ease_guidelines for authors and translators of scientific articles to be published in english - 2011

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1EASE Guidelines for Authors and Translators of Scientific Ar ticles to be Published in English, June 2011

2011 European Association of Science Editors (www.ease.org.uk). Non-commercial printing allowed.

From the Editors Desks

June 2011

EASE Guidelines for Authors and

Translators of Scientific Articles to

Be Published in English

2 Guidelines

Appendices

7 Abstracts

8 Ambiguity

9 Cohesion

10 Ethics

11 Plurals

12 Simplicity

13 Spelling

14 Text-tables

15 About EASE

www.ease.org.uk
http://www.ease.org.uk/http://www.ease.org.uk/


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EASE Guidelines for Authors and Translators of Scientific Ar ticles to be Published in English, June 20112


EASE Guidelines for Authors and Translators of Scientic

Articles to be Published in English

To make international scientic communication moreecient, research articles and other scientic publicationsshould be COMPLETE, CONCISE, and CLEAR. esegeneralized guidelines are intended to help authors,translators, and editors to achieve this aim.

First of all:

t Do not begin draing the whole paper until you are surethat your ndings are reasonably rm and complete(OConnor 1991), allowing you to drawsensible andreliable conclusions.

t Before you start writing, preferablychoose the journalto which you will submit your manuscript. Make sure

that the journals readership corresponds to your owntarget audience (Chippereld et al. 2010). Get a copy ofthe journals instructions to authors and plan the articleto t the journals preferred format in terms of overalllength, number ofgures required/allowed, etc.

Manuscripts should be COMPLETE, i.e. no necessaryinformation should be missing. Remember thatinformation is interpreted more easily if it is placedwhere readers expect to nd it (Gopen & Swan 1990). Forexample, the following information ought to be included inexperimental research articles.

t

Title: should be unambiguous, understandable tospecialists in other elds, and must reect the content ofthe article. Be specic, not general or vague (OConnor1991). If relevant, mention in the title the study periodand location, the international scientic name of thestudied organism or the experimental design (e.g. casestudy or randomized controlled trial). Informationgiven in the title does not need to be repeated in theabstract (as they are always published jointly), althoughoverlap is unavoidable.

t List of authors, i.e. all people who contributedsubstantially to study planning, data collection orinterpretation of results and wrote or critically revisedthe manuscript and approved its nal version (ICMJE2010). e authors listed rst should be those who didmost. Names of authors must be supplemented withtheir aliations (during the study) and the presentaddress of an author for correspondence. E-mailaddresses of all authors should be provided, so that

they can be contacted easily.

t Abstract: briey explain why you conducted thestudy (), what question(s) you aimed toanswer (), how you performed the study(), what you found (: major data,relationships), and your interpretation and main

consequences of your ndings (). eabstract must reect the content of the article, as formost readers it will be the major source of informationabout your study. You must use all keywords within

the abstract, to facilitate on-line searching for yourarticle by those who may be interested in your results(many databases include only titles and abstracts). Ina research report, the abstract should be informative,including actual results. Only in reviews, meta-analyses, and other wide-scope articles, should theabstract be indicative, i.e. listing the major topicsdiscussed but not giving outcomes (CSE 2006). Do notrefer in the abstract to tables or gures, as abstracts arealso published separately. References to the literatureare also not allowed unless they are absolutely necessary(but then you need to provide detailed information inbrackets: author, title, year, etc.). Make sure that all the

information given in the abstract also appears in themain body of the article. (See Appendix: Abstracts)

t List of additional keywords (if allowed by the editors):include all relevant scientic terms that are absent fromthe title and abstract. Keep the keywords specic. Addmore general terms if your study has interdisciplinarysignicance (OConnor 1991). In medical texts, usevocabulary found in the MeSH Browser.

t List of abbreviations (if required by the editors):dene all abbreviations used in the article, except thoseobvious to non-specialists.

t Introduction: explain why the study was needed and

specify your research objectives or the question(s) youaimed to answer. Start from more general issues and

gradually focus on your research question(s).

t Methods: describe in detail how the study wascarried out (e.g. study area, data collection, criteria,origin of analysed material, sample size, number ofmeasurements, age and sex of participants, equipment,data analysis, statistical tests, and soware used). Allfactors that could have aected the results need to beconsidered. If you cite a method described in a non-English or inaccessible publication, explain it in detailin your manuscript. Make sure that you comply with the

ethical standards (e.g. WMA 2008) in respect of patientrights, animal testing, environmental protection, etc.

t Results: present the new results of your study(published data should not be included in this section).All tables and gures must be mentioned in the mainbody of the article, and numbered in the order in whichthey appear in the text. Make sure that the statisticalanalysis is appropriate (e.g.Lang 2004). Do not fabricateor distort any data, and do not exclude any importantdata; similarly, do not manipulate images to make afalse impression on readers. Such data manipulationsmay constitute scientic fraud (see COPE owcharts).

t Discussion: answer your research questions (stated atthe end of the introduction) and compare your newresults with published data, as objectively as possible.Discuss their limitations and highlight your main
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ndings. Consider any ndings that run contraryto your point of view. To support your position, useonly methodologically sound evidence (ORI 2009).At the end of the discussion or in a separate section,emphasize your major conclusions and the practical

signicance of your study.

t Acknowledgements: mention all people whocontributed substantially to the study but cannot beregarded as co-authors, and acknowledge all sourcesof funding. e recommended form is: is workwas supported by the Medical Research Council[grant number xxxx]. If no specic funding wasprovided, use the following sentence: is researchreceived no specic grant from any funding agencyin the public, commercial, or not-for-prot sectors.(RIN 2008). If relevant, disclose to the editors anyother conicts of interest, e.g. nancial or personallinks with the manufacturer or with an organization

that has an interest in the submitted manuscript(Goozner et al. 2009). If you reproduce previouslypublished materials (e.g. gures), ask the copyrightowners for permission and mention them in thecaptions or in the acknowledgements. If you werehelped by a language professional (e.g. authors editoror translator), a statistician, data collectors, etc., youshould acknowledge their assistance for the sake oftransparency (ICMJE 2010, Graf et al. 2009). It must beclear that they are not responsible for the nal versionof the article. You must ensure you have the consentof all the people named in this section. (See Appendix:

Ethics)

t References: make sure that you have provided sourcesfor all information extracted from other publications.In the list of references, include all data necessary to ndthem in a library or in the Internet. For non-Englishpublications, give the original title (transliteratedaccording to English rules if necessary), whereverpossible followed by its translation into English insquare brackets (CSE 2006). Avoid citing inaccessibledata. Do not include unpublished data in the list ofreferences if you must mention them, describe theirsource in the main body of the article, and obtainpermission from the producer of the data to cite them.

t A dierent article structure may be more suitable fortheoretical publications, review articles, case studies,etc.

t Some publications include also an abstract or a longersummaryin another language. is is very useful inmanyelds of research.

t Remember to comply withthe journals instructions toauthors in respect of abstract length, style of references,etc.

Write CONCISELY to save the time of referees and readers.

t Do not include information that is not relevant to

your research question(s) stated in the introduction.e number of cited works should not be excessive do not give many similar examples.

t Do not copy substantial parts of your previous

publications and do not submit the same manuscriptto more than one journal at a time. Otherwise, youmay be responsible for redundant publication (seeCOPE owcharts). is does not apply to preliminarypublications, such as conference abstracts (OConnor1991). Moreover, secondary publications are

acceptable if intended for a completely dierentgroup of readers (e.g. in another language or forspecialists and the general public) and you havereceived approval from the editors of both journals(ICMJE 2010). A reference to the primary publicationmust then be given in a footnote on the title page ofthe secondary publication.

t Information given in one section preferably shouldnot be repeated in other sections. Obvious exceptionsinclude the abstract, the gure legends and theconcluding paragraph.

t Consider whether all tables and gures are necessary.

Data presented in tables should not be repeated ingures (or vice versa). Long lists of data should not berepeated in the text.

t Captions to tables and gures must be informativebut not very long. If similar data are presented inseveral tables or several gures, then the format oftheir captions should also be similar.

t Preferablydelete obvious statements (e.g. Forestsare very important ecosystems.) and other redundantfragments(e.g. It is well known that).

t If a long scientic term is frequently repeated, deneits abbreviation at rst use in the main body of the

article, and later apply it consistently.t Express your doubts if necessary but avoid excessive

hedging (e.g. write are potential rather thanmay possibly be potential). However, do notovergeneralize your conclusions.

t Unless required otherwise by the editors, usenumerals for all numbers, i.e. also for one-digitwhole numbers, except for zero, one (if withoutunits), and other cases where misunderstanding ispossible, e.g. at the beginning of a sentence or beforeabbreviations containing numbers (CSE 2006).

Write CLEARLY to facilitate understanding make thetext readable.

Scientic content

t Clearly distinguish your original data and ideasfrom those of other people and from your earlierpublications provide citations whenever relevant.Preferably summarize or paraphrase text fromother sources. is applies also to translations. Whencopying text literally (e.g. a whole sentence or longertext), put it in inverted commas (e.g. ORI 2009,Kerans & de Jager 2010).Otherwise you could commit

plagiarism (see COPE owcharts) or self-plagiarism.t Make sure that you are using proper English scientic

terms, preferably on the basis of texts written bynative English speakers.Literal translations are oen
http://www.ease.org.uk/http://ori.hhs.gov/education/products/plagiarism/0.shtmlhttp://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/research-funding-policy-and-guidance/acknowledgement-funders-journal-articleshttp://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122637800/abstracthttp://www.icmje.org/urm_main.htmlhttp://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/339/nov27_1/b4330http://www.publicationethics.org/resources/flowchartshttp://www.publicationethics.org/resources/flowchartshttp://www.publicationethics.org/resources/flowchartshttp://www.icmje.org/publishing_4overlap.htmlhttp://ori.hhs.gov/education/products/plagiarism/0.shtmlhttp://www.ease.org.uk/pdfese/ESE_aug10.pdfhttp://www.publicationethics.org/resources/flowchartshttp://www.publicationethics.org/resources/flowchartshttp://www.publicationethics.org/resources/flowchartshttp://www.publicationethics.org/resources/flowchartshttp://www.ease.org.uk/pdfese/ESE_aug10.pdfhttp://ori.hhs.gov/education/products/plagiarism/0.shtmlhttp://www.icmje.org/publishing_4overlap.htmlhttp://www.publicationethics.org/resources/flowchartshttp://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/339/nov27_1/b4330http://www.icmje.org/urm_main.htmlhttp://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122637800/abstracthttp://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/research-funding-policy-and-guidance/acknowledgement-funders-journal-articleshttp://ori.hhs.gov/education/products/plagiarism/0.shtmlhttp://www.ease.org.uk/


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wrong (e.g. so-called false friends or non-existentwords invented by translators). If in doubt, check thedenition in an English dictionary, as many wordsare used incorrectly (e.g. trimester with reference toanimal pregnancy, see Baranyiov 1998). You can alsosearch for a word or phrase in Wikipedia, for example;

then compare the results in your native languageand in English, and see if the meaning of putativeequivalents is truly the same. However, Wikipedia isnot always a reliable source of information.

t If a word is used mostly in translations and only rarelyin English-speaking countries, consider replacingit with a commonly known English term with asimilar meaning (e.g. plant community instead ofphytocoenosis). If a scientic term has no synonymin English, then dene it precisely and suggest anacceptable English translation.

t Dene every uncommon or ambiguous scientic

term at rst use. You can list its synonyms, if there areany (to aid in searching), but later employ only oneof them consistently (to prevent confusion). Formalnomenclature established by scientic organizationsshould be preferred.

t Avoid unclear statements, which require the reader toguess what you meant. (See Appendix: Ambiguity)

t When reporting percentages, make clear what youregard as 100%. When writing about correlations,relationships, etc., make clear which values you arecomparing with which.

t Systme International (SI) units and Celsius degrees

are generally preferred. If necessary, abbreviate litre asL (CSE 2006), to avoid confusion with the number 1.

t Unlike many other languages, English has a decimalpoint (not comma). In numbers exceeding 4digits tothe right or le of the decimal point, use thin spaces(not commas) between groups of 3 digits in eitherdirection from the decimal point (CSE 2006).

t To denote centuries, months, etc., do not use capitalRoman numerals, as they are rare in English. Becauseof dierence between British and American datenotation (see below), preferably denote months aswhole words or their rst 3 letters.

t If lesser known geographic names are translated, theoriginal name should also be mentioned if possible, e.g.in the Kampinos Forest (Puszcza Kampinoska). Someadditional information about location, climate, etc.,may also be useful for readers.

t Remember that the text will be read mainly byforeigners, who may be unaware of the specicconditions, classications or concepts that are widelyknown in your country; therefore, addition of someexplanations may be necessary (Ufnalska 2008). Forexample, the common weed Erigeron annuus is calledStenactis annua in some countries, so in English texts

the internationally approved name should be used,while its synonym(s) should be added in brackets.

Text structure

t Sentences generally should not be very long.eir structure should be relatively simple, withthe subject located close to its verb (Gopen & Swan1990). For example, avoid abstract nouns and writeX was measured instead of Measurements of X

were carried out. (See Appendix: Simplicity)Do notoveruse passive constructions (e.g. Norris 2011). Whentranslating, modify sentence structure if necessaryto convey the message correctly or more clearly(Burrough-Boenisch 2003).

t e text should be cohesive, logically organized, andthus easy to follow. (See Appendix: Cohesion)

t Each paragraph preferably should start with a topicsentence, and the next sentences fully develop the topic.

t In contrast to some other languages, English allowsparallel constructions,as they facilitate understanding.For example, when comparing similar data, you can

write It was high in A, medium in B, and low in C,rather than Itwas high in A, medium for B, and lowin the case of C.

t Make gures and tables easily understandablewithout reference to the main body of the article. Omitdata that are not informative (e.g. delete a column ifit contains the same values in all rows you can writeabout it in a footnote instead). Apply abbreviations onlyif necessary for consistency or if there is not enoughroom for whole words. In captions or footnotes, deneall abbreviations and symbols that are not obvious (e.g.error bars may denote standard deviation, standard

error or condence intervals). Remember to usedecimal points (not decimal commas) and provideaxis labels and units wherever needed.

t Consider using text-tables when presenting a small setof data (Kozak 2009). (See Appendix: Text-tables)

t In long lists (of abbreviations, etc.), preferablyseparate individual items bysemicolons (;), which areintermediate between commas and full stops.

Language matters

t Wherever scientic terms are not necessary, preferablyuse commonly known words. However, avoid

colloquial and idiomatic expressions, as well as phrasalverbs, (e.g. nd out, pay o), which are oen dicultto understand by non-native speakers of English(Geercken 2006).

t Dene abbreviationswhen theyrst appear in the mainbody of the article (if they may be unclear to readers).Do not use too many dierent abbreviations, as thetext would be hard to understand. Do not abbreviateterms that are used only rarely in your manuscript.Avoid abbreviationsin the abstract.

t In general, use the past tense when describing howyou performed your study and what you found or

what other researchers did. Preferably use the presenttense in general statements and interpretations (e.g.statistical signicance, conclusions) or when writing
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about the content of your article, especially tables andgures (Day & Gastel 2006).

t Do not write about yourself the author(s), as thisis ambiguous. Instead, write we or I if necessary,or use expressions like in this study, our results orin our opinion (e.g. Hartley 2010, Norris 2011). Note

that you should write this study only if you meanyour new results. If you mean a publication mentionedin a previous sentence, write that study. If you meanauthors of a cited publication, write those authors.

t Remember that in scientic texts the word whichshould be used in non-dening clauses, while that indening clauses (i.e. meaning only those that).

t When using equivocal words, make sure that theirmeaning is obvious from the text context. Check if allverbs agree in number with their subjects and if thereferences for all pronouns are clear (this is crucial intranslated texts). Note that some nouns have irregular

plurals. (See Appendix: Plurals)t Read the text aloud to check punctuation. All

intonation breaks necessary for proper understandingshould be denoted with commas or other punctuationmarks (e.g. note the dierence between no more dataare needed and no, more data are needed).

t Be consistent in spelling. Follow either British orAmerican rules for spelling and date notation (e.g. 21Sep 2009 in British, or Sep 21, 2009 in AmericanEnglish; see Appendix: Spelling). Check whether thetarget journal uses American or British spelling, andthen use that setting on your word and grammar check.

t Ask a thoughtful colleague to read the whole text, inorder to see if there are any ambiguous fragments.

CONTRIBUTORS TO THE GUIDELINES (inchronological order): Sylwia Ufnalska, Paola De Castro,Liz Wager, Carol Norris, James Hart ley, Franoise Salager-Meyer, Marcin Kozak, Ed Hull, Mary Ellen Kerans,Angela Turner, Will Hughes, Peter Hovenkamp, omasBabor, Eric Lichtfouse, Richard Hurley, Merc Piqueras,Maria Persson, Elisabetta Poltronieri, Suzanne Lapstun,Mare-Anne Laane, David Vaux, Arjan Polderman, AnaMarusic, Elisabeth Heseltine, Joy Burrough-Boenisch,

Eva Baranyiov

References and further reading

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Norris CB. 2009.Academic writing in English. Helsinki:

University of Helsinki. Available from http://www.helsinki. /

kksc/language.services/AcadWrit.pdf

Norris C. 2011. e passive voice revisited. European Science

Editing37(1):6-7. Available from http://www.ease.org.uk/

pdfese/ESE_feb11.pdf

OConnor M. 1991. Writing successfully in science. London:

Chapman & Hall.

[ORI] Oce of Research Integrity. 2009.Avoiding plagiarism, self-

plagiarism, and other questionable writing practices: a guide to

ethical writing. Available from http://ori.hhs.gov/education/

products/plagiarism/0.shtml

Retraction Watch. Available from http://retractionwatch.

wordpress.com/

[RIN] Research Information Network. 2008. Acknowledgement

of funders in journal articles. Available from: http://www.

rin.ac.uk/our-work/research-funding-policy-and-guidance/

acknowledgement-funders-journal-articles

Scientic Red Cards. Available from http://www.

scienticredcards.org/

Seifert KA, Crous PW, Frisvad JC. 2008. Correcting the impact

factors of taxonomic journals by Appropriate Citation of

Taxonomy (ACT). Persoonia 20:105. Available from http://

www.persoonia.org/Issue/20/08.pdf

Strunk WJr, White EB. 2000. e elements of style. 4th ed. NewYork: Macmillan.

Tue ER. 2001.e visual display of quantitative information, 2nd ed.

Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.

Ufnalska S. 2008. Abstracts of research articles: readers expectations

and guidelines for authors. European Science Editing34(3):63-

65. Available from http://www.ease.org.uk/pdfesearticles/

Articlesaug08p63-9.pdf

[WMA] World Medical Association. 2008. Declaration of Helsinki

ethical principles for medical research involving human

subjects. Available in English, Spanish, and French from http://

www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/
http://www.ease.org.uk/http://www.icmje.org/urm_main.htmlhttp://www.icmje.org/urm_main.htmlhttp://www.ease.org.uk/pdfese/ESE_aug10.pdfhttp://www.ease.org.uk/pdfese/ESE_aug10.pdfhttp://www.cmj.hr/2004/45/4/15311405.htmhttp://www.cmj.hr/2004/45/4/15311405.htmhttp://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.htmlhttp://www.necobelac.eu/documents/TopicMapScheme_Scientific_Publication.pdfhttp://www.necobelac.eu/documents/TopicMapScheme_Scientific_Publication.pdfhttp://www.necobelac.eu/documents/TopicMapScheme_Scientific_Publication.pdfhttp://www.necobelac.eu/documents/TopicMapScheme_Scientific_Publication.pdfhttp://www.helsinki.fi/kksc/language.services/AcadWrit2009.pdfhttp://www.helsinki.fi/kksc/language.services/AcadWrit2009.pdfhttp://www.helsinki.fi/kksc/language.services/AcadWrit2009.pdfhttp://www.helsinki.fi/kksc/language.services/AcadWrit2009.pdfhttp://www.ease.org.uk/pdfese/ESE_feb11.pdfhttp://www.ease.org.uk/pdfese/ESE_feb11.pdfhttp://ori.hhs.gov/education/products/plagiarism/0.shtmlhttp://ori.hhs.gov/education/products/plagiarism/0.shtmlhttp://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/http://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/research-funding-policy-and-guidance/acknowledgement-funders-journal-articleshttp://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/research-funding-policy-and-guidance/acknowledgement-funders-journal-articleshttp://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/research-funding-policy-and-guidance/acknowledgement-funders-journal-articleshttp://www.scientificredcards.org/%0Dhttp://www.scientificredcards.org/%0Dhttp://www.scientificredcards.org/%0Dhttp://www.scientificredcards.org/%0Dhttp://www.persoonia.org/Issue/20/08.pdfhttp://www.persoonia.org/Issue/20/08.pdfhttp://www.ease.org.uk/pdfesearticles/Articlesaug08p63-9.pdfhttp://www.ease.org.uk/pdfesearticles/Articlesaug08p63-9.pdfhttp://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/http://www.ease.org.uk/pdfesearticles/Articlesaug08p63-9.pdfhttp://www.ease.org.uk/pdfesearticles/Articlesaug08p63-9.pdfhttp://www.persoonia.org/Issue/20/08.pdfhttp://www.persoonia.org/Issue/20/08.pdfhttp://www.scientificredcards.org/%0Dhttp://www.scientificredcards.org/%0Dhttp://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/research-funding-policy-and-guidance/acknowledgement-funders-journal-articleshttp://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/research-funding-policy-and-guidance/acknowledgement-funders-journal-articleshttp://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/research-funding-policy-and-guidance/acknowledgement-funders-journal-articleshttp://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/http://ori.hhs.gov/education/products/plagiarism/0.shtmlhttp://ori.hhs.gov/education/products/plagiarism/0.shtmlhttp://www.ease.org.uk/pdfese/ESE_feb11.pdfhttp://www.ease.org.uk/pdfese/ESE_feb11.pdfhttp://www.helsinki.fi/kksc/language.services/AcadWrit2009.pdfhttp://www.helsinki.fi/kksc/language.services/AcadWrit2009.pdfhttp://www.necobelac.eu/documents/TopicMapScheme_Scientific_Publication.pdfhttp://www.necobelac.eu/documents/TopicMapScheme_Scientific_Publication.pdfhttp://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.htmlhttp://www.cmj.hr/2004/45/4/15311405.htmhttp://www.cmj.hr/2004/45/4/15311405.htmhttp://www.ease.org.uk/pdfese/ESE_aug10.pdfhttp://www.ease.org.uk/pdfese/ESE_aug10.pdfhttp://www.icmje.org/urm_main.htmlhttp://www.icmje.org/urm_main.htmlhttp://www.ease.org.uk/


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Appendix: Abstracts

Key elements of abstracts

Researchers are quite oen in a box of technical details the important things they focus on day in and day out.As a result, they frequently lose sight of four items essentialfor any readable, credible, and relevant IMRaD1 article: thepoint of the research, the research question, its answer, andthe consequences of the study.

To help researchers to get out of the box, I ask them toinclude six key elements in their article and in their abstract.I describe briey the elements below and illustrate themwith a ctitious abstract.

Key element 1 (): the point of the research why should we care about the study? is is usually astatement of the BIG problem that the research helps tosolve and the strategy for helping to solve it. It prepares thereader to understand the specic research question.

Key element 2 (): the specic research question the basis of credible science. To be clear, completeand concise, research questions are stated in terms ofrelationships between the variables that were investigated.Such specic research questions tie the storytogether they focus on credible science.

Key element 3 (): a description of the methodsused to collect data and determine the relationshipsbetween the variables.

Key element 4 (): the major ndings not onlydata, but the RELATIONSHIPS found that lead to theanswer. ese are historical facts and, therefore, reportedin past tense.

Key element 5 (): the answers to the researchquestions the authors INTERPRETATION of the factualndings. An answer to a research question is in the present

tense - it reports the authors belief of how the world IS.Of course, in a pilot study such as the example below, theauthors cannot yet present denitive answers, which theyindicate by using the words suggest and may.

Key element 6 (nal ): the consequences ofthe answers the value of the work. is element relatesdirectly back to the big problem: how the study helps tosolve the problem, and it also points to the next step inresearch.

To save words in an abstract, we can combine several of theelements in a sentence. Here is a ctitious example. I haveindicated the beginning of each key element with [.].

Predicting malaria epidemics in Ethiopia

Abstract

[1] Most deaths from malaria could be prevented if malariaepidemics could be predicted in local areas, allowing medicalfacilities to be mobilized early. Epidemics are known to berelated to meteorological factors, but their correlations withsubsequent malaria epidemics have never been determined.[2, 3] In a retrospective study, we collected meteorologicaland epidemic data for 10 local areas in Ethiopia, coveringthe years 19632006. Using Poisson regression, wefound that [4, 5] factors AAA, BBB, and CCC correlated

signi

cantly (P< 0.05) with subsequent epidemics in all 10areas, and our model has a predictive power of about 30%.[6] We conclude that meteorological factors can be usedto predict malaria epidemics. e predictive power of ourmodel needs to be improved, and it needs to be validated inother areas. (126 words)

is understandable and concise abstract forms theskeleton for the entire article. A nal comment: isexample is based on an actual research project and, at rst,the author was in a box full of the mathematics, statistics,and computer algorithms of his predicting model. is wasreected in his rst version of the abstract, where the word

malaria never appeared.

Written by Ed Hull, [email protected]

(for more information, see Bless and Hull 2008)

______________________________

1 IMRaD stands for Introduction, Methods, Results and

Discussion.
http://www.ease.org.uk/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.ease.org.uk/


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Empty words and sentences

Many English words are empty they do not addinformation but require the reader to ll in information orcontext to be understood. e reader is forced to supply hisor her own interpretation, which could be dierent fromwhat you, the writer, mean.

Empty words seem to give information and uncriticalreaders do not notice them that is why they work so wellfor marketing texts. However, empty words do not belongin articles reporting scientic research. Empty wordsrequire the reader to supply the meaning very dangerous.Concise and clear communication requires words that

convey specic meaning.

Examples

It is important that patients take their medicine.

t Note that to a physician the meaning is probably entirelydierent than to the sales manager of a pharmaceuticalcompany. Important is one of our best-loved, butempty, words it ts every situation.

e patient was treated for XXX.

t Treated is empty; we do not know what was done.

One reader could assume that the patient was given acertain medicine, while another reader could assumethat the patient was given a dierent medicine. Perhapsthe patient was operated on, or sent to Switzerland fora rest cure.

e patient reacted well to the medicine.

t Reacted well gives us a positive piece of information,but otherwise it is empty; we do not know how thepatient reacted.

We do high-quality research.

t Quality is empty. Cost-eective or meets XXX

guidelines would be more specic.

e patients blood pressure is low.

t We interpret high/low blood pressure to meanhigher/lower than normal, but we, the readers, haveto supply that reference standard. A more concisestatement is: e patients blood pressure is 60/45.

Empty words and phrases not only require the reader tosupply the meaning, they also contribute to a wordy blah-blah text. In scientic articles they destroy credibility. Hereare some examples.

It has been found that the secondary eects of this druginclude

t Better: e secondary eects of this drug include(ref.).Or, if these are your new results: Our results show thatthe secondary eects of this drug include

We performed a retrospective evaluation study on XXX.

t Performed a study is a much overused and ratherempty phrase. Better: We retrospectively evaluated XXX.

More examples that require the reader to supplyinformation if it is not evident from the context:

t

qualityt good/bad

t high/low

t large/small

t long/short

t proper/properly (e.g. a proper question on thequestionnaire)

t As soon as possible


Appendix: Ambiguity


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Cohesion the glue

e word cohesion means unity, consistency, andsolidity. Building cohesion into your text makes life easierfor your readers they will be much more likely to readthe text. Cohesion glues your text together, focusingthe readers attention on your main message and therebyadding credibility to your work.

ink of your text as a motorcycle chain made up ofseparate links, where each sentence is one link. A pile ofunconnected links is worthless it will never drive yourmotorcycle. Similarly, a pile of unconnected sentences isworthless it will never drive your message home.

To build a cohesive text, you have to connect yoursentences together to make longer segments we callparagraphs. A cohesive paragraph clearly focuses on itstopic. You then need to connect each paragraph with theprevious paragraph, thereby linking the paragraph topics.Linking paragraphs results in building cohesive sections ofyour article, where each section focuses on its main topic.en, link the sections to each other and, nally, connectthe end of your article to the beginning, closing the loop now the chain will drive our motorcycle. Lets look atlinking techniques.

Basic guidelines for building a cohesive story:1. Link each sentence to the previous sentence.

2. Link each paragraph to the previous paragraph.

3. Link each section to the previous section.

4. Link the end to the beginning.

Linking techniques

Whether you want to link sentences, paragraphs, sections orthe beginning to the end, use two basic linking techniques:

t Use linking words and phrases, such as: however,although, those, since then...An example: Our research results conict with thoseof Smith and Jones. To resolve those dierences wemeasured ...

t Repeat key words and phrases do not use synonyms.In scientic writing, repetition sharpens the focus.Repetition especially helps the reader to connect ideasthat are physically separated in your text. For example:Other investigators have shown that microbial activitycan cause immobilization of labial soil phosphorus.

Our results suggest that, indeed, microbial activityimmobilizes the labial soil phosphorus.

e example below illustrates how to link your answer toyour research question, thus linking the Discussion withthe Introduction.

In the Introduction, the research hypothesis is stated.For example: e decremental theory of aging led us tohypothesize that older workers in speed jobs perform lesswell and have have more absences and more accidents thanother workers have.

In the Discussion, the answer is linked to the hypothesis:Ourndings do not support the hypothesis that older workersin speed jobs perform less well and have more absences andmore accidents than other workers have. e older workersgenerally earned more, were absent less oen, and had feweraccidents than younger workers had. Furthermore, we foundno signicant dierence between...


Appendix: Cohesion


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Please tick and ll in where appropriate below. (Obligatorydeclarations applying to all manuscripts are printed inbold.)

Originality or acceptable secondary publication

No part of this manuscript (MS) has been published,except for an abstract/summary published in....

is MS was published in

but in another language (i.e.....), so it could be an acceptable secondarypublication in English if editors of both publicationsagree to it.

No part of this MS is currently being considered forpublication elsewhere.

In this MS, original data are clearly distinguishedfrom published data. All information extracted fromother publications is provided with citations. It hasbeen paraphrased or (if cited literally, e.g. a wholesentence or paragraph) placed in inverted commas.

Authorship

All people listed as authors of this MS meet theauthorship criteria, i.e. they contributed substantiallyto study planning, data collection or interpretationof results andwrote or critically revised the MS andwill be asked to approve the nal version beforepublication.

All people listed as authors of this MS are aware of itand have agreed to be listed.

No person who meets the authorship criteria has

been omitted.Ethical experimentation and interpretation

e study reported in this MS involved humanparticipants and it meets the ethical principles of theDeclaration of Helsinki (WMA 2008).

e study reported in this MS has met other ethicalprinciples, namely ..............

I and all the other authors of this MS did ourbest to avoid errors in experimental design, datapresentation, interpretation, etc. However, ifwe discover any error in the MS (before or aerpublication), we will alert the editor promptly.

None of our data presented in this MS has beenfabricated or distorted, and no important data have

been excluded. Results of this study have been interpreted objectively.Anyndings that run contrary to our point of vieware discussed in the MS.

Acknowledgements

All sources of funding for the study reported in thisMS are stated.

All people who are not listed as authors but contributedsubstantially to the study reported in this MS orassisted in its writing (e.g. language professionals)are mentioned in the acknowledgements.

All people named in the acknowledgements haveagreed to this. However, they are not responsible forthe nal version of this MS.

Consent has been obtained from the author(s) ofunpublished data cited in the MS.

Copyright owners of previously published gures ortables have agreed to their inclusion in this MS.

Conict of interest

All authors of this study have signed a conict ofinterest statement and disclosed any nancial orpersonal links with people or organizations that have

a nancial interest in the submitted manuscript.

Date:Signature:

Compiled by Sylwia Ufnalska

Appendix: Ethics

Examples of authors ethical declarations
http://www.ease.org.uk/http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3http://www.ease.org.uk/


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Examples of irregular plural nouns deriving from Latin or Greek

Singular Plural Examples

-a-ae

rarely -ata

alga algae, larva larvae

stoma stomata

-ex -icesindex indices (or indexes*)

apex apices (orapexes*)

-ies -ies species, series, facies

-is -es axis axes, hypothesis hypotheses

-ix -icesappendix appendices (orappendixes*)

matrix matrices (ormatrixes*)

-on -aphenomenon phenomena

criterion criteria

-um -a datum data, bacterium bacteria

-us

-i

rarely -uses

or-era

locus loci, fungus fungi (orfunguses*)

sinus sinuses

genus genera

* Acceptable anglicized plurals that are also listed in dictionaries.

It must be remembered that some nouns used in everydayEnglish also have irregular plural forms (e.g. woman women, foot feet, tooth teeth, mouse mice, leaf leaves,life lives, tomato tomatoes) or have no plural form (e.g.

equipment, information, news). For more examples, see CSE(2006). If in doubt, consult a dictionary.


Appendix: Plurals


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Appendix: Simplicity

Examples of expressions that can be simplied or deleted ()

Long or (sometimes) wrong Better choice (oen)

accounted for by the fact that because

as can be seen from Figure 1, substance Zreduces twitching

substance Z reduces twitching (Fig.1)

at the present moment now

bright yellow in colour bright yellow

conducted inoculation experiments on inoculatedconsiderable amount of much

despite the fact that although

due to the fact that because

for the reason that because

if conditions are such that if

in a considerable number of cases oen

in view of the fact that because

it is of interest to note that

it may, however, be noted that but

large numbers of many

lazy in character lazy

methodology methods

owing to the fact that because

oval in shape oval

prior to before

taken into consideration considered

terminate end

the test in question this test

there can be little doubt that this is this is probably

to an extent equal to that of X as much as X

utilize use

whether or not whether Based on OConnor (1991)

z


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Examples of dierences between British and American spelling

British English American English

-ae-

e.g. aetiology, anaemia, haematology-e-

e.g. etiology, anemia, hematology

-ce in nouns,-sein verbse.g. defence, licence/license, practice/practise

-se in nouns and verbse.g. defense, license

(butpractice as both noun and verb)

-ise or -ize*e.g. organise/organize

-izee.g. organize

-isation or -ization*e.g. organisation/organization

-ization

e.g. organization

-lled, -lling,-llor,etc.e.g. labelled, travelling, councillor

(but full, skilful)

-led, -ling,-lor,etc.e.g. labeled, traveling, councilor

(but fulll, skillful)

-oe-e.g. diarrhoea, oedema, oestrogen

-e-e.g. diarrhea, edema, estrogen

-ogue

e.g. analogue, catalogue-ogor -ogue

e.g. analog/analogue, catalog/catalogue

-oure.g. colour, behaviour, favour

-ore.g. color, behavior, favor

-ree.g. centre,bre, metre, litre

(but meterfor a measuring instrument)

-ere.g. center,ber, meter, liter

-ysee.g. analyse, dialyse

-yzee.g. analyze, dialyze

acknowledgement acknowled gment

aluminium aluminum or aluminium**

grey graymould mold

programme(general) or program(computer) program

sulphuror sulfur** sul fur

*One ending should be used consistently.

**Recommended by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

For more examples, see CSE (2006). If in doubt, consult a dictionary.


Appendix: Spelling


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Arranging statistical information in a classic table andreferring to it elsewhere means that readers do not accessthe information as immediately as they would when readingabout it within the sentence. ey have to nd the table inthe document (which may be on another page), at a costof losing some time. is slightly decreases the strengthof the information. Quicker access to the information canbe achieved within a sentence, but this is not an eectivestructure if more than two numbers are to be compared.

In such situations, a text-table appears to be ideal forcommunicating information to the reader quickly and

comprehensibly (Tue 2001). e text-table is a simple tablewith no graphic elements, such as grid lines, rules, shading,or boxes. e text-table is embedded within a sentence, sono reference to it is needed. Keeping the power of tabulararrangements, text-tables immediately convey the message.Look at the following examples.

Original sentence:

Iron concentration means (standard deviation) were asfollows: 11.20.3 mg/dm3 in sample A, 12.30.2 mg/dm3 insample B, and 11.40.9 mg/dm3 in sample C.

Modi

ed:Iron concentration means (standard deviation, in mg/dm3) were as follows:

sample B 12.30.2sample C 11.40.9sample A 11.20.3

Original sentence (do Carmo et al 2001):

Prior to rotavirus vaccine introduction, there was a trendof declining diarrhea-related mortality among childrenyounger than 1 y (relative reduction [RR] = 0.87/y; 95% CI0.830.94;p < 0.001), 1 to < 2 y of age (RR = 0.96/y; 95% CI0.911.02;p = 0.23) and 2 to 4 y of age (RR = 0.93/y; 95%

CI 0.871.00;p = 0.06).

Appendix: Text-tables

Modied:

Prior to rotavirus vaccine introduction, there was a trendof declining diarrhea-related mortality among children inall age groups (RR stands for relative reduction per year):

< 1 y RR = 0.87 (95% CI 0.830.94;p < 0.001)1 to < 2 y RR = 0.96 (95% CI 0.911.02;p = 0.23)2 to 4 y RR = 0.93 (95% CI 0.871.00;p = 0.06)

Some rules for arranging text-tables

1. e larger a text-table is, the less power it has.2. e sentence that precedes the text-table acts as a heading

that introduces the information the text-table represents,and usually ends with a colon. Text-tables should haveneither headings nor footnotes.3. Indentation of text-tables should t the documentslayout.4. Occasional changes in font (such as italics, bold, adierent typeface) may be used, but with caution. ey can,however, put some emphasis on the tabular part.5. Do not use too many text-tables in one document or onone page.6. In addition to the above rules, apply rules for formattingregular tables. For example, numbers should be given in

2-3 e

ective digits; ordering rows by size and their correctalignment will facilitate reading and comparison of values;space between columns should be neither too wide nor toonarrow.

Written by Marcin Kozak,[email protected]

(for more information, seeKozak 2009)

Text-tables eective tools for presentation of small data sets
http://www.ease.org.uk/http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_9/[email protected]://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_9/[email protected]://www.ease.org.uk/pdfesearticlesnov09/essays%20101-105.pdfhttp://www.ease.org.uk/pdfesearticlesnov09/essays%20101-105.pdfhttp://www.ease.org.uk/pdfesearticlesnov09/essays%20101-105.pdfhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_9/[email protected]://www.ease.org.uk/


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$ERXW($6(

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The European Association of Science Editors(EASE) was formed in May 1982 at Pau, France,

from the European Life Science Editors' Association

(ELSE) and the European Association of Earth

Science Editors (Editerra). In 2012 we will celebrate

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EASE is affiliated to the International Union of

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2011 European Association of Science Editors (www ease org uk) Non commercial printing allowed

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ease_guidelines for authors and translators of scientific articles to be published in english - 2011

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