14 1 Planning and Preparation to pass the paper on to one of their PhD students.This is often the case when reviews are requested for low impact/low ranked journals.Clearly,a PhD student's knowledge of your topic maybe less than your own,though this does not mean that they are unable to make a good evaluation of your work. You need to keep all these types of referee happy! 1.15 Referees and English level It is possible to write a paper in completely accurate English,but still have a paper rejected for poor writing skills-which is what happens even to native English researchers.On the other hand,a paper that is constructed well,and is easy to read, may be accepted (perhaps with some requests for minor revisions)even if the English is not totally accurate. In my experience native referees tend to be more interested in how the paper flows and how easy it is to read.Non-native referees seem to focus more grammatical and vocabulary mistakes,so very accurate English is important in order to keep them satisfied too. All referees will appreciate it if you use simple language.In a survey of students at Stanford University,86.4%said they use complicated language when writing sci- entific papers just to make themselves sound more knowledgeable and intelligent. Referees,on the other hand,tend not to equate unnecessarily complex language with a high IQ. There are no journals,as far as I know,that are easier to write for in terms of level of English required. 1.16 How to keep the referees happy (1)Remember that a referee has no obligation to review your paper Referees review manuscripts in their own time and have no direct financial reward for doing so.So do everything you can to make the referee's work easier and more pleasurable-clear English,clear layout,clear tables etc.By doing so you will increase the chances of your paper being accepted. (2)Write in a way that a non-expert or less experienced person can understand Research is becoming increasingly more specialized,so that even two people with the same degree may not be able to understand each other's papers
14 1 Planning and Preparation to pass the paper on to one of their PhD students. This is often the case when reviews are requested for low impact / low ranked journals. Clearly, a PhD student’s knowledge of your topic maybe less than your own, though this does not mean that they are unable to make a good evaluation of your work. You need to keep all these types of referee happy! 1.15 Referees and English level It is possible to write a paper in completely accurate English, but still have a paper rejected for poor writing skills - which is what happens even to native English researchers. On the other hand, a paper that is constructed well, and is easy to read, may be accepted (perhaps with some requests for minor revisions) even if the English is not totally accurate. In my experience native referees tend to be more interested in how the paper flows and how easy it is to read. Non-native referees seem to focus more grammatical and vocabulary mistakes, so very accurate English is important in order to keep them satisfied too. All referees will appreciate it if you use simple language. In a survey of students at Stanford University, 86.4% said they use complicated language when writing scientific papers just to make themselves sound more knowledgeable and intelligent. Referees, on the other hand, tend not to equate unnecessarily complex language with a high IQ. There are no journals, as far as I know, that are easier to write for in terms of level of English required. 1.16 How to keep the referees happy (1) Remember that a referee has no obligation to review your paper Referees review manuscripts in their own time and have no direct financial reward for doing so. So do everything you can to make the referee’s work easier and more pleasurable – clear English, clear layout, clear tables etc. By doing so you will increase the chances of your paper being accepted. (2) Write in a way that a non-expert or less experienced person can understand Research is becoming increasingly more specialized, so that even two people with the same degree may not be able to understand each other’s papers
1.17 Write directly in English and find ways to improve your writing skills 15 Also,due to the fact that research groups cannot always get the funding they need for research in their specific field,they may have to shift their interests to a related field where funds are available.This entails them reading the literature from this new field.The clearer the literature is,the more they will understand. This means that when you begin the writing process,you need to bear in mind that your reader may not be as expert as you are. (3)Make your paper interesting enough for an expert Try to ensure enough meat (i.e.scientific substance)for the experts.This does not mean you have to write in a more complicated way,but just that you include enough details get experts interested. (4)Look at the forms used in referees'reports Every journal has a standard form for use by referees when writing their reports,which the editor then uses to judge whether your paper is suitable for publication or not.Through your professor and colleagues,try to find as many such forms as you can,and preferably the one for your chosen journal. You can use the questions in the forms as guidelines for your writing.Here are some examples: Is the research novel and of international relevance? Does the article fit the aims and scope of the journal? Is the paper written grammatically and clearly? Is the writing style succinct and appropriate to the work? Is the title appropriate to the content? Does the abstract accurately describe the content? Are the conclusions borne out by the evidence and arguments? It will help you considerably if you think about all these questions while you are writing your paper.Also,when you have finished,you should check that the answer to each question is 'yes'. 1.17 Write directly in English and find ways to improve your writing skills Write directly in English rather than in your native language.This may be hard at the beginning.But with a model paper written by a native English speaker in front of you,which you can follow step by step,it should be quicker than translating from your own language.From an English point of view,it should also be more
1.17 Write directly in English and find ways to improve your writing skills 15 Also, due to the fact that research groups cannot always get the funding they need for research in their specific field, they may have to shift their interests to a related field where funds are available. This entails them reading the literature from this new field. The clearer the literature is, the more they will understand. This means that when you begin the writing process, you need to bear in mind that your reader may not be as expert as you are. (3) Make your paper interesting enough for an expert Try to ensure enough meat (i.e. scientific substance) for the experts. This does not mean you have to write in a more complicated way, but just that you include enough details get experts interested. (4) Look at the forms used in referees’ reports Every journal has a standard form for use by referees when writing their reports, which the editor then uses to judge whether your paper is suitable for publication or not. Through your professor and colleagues, try to find as many such forms as you can, and preferably the one for your chosen journal. You can use the questions in the forms as guidelines for your writing. Here are some examples: • Is the research novel and of international relevance? • Does the article fit the aims and scope of the journal? • Is the paper written grammatically and clearly? • Is the writing style succinct and appropriate to the work? • Is the title appropriate to the content? • Does the abstract accurately describe the content? • Are the conclusions borne out by the evidence and arguments? It will help you considerably if you think about all these questions while you are writing your paper. Also, when you have finished, you should check that the answer to each question is ‘yes’. 1.17 Write directly in English and find ways to improve your writing skills Write directly in English rather than in your native language. This may be hard at the beginning. But with a model paper written by a native English speaker in front of you, which you can follow step by step, it should be quicker than translating from your own language. From an English point of view, it should also be more
16 1 Planning and Preparation reliable and accurate because you will be using some standard phrases that you have lifted directly or adapted from your model English paper. Some researchers find it much easier to write a paper if they have already written notes in English throughout the research project.This means that you will already have much of the content you need when you finally start writing your manuscript. It also means that you will get a lot of practice in writing in English and may help you to discover any gaps in your understanding of your topic. It might also be worth finding a native speaker to correct your written English for you whenever you write notes during the research.This might be a useful alterna- tive to following a general English language course as it will be much for focused and also tailored to your particular needs.However,if your department or institute offers writing courses these are obviously well worth attending. With your colleagues you could set up a writing group within your academic department.This would enable you to practice your own English writing skills and evaluate those of others in a mutual learning process. One way of improving your writing skills and raising your profile in your area of expertise is to consider writing letters.Journals generally publish letters that offer a short critical review of the research of others.Such letters tend to be about 300 words long,so the same as or a little longer than an abstract.You can also write online rapid responses to letters in print journals. 1.18 Consult online resources This book contains advice for all types of papers.You can find more specific advice for your specific field by searching on the web.To do this you simply type in,for example,.“how to write the discussion section”+“medicine'”(i.e.your specific field)and this should provide you with useful articles. In Part 2 of this book I have used comments and materials from various excellent websites,which highlight the top quality materials that are available on the web
16 1 Planning and Preparation reliable and accurate because you will be using some standard phrases that you have lifted directly or adapted from your model English paper. Some researchers find it much easier to write a paper if they have already written notes in English throughout the research project. This means that you will already have much of the content you need when you finally start writing your manuscript. It also means that you will get a lot of practice in writing in English and may help you to discover any gaps in your understanding of your topic. It might also be worth finding a native speaker to correct your written English for you whenever you write notes during the research. This might be a useful alternative to following a general English language course as it will be much for focused and also tailored to your particular needs. However, if your department or institute offers writing courses these are obviously well worth attending. With your colleagues you could set up a writing group within your academic department. This would enable you to practice your own English writing skills and evaluate those of others in a mutual learning process. One way of improving your writing skills and raising your profile in your area of expertise is to consider writing letters. Journals generally publish letters that offer a short critical review of the research of others. Such letters tend to be about 300 words long, so the same as or a little longer than an abstract. You can also write online rapid responses to letters in print journals. 1.18 Consult online resources This book contains advice for all types of papers. You can find more specific advice for your specific field by searching on the web. To do this you simply type in, for example, “how to write the discussion section” + “medicine” (i.e. your specific field) and this should provide you with useful articles. In Part 2 of this book I have used comments and materials from various excellent websites, which highlight the top quality materials that are available on the web
1.19 Summary 17 1.19 Summary >Consult with your professor and colleagues about the most appropriate journal where you can publish your research >Match your topic to the journal,or vice versa >Download the guidelines for authors-these will tell you about the style and structure of your paper >Choose frequently cited papers in the journal to see how other authors construct their argumentation,and note down ways in which your research is different and innovative with respect to theirs >Choose one paper as a model onto which to map your research,imitating the style and organization.This model should be written by a native English speaker >Note down useful standard phrases from your model paper which you can then use in your own paper >Decide on the best order to write the various sections of your paper.It is gener- ally best to start with a very rough draft of the Abstract,and then whichever section is clearest in your head(generally the Materials and Methods) >Consider having separate documents for each section.This enables you to work on several sections at the same time >Make sure your unique contribution to your community is very clear in every section,not just in the Abstract >Write in a way that even a non-expert can understand >Referees work for free and often outside working hours-never submit a care- lessly written manuscript >Access referees report forms to understand the ways that referees will evaluate your work >Write directly in English,and use every opportunity for improving your writing skills >Use online resources
1.19 Summary 17 1.19 Summary ¶ Consult with your professor and colleagues about the most appropriate journal where you can publish your research ¶ Match your topic to the journal, or vice versa ¶ Download the guidelines for authors – these will tell you about the style and structure of your paper ¶ Choose frequently cited papers in the journal to see how other authors construct their argumentation, and note down ways in which your research is different and innovative with respect to theirs ¶ Choose one paper as a model onto which to map your research, imitating the style and organization. This model should be written by a native English speaker ¶ Note down useful / standard phrases from your model paper which you can then use in your own paper ¶ Decide on the best order to write the various sections of your paper. It is generally best to start with a very rough draft of the Abstract, and then whichever section is clearest in your head (generally the Materials and Methods) ¶ Consider having separate documents for each section. This enables you to work on several sections at the same time ¶ Make sure your unique contribution to your community is very clear in every section, not just in the Abstract ¶ Write in a way that even a non-expert can understand ¶ Referees work for free and often outside working hours – never submit a carelessly written manuscript ¶ Access referees report forms to understand the ways that referees will evaluate your work ¶ Write directly in English, and use every opportunity for improving your writing skills ¶ Use online resources
Chapter 2 Word Order Why is this chapter important? Just two or three badly constructed sentences may be enough for referees to initially recommend rejecting a paper and suggest having the English revised. This chapter focuses on putting words in a sentence in the correct order.This cor- rect order may be very different from the syntax of your own language. A.Wallwork,English for Writing Research Papers, 19 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-7922-3_2,Springer Science+Business Media,LLC 2011
A. Wallwork, English for Writing Research Papers, 19 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-7922-3_2, © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 Why is this chapter important? Just two or three badly constructed sentences may be enough for referees to initially recommend rejecting a paper and suggest having the English revised. This chapter focuses on putting words in a sentence in the correct order. This correct order may be very different from the syntax of your own language. Chapter 2 Word Order