait evolution in action”); the use of “we” in this context sets a condescending tone.

Acknowledging your limitations

Your conclusions should be directly supported by the data that you present. Avoid making sweeping conclusions that rest on assumptions that have not been substantiated by your or others’ research. For example, if you discover a correlation between fur thickness and basal metabolic rate in rats and mice you would not necessarily conclude that fur thickness and basal metabolic rate are correlated in all mammals. You might draw this conclusion, however, if you cited evidence that correlations between fur thickness and basal metabolic rate are also found in twenty other mammalian species. Assess the generality of the available data before you commit to an overly general conclusion.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Alley, Michael. 1996. The Craft of Scientific Writing , 3rd ed. New York: Springer.

Council of Science Editors. 2014. Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers , 8th ed. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press.

Day, Robert A. 1994. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper , 4th ed. Phoenix: Oryx Press.

Day, Robert, and Nancy Sakaduski. 2011. Scientific English: A Guide for Scientists and Other Professionals , 3rd ed. Santa Barbara: Greenwood.

Gartland, John J. 1993. Medical Writing and Communicating . Frederick, MD: University Publishing Group.

Williams, Joseph M., and Joseph Bizup. 2016. Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace , 12th ed. New York: Pearson.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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100+ Research Vocabulary Words & Phrases

phrases to use in scientific writing

The academic community can be conservative when it comes to enforcing academic writing style , but your writing shouldn’t be so boring that people lose interest midway through the first paragraph! Given that competition is at an all-time high for academics looking to publish their papers, we know you must be anxious about what you can do to improve your publishing odds.

To be sure, your research must be sound, your paper must be structured logically, and the different manuscript sections must contain the appropriate information. But your research must also be clearly explained. Clarity obviously depends on the correct use of English, and there are many common mistakes that you should watch out for, for example when it comes to articles , prepositions , word choice , and even punctuation . But even if you are on top of your grammar and sentence structure, you can still make your writing more compelling (or more boring) by using powerful verbs and phrases (vs the same weaker ones over and over). So, how do you go about achieving the latter?

Below are a few ways to breathe life into your writing.

1. Analyze Vocabulary Using Word Clouds

Have you heard of “Wordles”? A Wordle is a visual representation of words, with the size of each word being proportional to the number of times it appears in the text it is based on. The original company website seems to have gone out of business, but there are a number of free word cloud generation sites that allow you to copy and paste your draft manuscript into a text box to quickly discover how repetitive your writing is and which verbs you might want to replace to improve your manuscript.

Seeing a visual word cloud of your work might also help you assess the key themes and points readers will glean from your paper. If the Wordle result displays words you hadn’t intended to emphasize, then that’s a sign you should revise your paper to make sure readers will focus on the right information.

As an example, below is a Wordle of our article entitled, “ How to Choose the Best title for Your Journal Manuscript .” You can see how frequently certain terms appear in that post, based on the font size of the text. The keywords, “titles,” “journal,” “research,” and “papers,” were all the intended focus of our blog post.

research words and phrases word cloud

2. Study Language Patterns of Similarly Published Works

Study the language pattern found in the most downloaded and cited articles published by your target journal. Understanding the journal’s editorial preferences will help you write in a style that appeals to the publication’s readership.

Another way to analyze the language of a target journal’s papers is to use Wordle (see above). If you copy and paste the text of an article related to your research topic into the applet, you can discover the common phrases and terms the paper’s authors used.

For example, if you were writing a paper on  links between smoking and cancer , you might look for a recent review on the topic, preferably published by your target journal. Copy and paste the text into Wordle and examine the key phrases to see if you’ve included similar wording in your own draft. The Wordle result might look like the following, based on the example linked above.

research words and phrases word cloud, cancer study

If you are not sure yet where to publish and just want some generally good examples of descriptive verbs, analytical verbs, and reporting verbs that are commonly used in academic writing, then have a look at this list of useful phrases for research papers .

3. Use More Active and Precise Verbs

Have you heard of synonyms? Of course you have. But have you looked beyond single-word replacements and rephrased entire clauses with stronger, more vivid ones? You’ll find this task is easier to do if you use the active voice more often than the passive voice . Even if you keep your original sentence structure, you can eliminate weak verbs like “be” from your draft and choose more vivid and precise action verbs. As always, however, be careful about using only a thesaurus to identify synonyms. Make sure the substitutes fit the context in which you need a more interesting or “perfect” word. Online dictionaries such as the Merriam-Webster and the Cambridge Dictionary are good sources to check entire phrases in context in case you are unsure whether a synonym is a good match for a word you want to replace. 

To help you build a strong arsenal of commonly used phrases in academic papers, we’ve compiled a list of synonyms you might want to consider when drafting or editing your research paper . While we do not suggest that the phrases in the “Original Word/Phrase” column should be completely avoided, we do recommend interspersing these with the more dynamic terms found under “Recommended Substitutes.”

A. Describing the scope of a current project or prior research

B. outlining a topic’s background, c. describing the analytical elements of a paper, d. discussing results, e. discussing methods, f. explaining the impact of new research, wordvice writing resources.

For additional information on how to tighten your sentences (e.g., eliminate wordiness and use active voice to greater effect), you can try Wordvice’s FREE APA Citation Generator and learn more about how to proofread and edit your paper to ensure your work is free of errors.

Before submitting your manuscript to academic journals, be sure to use our free AI proofreader to catch errors in grammar, spelling, and mechanics. And use our English editing services from Wordvice, including academic editing services , cover letter editing , manuscript editing , and research paper editing services to make sure your work is up to a high academic level.

We also have a collection of other useful articles for you, for example on how to strengthen your writing style , how to avoid fillers to write more powerful sentences , and how to eliminate prepositions and avoid nominalizations . Additionally, get advice on all the other important aspects of writing a research paper on our academic resources pages .

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The main aim of a scientific paper is to communicate the work that has been carried out and the results that were obtained. However, simply robotically listing methods and findings is likely to put a reader off and reduce their engagement with your work, even if it makes an important contribution to the field.

One common way to improve the flow of a paper  is by linking, contrasting or just introducing your sentences with some common words or phrases . However, many of these words or phrases are often misunderstood and misused, particularly by those whose first language isn’t English ; there are also a few that should preferably be avoided altogether. This article takes a look at some of the most common such words and phrases and gives a few pointers for avoiding their pitfalls.

Continuations

If you’d like to add more information to a sentence but extending it would make it too long , then you can use a continuing word or phrase instead, such as:

The measured decrease in density suggested a significant loss of mass. Furthermore , this was also confirmed by the spectrometry results.

The word ‘ furthermore ’ usually indicates a simple addition of information. Here, you could also use ‘ additionally ’, ‘ in addition ’ or simply ‘ further ’. 

The word ‘ moreover ’ can be used in a very similar way, but it is worth noting that this can also imply that what follows reinforces the previous sentence , perhaps suggesting that it may be even more important:

To replicate these experiments would be difficult. Moreover , it would serve no practical purpose.

In scientific papers, it can be common to misuse ‘ at the same time ’ or ‘ meanwhile ’ as simple continuations similar to those above. Informally, they can both be used in this manner, but i n a scientific context, it is better if they are only used literally , i.e. meaning ‘simultaneously’:

During the reaction, a large peak appeared in the spectrum. At the same time , the pressure in the chamber increased by a factor of two.

The word ‘ however ’ is a very common way to highlight a contrast between two pieces of information:

Almost all the samples survived the impact intact. However , one shattered completely.

Other words and phrases can be applied in similar ways. For example, ‘ nonetheless ’ can be used to mean ‘despite what has just been said’:

The overall efficiency of this method is low. Nonetheless , it remains a popular approach to the problem.

The word ‘ nevertheless ’ has the same meaning as ‘nonetheless’, and they can be used interchangeably. A slightly less formal but acceptable way of saying this is ‘ even so ’. 

However, you should preferably avoid using words like ‘ anyhow ’, ‘ still ’ or ‘ all the same ’ in the same way, as they are a bit too informal.

The phrase ‘ in contrast ’ is useful for highlighting differences between results :

The males spent on average 36% of their time engaged in territorial disputes. In contrast , the females showed no interest in these quarrels.

The word ‘ conversely ’ can also be used in place of ‘in contrast’ here. 

It is worth noting here that the similar phrase ‘ on the other hand ’ tends to be very much overused. It is preferable to avoid it altogether , particularly when it is not paired with the preceding phrase ‘ on the one hand ’.

One phrase that is commonly misused is ‘ on the contrary ’; authors often use it with the belief that it has the same meaning as ‘in contrast’. Note that the former broadly means ‘opposite to what was expected’. For example:

The reaction rate did not increase with temperature; on the contrary , it was found to decrease.

Other phrases and words to avoid in scientific writing

There are a few other introductory words and phrases that are best avoided in a scientific paper.

While it is not strictly in the same category as those listed above, the top offender here is ‘ in order to ’: there is rarely (if ever) a situation in which this cannot be replaced with a simple ‘to’. Shortening this phrase will help make your paper easier to read.

Even where it is technically correct, the word ‘ nowadays ’ is somewhat colloquial. Instead, consider being more specific : try phrases like ‘in the last three years’, ‘since 2010’ or simply ‘currently’.

The phrase ‘ what’s more ’ is again too informal for a paper, and it can usually be replaced with one of the continuations listed above, such as ‘moreover’ or ‘in addition’. This is also true of ‘ besides ’, which (at least in this context) could be described as an informal version of ‘moreover’.

It may be tempting to use a thesaurus to vary your introductory words and phrases, but it is worth remembering that there can be subtle differences in their meanings and levels of formality; not everything listed next to a word in a thesaurus can be used as a simple replacement for it. It is often beneficial to find examples of how a particular word or phrase is used ; this should help you to see if it will work in the context of your paper. If you are still not sure, perhaps seek advice from someone whose first language is English .

Read next (third) in series:  Scientific writing in English as an Additional Language (EAL): Avoiding Repetition

Read previous (first) in series:  Scientific writing in English as an Additional Language (EAL): Avoiding common mistakes with Tenses

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  • Int J Sports Phys Ther
  • v.7(5); 2012 Oct

HOW TO WRITE A SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE

Barbara j. hoogenboom.

1 Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI, USA

Robert C. Manske

2 University of Wichita, Wichita, KS, USA

Successful production of a written product for submission to a peer‐reviewed scientific journal requires substantial effort. Such an effort can be maximized by following a few simple suggestions when composing/creating the product for submission. By following some suggested guidelines and avoiding common errors, the process can be streamlined and success realized for even beginning/novice authors as they negotiate the publication process. The purpose of this invited commentary is to offer practical suggestions for achieving success when writing and submitting manuscripts to The International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy and other professional journals.

INTRODUCTION

“The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking” Albert Einstein

Conducting scientific and clinical research is only the beginning of the scholarship of discovery. In order for the results of research to be accessible to other professionals and have a potential effect on the greater scientific community, it must be written and published. Most clinical and scientific discovery is published in peer‐reviewed journals, which are those that utilize a process by which an author's peers, or experts in the content area, evaluate the manuscript. Following this review the manuscript is recommended for publication, revision or rejection. It is the rigor of this review process that makes scientific journals the primary source of new information that impacts clinical decision‐making and practice. 1 , 2

The task of writing a scientific paper and submitting it to a journal for publication is a time‐consuming and often daunting task. 3 , 4 Barriers to effective writing include lack of experience, poor writing habits, writing anxiety, unfamiliarity with the requirements of scholarly writing, lack of confidence in writing ability, fear of failure, and resistance to feedback. 5 However, the very process of writing can be a helpful tool for promoting the process of scientific thinking, 6 , 7 and effective writing skills allow professionals to participate in broader scientific conversations. Furthermore, peer review manuscript publication systems requiring these technical writing skills can be developed and improved with practice. 8 Having an understanding of the process and structure used to produce a peer‐reviewed publication will surely improve the likelihood that a submitted manuscript will result in a successful publication.

Clear communication of the findings of research is essential to the growth and development of science 3 and professional practice. The culmination of the publication process provides not only satisfaction for the researcher and protection of intellectual property, but also the important function of dissemination of research results, new ideas, and alternate thought; which ultimately facilitates scholarly discourse. In short, publication of scientific papers is one way to advance evidence‐based practice in many disciplines, including sports physical therapy. Failure to publish important findings significantly diminishes the potential impact that those findings may have on clinical practice. 9

BASICS OF MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION & GENERAL WRITING TIPS

To begin it might be interesting to learn why reviewers accept manuscripts! Reviewers consider the following five criteria to be the most important in decisions about whether to accept manuscripts for publication: 1) the importance, timeliness, relevance, and prevalence of the problem addressed; 2) the quality of the writing style (i.e., that it is well‐written, clear, straightforward, easy to follow, and logical); 3) the study design applied (i.e., that the design was appropriate, rigorous, and comprehensive); 4) the degree to which the literature review was thoughtful, focused, and up‐to‐date; and 5) the use of a sufficiently large sample. 10 For these statements to be true there are also reasons that reviewers reject manuscripts. The following are the top five reasons for rejecting papers: 1) inappropriate, incomplete, or insufficiently described statistics; 2) over‐interpretation of results; 3) use of inappropriate, suboptimal, or insufficiently described populations or instruments; 4) small or biased samples; and 5) text that is poorly written or difficult to follow. 10 , 11 With these reasons for acceptance or rejection in mind, it is time to review basics and general writing tips to be used when performing manuscript preparation.

“Begin with the end in mind” . When you begin writing about your research, begin with a specific target journal in mind. 12 Every scientific journal should have specific lists of manuscript categories that are preferred for their readership. The IJSPT seeks to provide readership with current information to enhance the practice of sports physical therapy. Therefore the manuscript categories accepted by IJSPT include: Original research; Systematic reviews of literature; Clinical commentary and Current concept reviews; Case reports; Clinical suggestions and unique practice techniques; and Technical notes. Once a decision has been made to write a manuscript, compose an outline that complies with the requirements of the target submission journal and has each of the suggested sections. This means carefully checking the submission criteria and preparing your paper in the exact format of the journal to which you intend to submit. Be thoughtful about the distinction between content (what you are reporting) and structure (where it goes in the manuscript). Poor placement of content confuses the reader (reviewer) and may cause misinterpretation of content. 3 , 5

It may be helpful to follow the IMRaD format for writing scientific manuscripts. This acronym stands for the sections contained within the article: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Each of these areas of the manuscript will be addressed in this commentary.

Many accomplished authors write their results first, followed by an introduction and discussion, in an attempt to “stay true” to their results and not stray into additional areas. Typically the last two portions to be written are the conclusion and the abstract.

The ability to accurately describe ideas, protocols/procedures, and outcomes are the pillars of scientific writing . Accurate and clear expression of your thoughts and research information should be the primary goal of scientific writing. 12 Remember that accuracy and clarity are even more important when trying to get complicated ideas across. Contain your literature review, ideas, and discussions to your topic, theme, model, review, commentary, or case. Avoid vague terminology and too much prose. Use short rather than long sentences. If jargon has to be utilized keep it to a minimum and explain the terms you do use clearly. 13

Write with a measure of formality, using scientific language and avoiding conjunctions, slang, and discipline or regionally specific nomenclature or terms (e.g. exercise nicknames). For example, replace the term “Monster walks” with “closed‐chain hip abduction with elastic resistance around the thighs”. You may later refer to the exercise as “also known as Monster walks” if you desire.

Avoid first person language and instead write using third person language. Some journals do not ascribe to this requirement, and allow first person references, however, IJSPT prefers use of third person. For example, replace “We determined that…” with “The authors determined that….”.

For novice writers, it is really helpful to seek a reading mentor that will help you pre‐read your submission. Problems such as improper use of grammar, tense, and spelling are often a cause of rejection by reviewers. Despite the content of the study these easily fixed errors suggest that the authors created the manuscript with less thought leading reviewers to think that the manuscript may also potentially have erroneous findings as well. A review from a second set of trained eyes will often catch these errors missed by the original authors. If English is not your first language, the editorial staff at IJSPT suggests that you consult with someone with the relevant expertise to give you guidance on English writing conventions, verb tense, and grammar. Excellent writing in English is hard, even for those of us for whom it is our first language!

Use figures and graphics to your advantage . ‐ Consider the use of graphic/figure representation of data and important procedures or exercises. Tables should be able to stand alone and be completely understandable at a quick glance. Understanding a table should not require careful review of the manuscript! Figures dramatically enhance the graphic appeal of a scientific paper. Many formats for graphic presentation are acceptable, including graphs, charts, tables, and pictures or videos. Photographs should be clear, free of clutter or extraneous background distractions and be taken with models wearing simple clothing. Color photographs are preferred. Digital figures (Scans or existing files as well as new photographs) must be at least 300dpi. All photographs should be provided as separate files (jpeg or tif preferred) and not be embedded in the paper. Quality and clarity of figures are essential for reproduction purposes and should be considered before taking images for the manuscript.

A video of an exercise or procedure speaks a thousand words. Please consider using short video clips as descriptive additions to your paper. They will be placed on the IJSPT website and accompany your paper. The video clips must be submitted in MPEG‐1, MPEG‐2, Quicktime (.mov), or Audio/Video Interface (.avi) formats. Maximum cumulative length of videos is 5 minutes. Each video segment may not exceed 50 MB, and each video clip must be saved as a separate file and clearly identified. Formulate descriptive figure/video and Table/chart/graph titles and place them on a figure legend document. Carefully consider placement of, naming of, and location of figures. It makes the job of the editors much easier!

Avoid Plagiarism and inadvertent lack of citations. Finally, use citations to your benefit. Cite frequently in order to avoid any plagiarism. The bottom line: If it is not your original idea, give credit where credit is due . When using direct quotations, provide not only the number of the citation, but the page where the quote was found. All citations should appear in text as a superscripted number followed by punctuation. It is the authors' responsibility to fully ensure all references are cited in completed form, in an accurate location. Please carefully follow the instructions for citations and check that all references in your reference list are cited in the paper and that all citations in the paper appear correctly in the reference list. Please go to IJSPT submission guidelines for full information on the format for citations.

Sometimes written as an afterthought, the abstract is of extreme importance as in many instances this section is what is initially previewed by readership to determine if the remainder of the article is worth reading. This is the authors opportunity to draw the reader into the study and entice them to read the rest of the article. The abstract is a summary of the article or study written in 3 rd person allowing the readers to get a quick glance of what the contents of the article include. Writing an abstract is rather challenging as being brief, accurate and concise are requisite. The headings and structure for an abstract are usually provided in the instructions for authors. In some instances, the abstract may change slightly pending content revisions required during the peer review process. Therefore it often works well to complete this portion of the manuscript last. Remember the abstract should be able to stand alone and should be as succinct as possible. 14

Introduction and Review of Literature

The introduction is one of the more difficult portions of the manuscript to write. Past studies are used to set the stage or provide the reader with information regarding the necessity of the represented project. For an introduction to work properly, the reader must feel that the research question is clear, concise, and worthy of study.

A competent introduction should include at least four key concepts: 1) significance of the topic, 2) the information gap in the available literature associated with the topic, 3) a literature review in support of the key questions, 4) subsequently developed purposes/objectives and hypotheses. 9

When constructing a review of the literature, be attentive to “sticking” or “staying true” to your topic at hand. Don't reach or include too broad of a literature review. For example, do not include extraneous information about performance or prevention if your research does not actually address those things. The literature review of a scientific paper is not an exhaustive review of all available knowledge in a given field of study. That type of thorough review should be left to review articles or textbook chapters. Throughout the introduction (and later in the discussion!) remind yourself that a paper, existing evidence, or results of a paper cannot draw conclusions, demonstrate, describe, or make judgments, only PEOPLE (authors) can. “The evidence demonstrates that” should be stated, “Smith and Jones, demonstrated that….”

Conclude your introduction with a solid statement of your purpose(s) and your hypothesis(es), as appropriate. The purpose and objectives should clearly relate to the information gap associated with the given manuscript topic discussed earlier in the introduction section. This may seem repetitive, but it actually is helpful to ensure the reader clearly sees the evolution, importance, and critical aspects of the study at hand See Table 1 for examples of well‐stated purposes.

Examples of well-stated purposes by submission type.

The methods section should clearly describe the specific design of the study and provide clear and concise description of the procedures that were performed. The purpose of sufficient detail in the methods section is so that an appropriately trained person would be able to replicate your experiments. 15 There should be complete transparency when describing the study. To assist in writing and manuscript preparation there are several checklists or guidelines that are available on the IJSPT website. The CONSORT guidelines can be used when developing and reporting a randomized controlled trial. 16 The STARD checklist was developed for designing a diagnostic accuracy study. 17 The PRISMA checklist was developed for use when performing a meta‐analyses or systematic review. 18 A clear methods section should contain the following information: 1) the population and equipment used in the study, 2) how the population and equipment were prepared and what was done during the study, 3) the protocol used, 4) the outcomes and how they were measured, 5) the methods used for data analysis. Initially a brief paragraph should explain the overall procedures and study design. Within this first paragraph there is generally a description of inclusion and exclusion criteria which help the reader understand the population used. Paragraphs that follow should describe in more detail the procedures followed for the study. A clear description of how data was gathered is also helpful. For example were data gathered prospectively or retrospectively? Who if anyone was blinded, and where and when was the actual data collected?

Although it is a good idea for the authors to have justification and a rationale for their procedures, these should be saved for inclusion into the discussion section, not to be discussed in the methods section. However, occasionally studies supporting components of the methods section such as reliability of tests, or validation of outcome measures may be included in the methods section.

The final portion of the methods section will include the statistical methods used to analyze the data. 19 This does not mean that the actual results should be discussed in the methods section, as they have an entire section of their own!

Most scientific journals support the need for all projects involving humans or animals to have up‐to‐date documentation of ethical approval. 20 The methods section should include a clear statement that the researchers have obtained approval from an appropriate institutional review board.

Results, Discussion, and Conclusions

In most journals the results section is separate from the discussion section. It is important that you clearly distinguish your results from your discussion. The results section should describe the results only. The discussion section should put those results into a broader context. Report your results neutrally, as you “found them”. Again, be thoughtful about content and structure. Think carefully about where content is placed in the overall structure of your paper. It is not appropriate to bring up additional results, not discussed in the results section, in the discussion. All results must first be described/presented and then discussed. Thus, the discussion should not simply be a repeat of the results section. Carefully discuss where your information is similar or different from other published evidence and why this might be so. What was different in methods or analysis, what was similar?

As previously stated, stick to your topic at hand, and do not overstretch your discussion! One of the major pitfalls in writing the discussion section is overstating the significance of your findings 4 or making very strong statements. For example, it is better to say: “Findings of the current study support….” or “these findings suggest…” than, “Findings of the current study prove that…” or “this means that….”. Maintain a sense of humbleness, as nothing is without question in the outcomes of any type of research, in any discipline! Use words like “possibly”, “likely” or “suggests” to soften findings. 12

Do not discuss extraneous ideas, concepts, or information not covered by your topic/paper/commentary. Be sure to carefully address all relevant results, not just the statistically significant ones or the ones that support your hypotheses. When you must resort to speculation or opinion, be certain to state that up front using phrases such as “we therefore speculate” or “in the authors' opinion”.

Remember, just as in the introduction and literature review, evidence or results cannot draw conclusions, just as previously stated, only people, scientists, researchers, and authors can!

Finish with a concise, 3‐5 sentence conclusion paragraph. This is not just a restatement of your results, rather is comprised of some final, summative statements that reflect the flow and outcomes of the entire paper. Do not include speculative statements or additional material; however, based upon your findings a statement about potential changes in clinical practice or future research opportunities can be provided here.

CONCLUSIONS

Writing for publication can be a challenging yet satisfying endeavor. The ability to examine, relate, and interlink evidence, as well as to provide a peer‐reviewed, disseminated product of your research labors can be rewarding. A few suggestions have been offered in this commentary that may assist the novice or the developing writer to attempt, polish, and perfect their approach to scholarly writing.

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Style Tips for Effective Science Writing

Nearly every element of style that is accepted and encouraged in general academic writing is also considered good practice in scientific writing. The major difference between science writing and writing in other academic fields is the relative importance placed on certain stylistic elements. This handout details the most critical aspects of scientific writing and provides some strategies for evaluating and improving your scientific prose.

What is scientific writing?

There are several different kinds of writing that fall under the umbrella of scientific writing. Scientific writing can include:

  • Peer-reviewed journal articles (presenting primary research)
  • Grant proposals (you can’t do science without funding)
  • Literature review articles (summarizing and synthesizing research that has already been carried out)

As a student in the sciences, you are likely to spend some time writing lab reports, which often follow the format of peer-reviewed articles and literature reviews. Regardless of the genre, though, all scientific writing has the same goal: to present data and/or ideas with a level of detail that allows a reader to evaluate the validity of the results and conclusions based only on the facts presented. The reader should be able to easily follow both the methods used to generate the data (if it’s a primary research paper) and the chain of logic used to draw conclusions from the data. Several key elements allow scientific writers to achieve these goals:

  • Precision: ambiguities in writing cause confusion and may prevent a reader from grasping crucial aspects of the methodology and synthesis
  • Clarity: concepts and methods in the sciences can often be complex; writing that is difficult to follow greatly amplifies any confusion on the part of the reader
  • Objectivity: any claims that you make need to be based on facts, not intuition or emotion

How can I make my writing more precise?

Theories in the sciences are based upon precise mathematical models, specific empirical (primary) data sets, or some combination of the two. Therefore, scientists must use precise, concrete language to evaluate and explain such theories, whether mathematical or conceptual. There are a few strategies for avoiding ambiguous, imprecise writing.

Word and phrasing choice

Often several words may convey similar meaning, but usually only one word is most appropriate in a given context. Here’s an example:

  • Word choice 1: “population density is positively correlated with disease transmission rate”
  • Word choice 2: “population density is positively related to disease transmission rate”

In some contexts, “correlated” and “related” have similar meanings. But in scientific writing, “correlated” conveys a precise statistical relationship between two variables. In scientific writing, it is typically not enough to simply point out that two variables are related: the reader will expect you to explain the precise nature of the relationship (note: when using “correlation,” you must explain somewhere in the paper how the correlation was estimated). If you mean “correlated,” then use the word “correlated”; avoid substituting a less precise term when a more precise term is available.

This same idea also applies to choice of phrasing. For example, the phrase “writing of an investigative nature” could refer to writing in the sciences, but might also refer to a police report. When presented with a choice, a more specific and less ambiguous phraseology is always preferable. This applies even when you must be repetitive to maintain precision: repetition is preferable to ambiguity. Although repetition of words or phrases often happens out of necessity, it can actually be beneficial by placing special emphasis on key concepts.

Figurative language

Figurative language can make for interesting and engaging casual reading but is by definition imprecise. Writing “experimental subjects were assaulted with a wall of sound” does not convey the precise meaning of “experimental subjects were presented with 20 second pulses of conspecific mating calls.” It’s difficult for a reader to objectively evaluate your research if details are left to the imagination, so exclude similes and metaphors from your scientific writing.

Level of detail

Include as much detail as is necessary, but exclude extraneous information. The reader should be able to easily follow your methodology, results, and logic without being distracted by irrelevant facts and descriptions. Ask yourself the following questions when you evaluate the level of detail in a paper:

  • Is the rationale for performing the experiment clear (i.e., have you shown that the question you are addressing is important and interesting)?
  • Are the materials and procedures used to generate the results described at a level of detail that would allow the experiment to be repeated?
  • Is the rationale behind the choice of experimental methods clear? Will the reader understand why those particular methods are appropriate for answering the question your research is addressing?
  • Will the reader be able to follow the chain of logic used to draw conclusions from the data?

Any information that enhances the reader’s understanding of the rationale, methodology, and logic should be included, but information in excess of this (or information that is redundant) will only confuse and distract the reader.

Whenever possible, use quantitative rather than qualitative descriptions. A phrase that uses definite quantities such as “development rate in the 30°C temperature treatment was ten percent faster than development rate in the 20°C temperature treatment” is much more precise than the more qualitative phrase “development rate was fastest in the higher temperature treatment.”

How can I make my writing clearer?

When you’re writing about complex ideas and concepts, it’s easy to get sucked into complex writing. Distilling complicated ideas into simple explanations is challenging, but you’ll need to acquire this valuable skill to be an effective communicator in the sciences. Complexities in language use and sentence structure are perhaps the most common issues specific to writing in the sciences.

Language use

When given a choice between a familiar and a technical or obscure term, the more familiar term is preferable if it doesn’t reduce precision. Here are a just a few examples of complex words and their simple alternatives:

In these examples, the term on the right conveys the same meaning as the word on the left but is more familiar and straightforward, and is often shorter as well.

There are some situations where the use of a technical or obscure term is justified. For example, in a paper comparing two different viral strains, the author might repeatedly use the word “enveloped” rather than the phrase “surrounded by a membrane.” The key word here is “repeatedly”: only choose the less familiar term if you’ll be using it more than once. If you choose to go with the technical term, however, make sure you clearly define it, as early in the paper as possible. You can use this same strategy to determine whether or not to use abbreviations, but again you must be careful to define the abbreviation early on.

Sentence structure

Science writing must be precise, and precision often requires a fine level of detail. Careful description of objects, forces, organisms, methodology, etc., can easily lead to complex sentences that express too many ideas without a break point. Here’s an example:

Several things make this sentence complex. First, the action of the sentence (activates) is far removed from the subject (the osmoregulatory organ) so that the reader has to wait a long time to get the main idea of the sentence. Second, the verbs “functions,” “activates,” and “expelling” are somewhat redundant. Consider this revision:

This sentence is slightly shorter, conveys the same information, and is much easier to follow. The subject and the action are now close together, and the redundant verbs have been eliminated. You may have noticed that even the simpler version of this sentence contains two prepositional phrases strung together (“on the outer margin of…” and “at the base of…”). Prepositional phrases themselves are not a problem; in fact, they are usually required to achieve an adequate level of detail in science writing. However, long strings of prepositional phrases can cause sentences to wander. Here’s an example of what not to do from Alley (1996):

The use of eleven (yes, eleven!) prepositional phrases in this sentence is excessive, and renders the sentence nearly unintelligible. Judging when a string of prepositional phrases is too long is somewhat subjective, but as a general rule of thumb, a single prepositional phrase is always preferable, and anything more than two strung together can be problematic.

Nearly every form of scientific communication is space-limited. Grant proposals, journal articles, and abstracts all have word or page limits, so there’s a premium on concise writing. Furthermore, adding unnecessary words or phrases distracts rather than engages the reader. Avoid generic phrases that contribute no novel information. Common phrases such as “the fact that,” “it should be noted that,” and “it is interesting that” are cumbersome and unnecessary. Your reader will decide whether or not your paper is interesting based on the content. In any case, if information is not interesting or noteworthy it should probably be excluded.

How can I make my writing more objective?

The objective tone used in conventional scientific writing reflects the philosophy of the scientific method: if results are not repeatable, then they are not valid. In other words, your results will only be considered valid if any researcher performing the same experimental tests and analyses that you describe would be able to produce the same results. Thus, scientific writers try to adopt a tone that removes the focus from the researcher and puts it only on the research itself. Here are several stylistic conventions that enhance objectivity:

Passive voice

You may have been told at some point in your academic career that the use of the passive voice is almost always bad, except in the sciences. The passive voice is a sentence structure where the subject who performs the action is ambiguous (e.g., “you may have been told,” as seen in the first sentence of this paragraph; see our handout on the passive voice for a more complete discussion).

The rationale behind using the passive voice in scientific writing is that it enhances objectivity, taking the actor (i.e., the researcher) out of the action (i.e., the research). Unfortunately, the passive voice can also lead to awkward and confusing sentence structures and is generally considered less engaging (i.e., more boring) than the active voice. This is why most general style guides recommend only sparing use of the passive voice.

Currently, the active voice is preferred in most scientific fields, even when it necessitates the use of “I” or “we.” It’s perfectly reasonable (and more simple) to say “We performed a two-tailed t-test” rather than to say “a two-tailed t-test was performed,” or “in this paper we present results” rather than “results are presented in this paper.” Nearly every current edition of scientific style guides recommends the active voice, but different instructors (or journal editors) may have different opinions on this topic. If you are unsure, check with the instructor or editor who will review your paper to see whether or not to use the passive voice. If you choose to use the active voice with “I” or “we,” there are a few guidelines to follow:

  • Avoid starting sentences with “I” or “we”: this pulls focus away from the scientific topic at hand.
  • Avoid using “I” or “we” when you’re making a conjecture, whether it’s substantiated or not. Everything you say should follow from logic, not from personal bias or subjectivity. Never use any emotive words in conjunction with “I” or “we” (e.g., “I believe,” “we feel,” etc.).
  • Never use “we” in a way that includes the reader (e.g., “here we see trait evolution in action”); the use of “we” in this context sets a condescending tone.

Acknowledging your limitations

Your conclusions should be directly supported by the data that you present. Avoid making sweeping conclusions that rest on assumptions that have not been substantiated by your or others’ research. For example, if you discover a correlation between fur thickness and basal metabolic rate in rats and mice you would not necessarily conclude that fur thickness and basal metabolic rate are correlated in all mammals. You might draw this conclusion, however, if you cited evidence that correlations between fur thickness and basal metabolic rate are also found in twenty other mammalian species. Assess the generality of the available data before you commit to an overly general conclusion.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing the original version of this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find the latest publications on this topic. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using.

Alley M. 1996. The craft of scientific writing. 3rd ed. New York (NY): Springer-Verlag. Barrass R. 2002. Scientists must write. 2nd ed. New York (NY): Routledge.

Council of Science Editors. 2014. Scientific style and format: the CSE manual for authors, editors, and publishers. 8th ed. Chicago (IL): University of Chicago Press.

Day RA, Gastel B. (2012). How to write and publish a scientific paper. 7th ed. Cambridge (England): Cambridge University Press.

Day RA, Sakaduski N. (2011). Scientific English: a guide for scientists and other professionals. 3rd ed. Santa Barbara (CA): Greenwood.

Gartland JJ. (1993). Medical writing and communicating. Frederick (MD): University Publishing Group.

Williams JM, Bizup J. (2016). Style: ten lessons in clarity and grace. 12th ed. New York (NY): Pearson.

“Style Tips for Effective Science Writing.” Authored by: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Located at: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/sciences/

License: CC BY-NC-ND

Writing and the Sciences: An Anthology Copyright © 2020 by Sara Rufner is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Scientific Words, Sentences, and Paragraphs

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In science, your goal is to write a paper that is easy to understand. The art of scientific writing is not in the subtle underlying message conveyed by your prose. Instead, scientific prose is judged by how well it defines the details of the observations that you have made. In a short story, the reader might marvel at the “sensual writing, with hints of the mysteries of space and time.” In a scientific paper, however, your prose style should disappear, and the reader should marvel at the realistic, explicit, and cleanly etched picture that you have painted.

Scientific papers have a stereotyped format so that there are no distractions from their contents. Likewise, scientific prose should be formulaic and plain. Here, the medium is not the message, the message is the message. Therefore, when you write a research paper, make your message precise and keep the medium unobtrusive.

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Academic Phrases for Writing Results & Discussion Sections of a Research Paper

Overview |   Abstract   | Introduction | Literature Review | Materials & Methods | Results & Discussion | Conclusion & Future Work | Acknowledgements & Appendix

The results and discussion sections are one of the challenging sections to write. It is important to plan this section carefully as it may contain a large amount of scientific data that needs to be presented in a clear and concise fashion. The purpose of a Results section is to present the key results of your research. Results and discussions can either be combined into one section or organized as separate sections depending on the requirements of the journal to which you are submitting your research paper. Use subsections and subheadings to improve readability and clarity. Number all tables and figures with descriptive titles. Present your results as figures and tables and point the reader to relevant items while discussing the results. This section should highlight significant or interesting findings along with P values for statistical tests. Be sure to include negative results and highlight potential limitations of the paper. You will be criticised by the reviewers if you don’t discuss the shortcomings of your research. This often makes up for a great discussion section, so do not be afraid to highlight them.

The results and discussion section of your research paper should include the following:

  • Comparison with prior studies
  • Limitations of your work
  • Casual arguments
  • Speculations
  • Deductive arguments

1. Findings

From the short review above, key findings emerge: __ We describe the results of __, which show __ This suggests that __ We showed that __ Our findings on __ at least hint that __ This is an important finding in the understanding of the __ The present study confirmed the findings about __ Another promising finding was that __ Our results demonstrated that __ This result highlights that little is known about the __ A further novel finding is that __ Together, the present findings confirm __ The implications of these findings are discussed in __ The results demonstrate two things.  First, __. Second,  __ The results of the experiment found clear support for the __ This analysis found evidence for __ Planned comparisons revealed that __ Our results casts a new light on __ This section summarises the findings and contributions made. It performs well, giving good results. This gives clearly better results than __ The results confirm that this a good choice for __ From the results, it is clear that __ In this section, we will illustrate some experimental results. This delivers significantly better results due to __ The result now provides evidence to __ It leads to good results, even if the improvement is negligible. This yields increasingly good results on data. The result of this analysis is then compared with the  __ The applicability of these new results are then tested on __ This is important to correctly interpret the results. The results are substantially better than __ The results lead to similar conclusion where __ Superior results are seen for __ From these results it is clear that __ Extensive results carried out show that this method improves __ We obtain good results with this simple method. However, even better results are achieved when using our algorithm. It is worth discussing these interesting facts revealed by the results of  __ Overall, our method was the one that obtained the most robust results. Slightly superior results are achieved with our algorithm. The result is equal to or better than a result that is currently accepted.

2. Comparison with prior studies

The results demonstrated in this chapter match state of the art methods. Here we compare the results of the proposed method with those of the traditional methods. These results go beyond previous reports, showing that __ In line with previous studies __ This result ties well with previous studies wherein __ Contrary to the findings of __ we did not find __ They have demonstrated that __ Others have shown that __ improves __ By comparing the results from __, we hope to determine __ However, in line with the ideas of __, it can be concluded that __ When comparing our results to those of older studies, it must be pointed out that __ We have verified that using __ produces similar results Overall these findings are in accordance with findings reported by __ Even though we did not replicate the previously reported __, our results suggest that __ A similar conclusion was reached by __ However, when comparing our results to those of older studies, it must be pointed out __ This is consistent with what has been found in previous __ A similar pattern of results was obtained in __ The findings are directly in line with previous findings These basic findings are consistent with research showing that __ Other results were broadly in line with __

3. Limitations of your work

Because of the lack of __ we decided to not investigate __ One concern about the findings of __ was that __ Because of this potential limitation, we treat __ The limitations of the present studies naturally include __ Regarding the limitations of __, it could be argued that __ Another limitation of this __ This limitation is apparent in many __ Another limitation in __ involves the issue of __ The main limitation is the lack of __ One limitation is found in this case. One limitation of these methods however is that they __ It presents some limitations such as __ Although widely accepted, it suffers from some limitations due to __ An apparent limitation of the method is __ There are several limitations to this approach. One limitation of our implementation is that it is __ A major source of limitation is due to  __ The approach utilised suffers from the limitation that __ The limitations are becoming clear __ It suffers from the same limitations associated with a __

4. Casual arguments

A popular explanation of __ is that __ It is by now generally accepted that __ A popular explanation is that __ As it is not generally agreed that __ These are very small and difficult to observe. It is important to highlight the fact that __ It is notable that __ An important question associated with __ is __ This did not impair the __ This is important because there is __ This implies that __ is associated with __ This is indicative for lack of __ This will not be biased by __ There were also some important differences in __ It is interesting to note that, __ It is unlikely that __ This may alter or improve aspects of __ In contrast, this makes it possible to __ This is particularly important when investigating __ This has been used to successfully account for __ This introduces a possible confound in __ This was included to verify that __

5. Speculations

However, we acknowledge that there are considerable discussions among researchers as to __ We speculate that this might be due to __ There are reasons to doubt this explanation of __ It remains unclear to which degree __ are attributed to __ However, __ does seem to improve __ This does seem to depend on __ It is important to note, that the present evidence relies on __ The results show that __ does not seem to impact the __ However, the extent to which it is possible to __ is unknown Alternatively, it could simply mean that __ It is difficult to explain such results within the context of __ It is unclear whether this is a suitable for __ This appears to be a case of __ From this standpoint, __ can be considered as __ To date, __remain unknown Under certain assumptions, this can be construed as __ Because of this potential limitation, we treat __ In addition, several questions remain unanswered. At this stage of understanding, we believe__ Therefore, it remains unclear whether __ This may explain why __

6. Deductive arguments

A difference between these __ can only be attributable to __ Nonetheless, we believe that it is well justified to __ This may raise concerns about __ which can be addressed by __ As discussed, this is due to the fact that __ Results demonstrate that this is not necessarily true. These findings support the notion that __ is not influenced by __ This may be the reason why we did not find __ In order to test whether this is equivalent across __, we __ Therefore, __ can be considered to be equivalent for __

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31 Comments

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phrases to use in scientific writing

phrases to use in scientific writing

Clear writing enhances the reader’s understanding of the importance of your reported findings. Publication of your article permanently records your ideas, hypotheses, and thought processes, allowing others to build on your ideas for future investigation, which is the backbone of scientific exploration. English is the lingua franca for science communications, but knowing how to communicate in English is not the same as knowing how to communicate in scientific English. Even native English-speaking scientists may find it challenging to write clear and concise scientific English.

Guide to Scientific English

Writing in scientific English requires precision and accuracy to convey meaning clearly and effectively to an international audience. The vocabulary, grammar, and syntax are all tailored to the specific needs of scientific communication. The language must precisely convey complex ideas and technical concepts for easy comprehension by fellow scientists and researchers. Additionally, the language should emphasize accuracy and objectivity, requiring data, facts, and evidence to support claims and arguments.

phrases to use in scientific writing

7 Tips for Improving Scientific English Writing

1. identify the target audience.

Before you begin writing or editing your manuscript, it is important to clarify your target audience. Who will be reading your research? What is their level of expertise in your field? Identifying your audience helps tailor your writing style to meet their needs and expectations.

2. Minimize jargon

One of the biggest challenges of writing scientific English is the judicious use technical jargon. While technical terms are essential for precision in scientific writing, excessive jargon can hinder readability. Instead, use clear, concise, and easy-to-understand language suitable for the target audience.

3. Use an active voice

Using an active voice can help to make your writing more concise and impactful. A passive voice can make your writing sound vague and unclear, whereas an active voice provides a clear subject and verb, making your sentences more direct. Start sentences with the subject performing the action, focus on the person or thing doing the action rather than the action itself, and use strong verbs such as “discovered”, “measured”, and “analyzed” rather than verb phrases using forms of “to be” such as “is”, “are”, “was”, and “were”.  See our article “ Knowing How, When, and Where to Use Active and Passive Voice in Science Writing “

4. Use precise language

Scientific English requires precise language to ensure that the intended meaning is conveyed accurately. Avoid vague or ambiguous language, and use precise terminology to describe your research findings.

5. Pay attention to grammar and syntax

Grammar and syntax are essential components of scientific English. Proper grammar and syntax ensure that the manuscript is clear, concise, and free from errors. Pay close attention to grammar and syntax when writing your manuscript.

6. Use language that is appropriate for the target audience.

Tailor the language for your target audience. If you intend to submit your manuscript to a generalist journal like  Science  or  Nature , use language that any educated reader can understand without knowing the specific terminology of your field.  Carefully define terms and minimize the use of abbreviations and acronyms.  If you are submitting your findings to a specialist journal, use more precise language and jargon, but be careful to define terms that are not commonly used by all potential readers within the scope of the journal.

7. Seek feedback from others

Seeking feedback from colleagues can be invaluable in improving the clarity and impact of all your writing. Colleagues in different fields or with different backgrounds will help you to identify ambiguity and lack of clarity in your writing and point out where more explanation is needed.  In addition, their suggestions may help you to improve the language, tone, and style of your manuscript.

A poorly written manuscript can compromise the validity and reliability of the research, hindering its impact and dissemination. In contrast, a well-written manuscript can enhance the credibility and impact of the research, making it more likely to be accepted for publication in high-impact scientific journals. Scientific English editing can help you to improve the readability of the manuscript, making it more accessible to a broader audience, including policymakers, clinicians, and the general public.

Scientific English editing plays a vital role in producing well-written science articles and communications. A professional science editor will ensure that your manuscript meets scientific English standards, addressing grammar, syntax, and word choice. In addition, a good scientific English editor should make suggestions to enhance the clarity, brevity, and impact of your manuscript for higher reader engagement.

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Could artificial intelligence help or hurt scientific research articles?

Newly published studies examine advantages and disadvantages of chatgpt writing scholarly research publications.

Since its introduction to the public in November 2022, ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence system, has substantially grown in use, creating written stories, graphics, art and more with just a short prompt from the user. But when it comes to scientific, peer-reviewed research, could the tool be useful?

"Right now, many journals do not want people to use ChatGPT to write their articles, but a lot of people are still trying to use it," said Melissa Kacena, PhD, vice chair of research and a professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine. "We wanted to study whether ChatGPT is able to write a scientific article and what are the different ways you could successfully use it."

The researchers took three different topics -- fractures and the nervous system, Alzheimer's disease and bone health and COVID-19 and bone health -- and prompted the subscription version of ChatGPT ($20/month) to create scientific articles about them. The researchers took 3 different approaches for the original draft of the articles -- all human, all ChatGPT or a combination. The study is published in a compilation of 12 articles in a new, special edition of Current Osteoporosis Reports .

"The standard way of writing a review article is to do a literature search, write an outline, start writing, and then faculty members revise and edit the draft," Kacena said. "We collected data about how much time it takes for this human method and how much time it takes for ChatGPT to write and then for faculty to edit the different articles."

In the articles written only by ChatGPT, up to 70% of the references were wrong. But when using an AI-assisted approach with more human involvement, they saw more plagiarism, especially when giving the tool more references up front. Overall, the use of AI decreased time spent to write the article, but required more extensive fact checking.

Another concern is with the writing style used by ChatGPT. Even though the tool was prompted to use a higher level of scientific writing, the words and phrases were not necessarily written at the level someone would expect to see from a researcher.

"It was repetitive writing and even if it was structured the way you learn to write in school, it was scary to know there were maybe incorrect references or wrong information," said Lilian Plotkin, PhD, professor of anatomy, cell biology and physiology at the IU School of Medicine and coauthor on five of the papers.

Jill Fehrenbacher, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the school and coauthor on nine of the papers, said she believes even though many scientific journals do not want authors to use ChatGPT, many people still will -- especially non-native English speakers.

"People may still write everything themselves, but then put it into ChatGPT to fix their grammar or help with their writing, so I think we need to look at how do we shepherd people in using it appropriately and even helping them?" Fehrenbacher said. "We hope to provide a guide for the scientific community so that if people are going to use it, here are some tips and advice."

"I think it's here to stay, but we need to understand how we can use it in an appropriate manner that won't compromise someone's reputation or spread misinformation," Kacena said.

Faculty and students from several departments and centers across the IU School of Medicine were involved, including orthopaedic surgery; anatomy, cell biology and physiology; pharmacology and toxicology; radiology and imaging sciences; anesthesia; the Stark Neuroscience Research Institute; the Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health; and the IU School of Dentistry. Authors are also affiliated with the Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Indianapolis, Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia, and Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

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Story Source:

Materials provided by Indiana University School of Medicine . Original written by Christina Griffiths. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference :

  • Melissa A. Kacena, Lilian I. Plotkin, Jill C. Fehrenbacher. The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Writing Scientific Review Articles . Current Osteoporosis Reports , 2024; DOI: 10.1007/s11914-023-00852-0

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Using this 1 word more often can make you 50% more influential, says Harvard study

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Sometimes, it takes a single word — like "because" — to change someone's mind.

That's according to Jonah Berger, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who's compiled a list of "magic words" that can change the way you communicate. Using the word "because" while trying to convince someone to do something has a compelling result, he tells CNBC Make It: More people will listen to you, and do what you want.

Berger points to nearly a 50-year-old study from Harvard University , wherein researchers sat in a university library and waited for someone to use the copy machine. Then, they walked up and asked to cut in front of the unknowing participant.

They phrased their request in three different ways:

  • "May I use the Xerox machine?"
  • "May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make copies?"
  • "May I use the Xerox machine because I'm in a rush?"

Both requests using "because" made the people already making copies more than 50% more likely to comply, researchers found. Even the second phrasing — which could be reinterpreted as "May I step in front of you to do the same exact thing you're doing?" — was effective, because it indicated that the stranger asking for a favor was at least being considerate about it, the study suggested.

"Persuasion wasn't driven by the reason itself," Berger wrote in a book on the topic, "Magic Words," which published last year. "It was driven by the power of the word."

Other 'magic words' and how to use them

Companies use "because" to make their advertisements more convincing, behavioral scientist Nuala Walsh wrote in an Inc.com column last year: Makeup company L'Oréal has used the slogan "Because you're worth it" for five decades, and furniture stores need you to shop their sales now "because it's for a limited time."

The seven-letter word isn't the only one with communication superpowers. Arguments, requests and presentations aren't any more or less convincing when they're based on solid ideas, Berger says — rather, they depend on the individual words you use.

"You could have excellent ideas, but excellent ideas aren't necessarily going to get people to listen to you," he says. "Subtle shifts in our in our language can have a really big impact."

Saying and writing the word "recommend" instead of "like" makes people nearly a third more likely to follow your suggestions, Berger noted in his book. The same is true when you swap out verbs for nouns, he says: People are up to 30% more likely to oblige your requests when you ask for helpers instead of help, or voters instead of votes.

You can, and should, use these strategies when you're on the receiving end of a conversation, Berger says: Listen to the specific words other people use, and craft a response that speaks their language. Doing so can help drive an agreement, solution or connection.

"Everything in language we might use over email at the office ... [can] provide insight into who they are and what they're going to do in the future," says Berger.

Want to land your dream job in 2024?  Take CNBC's new online course How to Ace Your Job Interview to learn what hiring managers are really looking for, body language techniques, what to say and not to say, and the best way to talk about pay.

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  2. Academic Phrases for Your Research Paper's Introduction in 2022

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  3. The Best Phrases for Research Papers

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COMMENTS

  1. Academic Phrasebank

    The academic writing phrases are organized into following sections (1) Introduction; (2) Problem, Solution & Difficulties; (3) Literature Review; (4) Previous Evidence and Findings; (5) Research Gap; (6) Your Work; (7) Section Intro and Scope; (8) Materials and Methods; (9) Measurements and Calculations; (10) Te...

  2. Academic Phrasebank

    Home page The Academic Phrasebank is a general resource for academic writers. It aims to provide you with examples of some of the phraseological 'nuts and bolts' of writing organised according to the main sections of a research paper or dissertation (see the top menu ).

  3. (PDF) Useful Phrases for Writing Research Papers

    You at least know that these ready-made phrases are in correct English. You do not risk being accused of plagiarism because of the very generic nature of the phrases. This document presents lists ...

  4. PDF Research Writing: Starter Phrases

    RESEARCH WRITING: STARTER PHRASES Sometimes we find it difficult to find the right phrase to start sentences. At such times, a useful strategy is to borrow the phrases of others, known as 'syntactic borrowing' (Kamler & Thomson, 2006; Swales & Feak, 2004).

  5. Useful Phrases and Sentences for Academic & Research Paper Writing

    Click here for the academic phrases and vocabulary for the introduction section of the research paper…. 3. Literature review. The literature review should clearly demonstrate that the author has a good knowledge of the research area. Literature review typically occupies one or two passages in the introduction section.

  6. Impressive Academic Phrases for Writing Manuscripts

    Abstract Abstract is that element of a manuscript that convinces your reader why your article is worth reading. It is like a miniature article that clearly states the objectives and briefly explains all your key findings. XYZ is the primary/main/leading/major cause of…

  7. Useful Research Words and Phrases for All Sections

    Common Research Paper Phrases (Listed by Manuscript Section) Gathered from hundreds of thousands of published manuscripts, these frequently used key sentences and phrases are tailored to what each section of your paper should accomplish.

  8. Effective Writing

    Use the past tense to report what happened in the past: what you did, what someone reported, what happened in an experiment, and so on. Use the present tense to express general truths, such as...

  9. Scientific Writing Made Easy: A Step‐by‐Step Guide to Undergraduate

    Clear scientific writing generally follows a specific format with key sections: an introduction to a particular topic, hypotheses to be tested, a description of methods, key results, and finally, a discussion that ties these results to our broader knowledge of the topic (Day and Gastel 2012 ).

  10. Sciences

    Word choice 1: "population density is positively correlated with disease transmission rate" Word choice 2: "population density is positively related to disease transmission rate" In some contexts, "correlated" and "related" have similar meanings.

  11. Successful Scientific Writing and Publishing: A Step-by-Step Approach

    Basic Recommendations for Scientific Writing. Prospective authors need to know and tailor their writing to the audience. When writing for scientific journals, 4 fundamental recommendations are: clearly stating the usefulness of the study, formulating a key message, limiting unnecessary words, and using strategic sentence structure.

  12. 100+ Research Vocabulary Words & Phrases

    1. Analyze Vocabulary Using Word Clouds Have you heard of "Wordles"? A Wordle is a visual representation of words, with the size of each word being proportional to the number of times it appears in the text it is based on.

  13. Scientific writing: Best tips for introductory words and phrases

    Scientific writing in English as an Additional Language (EAL): Avoiding common mistakes with Introductory Words and Phrases The main aim of a scientific paper is to communicate the work that has been carried out and the results that were obtained.

  14. PDF WORD USUAGE IN SCIENTIFIC WRITING

    Use obvious(ly), clear(ly), seeming(ly), evident(ly), observable or observably, to remove all doubt. Appear, appears -- Seem(s)? "He always appears on the scene, but never seems to know what to do." "Marley's ghost appeared but seemed harmless." As -- Dialectal when used in place of that or whether; do not use "as" to mean because or inasmuch as.

  15. HOW TO WRITE A SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE

    Write with a measure of formality, using scientific language and avoiding conjunctions, slang, and discipline or regionally specific nomenclature or terms (e.g. exercise nicknames). For example, replace the term "Monster walks" with "closed‐chain hip abduction with elastic resistance around the thighs".

  16. Style Tips for Effective Science Writing

    Here's an example: Word choice 1: "population density is positively correlated with disease transmission rate". Word choice 2: "population density is positively related to disease transmission rate". In some contexts, "correlated" and "related" have similar meanings. But in scientific writing, "correlated" conveys a ...

  17. PDF SCIENTIFIC WORDS, SENTENCES, AND PARAGRAPHS

    1.2. Scientific Use of Tenses Good scientific prose uses a precise vocabulary. Scientific prose also uses verb tenses in a standardized way. When discussing research, the present tense indicates general knowledge and general principles, while the past tense indicates results of experiments. 1.2.1. Present Tense Is for Generalities

  18. Academic Phrases for Writing Results & Discussion Sections of a

    In this blog, we discuss phrases related to results and discussion sections such as findings, limitations, arguments, and comparison to previous studies. The results and discussion sections are one of the challenging sections to write. It is important to plan this section carefully as it may contain a large amount of scientific data that needs to be presented in a clear and concise fashion.

  19. PDF Common Grammar Rules for Scientific Writing

    Dependent Clauses A group of words containing a subject and a verb without forming a complete thought (i.e., subordinate clauses). Usually indicated by signal words (e.g., after, because, unless, whether). Should not stand alone as a sentence. If a dependent clause acts as a nonessential adjective, offset it with commas.

  20. Scientific writing in physiology: confused/misused terms and phrases

    Abstract. One aspect of effective scientific writing in physiology is the ability to select the correct words or short phrases to use when developing your narratives. This task is made difficult because many commonly used terms have seemingly viable alternatives, leading to confusion, uncertainty, and possible misuse of those words and phrases.

  21. Fundamentals of Scientific English Writing by SciTechEdit

    Minimize jargon. One of the biggest challenges of writing scientific English is the judicious use technical jargon. While technical terms are essential for precision in scientific writing, excessive jargon can hinder readability. Instead, use clear, concise, and easy-to-understand language suitable for the target audience. 3. Use an active voice.

  22. PDF How To Write About Data In Scientific Writing

    Avoid generic phrases. When writing with data, avoid phrases that do not offer any new information and that are just used to take up space. Example 1: It is important to take note of the fact that this experiment was conducted twice. Example 2: This experiment was conducted twice. Notice how the second example does not distract the reader with ...

  23. Shell noun phrases in scientific writing: A diachronic corpus-based

    A key feature of scientific writing is the use of shell noun phrases to turn human experiences into abstract entities. This paper reports on a diachronic study of shell noun phrases in 120 chemical engineering research articles over a span of 40 years, focusing on their lexico-grammatical patterns, functional categories and alternative expressions.

  24. Could artificial intelligence help or hurt scientific ...

    The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Writing Scientific Review Articles. Current Osteoporosis Reports , 2024; DOI: 10.1007/s11914-023-00852- Cite This Page :

  25. Using this word can make you more influential: Harvard study

    Berger points to nearly a 50-year-old study from Harvard University, wherein researchers sat in a university library and waited for someone to use the copy machine.Then, they walked up and asked ...