准确的英文表达之科研论文的重要性

　

Q:  都说语言表达不如科学问题和全文逻辑重要，那么什么科学问题才是好问题？怎么组织论文结构和表达才能算好逻辑？
A ：A good scientific question addresses a clinically important aspect of a (preferably common) disease in order to find an answer to a clinically relevant problem. Good research should ultimately improve clinical care. A good question can also reflect genuine scientific curiosity and advance thinking in some important way.

 

Q:为了让编辑们省去各种麻烦，花更多时间在稿件本身，作者们可以做些什么？ 
A:Spend plenty of time working on your abstract and write it last. Ensure that it gives an accurate summary of your paper and its findings, rather than just rewording your introduction. The abstract is the “shop window” to your work! Keep your writing concise. There is no need to use long, complicated sentences or unnecessary language. There is even some evidence to suggest that shorter papers attract more citations and readership than long ones. Make sure you give the context of your work within the broader research community. Ensure you discuss what we know already, and what knowledge gaps your work fills. It's crucial to do a thorough literature review to fully grasp the significance of your work.

 

Q：论文格式是不是真的特别重要，就算内容很好创新性很强，但如果格式不对，是不是很容易被拒？
A: It shouldn’t. And many journals nowadays proudly assert they accept submissions in any format . But they are still in the minority. Many journals still insist that an article is formatted to their guidelines at the point of submission. Journals with many submissions and lots of high-quality papers, may well reject non-formatted submissions without even reviewing them, so content and novelty might not even be considered. Be careful with where you submit - and check to see if the journal insists on formatting to their style or not.

 

Q: 编辑会看重论文里的配图吗？一篇优秀的论文配图在编辑审稿中会占多大比重，会因为图做的难看而被拒稿么？
A:High-quality figures, graphs, photos can add enormously to the understanding, and indeed the pleasure, of reading a manuscript. Several complex concepts can be easily communicated via a graph for instance .So yes, editors value good figures highly. But you are also right in saying that ‘bad’ figures will count against the paper. At least a little. Common examples are things cut and pasted from other journals and cropped/scaled-up so they are obviously pixelated and in bad shape, scans of photocopies of photos, and - at the other end of the scale - people often spend a long time on image manipulation to copy parts of an image, rotate it, crop it, and pretend it is their own work. As with text, there is a continuum of misconduct, from copying images without attribution and just poor-quality images, to forensically manipulated images which are a form of forgery. Any figures in your manuscript should be high enough quality to be printed (300 dpi), should be your own work, or - if from another paper - clearly referenced as such, and you may need to approach the publisher to acquire the rights to republish it in your manuscript.

Q: 投稿之前如何查找合适的期刊以及审稿的速度，有没有什么好的方法，快速筛选合适的期刊？

A：I would highly recommend exploring the journal’s website to check if it is suitable for your work. They should provide an overview of the scope and standards there. Make sure you read some of the most recent articles in the journal - do they cover a similar subject to your work? I would also recommend looking at the Editorial Board of the journal. If you recognize any of them as researchers within your field, then the journal is likely a good fit for your work. It is also a good idea to talk to your supervisors to find out where they would recommend publishing your work.

 

Q:对于提高英文科研写作水平，有哪些建议？ 
A:I think practice is definitely key! It will take time to get used to scientific writing in English. Make sure that you check your writing with a native English speaker before submission if possible.

Proficiency in English is something that people will develop over time, and all Chinese authors will also eventually become proficient enough to write papers without help. Till then however, it may be wise to get the help of a native English speaker to vet the final manuscript.

Q： 对于英文表达不好的投稿，评审专家对论文是什么感觉？同等质量的文章会因为英语水平差而拒稿吗？
A：Although every effort is made to evaluate manuscripts independently of the quality of English, poor language often makes it very difficult for editors and reviewers to assess the merit of a submitted paper.  

 

Q: 一篇文章中，讨论部分撰写需要注意什么吗？这部分会成为编辑们审稿的重点吗？
A:讨论主要基于作者结果得出结论，不要立题万里做过大的讨论，也不要复制前言部分，另外，讨论部分需要适当引用一些前人的工作，和他们的工作进行比较。

 

Q: 请问有哪些方法可以解决论文写作过程中英文表达不规范，“中译英”的问题？
A:英文表达能力问题最核心的思路：用英文写英文。而不是用英文翻译中文。 英文表达和中文有很大区别，如果每一句话都想着翻译，肯定写不好。尽量初稿写成英文，最好的方法就是请一个母语英语的人帮助修改。