The "Grammar Hammer": Common Mistakes in Scientific Writing - PowerPoint Presentation

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The "Grammar Hammer":Common Mistakes in Scientific Writing

GRAMMAR

Myron

Myron L.

Toews

, Ph.D., Professor

Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience

CU Biomed

Sci

Seminar

October 9,

2012

Slide2

Scientific Writing

Things we write

Papers

Grants

Review articles

Meeting abstracts

Posters

Seminar slides

Lecture slides

Manuscript and grant reviews

Letters (requests, recommendations, complaints)

Committee reports, meeting minutes

Emails

Same "grammar" applies to all

There are "rules"

We are "academics" and "scholars"-- WE should FOR SURE get it right!

Slide3

Aspects of good scientific writing

Science: data, quality, controls, rationale, thoroughness

Significance: why should we care, was it worth doing

Sexiness: exciting, attention-getting, memorable, broad interest

Style: organization, consistency, clarity

what belongs where--Methods, Results, Figures, Discussion

effective figures, graphs, tables

proper referencing and bibliography styles

Good grammar

hyphens, commas, plurals, abbreviations

verb forms, tense, voice, person

proper words used correctly, clearly, concisely

Applies to EVERY SECTION of a manuscript

and all other scientific writing

Good writing can make a bad paper seem good

More often, bad grammar can get in the way of an otherwise good paper

Slide4

Grammar Matters!

Grammar issues

hyphens, commas, plurals, abbreviations

verb forms, tense, voice, person

proper words used correctly, clearly, concisely

Applies to EVERY SECTION of a manuscript

and all other scientific writing

Good writing can make a bad paper seem good

B

ad grammar can get in the way of an otherwise good paper

Slide5

A typical "Myron Mark-Up"

Slide6

Locked up in the Grammar Slammer

GRAMMAR

GRAMMAR

Pounded by the Grammar Hammer

Cursed commas!

Slide7

My Qualifications

I'm old

Grammar mattered back when I went to school

and I diagrammed sentences

Papers used to be type-set and printed, not electronic

and "editors" edited

my

writing

and that annoyed me, so

I learned the

rules

I'm a reviewer and judge of lots of scientific writing

Manuscripts, grant proposals, dissertations, posters

And I so much wish that people would

write right!!

I now teach about half of

UNMC

Scientific Writing course

I'm obsessive-compulsive

I like things done right

Little stuff matters to me

I like making lists

Slide8

My Current (and Growing) List ofCommon Complaints and Corrections

Spaces and hyphens between numbers and unitsHyphens in compound wordsProper pluralsToo many significant figuresCorrect commasInappropriate use of "time" wordsWhich/thatPerson, voice and tenseAbbreviationsSetting up sentencesMisused words and professional wordingA number of other small thingsGood old rules

My examples are

mostly from

phys/

pharm

Slide9

#1a. Space between numbers and units!!

A space must be used between numbers and their units!Simple and obviousNow shows up in almost everything I reviewOnly in the last few yearsText-messaging and email generation "shortcut"?Regardless of the reason……Use that space bar!! Do it right!!

^

-

Slide10

Space between numbers and units

Temperatures need spaces

between value and degree sign:

37

°

C

,

not 37

°

C or

37

°

C

but the degree sign for angles goes with the number: 90º angle

Centrifugal

forces need spaces

on both sides of the "x"

10,000 x g

,

not 10,000g or 10,000xg

Other

"places for spaces"

around equals sign:

n = 3

,

not n=3

also around >, <, ~,

etc

around plus/minus:

29 ± 7

,

not 29±7

Percentages

may be the only exception

5%

serum,

0.01%

bromophenol

blue

This is because % is not really a unit, just an indication that the value is presented

a

s the "ratio to 100"

Slide11

Hyphenate if the number-plus-units is used as an adjectiveSpace if the number is an adjective and the unit is a noun35 mm or 35-mm??Cells were grown in 35-mm dishes."35-mm" is a compound adjective modifying the noun "dishes"The diameter of the dish was 35 mm.Here "35" is the adjective and "mm" is the nouna 2-ml reaction volume; 2 ml were added to each tubeThe average 60-kg man weighs about 60 kg.The one exception is concentrations, which are not hyphenateda 50 mM bufferThe 10 μM concentration inhibited but the 1 μM samples were unchanged.But a space is required: 10 mM or 6 M, never 10mM or 6M !!

#

1b

. Hyphens between numbers and units

Slide12

Hyphens between numbers and units

All

compound

adjectives with

numbers

MUST be

hyphenated

numbers as words, just like numbers as numerals

Numbers written out, but only when used as adjective

two-site competition curve

The data were best fit by a

two-component

curve

.

The data indicated that the

reaction had

two

components

.

four-step

pathway

but "a pathway with

four

steps

"

a six-sided pentagon cannot be drawn

Note that this includes both

"number plus adjective"

(six-sided) and

"number plus noun"

(four-step)

But only when the combination is

used as an adjective

in the sentence

Slide13

Most other "quantity-related" words are also hyphenatedsemi-transparent plastic tubesbi-directional reactionmulti-component signaling complex"Her half-finished manuscript lay beside her pillow".Some of these can be written as one word--no clear "rules"bidirectional, monophasic

Hyphens between numbers and units

Slide14

More on hyphens with numbers

Compound

numbers

are

hyphenated if written

as words

F

ifty-four patients were enrolled in the study.

One-hundred percent of the knock-out animals survived the injury.

Average cost per run was over three-thousand dollars.

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#2. Hyphens in compound words- terms with verbs used as adjectives

2a

. A

noun-verb

combination used as an adjective is

always

hyphenated!!—Myron's most frequent serious complaint!!

"The drug induced side effects"

Is this a sentence by itself?

"The

drug

induced

side effects

. These included headache, nausea, gas, …"

Here

drug

is the

subject,

induced

is the

verb (predicate),

side effects

is the

object of the verb

Or is this only the subject of a sentence?

"The

drug-induced

side effects

of aspirin

include

GI distress

."

Here

drug-induced

is a

compound adjective

modifying

side effects

which is the

subject

It's the HYPHEN that lets me know without having to read the whole sentence first!

Slide16

Using "noun-verb as adjective" terms in biomedical science writing

Common examples

receptor-mediated

Beta receptor-mediated

responses

are blocked

by propranolol.

The

beta receptor

mediated

the response, because the response was blocked by propranolol.

concentration-dependent

effects

;

ligand-independent

transactivation

drug-metabolizing

enzyme

;

rate-limiting

step

ligand-binding

domain

but not in "receptors were measured by

ligand

binding

"

RNA-dependent

DNA synthesis

,

exercise-induced

asthma

site-directed

mutagenesis

,

FDA-approved

drug

Note this includes most forms of the verb:

ed

,

ing

,

ent

But only when used as an

adjective

Slide17

Other compound adjectives

Adjective-verb

combinations are hyphenated when used as compound adjectives

fast-thinking

graduate student;

long-winded

professor

high-minded

journal editors;

heavy-handed

administrators

The part of speech for the words determines the hyphen

"blue-labeled" tubes

if the

labels

on the tubes are blue

but "blue labeled tubes"

if the

tubes

are blue and also labeled (but labeled in red?)

the red-labeled blue tubes

= the blue tubes with red labels

Slide18

Preposition

-verb combinations used as adjectives are usually hyphenatedover-utilized phrasesunder-developed sexual organs in Turner's syndromeoften written as one word--overlooked, upturned, inbredPrepositions often come after the verb formclearly spelled-out expectationsbut "expectations were spelled out clearly from the start"laced-up shoes, tightened-down fasteners, wrap-around insulation

Other compound adjectives

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Other compound adjectives

Adverb

-verb

combinations

used as adjectives are

NOT

hyphenated

Adverbs

always

modify verbs or adjectives, so they don't need special treatment when used that way

Words ending in "-

ly

" are adverbs and not hyphenated

a newly established pathway

a highly regarded expert in the field

Also "too", "very", and "much" combos are usually not hyphenated

a very limited interaction

a much appreciated faculty member

It may not be

wrong

to hyphenate these, but it is

not required

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Other compound adjectives

Adjective-

noun

combinations

used as adjectives are seldom

hyphenated

centrifuge

tube rack

graduate student meeting

side effect profile

But

they

can be hyphenated

and

often are

open-door policy, closed-door meeting

fixed-rate insurance

long-term effects

Slide21

Other compound adjectives

Don't hyphenate if both

words modify

the same word

a

weak organic acid: a weak acid, an organic acid

weekly planning meeting: a weekly meeting, a planning meeting

strategy-planning meeting

strategy modifies planning here, doesn't modify meeting

an insulated Styrofoam container

the container is insulated and it is made of Styrofoam

the Styrofoam is not insulated, the container is

a Styrofoam-insulated container

the container is insulated, and the insulation is by Styrofoam

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Hyphenate BOTH terms if they modify the same wordTwo modifiers before the verb formthe Ca2+- and phospholipid-dependent enzyme PKCThe epinephrine- and isoproterenol-induced responses were…. Two modifiers after the verb formThe drug-sensitive and -insensitive cells were compared for…

Other compound adjectives

Slide23

Hyphenation summary

Always hyphenate

All noun-verb combinations if used as adjective

All number-verb, number-noun, number-adverb combinations used as adjectives

Sometimes hyphenate

Some adverb-verb combinations if used as adjectives

A few adjective-noun combinations if used as adjectives

Don't hyphenate

Adverbs, including –ly words and others

Two adjectives that modify the same noun

Slide24

#3. Proper plurals

Singularcellhypothesis

Pluralcellshypotheses

The hypothesis (singular) that PKC is involved was only one of several equally likely hypotheses (plural) that we could have proposed.Separate hypotheses are proposed for each specific aim.A separate hypothesis is proposed for each specific aim.

Know which is singular and which is plural….

…and then use the correctly matched verb form!!

Slide25

Singulardrugdatum

Pluraldrugsdata

The use of "data is/was…" vs. "data are/were…." is no doubt the most frequently mis-used exampleThe word "data " is absolutely and always plural !!!No matter how many smart people use it improperly !!!There is no doubt that "datum" is the singular and "data" is the plural, and I can think of no other example where "is/was" is used with a clearly plural noun. Always use the plural form of the verb (are/were) with this plural noun.Some argue that data is a "collective" noun like "family" or "class" or "group" or "committee" and that singular can be used. But collective nouns are singular forms used to describe a group and therefore use a plural form of the verb, NOT plural forms of the noun used as if they were singular.

Proper plurals

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Singulardrugdatum

Pluraldrugsdata

Correct:"All data were obtained by my technician, because I don't even remember how to hold a Pipetman anymore." "Data presented are the averages of at least three experiments".Incorrect:"The data is clinically important because it shows a difference between the drug responses of the two groups of patients.""The data was best fit by a single-site model."Correct:"The datum at 5 min, but only that specific data point, that one single value, was obtained with help from the last author."

Proper plurals

Slide27

Singularcellmedium

Pluralcellsmedia

Dulbecco's is one growth medium (singular), even though it has many componentsRPMI and Weymouth's are two different media (plural), each of which has multiple different components"Just because one type of growth medium works well for your cells does not mean that any of several other media might not work equally well. "Growth media were obtained from Gibco"only if more than one kind of medium was used!

Proper plurals

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SingularPluralcriterioncriteriaphenomenonphenomenamitochondrionmitochondriaequilibriumequilibriamediummediabacteriumbacteriaoptimumoptimaminimum, maximumminima, maximasymposiumsymposiadatumdatahypothesishypothesesthesisthesesaxisaxesfungusfunginucleusnucleifocus. locusfoci, locialumnusalumni

The "-is" vs. "-es" forms are the only exceptions"Most graphs have two axes—one x-axis and one y-axis."

"There are three loci for drug intervention: the most common locus is the cell surface receptor, a second important locus is the intracellular signaling pathway, and the newest locus is targeting the nucleus with gene therapy."

Singular forms all end in consonants; plural forms (almost) all end in vowels

Slide29

#4. Too many significant figures

All of your "significant figures" should be "believable"

Looking at your error bars is a good way to decideInstruments and spreadsheets give you lots of numbers that are meaningless; don't use them unless you believe them!!

94 ± 14

3060 ± 310

700 ± 130

4470

± 500

Slide30

Proper use of numbers

And remember spaces too!!!

94

± 14

3060 ± 310

700 ± 130

4470 ± 500

Slide31

#5a. Correct commasin parenthetical statements

"Parenthetical" loosely means that it could also be put in parentheses, or that it is an "aside" or an "addition"; the sentence would be complete without it.

Commas always come in pairs when in the middle of a sentence!

The inhibitor genistein, which is supposed to be selective for tyrosine kinases

,

inhibited this serine kinase-mediated response.

Propranolol, the prototypical beta antagonist

,

has many dangerous side effects.

One comma is OK only if the parenthetical statement ends the sentence.

The reaction was inhibited by C3 toxin, a selective blocker of Rho.

The reaction was inhibited by C3 toxin, a selective blocker of Rho, and also by the Rho kinase inhibitor Y25632.

Slide32

Commas in parenthetical statements

One-word

and

simple multi-word

parenthetical statements do not NEED commas, and I strongly prefer that they NOT be used.

The protein kinase inhibitor

genistein

did not alter the response.

preferred

The protein kinase inhibitor

,

genistein

,

did not alter the response.

less appropriate

The

Ca

2

+

- and phospholipid-dependent enzyme

protein kinase C

mediates many of the effects of PI hydrolysis.

preferred

The

Ca

2

+

- and phospholipid-dependent enzyme

,

protein kinase C

,

mediates many of the effects of PI hydrolysis.

less appropriate

Slide33

Commas in parenthetical statements

"and" and "but" go outside the parenthetical statement commasThe control cells, contrary to our hypothesis, showed less internalization.The control cells showed modest internalization but, contrary to our hypothesis, drug-treated cells showed less internalization.NOT: The control cells showed modest internalization, but contrary to our hypothesis, drug-treated cells showed less internalization."… in males but, in contrast, not in females …"NOT "… in males, but in contrast, not in females …""Treated animals survived longer and, as a result, produced more progeny.

Slide34

If the compound sentence is so long that it needs a comma, then it needs two independent clauses, each with a "subject" (noun) and a "predicate" (verb)Or it should be two separate sentencesBoth sides of ", and" (with a comma) need to have a subject and a predicate (be independent clauses)But "and" (without a comma) does NOT need to have a second subject; but it can, if the sentence is not too longIncorrectThe cells were pretreated with pertussis toxin for 24 hr to inactivate Gi, and lysed by scraping in a hypotonic buffer.How to fixTake out the comma, or …Add a subject to the second clause to make it independent, or…Make it two separate sentences if "too long" is the problem

#

5b

. Correct commas

in compound sentences

Slide35

#6. Inappropriate use of "time words"

Don't use

"while"

,

"since"

or

"as"

except

to indicate the relationship of events in time

I only learned about this when journal style editors changed them in my papers, so I learned to do them right myself!

We often use "while" when we mean "whereas" or "although"

We often use "as" when we mean "because"

We often use "since" when we mean "because"

Use

the proper word

, not the

time

word, unless it is a

time concept!

Slide36

"While"Incorrect: While staurosporine is a PKC inhibitor, it can also inhibit other kinases. (The intent is not to indicate that these two events are taking place at the same point in time.)Better: Although staurosporine is…. Whereas staurosporine is.….Correct use of "while": "While the cells were being incubated in serum-free medium to induce cell cycle arrest, they were also being exposed to pertussis toxin to inactivate Gi. (Here the point is that the starvation and pertussis toxin treatments were going on simultaneously.)

Inappropriate use of "time words"

Slide37

"As"Incorrect: As C3 toxin is a highly selective Rho inhibitor, our data implicate Rho as a mediator of synergism. (The intent is NOT to indicate that these two events are taking place at the same point in time.)Better: Because C3 toxin is…. Correct use of "as": "As the cells reached confluence, their shape changed from flattened to cuboidal. (Here the point is that the shape change coincided in time with the attainment of confluence.)

Inappropriate use of "time words"

Slide38

"Since"--similar to "as", "because" is often what is meantIncorrect: Since C3 toxin is a highly selective Rho inhibitor, our data indicate Rho as a mediator of synergism. (The intent is not to indicate that one event is taking place at a later time point than the other.)Better: Because C3 toxin is…. Correct use of "since": "Since changing the HEPA filter in our hood, we have no further problems with cell contamination. (Here the word "since" is properly used to indicate that one thing has happened following another thing in time.)

Inappropriate use of "time words"

Slide39

#7. Which vs. That

A tough distinction, but with simple differences and rules of thumb!

"That"

is used to

"restrict"

the meaning or to

"identify"

a specific entity

"Which"

does not restrict but rather

"elaborates"

or

"describes"

Examples

The estrogen

that

is present in most birth control pills is

ethinyl

estradiol.

The estrogen drug

ethinyl

estradiol

, which

is present in most birth control pills

,

is only slightly different from endogenous estradiol.

The estrogen

that

is present in most birth control pills,

which

has been modified for greater oral effectiveness, is

ethinyl

estradiol.

WRONG:

The estrogen

which

is present in most birth control pills is

ethinyl

estradiol.

Slide40

Which vs. That -- Rules of thumb

Rule of thumb #1:If the phrase can be taken out without losing the meaning of the overall sentence, use "which"If the phrase is vital to the point of the sentence, use "that"Rule of thumb #2:"Which" statements are almost always set off with commas"That" statements should NOT be set off with commasIf commas seem needed or natural, use "which"If commas are not needed or seem awkward, use "that"

Correct use of both:

The car

that

hit my bicycle

, which

is a VW bug

,

is now in the body shop with a big dent in its hood.

Common incorrect use:

The car

which

hit my bicycle is now in the body shop.

Slide41

Which vs. That -- more examples

Drug example

Tamoxifen

, which

is a so-called anti-estrogen

,

is the most appropriate drug for this patient.

"which is a so-called anti-estrogen"

can be left out and the sentence is still complete and true and meaningful

this would not read well without the commas

The drug

that

is most appropriate for this patient is

tamoxifen

.

taking out

"that is most appropriate for this patient"

leaves a complete sentence but it has lost its meaning

it would seem awkward to use commas here

Most common kind of

wrong

use

The drug

which

we used to block redox signaling was

tempol

.

The drug

that

we used in to block redox signaling was

tempol

.

Slide42

Which vs. That -- more examples

The drug

that

had the highest potency was RX-

1040A

.

RX1040A

, which

had the highest potency of all the drugs tested

,

was chosen for further clinical trials.

The receptor

that

is the subject of my NIH grant is the

AT

2

angiotensin receptor.

The

AT

2

angiotensin receptor

, which

is the subject of my NIH grant

,

is a

G

q

-coupled receptor.

The receptor

that

is the subject of my NIH grant

, which

is the

AT

2

angiotensin receptor

,

is a

G

q

-coupled receptor.

an example of

that

and

which

used properly in the same sentence

Slide43

#8. Person, Voice and Tense

Person and voice

Historically recommended NOT to use

first person

in scientific writing

And I still very strongly prefer little or no first person!

But this does

NOT

mean that you need to use cumbersome

third person

passive voice

Third person

can

be cumbersome, but

it doesn't

need to be

Third person can make writing seem "impersonal

"

Passive voice can be very cumbersome

Passive voice removes all sense of "action", things "happening", "excitement" and "story"

I try to use

third person

but

active voice

Slide44

Person and Voice

Person and voice examples

First person active -- AVOID this

We noted

that there were

fewer endosomes in the inhibitor-treated cells.

Two VERY BAD

ways

of avoiding first person

The authors noted

that there were fewer endosomes in the inhibitor-treated cells.

It was noted

that there were fewer endosomes in the inhibitor-treated cells

.

Simplest statement; maybe OK; but "boringly passive"

There

were

fewer endosomes in the inhibitor-treated cells

.

Some good third person active voice statements

Treating cells with inhibitor reduced the number of endosomes.

Treated cells contained fewer endosomes than control cells.

The number of endosomes was reduced in inhibitor-treated cells.

These avoid "we", retain "action", are not cumbersome or passive

Slide45

Person and Voice

More good and bad person and voice examples

"It has been reported that ……. "

"Smith

et al.

reported that ……. " or "Several groups have reported… "

State WHO reported it, which makes it active.

"It is the hypothesis of this study that …… "

"It is hypothesized that …… "

"

The authors of this study hypothesize that ……. "

Very cumbersome ways to avoid first person

"The hypothesis of this study is that …… "

Active voice and very clear

Slide46

Person, Voice and Tense

It is almost always easy to avoid first person

We tested the hypothesis that….

The hypothesis guiding these studies was that….

These studies tested the hypothesis that….

It was hypothesized that…. (I do NOT like this wording)

We instilled saline or drug into mouse lungs …

Saline or drug was instilled into mouse lungs…

We further propose that ROS alter BBB by…

These data suggest that…

A likely possibility is that…

Slide47

Person and Voice

Places I

TOLERATE

use of first person:

Introduction, only once!

"We hypothesize

that ….

"

Discussion, only once!

"We speculate that ….."

or

"We propose that these drugs,,,,,, "

Your hypothesis and speculation are quite "personal", not "facts"

LIMITED USE of first person

possessive

"Our previous studies showed that ….. "

Places

NEVER to use

first person

Methods

"We obtained inhibitors from .."; "We grew cells in …."

Results

"We found that

prestin

…"; "We next used confocal to ……. "

Slide48

Person and Voice

Almost

always use

"

we"

and

"our

"

rather than

"

I" or "my

"

Science is almost always a group effort

!

Even if not, "I" sounds awkward and maybe egotistical

Students

describing their own work

is my one exception

I like to know what

you

(the student) did or observed

in contrast to what

your lab

did or observed or knows

In oral presentations, in posters, in grant proposals

in these places it is important to emphasize student's

own

work, plans, ideas

But not in a student's manuscript for publication

Slide49

Tense

When to say what "happened" or "was observed"

(past tense)

vs.

what "happen

s" or "is known"

(present tense)

General guideline

Use

past tense

to state what you

did

in your experiments and what you

observed

that you are reporting in this paper

These are clearly observations of what

happened

(past tense)

in your experiments but not necessarily what

happens

(present tense)

in general.

"

C3

toxin

prevented

synergism between LPA and EGF, as shown in

Fig.3

."

Use

present tense

to describe what

is

generally accepted or what

is

"known" to occur from previous studies

"

C3

toxin

is

(present tense)

an inhibitor of Rho."

"

Forskolin

activates

(present tense)

adenylyl

cyclase

."

Slide50

Tense

Introduction

Mix of

present

and

past

tenses—what

is

known already, what

was reported

in previous studies,

"

Prestin

is

an important protein for hearing

(a fact)

, and

Hallworth

et al.

showed

it to be located in auditory hair cells

(

what they saw

)."

Methods

Almost exclusively

past

tense—what

was done

in your studies

Results

Almost exclusively

past

tense—what

was observed

, what

happene

d

Discussion

Again a mix of

present

and

past

tenses

"Rho

mediates

this response

(present tense conclusion)

, because it

was inhibited

by C3 toxin

(what happened in a specific experiment)

."

Slide51

#9. Abbreviations

Don't abbreviate unless necessary

Avoid abbreviating single words, with the exception of chemicals

Abbreviations should be used at least three times, in general

otherwise write out the entire word both times

Avoid making up your own non-standard abbreviations

Define each abbreviation the first time you use it

in the text or in a footnote, per journal style

Use the abbreviation

every time

after you define it

Check your journal's style sheet for standard abbreviations

DNA, RNA, EKG

Double-check abbreviation usage before submitting

search for full word and for abbreviation from start to finish

Slide52

Capitalization for abbreviations

My convention on when to capitalize in abbreviations

not a "rule", but my way (a good way) of being consistent

Capitalize only the

first

letter of abbreviations that are shortened words

Iso

for

iso

proterenol (not ISO)

Veh

for

v

eh

icle

(not

VEH

)

Ctl

for

c

on

t

ro

l

Capitalize all letters that stand for words or at least syllables (

initialisms

)

EGF

for

e

pidermal

g

rowth

f

actor

PCR

for

p

olymerase

c

hain

r

eaction

CTL

for

c

ytotoxic

T l

ymphocyte

More contrasting examples

Ser

for

ser

ine, but

SER

for

s

timulus-

e

voked

r

esponse

Ala

for

ala

nine, but

ALA

for

a

ntigen-

l

ike

a

ctivity

Slide53

Abbreviations - using "a" or "an"

Decide based on the

sound

of the

spoken

term, NOT based on the

first written letter

of the abbreviation

"

a

UTP

analog"

not

an

, even though

UTP

begins with a vowel

the sound (

YouTeePee

) begins with a consonant (Y)

"

an

MCP-mediated effect on IL8 release"

not

a

, even though MCP begins with a consonant

the sound (

EmSeePee

) begins with a vowel

many

consonant sounds begin with a vowel!!

"

an

SDS gel", "

an

LTP-inducing agent"

"U" is the only vowel that

sometimes

begins

with a consonant sound

The same "U" policy applies to whole words

"

a

ubiquitination

inhibitor"; "

a

unilateral triangle"

"

an

unpaired T-test"; "

an

upward deflection in the curve"

Slide54

Abbreviations: "

et al., etc."

"et"

is Latin for "and"; it is a word, not an abbreviation; so no period

"al"

is short for "

alii

", meaning "others"; an abbreviation, so a period

No comma in front of "

et al."

in author lists (Jones

et al.

)

"et cetera"

means "and the like"; "cetera" is abbreviated, so a period; but always written as one word,

etc.

Never use "and" in front of

etc.

, since the "

et"

itself means "and"

Never use "

etc."

in scientific writing

use "and many additional examples" or "among others" or "as examples" instead

"i.e."

is an abbreviation of

"id

est

"

, meaning "that is"; two periods

"e.g."

is an abbreviation of

"

exemplia

gratii

"

, meaning "for example"; two periods

And

don't get these two terms mixed up!

Slide55

#10. Setting up sentences

Sentences should NOT begin with a lower-case letter or a numeral

This is a pretty strict rule.

But it can lead to very cumbersome writing and reading.

"... treated with

10

mM

NaOH

.

Twenty

millimolar

HCl

was added.."

"..treated to elevate

cAMP

levels.

Cyclic AMP

was then extracted by.."

It is usually easy to

reword the sentence

to avoid this.

"

Next,

20

mM

HCl

was

added…." or "

HCl

(20

mM

)

was added…"

"

Extraction of

cAMP

was performed by ……."

Slide56

Setting up sentences

In

scientific writing

, it is accepted to use commas between

all

items in a list, including the last item before "and"

"The inhibitors tested were

LY290082

,

calphostin

C

, and

Y27632

."

Final comma is not

required

for scientific writing, but it is allowed, and I personally prefer it.

It is still

NOT

allowed in non-scientific writing

"We have a car, a truck and a motorcycle."

Slide57

Setting up sentences

Avoid using unnecessarily wordy wording, especially to begin sentences--be concise wherever possible!

"Because of the fact that….."

(Avoid this!)

"Due to the fact that…"

(Avoid this!)

"Because ……."

(Has identical meaning, 4 fewer words!)

"In spite of the fact that…"

"Although…."

"In order to test our hypothesis……"

(Avoid this!)

"To test our hypothesis ….."

(Same meaning, shorter)

Slide58

Setting up sentences

Avoid double negatives

These results are

not

un

like those from previous studies. (BAD)

These results are similar to those from previous studies. (GOOD)

The outcome was

not

different

from what we hypothesized. (BAD)

The outcome was consistent with our hypothesis. (GOOD)

Avoid multiple "alternate possibility qualifiers"

Instead

, an

alterative

is that it

might

be

possible

that …. (BAD)

An

alternative is

that ….. (GOOD)

Perhaps

these nanoparticles

could

affect ….(BAD)

These nanoparticles

could

also affect… (GOOD)

Perhaps

these nanoparticles affect

….. (GOOD)

Slide59

#11a. Word Choice:Misused Words

Princi

pl

e

vs.

Princip

a

l

Princip

l

e

means

k

e

y or id

e

a or a t

e

n

e

t or th

e

m

e

or g

e

n

e

ral rul

e

or find your favorite "

e

" word to go with "principl

e

"

"The key principl

e

is that water likes to go where ion concentration is high."

"principl

e

" is always a

noun, never an adjective!

Princip

a

l

means m

a

in or b

a

sic

"The princip

a

l thing to remember is that good writing makes good science look even better; this is an important principl

e

"

"We expect the princip

a

l investigator on an NIH grant to follow the principl

e

s of ethical science."

"princip

a

l" as used in science is almost always an adjective

the "principal of a school" is an example of the rare use of principal as a noun

Slide60

Misused Words

E

ffect

vs.

A

ffect

Effect

is usually a

noun

;

Affect

is usually a

verb

"Exercise training had no

effect

on the number of

AT2

receptors."

"Exercise training did not

affect

the number of

AT2

receptors.

"

"Drinking a beer with lunch can

affect

your afternoon productivity."

"The

effect

on productivity of drinking a beer with lunch is usually negative."

Both together

"Dissolving the drug in ethanol did not

affect

the cellular

effect

of the drug."

Effect

can be a verb, meaning "to bring about", usually with "change"

"Complaining about a problem is one way to

effect

a change in the way things are done."

"Aspirin can

affect

how you feel by

effecting

relief of headache pain."

Affect

can be a noun, in psychiatry, meaning "facial expression"

"Patients with depression or schizophrenia may have a flattened

affect

; for example, they may not smile at a friend or laugh at a joke."

Slide61

Misused Words:Making your data "quantitative"

Quantitative

is a word

Quantitate

and

quantitation

are

NOT

words!!

go ahead, check your dictionary; I did!

Quantify

is the verb form, NOT

quantitate

Quantification

is the noun form, NOT

quantitation

Quantitative

is the adjective form

Maybe not a big deal

but if you don't do it right, good editors will change it

and this will annoy you

Slide62

Misused Words

Who

vs.

That

Use "who/whom" with people; "that" with things

She is the person

whom

you should contact.

NOT

:

She is the person

that

you should contact.

BUT:

A car with low fuel consumption is the one

that

you should buy.

Among

vs.

Between

Use

"between" when comparing

two

things

Use "among" for

three or more

things

We

found no difference

between

male and female patients.

There were clear differences in glucose levels

among

the

four

treatment groups.

Slide63

Misused Words: Be sure to "write the right word"!!

here/hear

there/their/they're

your/you're/yore

its/it's

whose/who's

to/too/two

"I want you to no that I here what your saying, and I agree that its there own fault which is just to bad"—

WRONG!!

These

don't show up much in scientific writing but do in emails

This is not a failure to "edit" emails, but an indication that you never really learned this and have to "waste" time figuring out the right word

Which makes you look less than

bright

Ewe knead two bee shore too chews thee write ward!!

Slide64

Use "technical" or "professional" wording rather than "common" or "conversational" wording or "lab jargon""To see if" PKC was involved….. (Avoid this!)"To test whether" ……." (Same meaning, more "professional")"To make sure that we had put the same amount of protein in each well on the gel…" (Conversational)"To confirm equal loading" (standard professional wording)"Samples were put in the freezer…" (BAD)"Samples were stored at -80C…" ……." (Professional)"The samples were counted in a scintillation counter.""Radioactivity in each sample was quantified by scintillation spectrometry."

#11b.

Word Choice--

Professional

wording

Slide65

Use "technical" or "professional" wording rather than "common" or "conversational" wording or "lab jargon""Samples were run on gels……" (Jargony)"Samples were electrophoresed……" (A little better)"Samples were subjected to SDS PAGE ….." ("Technical")"We tissue-mizered the cells and then spun them down to get a pellet." (Lab jargon)"Tissue was homogenized and membranes were isolated by centrifugation." (Professional)"Next we took the cells and put them in the incubator and let them sit for 5 min (BAD)"Cells were incubated for 5 min" ……." (Professional)

Professional

wording

Slide66

Professional wording

Avoid

personal feelings

words, along with first person

"Next

we wondered

if ….. "

did you just "wonder", or did you go ahead and test it?

"

We sought

to determine if….."

you sought to, but did you succeed?

"The next group of experiments

tested whether…."

"We felt that

X might cause Y…"

and just how DID that feel?

"At first

we were confused

by these data…"

and then you finally put on your thinking caps?

Slide67

#12. A number of additional things

The expression

"a number of"

is technically meaningless, since

one and zero are numbers also!!

"

A number of lines of evidence

support our hypothesis."

This is true even if there is only

one

piece of evidence, or even if there is

no

evidence, for your hypothesis, because one and zero are numbers.

"The experiment was

repeated a number of times

with similar results ."

This can be true even if you have done the experiment only

once

, or even if you have

never

done the experiment at all!!

"

A number of additional drugs

gave similar results."

Maybe all other drugs gave quite

different

results, since zero could be the number that gave similar results.

There are "a number" of better terms to use!!

Slide68

"A number" of possibilities exist.a very limited numberonly a few Related non-numerical wordsvery few - diverse / differenta few - various / varietysomemultipleseveralmanynumerousa large numberan astronomically large numbercountless, endlessan infinite number

A gradient of "number" words

Slide69

Collective nouns--singular terms for groups of thingssingular or plural verb form??The class is taking an exam. (The class is doing this [as a group].)The class are taking an exam. (The class [members] are doing this.)Our course faculty (is/are) working on a textbook on Scientific Writing.The staff at the bookstore (is/are) reading a book on salesmanship.Guideline: Choose the singular verb form UNLESS "the group members" (plural) is clearly what is meant.Our faculty [list] IS very large.Our faculty [members] ARE good at both research and teaching.

A group of collective thoughts

Slide70

"Of" prepositional phrases further confuse the decision for manysingular or plural verb form??A list of relevant proteins is/are shown in Table 1.A stream of electrons pass/passes through the detection chamber.A box of cookies is/are on my desk.The Table of Contents is/are usually at the beginning of a book.The subject of the sentence, NOT the object of the preposition, determines the verb form.even though the object of the preposition is immediately before the verbPay attention for these, think carefully, make rational decisionsThe singular verb form is always grammatically correct.But the plural form may not be "wrong" in specific cases.

A group of collective thoughts

Slide71

Using a preposition to end a sentence with (!)Some now think this is too hard to deal with and is "OK""AT2-R is only one of the receptors that AngII binds to.""AT2-R is only one of the receptors to which AngII binds."I still follow this rule in writing, not so much in normal speech.Split infinitivesThis is supposed to be an absolute no-no!"To more definitively demonstrate this mechanism….""To demonstrate this mechanism more definitively…"This one has never bothered me.But it's clearly wrong!And it's pretty easy to fix.

#13. Other good old grammar rules

Slide72

I hope some of this was helpfulYour science and your story are the big thingsbut grammar matters tooI can stay around to answer any questionsor contact me with specific questions, mtoews@unmc.eduI'm happy to talk again on figures, titles, seminar skillsI'd be very happy to talk to you about my science too!

Final Comments