Types of articles that editors don't like to see:
(1) articles with confusing logic
(2) Improper use of words, exaggeration or incorrect expression.
(3) Grammatical mistakes abound.
Generally speaking, a scientific research paper contains the following parts:
title
abstract
introduce
result
discuss
Materials and methods
admit
The title is the first thing an editor or reader sees, so it is very important to get a good title.
We should summarize the theme of the article with the least words, and have the following three requirements for the title:
1. concise, complete and easy to understand.
2. Avoid chemical formulas or special symbols.
3. Usually take the following three forms: phrase type, sentence type and main auxiliary type, such as:
Phrases:
Conformation of human DNA-PK holoenzyme
Important sugar code of ricin toxicity
Sentence type:
Inhibition of MAPK 1 1 or HIPK3 reduces the level of mutant Huntington protein in Huntington's disease model.
Intermittent fasting promotes fat thermogenesis and metabolic homeostasis through VEGF-mediated selective activation of macrophages.
Main and auxiliary types:
Class ⅰ histone deacetylase is the main histone deprotonation enzyme, which proves that histone crotonylation has an important and extensive function in transcription.
The purpose of this paper is to help readers understand the content of the article quickly.
There are the following requirements:
1. Independence and integrity
Can exist independently and convey the core idea of the full text.
2. Concise, accurate and logical.
Because the abstract has a word limit, it is necessary to explain the core idea of the full text in just a few sentences, so every word and sentence should be carefully considered.
This form conforms to the specifications of periodicals.
Take "5- hydroxymethyl cytochrome labeling in cell-free DNA provides information about tumor types and stages" published in Cell Research as an example:
Green: project background
Highlight: Results (you can briefly mention the experimental method)
Red line: summary (promotion can be expected appropriately)
1. Introduce the development of this research field (micro-review).
The introduction must be the most relevant research background to the main line of this paper. Important points must be covered. Details can be introduced when mentioned in the article.
2. By discussing the problems solved in this research field (including the unsolved problems in my previous paper), I naturally transition to introduce the purpose and importance of your experiment.
3. Finally, the contents and conclusions of this study are briefly introduced.
note:
Be sure to introduce the known scientific background comprehensively in a limited space, but don't spread it out too much, just focus on the relevant background around the main line of the article.
Relatively speaking, this is the easiest part of an article, but it is also the most error-prone part. Usually, the grammar of the material part of the method is the least careful, and the common problems are tense, singular and plural, active voice and passive voice.
1. Logic is very important. Tell stories in an orderly way. Pay attention to the logic between paragraphs. You can write some connecting sentences at the beginning of the small results of each part to connect the paragraphs.
The discussion is the relatively difficult part. Discussion is not a simple list of results, but a more in-depth discussion of the results:
What problems and doubts have your research solved in this field?
What new possibilities did your research suggest?
How to do further research in the future.
Generally, you can also summarize your research results at the end.
1976 William zinser put forward three principles of excellent writing in On Writing:
Passivity includes: object+predicate+subject, or object+predicate.
For example:
After chemical treatment, the activation of XX signal pathway can be observed.
Can be modified to:
We can observe the activation of XX signal pathway after chemical treatment.
The general dysfunction of immune system has been proposed in both mouse and human studies.
Can be modified to:
Studies in mice and humans show that XX (disease) causes general dysfunction of the immune system.
1. No introductory phrase is needed. For example, when it was published; as everyone knows
2. Remove meaningless words. For example, important
3. Simplify long words and focus on the main sentences.
Most->; most
Some-> many
All four-> Four people
Because-> because
Cause-> cause
4. Use words or sentences with repetitive meanings.
Limit condition, output performance
5. Delete some adverbs: very, really, quite.
Use a positive tone
Harmless-> safe
No-> lack
Incorrect-> wrong
The result of b instead of a-> Reflect b instead of a
7. Don't use there is/are often.
We can handle this case in many ways.
-& gt； We can handle this case in many ways.
The data show that there is a link between temperature and crop diseases.
-& gt； The data show that there is a link between temperature and crop diseases.
There may be functional redundancy between XX proteins.
-& gt； There may be functional redundancy between XX proteins.
8. Use punctuation to change sentence patterns and simplify the language.
Semicolon: Connect two independent clauses.
Parenthesis: Add an explanation or some ideas. Even without this part, the sentence should be independent.
Colon: the separation ability is weaker than the score and more formal than the dash. Used to list and quote, for example, the second clause is an extension of the first clause.
Dash: indicates emphasis, explanation or definition. Leave it for important purposes.
Problems we often make in English writing:
1. Accuracy of scientific terms
2. Temporal errors (use the past tense when describing the results of the experimental process, and use the present tense when summarizing the experimental results)
3. Simple and complex mistakes
4. Misuse of A, an and the
5. Comparison is not equal:
The root length of XX mutant is shorter than that of wild rice.
The root length of XXmutant is shorter than that of wild rice.
6. Words or sentence patterns
7. Word order problem
This sentence is too long
9. Use spoken vocabulary