Articles
English employs three articles: a, an, and the. Japanese and Russian lack articles altogether, while Portuguese and Spanish use them far more frequently than does English. Accordingly, these grammatical elements give non-native English speakers many headaches, much as particles in Japanese do for non-native Japanese speakers, but they are not as difficult as they seem.
The first two are indefinite articles while the latter is definite. That is, the first two are used to indicate any member of a group of things, while the latter designates a particular or specific thing. In general, a is used with singular nouns that begin with a consonant or the letter y. In addition, nouns that begin with the letter u, when it sounds like y (user), take the article, a. An is used for nouns that begin with a vowel.
Examples
“Please bring me a green chair”, means that any green chair will suffice.
“Please bring me the blue chair”, means that while various chairs are available, only the blue one will do, and apparently there is only one blue chair.
The following rules are intended to clarify appropriate use of articles.
Rule 1. All three articles are generally used for singular nouns, although the can be used to indicate a specific group of objects among various groups. That means that in general, when a noun is plural, articles are unnecessary or inappropriate.
When designating multiple things or people, the is more often used when that group serves as the object of the sentence (receives the action), but generally not if it is the subject.
Examples:
Please send this letter to all the first-year graduate students.
The first-year graduate students should attend the orientation seminar.
In both of the foregoing examples, use of the before students is optional. It is intended to designate a specific subset of all graduate students; however, the adjective first-year accomplishes the same thing, so the is really superfluous in both cases. Accordingly, these sentences should be written as follows:
Please send this letter to all first-year graduate students.
First-year graduate students should attend the orientation seminar.
Rule 2. In technical writing, if an article is optional, such that employing it does not enhance the clarity of the sentence, leave it out! Plural nouns preceded by adjectives always fall into this category, and sometimes singular nouns do, as well.
Examples:
as discussed above in the sections devoted to the Nkx and Pax genes… → as discussed above in sections devoted to Nkx and Pax genes…
shading indicates the substitution of a basic amino acid… → shading indicates substitution of a basic amino acid…
On Day 5, haloperidol was administered to the juvenile, female rats. → On Day 5, haloperidol was administered to juvenile, female rats.
The amino acid sequences were aligned using Muscle. → Amino acid sequences were aligned using Muscle.
Rule 3. Articles are used only for countable objects; thus, as a general rule they are not needed for processes (words ending in -tion) or abstract concepts.
Examples:
The speaker will discuss the evolution of vertebrates. → The speaker will discuss evolution of vertebrates.
The speaker will discuss vertebrate evolution.
Classical studies used activity-based techniques to identify eye motion-related responses, such as identifying the saccade-related background activity.
Classical studies used activity-based techniques to identify eye motion-related responses, such as identifying saccade-related background activity.
Rule 4. Technical writing frequently employs acronyms. These present genuinely difficult choices relative to the use of non-specific articles, a and an. The choice of article depends on whether the acronym is usually read as a word or as the phrase it represents. Often, one doesn’t know how the reader will read it, and that is where dilemmas arise.
If the acronym, or the phrase it represents, begins with a vowel or a soft consonant (H, M, N, R, X), use an, if the letters of the acronym are read individually. Use a if the acronym will be read as the phrase it represents.
Examples:
Dopants are usually added to an HTL layer to improve its conductivity.
Dopants are usually added to a Hole Transporting Layer to improve its conductivity.”
Note that in the example above, the article varies depending upon the reading. However, in the following example, it makes no difference.
Measurements were taken using an AFM in tapping mode.
Measurements were taken using an Atomic Force Microscope in tapping mode.
Exceptions:
Even though the noun, data, is plural, it is common practice to say, “The data showed that…”
In the aforementioned example, “the data” implies data from the present study, as opposed to somebody else’s data. But what if a given study presents multiple data types, and only one of them illustrates the phenomenon under discussion? Then you could use either of the forms shown below.
The transcriptomic data resolve this question left unanswered by the protein sequences.
Transcriptomic data resolve this question left unanswered by protein sequences.
Note that while an article can be employed, as shown in the first case above, the adjective, transcriptomic and the noun, protein, obviate any need for the article.
Proper use of “respectively”
Respectively, is a term that many researchers like to use, although it is commonly misused and over-used. In many cases, there are probably better ways to write what needs to be expressed.
Properly used, “respectively” links two parallel lists. Imagine that 1, 2, and 3 occur “with respect” to A, B, and C. In other words, 1 corresponds to A, 2 to B, and 3 to C. The sequence of items in each series is essential.
Proper use
A, B, and C have three different effects, 1, 2, and 3, respectively.
Incorrect
…a beta-fibrinogenase, a kinin-releasing enzyme, and flavorase, which have kinin-releasing activity similar to KN-BJ from Bothrops jararaca venom, respectively.
Correct
…a beta-fibrinogenase, a kinin-releasing enzyme, and flavorase, which have kinin-releasing activity similar to KN-BJ from Bothrops jararaca venom.
A second type of error involving “respectively” occurs when there are no series at all, as in the following example:s
The most frequent error in using “respectively” is to employ it when there is only one series; hence, there is no need for it in the first place. In the first example below, all three enzymes have exactly the same activity. In the second, all three genes produce single transcripts.
Incorrect
…of which N terminal domain is similar to Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor and C-terminal domain is waprin, respectively…
Correct
…in which the N-terminal domain is similar to a Kunitz-type serine protease inhibitor and the C-terminal domain is a waprin,…
Incorrect
These genes generate single transcripts, respectively.
Correct
These genes generate single transcripts.
Specifiers (“which” and “that”)
Specifiers are used to indicate which of several possibilities is being discussed by providing more information about the item under discussion. The difference between them is that the specifier, “that”, is used to provide essential qualifying information. For that reason, it is not preceded by a comma. The specifier, “which”, is used to supply additional, but non-essential information, and is always preceded by a comma. When used in non-specifier roles, the preceding rule does not apply. Examples of all three cases are provided below.
That
Arg15 is replaced by Gly15 in toxin A, a substitution that might be related to its very low myotoxic activity.
Species that are not in the database cannot be detected. They found strong signals that did not overlap with rods.
We propose a memory mapping scheme that significantly improves the bandwidth of external memory.
Multiple studies have discussed the equilibrium configuration of filaments that minimize elastic energy.
The hippocampus is one of the brain regions that manifests significant alterations in schizophrenia.
Which
This program was used to generate corresponding three-dimensional models, which were superimposed and examined using Swiss- PDB Viewer v.4.0.
Even under those conditions, however, a decrease in performance is usually observed, which could be interpreted as an indication of imperfect encapsulation.
These polymers are impermeable to water and are spun from fluorosolvents, which do not ttack perovskite.
Corals release massive amounts of soluble mucus, which transfers large amounts of energy and nutrients to the reef substrate.
The maximal rate of vesicular GABA uptake was extrapolated as 82-1 s-1 at room temperature, which was surprisingly slow in comparison with that of glutamate (15-1 s-1).
Sequences of GABAb and glycine receptors show a higher degree of similarity to bilaterian receptors than do GABAa sequences, which are more distantly related to their bilaterian counterparts, and which lack certain amino acid residues important for GABA binding.
Non-Specifier Role
As expected for group I PLA2s from elapid venoms, both toxins present 14 cysteine residues, all of which adhere to the strictly conserved pattern that defines this enzyme group.
Proper uses of colons and semicolons
One small matter that plagues non-native English writers is the use of colons and semicolons. I frequently find the semicolon misused in manuscripts that I edit.
Colons
A colon is used:
to introduce a series or list of things
In the example below, the role of the colon is basically to say, “Here comes the list.”
Before commencing, be certain to have the following items ready to use: A, B, C, D, and E.
to set two things in apposition (as in a ratio)
Buffer B consisted of acetonitrile:water (60:40).
to break up a long title or to give it a little more punch. The first part of the title introduces the topic briefly. The second part explains the topic a little more fully, in an attention-getting way. In the following title, the clauses on either side of the colon are of unequal importance, with the second being less important.
Organic and Peptidyl Constituents of Snake Venoms: The picture is vastly more complex than we imagined
to present a concluding explanation, an expansion, or clarification
to introduce a long, formal quotation. Such quotations are rare in technical writing. A dash or hyphen can be used for the same purpose as a colon, but it is more informal and should generally be avoided in technical writing.
Semicolons
Semicolons are used:
before certain coordinating conjunctions that connect two complete thoughts (sentences, having a subject and a verb). However, thus, therefore, and nonetheless require a semicolon before and a comma afterward. Other conjunctions (and, although) simply employ a comma before, even though both connect two complete thoughts. Never put a comma after these two conjunctions.
Tricarboxylic acids chelate divalent cations to inactivate phospholipases, metalloproteases, nucleases, and other metalloenzymes in the venom gland; however, upon injection into prey tissues, these venom components are immediately activated.
in lieu of coordinating conjunctions to connect two complete thoughts, each having a subject and a verb. Normally the two connected sentences address a common subject. However, there is probably no good reason to use a semicolon in this way. It accomplishes nothing that a period wouldn’t do just as well.
to separate things in a list. The foregoing structure is very commonly used in scientific manuscripts.
All but one of the 50 most abundant metabolites were positively identified, or at least, well characterized (Figure 2; Table 1; Appendix A).
When nouns masquerade as adjectives
Because of the technical nature of scientific writing, we commonly use nouns as adjectives to modify other nouns. In such cases, the modifying nouns are always singular. The noun being modified may be singular or plural as the situation demands. Unfortunately, this is tricky for native Japanese speakers since the Japanese language does not distinguish between singular and plural.
Examples
coral reefs restoration → coral reef restoration
seeds production → seed production
lincRNAs expression → lincRNA expression
Australian snakes venoms → Australian snake venoms
mutants germ cells or mutant germs cells → mutant germ cells
55 candidates genes → 55 candidate genes
dicots phasiRNAs precursors → dicot phasiRNA precursors
Terms to express quantity
English uses several terms to express the concepts of “how many” or “how much.” Fortunately, these are not as awful as counting words in Japanese. Nonetheless, even many native English speakers misuse them.
For things that can be counted, use number.
For things that must be measured, use amount, volume, or content.
Examples
The text contained a large amount of errors.
The text contained a large number of errors.
RNA-seq analyses yielded a large quantity of transcriptomes
RNA-seq analyses yielded a large number of transcriptomes
The total protein amount of the venom content was calculated…
The total protein content of the venom was calculated
…an STN neuron receives substantial amount of excitatory inputs via NMDA glutamatergic receptors…
…an STN neuron receives a substantial number of excitatory inputs from NMDA receptors…
Exception
…a large amount of money. Even though money can be counted, we refer to it in this fashion, when the amount has not been determined.
Subject-Verb Concordance
In English and other Romance languages, unlike Japanese, the verb form varies depending upon whether the subject is plural or singular. Most commonly, errors occur when authors mistake the object of a preposition for the subject. To be honest, even well-trained native English speakers sometimes make this mistake. The first example below illustrates this situation. The prepositional phrase, “of these reproduction-specific, non-coding RNAs,” terminates with a plural noun (RNAs), but the subject of the sentence is “length.” The original sentence compounded the problem by adding the subject a second time in a final prepositional phrase (in length).
Examples
The average length of these reproduction-specific, non-coding RNAs are about 1,400 nucleotides in length.
The average length of these reproduction-specific, non-coding RNAs is about 1,400 nucleotides.
Recently, the number of cases reported in the literature have been increasing rapidly.
Recently, the number of cases reported in the literature has been increasing rapidly.
However, to shorten this sentence as well, one could say, “Recently, numerous cases have been reported in the literature.”
How to write excellent figure legend titles
In scientific manuscripts, graphics are called figures. I have no idea why; however, it is tempting to suggest that because of the poor quality of many figure legends, readers are left to “figure them out” for themselves. We should take no comfort in the “that’s the way everybody does it” justification. Neanderthals left no legends to explain their cave paintings, and many modern scientific manuscripts are little better. Many scientists are extraordinarily poor at communicating their results, which is, after all, the entire reason for publishing.
I had been editing for a number of years before it dawned on me that most of the figure legends in the scientific literature are terrible! When this occurred to me, the problem was so obvious that I wondered why nobody had taught me the solution years before. I also wondered why I hadn’t thought of it myself. Hmmm!
As in the figure below, readers generally have to compensate for the failures of the authors and the journal. This legend identifies most bands in the electropherogram and describes the buffer system. The only thing it doesn’t do is the most important thing of all. It doesn’t tell the reader what the data mean!
A well-written legend should be an independent description of figure. Readers should not have to consult the text in order to understand it. Before writing a figure legend, carefully consider the following:
What is the scientific significance of the data. Why did you create the figure? What scientific principle(s) or finding(s) does the figure illustrate? What is the “take-home message”of the figure?
Make the figure legend a short, declarative statement in active voice that tells the reader what the data mean! Then use the remainder of the legend to report experimental conditions and to describe figure elements and statistical parameters. If a figure has multiple parts, titles of individual panels should be written the same way.
Of course, some figures, such as maps of field study sites have no scientific principle to relate, so this does not apply.
Here are two figure legend titles for the figure above. The first is a hypothetical title written in classical form. It tells the reader what the figure is about, but that is all. The second, which is the actual figure legend title from de Siqueira et al. (2006) tells the reader the scientific finding illustrated by the figure, or in other words, the significance of the data.
Poor: “The relationship between EOCZ dose and mean arterial pressure and heart rate.”
Excellent: “Time-course of the increase in MAP (A) and the decrease in heart rate (HR) (B) (phase II, subsequent to the phase I) elicited by i.v. administration of a bolus dose (10 mg kg1) of essential oil of Croton zehntneri (EOCZ) (group 1), anethole (10 mg kg1) (group 2) and estragole (10 mg kg1) (group 3) in conscious, freely moving rats.
The following is an excellent example of an actual figure legend from Suzuki et al., 2015, Scientific Reports 5:14779. Note the clear, succinct, title in active voice.
Figure 6. Both N-terminal and C-terminal regions are required for CNOT3-dependent mRNA decay. Decay curves of CNOT3 targets in CNOT3loxP/loxP MEFs transduced with retroviruses (mock or CNOT3 constructs) and adenoviruses (Ad-LacZ or Ad-Cre) determined as in Figure 4A. n=3. WT CNOT3 expression in CNOT3KD MEFs (red lines in left middle graphs), but not CNOTdC and CNOTdN expression (red lines in right middle and rightmost graphs) restored MEF half-lives to control levels (blue lines in leftmost graph). CNOT3dN expression in control MEFs stabilized mRNAs (compare blue lines in between leftmost and rightmost graphs). *P<0.05; **P<0.01; ***P<0.001
Human beings are extraordinarily good at understanding patterns. A well designed figure can convey information more effectively than a table or text. Therefore, think about how to present data in most understandable way. Be creative! A picture truly is worth a thousand words. Then craft a legend that is worthy of your figure.
Tighten text by eliminating unnecessary prepositions and by using plural nouns
Many years ago, a client came to me with a problem. Her manuscript had been twice rejected by a journal. Technically, the work was excellent, and in fact, the editor had written the senior author and told her, “I really want to publish this manuscript, but in its present form, I just can’t.” As soon as I started to read it, I could see why. The author had 9 days to submit a heavily revised manuscript. She and I went through 12 versions in those 9 days. By the time we were done, I had deleted 25% of the words in the manuscript, without removing anything substantive. The editor replied promptly, “I’ll take it!” Afterward, the author mused, “I wonder what I said with all those wasted words.” Well, to be honest”, I replied, “not much.”
In technical writing, clarity is always the first objective. Brevity is the second.he two objectives generally go hand-in-hand. Effective communication is greatly facilitated by eliminating all words that do not make substantive contributions to the narrative. Eliminating unnecessary prepositional phrases is one good way to do this.
Examples
evolution of corals → coral evolution
for detection of repeats → to detect repeats
…commonly used in description of snake venom components… → …commonly used to describe snake venom components…
Note that in the two cases immediately above, using the infinitive (to detect, to describe), allows you to eliminate the preposition, and in these cases, the infinitives are also shorter than the nouns (detection, description).
In later stages of development,… → In later developmental stages,…
Catalyzing the synthesis of cGMP → Catalyzing cGMP synthesis
Individually, these changes don’t shorten the text very much, but over the course of an entire manuscript, they add up. Especially in abstracts with stringent word limits, this sort of text condensation is very useful because it allows you to achieve the word limit without sacrificing substantive ideas.
Contrarily, sometimes, in order to communicate effectively, it is beneficial to use a prepositional phrase, rather than tightening the text maximally. The heading below illustrates this point. In its original form, it was difficult to understand. By moving the word “mutants” to the beginning, and by employing a prepositional phrase, it became very clear.
cGMP synthesis enzymes and related molecules mutants
Mutants of cGMP synthetic enzymes and related molecules
Another good way to shorten text is to use plural noun forms wherever possible. Since singular cases usually require articles (a, an, the), using plural forms eliminates the articles.
In the acidic condition, fluorescence was enhanced…
In acidic conditions, fluorescence was enhanced…
Useless phrases and ridiculous statements
Without realizing it, even native English-speaking researchers often clutter their text with unnecessary, and in some cases, ludicrous words and phrases that detract from the impact of their prose. That is because the reader must plow through the nonsense to get to the scientific findings.Without realizing it, even native English-speaking researchers often clutter their text with unnecessary, and in some cases, ludicrous words and phrases that detract from the impact of the prose. That is because the reader must plow through the nonsense to get to the scientific findings.
We observed that…
It should be noted that…
It has been shown that…
X was carefully analyzed. (Let’s hope so!)
Please see the Supplementary Information… → (Supplementary Information)
Please see Figure 4. → (Figure 4)
The results showed that all fragments… → All fragments…
…the pH value decreased… → …the pH decreased…
Figure 4 shows the results of the fluorescent labeling experiments.
This last example is basically a useless sentence. Say something informative about the data from the fluorescent labeling experiments. Then cite the figure, as shown below.
In both strains, fluorescence intensity was brighter after nitrogen deprivation than before, but in wild-type cells it was ~1.7 times brighter than in test group cells (Figure 4).
Previous studies have shown…
Of course they were previous. If not, you wouldn’t be citing them. Why do we all say this? Truthfully, when citing multiple prior studies, it does make sense to say this, but if there is only one prior study, just cite the study.
Previous studies have shown that this is the case (Smith, 1972; Jones et al., 1985; Edwards et al., 1993).
Smith (1972) reported that this is the case.
We characterized this structure using appropriate molecular probes. (If they were inappropriate, would you be telling people about it?)
Visible major spots were picked from gels. → Major spots were picked from gels. (Of course they were visible. If not, you couldn’t have seen them.)
Source materials for transplantation are obtained in two ways, by asexual reproduction and by sexual reproduction.
We can all count to two. Get to the point.
Source materials for transplantation are obtained by asexual and sexual reproduction.
MET1 has previously been shown to be required for T-DNA suppression (Smith et al., 1995)
MET1 is required for T-DNA suppression (Smith et al., 1995)
which is known to block… → which blocks…
the genome contains a total of 69 genes → the genome contains 69 genes
Phrases such as “has been reported to…” are reasonable if you are about to show that the reports are not correct, or that they do not tell the entire story.