How can I quickly check if a word or phrase is correct scientific English?

You try to write your papers clearly, precisely and correctly. You go to English lessons; you regularly read articles from well-edited journals* — not just for the science but for the language too. But sometimes you’re not sure what’s correct and you need the right word or phrase immediately. So what can you do?

Here’s a way you can quickly search well-edited journals to find the correct word or phrase. In this example, let’s imagine that you’re not sure if “ultrasound disintegration” or “ultrasonic disintegration” is correct.

Keep This Book In A Safe Place! A review of "Eloquent Science"

For my work as a teacher of scientific English, I have a shelf full of textbooks, manuals, and references. But one book is never there when I need it: "Eloquent Science" (Schultz 2009). This is because my wife takes it. Without asking.

Yes, even though Ania’s first language is Polish, and the book is in English, she takes it. And, even though she’s a veterinary scientist, and the subtitle of the book is “A practical guide to becoming a better writer, speaker and atmospheric scientist”, she leaves it on her desk or in her bag. Without telling me where it is, of course.

So I went to my wife and said, “Why are you always stealing my book?”

Things got exciting. Anyway, after a serious talk about how married couples share (I nodded), we got to the part you want to hear about. Ania told me that Schultz covers all aspects of writing research articles, plus posters, presentations and how to write reviews of other scientist’s papers. He writes clearly and briefly, with many lists and tables, so you don’t have to spend unnecessary time reading.

Are you using your favorite word incorrectly? (Other misuses of “parameter”)

The word parameter has been corrupted. Originally, it was just a mathematical term, but now it’s used in a vague way by the general public (Burchfield 2000, 570). Politicians and journalists love to talk about “the parameters of a situation” — it sounds so scientific! However, even a basic introduction to statistics for people who are afraid of mathematics will warn you that this is not the correct technical usage of the word (Rowntree 2000, 83).

Unfortunately, imprecise usage of the word parameter has infected the scientific world. In my last post, I explained what a parameter is and how it's different from a variable. But parameter is also confused with other words. For example, after reading that post, Mariusz Kowalewski of the University of Zurich emailed me that he often sees people writing parameter when they mean factor. (Thanks, Mariusz, for pointing this out.)

Are you using your favorite word incorrectly? ("Parameter" or "variable"?)

Parameter. It’s a word that sounds impressive. And you can find it everywhere in the scientific literature. Scientists describe the parameters of a sample, list diagnostic parameters, and even calculate the parameters of various shapes. The word just feels good — don’t you feel like a serious scientist when you write “parameter” or dream of telling a plenary session of your peers that you have pinpointed the parameters of a problem?

But do you really, precisely know what parameter means in English? Have you noticed that the word parameter is used differently in high-impact journals and low-impact journals? Have you read what the Council of Biology Editors (now the Council of Science Editors) has written about the correct usage of “parameter” and “variable” (Council of Biology Editors 1994, 115)?

Before we go any further, take a moment to write down or tell yourself precisely what you think parameter means in English. (Hint: None of the examples above are correct.)

Put a precise verb near the beginning of each sentence

Here is the beginning of a sentence adapted from an article about decontaminating polluted soil that I helped to edit:
  
"Higher effectiveness of removal of both metals in soil X than in soil Y..."

How do you think the sentence ends?

Maybe like this: 
"Higher effectiveness of removal of both metals in soil X than in soil Y...was probably due to the fact that more of the metals were in mobile fractions in soil X than in soil Y."

Or this: 

"Higher effectiveness of removal of both metals in soil X than in soil Y...was achieved with the use of a 3:1 ratio of washing agents A and B."

Or this: 

"Higher effectiveness of removal of both metals in soil X than in soil Y...was observed when the pH of the washing solution was less than 6."

Or something else? The point is, you don't know what the sentence is about until you get to the verb, and in this sentence, we have 14 words with no verb. 

Unlike some other languages, English sentences should have a precise verb near the beginning (e.g. Zeiger 2000, 22-26; Harmon and Gross 2010, 198-211; Schimel 2012, 112-122, 137-140). This makes them easier to understand. English-language sentences that put an imprecise verb at the end are harder to understand and are considered to be in poor style.

The original sentence was like this (with a few minor grammar errors corrected):

To learn how to organize your articles, study articles in high-impact English-language journals

In the fields that I'm familiar with—biology, biotechnology, and medicine—there is often a huge difference in the quality of writing between what is published in high-impact journals, and what is published in little journals. It seems to me that it's probably a positive feedback cycle: Because high-impact journals are more prestigious, more people want to publish there, so the editors can afford to demand clearer, better-organized writing. Because the writing is better, more researchers read the articles and find useful information and ideas in them. This leads to more citations, maintaining these journals' high impact factor. I think that it's not only the quality of the science that makes journals like Nature, Science, and British Medical Journal so popular and prestigious; it's also how clearly the ideas are presented in the pages of those journals.

The articles in these kinds of journals are worth using as models, even if you don't think that your study will be published in such a prestigious journal. First, you can be almost certain that the English in these journals is correct. Second, the way that the ideas are organized and presented in these journals will help you make your ideas clearer and more interesting to a wider range of readers, which will help your research get the attention it deserves.

I suggest that you find some articles that you find interesting in high-impact journals, and then make an outline of the main ideas in the article, to see how the authors organize their ideas. This will teach you how to outline and organize your own articles. To show you how to do it, I've made an outline of the main ideas in the introduction to an article entitled Oxytocin bolus versus oxytocin bolus and infusion for control of blood loss at elective caesarean section: double blind, placebo controlled, randomised trial (Sheehan et al. 2011) from BMJ (British Medical Journal).

Before you write your article, write one sentence that will guide you

My scientific writing students and my editing clients often seem to get lost while writing their articles. It's as if they set out to cross the forests of Siberia without a map and compass, or a GPS, and with no clearer goal than the hope of reaching an ocean someday. And whereas some people might enjoy months or years of footloose wandering through a real wilderness, my clients generally don't enjoy the feeling of being lost while writing. So what I try to do is show them some techniques that will help them write a clear, focused article that is organized like those that are in many high impact journals.

Pre-writing will help you get it right

"On my list of maladaptive practices that make writing harder, Not Outlining is pretty high…Get your thoughts in order before you try to communicate them to the world of science." (Silva 2007, 71)

Scientists need to organize their thoughts before they ask a native-speaker or an editing service to help them with their English grammar and usage. If the ideas in a scientific paper are disorganized or disconnected, the paper can be rejected or returned for revision because it is too difficult for the editor or reviewers to understand, even though there are few or no grammar errors.

To help organize and connect their ideas, almost all good writers do some kind of pre-writing that helps them to create, record and organize ideas. Pre-writing is especially important to prepare yourself to write in a second language, or to make sure that your ideas will be understood after translation. If the micro-scale aspects (vocabulary, grammar, etc.) of your writing are weak, you can compensate for this by strengthening the macro-scale aspects (organization and the connections between ideas).

Speaking engagement this weekend

Because of a speaking engagement this weekend, I will not be posting any new material until next weekend.

A good scientific article is like an organism, not a molecule

If you were sick, would you go to a biochemist or a doctor? I would go to a doctor, because in addition to biochemistry, she would have studied physiology, histology, anatomy, pathology, and many other subjects. A doctor understands how the body works at both the micro- and macro-scales.

What does this have to do with writing? Well, the problem is that when treating a "sick" piece of writing that needs to be improved, both students and teachers of scientific English often act like biochemists instead of doctors. They focus only on the micro-scale aspects of the writing such as whether a noun should be preceded by "a" or "the". This could be compared to treating a patient with a severe spinal deformity by giving him calcium supplements, then smiling and wishing him luck as you wave goodbye. Although the calcium supplements may indeed help the bones in his spine to become stronger, and weak bones may be part of his problems, he probably needs surgery and physical therapy to be able to stand up straight and breath easily. In the same way, grammar and vocabulary are important, but not enough for good writing. Macro-scale aspects, such as the way sentences, paragraphs and sections are organized and connected in good English writing, are also necessary to tell the story of your research.