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The "art" of scientific writing in English (for a non native)
A simple how-to of frequent errors made while writing an article in English (American)
Wednesday 18 July 2012, by
Of course, since I’m French, this article will be far from being complete, so do not hesitate to correct me !
Define the topic of your research publication
http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWstrategy.html
Start your document with well-defined sections
http://geog.arizona.edu/~comrie/geog230/report.htm
http://classweb.gmu.edu/biologyresources/writingguide/ScientificPaper.htm
http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/~smaloy/MicrobialGenetics/topics/scientific-writing.pdf
Checklist of words you should pay attention to while writing
http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/checklist.php
Tips
http://classweb.gmu.edu/biologyresources/writingguide/PracticalTips.htm
Some remarks from teachers
http://classweb.gmu.edu/biologyresources/writingguide/Professors.htm
Be concise when you write
Most often the number of words allowed in a paper is limited (http://www.columbia.edu/cu/biology/ug/research/paper.html). Here is a short list of replacements:
| Instead of: | Write: |
|---|---|
| possess | have |
| sufficient | enough |
| utilize | use |
| demonstrate | show |
| assistance | help |
| terminate | end |
| Instead of: | Write: |
|---|---|
| prior to | before |
| due to the fact that | because |
| in a considerable number of cases | often |
| the vast majority of | most |
| during the time that | when |
| in close proximity to | near |
| it has long been known that | I’m too lazy to look up the reference |
Pay attention to americanism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1095705
http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/jones/differences.htm
Words ending in -or (American) -our (British) color, colour, humor, humour, flavor, flavour etc.
Words ending in -ize (American) -ise (British) recognize / recognise, patronize / patronise etc.
modeller in American, modeler in English
http://www.pe2000.com/canute_spelling.htm
http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/jones/differences.htm
Idiomatic expressions / proverbs
http://www.e-frenchtranslation.com/proverbs.htm
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=475327
http://www.anglaisfacile.com/free/proverbes-2.php
http://www.proz.com/glossary-translations/english-to-french-translations/152
http://www.languagerealm.com/french/frenchidioms.php
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