Scientific Writing & Publishing

For
Researchers with English
as a Foreign Language

Dereje Tadesse Birbirso

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 Objectives
 Empower with the ability to communicate well in English with the
global scientific community
 Appreciate the ability to write well in English is a valuable skill:
good writing lends credibility to a text, just as poor writing can
detract from it.
 Develop awareness of the theory and conventions of scientific
writing
 Use a scientific writing diction, expression, and style characterized
by precise, concise, and formal language
 Structure a scientific piece/text at the macro and micro level
(outlining, paragraphing) and revise and develop self-editing and
proofreading skills
 Demonstrate efficient structuration, organization, drafting,
revision, and editing strategies for publishing
 Identify plagiarism and explain how to prevent it to improve skills
in integrating and
 Present, interpret, explain data, and write up in a scientific style
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 What do scientists write?
 Research papers
 Reviews
 Abstracts
 Book chapters
 Books
 Grant applications
 Theses (and assessment reports)

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What makes good writing?
What does it take to be a
good writer?

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 Takes having
 What makes good writing? something to say
and clear
thinking.
– 1. Good writing communicates an idea clearly and effectively.
 2. Good writing is elegant and stylish.

Takes time,
revision, and a
good editor!

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 The Essentials
 The essentials are content,
organization, and clarity.
 If a paper has excellent content, is well
organized, and is clear, it is likely to be
accepted even if the English is so-so.
 If a paper has poor content, is badly
organized, or is unclear, it is likely to be
rejected even if the English is excellent.

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 Some Common Language
Challenges (From my
experience with Ethiopian
students’ writings)

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Some Common Language Challenges (From my
experience with Ethiopian students’ writings)
 Verb voices – inappropriate & overly use of Passive Voice
 Verb tenses/aspects
 Prepositions – mother tongue interference
 Articles – unnecessary use, necessary but the absence of use
 Sentence structure – monotonous v. variation
 Sentence length – marathon v. chopped
 Level of detail? – the absence of support, elaboration,
justification, exemplification, substantiation, evidencing, etc.
 Other

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 What makes a good writer?

– Inborn talent?
– Years of English and humanities classes?
– An artistic nature?
– The influence of alcohol and drugs?
– Divine inspiration?

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What makes a good writer (outside of poets,
maybe):

– Having something to say.

– Logical and clear thinking.
– A few simple, learnable rules of style (the tools we’ll
learn in this class).

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Things you can do to become a better writer:
 Read, pay attention, and imitate.
 Compiling lists of words and phrases commonly
used in your field
 Writing simply
 Let go of “academic” writing habits (deprogramming
step!)
 Talk about your research before trying to write
about it.
 Develop a thesaurus habit. Search for the right
word rather than settling for any old word.

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  Respect your audience—try not to bore them!
 Stop waiting for “inspiration.”
 Accept that writing is hard for everyone.
 Revise. Nobody gets it perfect on the first try.
 Learn how to cut ruthlessly. Never become
too attached to your words.
 Having people with a strong command of
English review your drafts

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Clear writing starts
with clear thinking.
 Before you start writing, ask:
“What am I trying to say?”
 When you finish writing, ask:
“Have I said it?”

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Before you start writing, ask:
“What am I trying to say?”
 When you finish writing, ask:
“Have I said it?”

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 Approaching a Writing Project
 Establishing the mindset (attitude)
 Knowing the ethics
 Preparing to write
 Doing the writing
 Revising your work

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 Establishing the Mindset
 Remember that you are writing to
communicate, not to impress.
 Realize that those reading your work want
you to do well.
– Journal editors
– Peer reviewers
– Professors
The purpose of their constructive criticism is
to help you succeed.

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 Knowing the Ethics
 Authenticity (not fabrication)
 Accuracy
– Providing complete data (not only those
supporting your hypothesis)
– Avoiding inappropriate manipulation of images
such as photographs
– Using appropriate statistical procedures

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 Originality
– Not republishing the same findings (except
under special circumstances, with the original
source cited)
– Not submitting the same manuscript to two or
more journals at once
– Not dividing one research project into many
little papers (“salami science”)

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 Credit
– Citing sources of information and ideas (also
aids credibility, helps in finding out more)
– Avoiding excessive use of others’ words
 Recording sources when copying items or taking
notes
 Placing in quotation marks, or indenting, items
used verbatim
 Perhaps drafting some items while not looking at
the source materials

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 – Observing copyright and obtaining needed
permissions
 Ethical treatment of humans and animals (and
documentation thereof in publications)
 Disclosure of conflicts of interest
– Financial
– Other
A Resource on Ethics:
On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct in
Research, 3rd edition (2009) by Engineering, and Public Policy
Committee on Science, National Academy of Sciences,
National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine

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 Preparing to Write
 Use published items as models.
 Obtain and review instructions.
 Perhaps get a style manual—for example:
 The ACS (American Chemical Society) Style Guide
 AMA (American Medical Association) Manual of Style
 The Chicago Manual of Style
 The MLA (Modern Language Association) Style Manua
l and Guide to Scholarly Publishing
 Publication Manual of the American Psychological Ass
ociation
(APA)

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 While you are gathering content, write
down ideas that occur to you.
 Do lots of “prewriting”—for example:
– Stack papers in the order you plan to cite
them.
– List points you want to make.
– Perhaps make an outline, cognitive
diagramming /mapping, etc.
 If you’re having trouble formulating ideas,
perhaps do something else for a while.

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 Doing the Writing
 Schedule specific times to write.
 Start with whatever part you find easiest.
 Don’t interrupt your writing to search for
small details.
 Realize that often in writing there is no
“one right way” but rather a series of
problems with more than one solution.

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 Revising Your Work
 Note: Good writing is largely a matter of
good revising.
 First revise your writing yourself. Then
get feedback from others and revise more.
 Consider having an editor help you.
 Avoid the temptation to keep revising your
writing forever.

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 Questions to Consider in
Revising
 Does the manuscript contain everything it
should?
 Does it contain anything it shouldn’t?
 Is all the information accurate?
 Is the content consistent throughout?
 Is everything logically organized?
 Is everything clearly worded?

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 Are points stated briefly, simply, and
directly? In other words, is everything
concise?
 Are grammar, spelling, punctuation, and
word use correct throughout?
 Are all figures and tables well designed?
 Does the manuscript comply with the
instructions?

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 Characteristics of scientific writing
 Evidence-based: hence, are rich in attributions to other writers
and references to previous research

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 Cautious

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 Impersonal - focus is on ‘what’ happened, ‘how’ it was done, and ‘what’
was found. The ‘who’ (the writer) is not normally given very much attention. Do
not address the reader directly, and the pronoun normally used for this, ‘you’, is
avoided.

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 Nominalization--There is a tendency for academic writers to
transform verbs (actions) into nouns.

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 Rhetorical questions--Questions to introduce significant
new ideas are avoided, and are replaced with statements:

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 Neutral
 Avoid making assumptions (e.g., Everyone
knows that …..) and unproven statement (e.g.,
It can never be proved that ……)
 Clarity
 It present how and where data were collected
and supports its conclusions with evidence

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 Structured logically
 Ideas and processes are expressed in a logical
order
 The text is divided into sections with clear
headings
 Accurate
 Avoid vague and ambiguous language such as
about, approximately, almost

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 Characteristics of scientific writing
 Avoid technical terms and jargon
 Use them only when they are necessary for accuracy

 Avoid Contracted forms (e.g. it’s, don’t, isn’t, aren’t)

 Objective
 Statements and ideas are supported by appropriate evidence that
demonstrates how conclusions have been drawn
 Acknowledging the work of others

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 Principles of Effective Writing

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 Principles of Effective Writing

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Very, really, quite, basically,
generally

These words seldom add anything

useful. Try the sentence without
them and see if it improves.

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Watch out for the verb “to be”
Often “there are” is extra weight.

 There are many students who like

writing.
– Many students like writing.

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Avoid Dead weight phrases like:
 in the event that
 in the nature of
 it has been estimated that
 it seems that
 the point I am trying to make
 what I mean to say is
 it may be argued that

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 for the most part
 for the purpose of
 in a manner of speaking
 in a very real sense
 in my opinion
 in the case of
 in the final analysis

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 Avoid Clunky Phrases

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 Parallelism: Use parallel
constructions
 Parallelism is a similarity of grammatical form
for similar elements of meaning within a
sentence or among sentences.
 When pairing ideas, underscore their
connection by expressing them in similar
grammatical form.
 Paired ideas are usually connected in one of
three ways: coordinating conjunctions,
correlative conjunctions or comparison
language.
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 Eliminate negatives; use
positive constructions instead

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 Coherence in writing
 The sentences within a paragraph must have coherence;
that is, they must be so tied together that your reader
can read the paragraph as a unit, not as a collection of
separate sentences.
– Coherence through repetitive structure
– Coherence through contrasted elements
– Coherence through connections between paragraphs

 Coherence through connections between paragraphs

– Coherence is necessary, not only within a paragraph,
but also between the several paragraphs of an essay,
so that your reader can see how any paragraph is
related to those that have come before.

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 Key Elements of Scientific
Writing
1. Title
2. Abstract/Summary/Synopsis
3. Introduction/Background
4. Objectives/Research Questions
5. Literature Review
6. Methods/Methodology
7. Results/ Results and Discussion
8. Discussion/Conclusion
9. References
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Naming & framing the Title part of
scientific writings
 Function:
It should start with a title that describes the
contents of the paper
 Format:
The title should be centered at the top of the paper
Informative and specific
Concise
Understandable
Has important words first
 Has no abbreviations
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 Types of title that can be used
for scientific papers
 Indicative titles indicate the subject matter
of a paper but give no indication of any results
obtained or conclusions drawn e.g. The
effectiveness of bed nets in controlling
mosquitoes at different seasons of the year.

 Informative titles give an indication of

results achieved and conclusions drawn as well
as the subject matter of the paper e.g. Bed
nets control mosquitoes most effectively when
used in the rainy season.
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 Question-type titles
 This type of title obviously asks a question. e.g.
When are bed nets most effective when used to
control mosquitoes?

 Main-subtitle (series) type

 This approach is not liked by editors of
scientific journals because if they accept the
first paper they will be duty bound to accept
sequels. e.g. The effect of bed nets on
mosquitoes: [Link] effectiveness when used
only in the rainy season.

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 Titles do not exceed two lines in print.
 Titles do not normally include numbers,
acronyms, abbreviations or punctuation.
 They should include sufficient detail for
indexing purposes but be general enough
for readers outside the field to appreciate
what the paper is about.

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Writing the Abstract part
of scientific writings

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 Purposes of the Abstract

 The abstract should be the best

part of the paper!
 It is the most frequently read part
of an article after the title.

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 Purposes of the Abstract
 Provides an overview of the article
(readers may read nothing else)
 Provides context for those who do
read the article
 Used by journals to assign reviewers
 Used by abstracting and information
services to index and retrieve articles
 Used by translation services for
foreign readers

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 Purposes of the Abstract
 Helps reader decide whether to read the
article (ie, is this important to me?)
 Provides reminders for readers after
they’ve read the article
 Directs readers’ attention to the highlights
of the article

In general, the abstract reflects on the

professionalism and integrity of the work.
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 Characteristics of the Abstract

 Accurate, coherent, and readable

 Concise, specific, and selective
 Self-contained, ie, stand alone

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 Characteristics of the Abstract

Self-contained, ie, stand alone

 Complete and internally consistent

 No references
 No tables or figures
 No or few abbreviations (must be defined)
 Conclusions should be based on data/info
presented within the abstract

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 What Abstracts Are NOT
 Not substitutes for the article and should
not be cited as references
 Not a summary of the entire article;
should present main finding
 Do not contain enough information for a
critical evaluation of the research
 Not fully peer-reviewed; up to 60% are
never followed by a complete scientific
article

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 Content of an Abstract
 Define purpose and scope of study, ie, the
question
Introduction
 Describe materials and methods used
Materials and Methods
 Summarize the results
Results
 State the conclusions and their implications
Discussion

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 Content of an Abstract

 Introduction Why?
 Materials and Methods How?
 Results What?
 Discussion So What?

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 Writing the Introduction part of scientific
writings —important expressions
Establishing the importance of the topic for the discipline
 A key aspect of X is …
 X is of interest because … X is a classic problem in …
 A primary concern of X is …
 X is a dominant feature of …
 X is a fundamental property of …
 Studies on X represent a growing field.
 X is an increasingly important area in...
 The concepts of X and Y are central to …
 X is at the heart of our understanding of …
 Investigating X is a continuing concern within …
 X is a major area of interest within the field of …
 X has been studied by many researchers using …
 X has been the subject of many classic studies in …
 X has been instrumental in our understanding of …
 The theory of X provides a useful account of how …
 X has been an important concept
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 Highlighting an important problem
 X was one of the most popular Ys during …
 Traditionally, Xs have subscribed to the belief that …
 Over the past century, there has been a dramatic increase in …
 Recent trends in X have led to a proliferation of studies that ...
 X proved an important literary genre in the early Y community.
 X has received considerable scholarly attention in recent years …
 In recent years, researchers have shown an increased interest in ...
 One of the greatest challenges …
 A key issue is the safe disposal of …
 The main disadvantage of X is that …
 X is associated with increased risk of …
 X impacts negatively upon a range of …
 X is a common disorder characterised by …
 It is now well established that X can impair …
 X has led to the decline in the population of …
 X is a growing public health concern worldwide.
 The main challenge faced by many researchers is the …
 X is one of the most frequently stated problems with …
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 Stating the purpose /objectives of research
 The specific objective of this study was to …
 This thesis examines the way in which the ...
 An objective of this study was to investigate ...
 This study set out to investigate the usefulness of ...
 This dissertation seeks to explain the development of ...
 This case study seeks to examine the changing nature of ...
 The objectives of this research are to determine whether ...
 The overall aim of this thesis is to review the evidence for …
 This prospective study was designed to investigate the use of …
 The aim of this study was to develop a better understanding of …
 This research examines the emerging role of X in the context of ...
 This study systematically reviews the data for..., aiming to provide ...
 Drawing upon two strands of research into X, this study attempts to ...
 This study therefore set out to assess the effect of X ..., and the effect of ...
 The main aim of this study is to investigate the differences between X and Y.
 Part of the aim of this project is to develop software that is compatible with ...
 There are two primary aims of this study: 1. To investigate ... 2. To ascertain ...
 This study seeks to obtain data which will help to address these research gaps.
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 Research questions or hypotheses
 The hypothesis that will be tested is that ...
 The research questions in this study focused on …
 The central question in this dissertation asks how ...
 Specifically, the following issues will be addressed: …
 The specific questions which drive the research are: …
 This research seeks to address the following questions:
 The key research question of this study was whether or not ...
 This study aimed to address the following research questions: …
 The study sought to answer the following specific research questions: …
 In particular, this dissertation will examine six main research questions: …
 Another question is whether ...

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 Indicating significance or value
 This is the first study to …
 This research sheds new light on …
 This study provides new insights into …
 This study fills a gap in the research on …
 The present study fills a gap in the literature by …
 Understanding the link between X and Y will help …
 This investigation will enhance our understanding of …
 The importance and originality of this study is that it explores …
 The present research explores, for the first time, the effects of …
 The findings should make an important contribution to the field of ....
 This study provides an exciting opportunity to advance our knowledge of ...
 It is hoped that this research will contribute to a deeper understanding of …
 This study aims to contribute to this growing area of research by exploring ...
 This project provided an important opportunity to advance the understanding of ...
 Therefore, this study makes a major contribution to research on X by demonstrating ...
 There are several important areas where this study makes an original contribution to ...
 The experimental work presented here provides one of the first investigations into how
…
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 Outlining the structure
 This paper begins by ... It will then go on to ... The first section of this paper will examine ...
 The essay has been organized in the following way:
 The remaining part of the paper proceeds as follows: ...
 The main issues addressed in this paper are: a), b) and c).
 This paper first gives a brief overview of the recent history of X.
 This paper has been divided into four parts. The first part deals with ...
 My thesis is composed of four themed chapters.
 The overall structure of the study takes the form of six chapters.
 The thesis is divided into three distinct sections. The first section …
 The third chapter is concerned with the methodology employed for this study.
 Chapter 2 will consider both the sources and methods of study which will include …
 The purpose of the final chapter is to reflect on the extent to which this study has …
 Chapter 4 analyses the data gathered and addresses each of the research questions in turn.
 Chapter 5 analyses the results of interviews and focus group discussions undertaken during ...
 The fifth section presents the findings of the research, focusing on the three key themes that ...
 Chapter Two begins by laying out the theoretical dimensions of the research, and looks at how ...

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 Writing the Methods part of scientific
writings —important expressions
 Methods section:
Is where writers give an account of how they carried out
their research.
Should be clear and detailed enough for another
experienced person to repeat the research and
reproduce the results.
Where the methods chosen are new, unfamiliar or
perhaps even controversial, or where the intended
audience is from many disciplines, the Methods section
will tend to be much more extensive.
Often the verbs are written in the simple past tense and
are passive.
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  Giving reasons why a particular method was adopted
 A major advantage of X is that …
 The benefit of this approach is that …
 The decision to use X was based on …
 X based methods provide a means of …
 A case study approach was used to allow a ...
 This method is particularly useful in studying ...
 A quantitative approach was employed since ...
 Qualitative methods offer an effective way of ...
 The design of the questionnaires was based on ...
 The X method is one of the more practical ways of ...
 The semi-structured approach was chosen because ...
 The X approach has a number of attractive features: ...
 The advantages of Xs are that they are simple to deliver.

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 The second advantage of using the multivariate method is ... The study uses
qualitative analysis in order to gain insights into ... One advantage of the X
analysis is that it avoids the problem of ...
 Another advantage of using computer simulations is that it allows …
 Continuous sampling methods have a number of advantages over …
 The collaborative nature of the focus group offers another advantage …
 It was decided that the best method to adopt for this investigation was to ...
 Qualitative methods can be more useful for identifying and characterizing…
 Many of the distributions were not normal so non-parametric signed rank tests
were run.
 It was considered that quantitative measures would usefully supplement and
extend the ...

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 Synopsis of the research design, method, source(s) of data
 Data for this study were collected using...
 Five works will be examined, all of which …
 This paper uses archival data from X to study …
 A mixed-method approach was employed using …
 This investigation takes the form of a case-study...
 This study draws on two theoretical frameworks …
 Qualitative content analysis was used to examine …
 This study utilized clustering techniques to identify …
 Contemporary source material was used to examine …
 This study was exploratory and interpretative in nature.
 This study uses a qualitative case study approach to investigate …
 The research data in this thesis are drawn from four main sources: ...
 This study employed survey methodology to investigate the impact of …

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 The approach to empirical research adopted for this study was one of ...
 This dissertation follows a case-study design, with in-depth analysis of ...
 By employing qualitative modes of enquiry, I attempt to illuminate the ...
 Qualitative and quantitative research designs were adopted to provide ...
 This study makes use of oral history interviews as well as archival sources.
 Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in this investigation.
 A holistic approach is utilised, integrating X, Y and Z material to establish ...
 The study was conducted in the form of a survey, with data being gathered via ...
 This project uses interviews and participant-observation to produce an account of …
 The methodological approach taken in this study is a mixed methodology based on ...
 A combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches was used in the data
analysis

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 Referring to the literature to justify a method or approach
 In a recent article, Smith (2009) argues that case studies offer …
 Smith et al. (1994) identify several advantages of the case study ...
 Jones (2012) argues that case studies are useful when the conditions of the research …
 According to Smith (2011), semi-structured interviews have a wide-spread popularity in …
 The sensitivity of the X technique has been demonstrated in a report by Smith et al. (2011).
 Jones (2006) points out that there is a role for both qualitative and quantitative approaches in …

 Giving reasons why a particular method was rejected

 The limitation of this approach is that …
 A disadvantage of many cohort studies is that …
 A major problem with the experimental method is that ...
 The main disadvantage of the experimental method is that ...
 The principal limitation of the experimental approach is that …
 However, there are certain drawbacks associated with the use of ...
 However, this method clearly is not valid for analyzing long-term trends in …
 There are obvious difficulties in accepting the reliability of self-report information.
 There are certain problems with the use of focus groups. One of these is that there is
less ...

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 Explaining Keywords (also refer to Defining Terms)
 Throughout this paper, the term ‘X’ will refer to ...
 The term ‘X’ will be used in this thesis to refer to …
 Historically, the term ‘X’ has been used to describe …
 It is necessary here to clarify exactly what is meant by ...
 The phrase ‘X’ will be used in this study to describe the …
 According to Smith (2002), X can be defined as follows: ‘ ... ’
 In this article, the abbreviation XYZ will be used to refer to ...
 Throughout this dissertation, the term ‘X’ will be used to refer to ...
 The term ‘X’ is a relatively new name for ..., commonly referred to as ...
 In this essay, the term ‘X’ will be used in its broadest sense to refer to all ...
 In this dissertation, the terms ‘X’ and ‘Y’ are used interchangeably to mean ...
 While a variety of definitions of the term ‘X’ have been suggested, this paper
will use the definition first suggested by Smith (1968) who saw it as …

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 Indicating a specific method
 The solution was then assayed for X using the Y method.
 X was prepared according to the procedure used by Jones et al. (1957).
 The synthesis of X was done according to the procedure of Smith (1973).
 X was synthesized using the same method that was detailed for Y, using ...
 Samples were analyzed for X as previously reported by Smith et al. (2012).
 Analysis was based on the conceptual framework proposed by Smith et al. (2002).
 This compound was prepared by adapting the procedure used by Jones et al. (1990).
 Describing the characteristics of the sample
 The sample was representative with respect to gender and …
 Forty-seven students studying X were recruited for this study.
 A systematic literature review was conducted of studies that ...
 Just over half the sample (53%) was female, of whom 69% were ...
 The participants were divided into two groups based on their performance on ...
 Two groups of subjects were interviewed, namely X and Y. The first group were ...
 The project used a convenience sample of 32 first year modern languages students.
 All of the participants were aged between 18 and 19 at the beginning of the study...
 All studies described as using some sort of X procedure were included in the analysis.
 Participants were recruited from 15 clinics across ..., covering urban and rural areas ...
 The initial sample consisted of Dereje
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 Indicating criteria for selection or inclusion
 Criteria for selecting the subjects were as follows:
 Publications were only included in the analysis if…
 The participants in this study were recruited from …
 To identify X, the following parameters were used: …
 The area of study was chosen for its relatively small ...
 Primary inclusion criteria for the X participants were …
 Eligibility criteria required individuals to have received ...
 Five individuals were excluded from the study on the basis of ...
 A small sample was chosen because of the expected difficulty in obtaining ...
 The subjects were selected on the basis of the degree of homogeneity of their
...
 A comparison group of 12 male subjects without any history of X was drawn
from a pool of ...

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 Describing the process: typical verbs in the passive form
 All participants were sent …
 The data were normalised using ...
 Ethical approval was obtained from ...
 Drugs were administered by icv injection …
 Descriptive data were generated for all variables.
 The procedures of this study were approved by ...
 Prompts were used as an aid to question two so that ...
 Data were collected using semi-structured interviews in …
 Participants were thanked for their time and effort and for …
 The experiments were run using custom software written in...
 Two sets of anonymized questionnaires were completed by ...
 A total of 256 samples were taken from 52 boreholes (Figure 11).
 The solution was washed three times with deionized water and ...
 Significance levels were set at the 1% level using the student t-test.
 Data management and analysis were performed using SPSS 16.0 (2010).

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 Describing the process: using + instrument
 All the work on the computer was carried out using ...
 Data were collected using two high spectral resolution Xs.
 Semi-automated genotyping was carried out using X software and ...
 Using the X-ray and looking at the actual X, it was possible to identify ...
 Comparisons between the two groups were made using unrelated t-tests
 The data were recorded on a digital audio recorder and transcribed using a ...
 Statistical significance was analysed using analysis of variance and t-tests as
appropriate..
 15 subjects were recruited using email advertisements requesting healthy students
from ...
 Describing the process: infinitive of purpose
 In order to investigate the effects of …
 In order to identify …, the participants were asked to ...
 In order to help familiarise participants with …, they were asked to …
 In order to address these ethical concerns, the following steps were taken: …
 In order to understand how X regulates Y, a series of transfections was performed.
 To avoid …
 To test whether …
 To establish whether ...,
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 To better understand how …
 To measure X, a question asking ... was used.
 To determine whether …, the cells were incubated for ...
 To rule out the possibility that … , the participants were ...
 To control for bias, measurements were carried out by another person.
 To assess whether and how Xs are produced and received, we measured ...
 To see if the two methods gave the same measurement, the data were plotted and ...
 To compare the scores three weeks after the initial screening, a global ANOVA F-test
was used.
 To enable the subjects to see the computer screen clearly, the laptop was configured
with ...
 To increase the reliability of measures, each X was tested twice with a 4-minute break
between ...
 The vials were capped with X to prevent ...
 The process was repeated several times in order to remove ..
 In an attempt to make each interviewee feel as comfortable as possible, the
interviewer ...
 The interview schedule comprised structured and open questions to identify
and explore …

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 Describing the process: other phrases expressing purpose
 For the attitude questions, a Likert scale was used.
 For the purpose of analysis, two segments were extracted from each ...
 For the purpose of height measurement, participants were asked to stand ...
 For the estimation of protein concentration, 100 μL of protein sample was mixed
with ...
 Describing the process: statistical procedures
 The data were normalised using ...
 A p value <0.05 was considered significant.
 Descriptive data were generated for all variables.
 Reliability was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha.
 All analyses were carried out using SPSS, version 20.
 Non-parametric tests were used to compare the number of …
 Independent sample t-tests were carried out to assess whether …
 Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 20).
 Significance levels were set at the 1% level using the student t-test.
 Data management and analysis were performed using SPSS 16.0 (2010).
 A Pearson correlation analysis was conducted in order to assess the strength of …
 The mean score for the two trials was subjected to multivariate analysis of variance to
determine ...
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 Indicating problems or limitations
 In particular, the analysis of X was problematic.
 In observational studies, there is a potential for bias from …
 The small size of the dataset meant that it was not possible to ...
 Further data collection is required to determine exactly how X affects Y.
 Another major source of uncertainty is in the method used to calculate X.
 In this investigation there are several sources for error. The main error is ...
 It was not possible to investigate the significant relationships of X and Y
further because…
 The responses relating to X were subjective and were therefore susceptible to
recall bias.

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 Writing the Literature Review part of
scientific writings —important expressions
 Being systematic,
 You show what is already known about the research topic as a whole
 You outline the key ideas and theories that help us to understand this.
 Being evaluative and critical,
 You may reveal that a particular study did not investigate some important
aspect of the area you are researching,
 You may argue that the author(s) failed to notice a weakness in their
methods, or
 You may criticize that their conclusion is not well-supported
 You synthesize sources: contrasting or comparing


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 Writing Literature Review—important
expressions
 General descriptions of the relevant literature
 The literature on X has highlighted several …
 Different theories exist in the literature regarding …
 More recent attention has focused on the provision of ...
 There are relatively few historical studies in the area of …
 A great deal of previous research into X has focused on ...
 A large and growing body of literature has investigated ...
 Much of the literature since the mid-1990s emphasises the …
 There is a relatively small body of literature that is concerned with …
 The generalizability of much-published research on this issue is problematic.
 A considerable amount of literature has been published on X. These studies ...
 What we know about X is largely based upon empirical studies that investigate how ...
 The academic literature on X has revealed the emergence of several contrasting
themes.

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 Writing Literature Review—important
 Previous research expressions
 Only in the past ten years have studies of X directly addressed how …
 Prior to the work of Smith (1983), the role of X was largely unknown.
 Over the past decade, most research in X has emphasized the use of ...
 Early examples of research into X include … (Smith, 1962; Jones, 1974).
 The vast majority of studies on X have been quantitative.
 What we know about X is largely based on observational studies.
 There are a number of large cross-sectional studies which suggest …
 Surveys such as that conducted by Smith (1988) have shown that ...
 Many recent studies (e.g. Smith, 2001; Jones, 2005) have shown that …
 Traditionally, it has been argued that ... (e.g. Smith, 1960; Jones, 1972).
 Several biographies of Brown have been published. Smith (2013) presents ...
 Recent evidence suggests that ... (Smith, 1996; Jones, 1999; Johnson, 2001).
 Recently, in vitro studies have shown that X can ... (Smith et al., 1997; Jones et
al., 1998).
 In recent years, a few authors have begun to … (Smith, 1996; Jones, 1999;
Johnson, 2001).
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 Writing Literature Review—important
 Reference to the current state of knowledge expressions
 X is positively related to Y (Smith, 2017).
 X is one of the most intense reactions following Y (Jones, 2023).
 X is a principal determining factor of Y (Smith, 2005; Jones, 2023).
 There is an unambiguous relationship between X and Y (Smith, 2020).
 X is significantly reduced during the first months of … (Smith, 2020; Jones,
2022).
 X has been found to oppose the anti-inflammatory actions of Y on Z (Smith,
2024).
 GM varieties of X can cross-pollinate with non-GM varieties (Smith, 2018;
Jones, 2019).
 A relationship has been established between an individual’s working memory
and their ability to ... (Jones, 2022).
 Some analysts (e.g. Jones, 2022) have drawn fine distinctions between ...
 Drawing on an extensive range of sources, the authors set out the different
ways in which ... Other authors (see Smith, 2003; Jones, 2024) have confirmed
the usefulness of such an approach.
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Writing Literature Review—important
expressions

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 Writing Literature Review—important
expressions
 Referring to secondary sources
 Smith (1973, cited in Jones, 2002) points out that …
 Smith draws on the work of Jones (1959) who suggested that …
 Building on the work of Jones (2000), Smith (2005) argues that …
 Smith (2003) revisits and updates the Jones (1996) model of X by
…
 Smith (2000, citing Jones, 1998) points out, X has been shown to
result in …
 The view that … is supported by Smith (2003) who draws on
Jones’s (1996) comparison of …

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 Writing Literature Review—important
expressions
 Synthesizing sources: supporting
 Similarly, Jones (2006) found that X ...
 In the same vein, Smith (1994) in his book XYZ notes ...
 This view is supported by Jones (2000) who writes that ...
 Smith argues that her data support O’Brien’s (1988) view that ...
 Jones’s (1986) work on X is complemented by Smith’s (2009)
study of ...
 Almost every paper that has been written on X includes a section
relating to ...

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 Writing Literature Review—important
expressions
 Synthesizing sources: contrasting
 Unlike Smith, Jones (2013) argues that ...
 Other studies have concluded that …
 In contrast to Smith, Jones (2013) argues that ...
 A broader perspective has been adopted by Smith (213) who argues that ...
 Contrary to previously published studies, Johnson et al. demonstrated the
efficacy of…
 Conversely, Smith (2010) reported no significant difference in mortality
between X and Y.

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 Writing Literature Review—important
expressions
 Summarizing the studies reviewed
 Together, these studies indicate that ...
 Overall, these studies highlight the need for ...
 Considering all of this evidence, it seems that ...
 Collectively, these studies outline a critical role for…
 In all the studies reviewed here, X is recognized as …
 All of the studies reviewed here support the hypothesis that …
 Two important themes emerge from the studies discussed so far:
 However, such studies remain narrow in focus dealing only with …
 The evidence reviewed here seems to suggest a pertinent role for …
 These studies clearly indicate that there is a relationship between …
 In view of all that has been mentioned so far, one may suppose that ...
 Overall, there seems to be some evidence to indicate that ...
 Together these studies provide important insights into the ...

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 Writing Literature Review—important
expressions
 Summarizing the literature review section
 The previous section has shown that …
 In conclusion, these studies show that …
 The evidence reviewed here seems to suggest …
 To conclude this section, the literature identifies …
 This review has demonstrated the shortcomings of …
 In summary, it has been shown from this review that …
 Taken together, these studies support the notion that …
 In summary, little is known about the interrelationships between …
 This section has attempted to provide a brief summary of the literature
relating to …

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 Writing the Results part of scientific
writings—important points & expressions
 Results is different from Findings
 Results
The Results section is the meat of a paper,
The most important part of a study.
Are presented as
Text,
Illustrations, and/or
Tables or
Figures

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 Results are general statements that interpret the
raw data obtained from field/lab work
 Data (quant., numeric/statistic or qual., visual/linguistic
segments/excerpts of what’s said or described or written)
 Information
 Substances
 Processes
 Inventions
 Know-how, and
 Materials that relate to the research question or hypothesis
 Excludes writer’s/researcher’s such as
 Discursive commentary on the data
 Interpretation or
 Explanation

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 Do not start the Results section by
describing the methodology.
 Report significant results only.
 Avoid redundancy: Numerical values that
are apparent in illustrations and tables
should not be duplicated in the text.
 Cite figures and tables concisely: Do not
include the same data in both figures and
tables and do not repeat the legend of a
figure or the title of a table in the text.
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 When reporting qualitative results, the researcher:
 will highlight and comment on the themes that emerge from the analysis.
 These comments will often be illustrated with excerpts from the raw data.
 May comprise quotations from the primary sources.
 When reporting quantitative studies:
 the results section is likely to consist of tables and figures, and
 writers comment on the significant data shown in these
 often takes the form of :
 the location or summary statement,
 which identifies the table or figure and
 indicates its content, and a highlighting statement or statements,
 which point out and describe the relevant or significant data.
 All figures and tables should be numbered and given a title.

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 Three Elements in Results

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 Keep separate (1) DATA (2) DISCURSIVE
COMMENTARY & (3) ARGUMENT

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TASK: Identify (1) DATA (2) DISCURSIVE
COMMENTARY & (3) ARGUMENT

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 TASK: Identify (1) DATA (2) DISCURSIVE
COMMENTARY & (3) ARGUMENT

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 TASK: Identify (1) DATA (2) DISCURSIVE
COMMENTARY & (3) ARGUMENT

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 TASK: Identify (1) DATA (2) DISCURSIVE
COMMENTARY & (3) ARGUMENT in quantitative study

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 Toulmin Model of Argument

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 Writing the Discussion section

 Is usually the most challenging section to

write.
 Is not a recapitulation of results.
 Its value lies in your interpretation of the
findings and their significance

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 Note that:
 New results should not be introduced in this section
 Present the principles, relationships, and generalizations shown by the
Results
 Point out any exceptions or any lack of correlation, and define
unsettled points, but avoid focusing on trivial details
 Show how your results and interpretations agree or disagree
 with published work
 Discuss the theoretical implications and any possible applications of
your findings and interpretations
 State your conclusions
 Summarize your evidence for each conclusion

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 Discussion More elaborate:
 Commentary on
 Interpretation of
 Explanation of
 Evaluation of the significance, and
 Examination of the implications of the data in the
Results section
 Findings Conclusions you construct from/
draw out of the Results + Discussion as regards
the general Objective of the study or each
Research Question
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 Writing the Discussion part of scientific
writings
 Discussion More elaborate:
 Commentary on
 Interpretation of
 Explanation/theorization about the results
 Implications for removal of, and
 Improvements to the problem started under the Introduction
 Findings Conclusions you construct from/ draw out of the
Results + Discussion as regards the general Objective of the study
or each Research Question
 You compare/contrast your Findings in qual/quant data or with
the Findings of other researchers

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 In Discussion
 Begin the discussion with a topic sentence that returns to
the question raised in the Introduction section.
 Mention new findings. knowledge, and concepts that
resulted from your study. Do not, however, introduce data
that were not presented in the Results section.
 State whether you have achieved your goal of answering
the research question or have found exceptions and
unexplained results.
 Compare your results and interpretations with related
published work, even though it may disagree with yours.
 Give due credit to others whose work has been confirmed.
Be fair with those whose results differ from yours and
explain,
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 Take care to label speculations as such. Journals permit
some reasonable speculations if based on solid evidence.
 Discuss any theoretical implications and possible
applications of your findings.
 Present the conclusions concisely. If additional experiments
are needed to validate your results, be sure to qualify your
conclusions.
 Suggest future studies, if any.
 End your discussion with a short summary or conclusion.
 Do not repeat material that was presented in other sections
of the paper

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Important Expressions for Introducing
a new topic or aspect of a topic in
Discussion/Analysis
 Regarding X, ...
 As regards X, ... In terms of X, ... In the case of X ...
 With regard to X, ... With respect to X, ...
 On the question of X, …
 As far as X is concerned, ...
 Another important aspect of X is …

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 Important Expressions for Introducing a new
topic or aspect of a topic during analysis
Introducing Reintroducing
 Regarding X, ...
 As discussed above, ...
 As explained earlier, ...
 As regards X, ...
 As previously stated, …
 In terms of X, ...
 As indicated previously …
 In the case of X ...
 As described on the previous
 With regard to X, ...
page, ...
 With respect to X, ...
 As was mentioned in the previous
 On the question of X, …
chapter, ...
 As far as X is concerned, ...  Returning (briefly) to the
 Another important aspect of X is (subject/issue) of X, ...
…  As explained in the introduction,
it is clear that ...
 As was pointed out in the

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 Important Expressions for Analysis
 The analysis here is based on …  Underlying … is the view etc. that …
 It is relatively easy to describe …  Analysis of the data revealed …
 one immediately obvious feature of … is …  Closer examination of … reveals that …
 A quick glance at … shows that …  Closer inspection revealed that …
 … exhibit classic signs of …  Viewed in this way, …
 From … it is apparent that …  There is some indication that …
 … is immediately apparent  Observations of … suggest that …
 … is most pronounced in …  The presence of … can be tested by …
 … shows evidence of …  An important test for … is whether or not
 … may be or is confirmed by … …
 … tends to occur or be found in …  exposure to … results in …
 … is not a necessary condition for …  One way of examining or viewing …
 the interaction of … and …  One way of analyzing …
 Comparison of theoretical predictions with  … can be thought of as …
actual observations revealed that …

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 Important Expressions for Analysis
 … is found even in cases where …
 … are illustrated by figure X  The proportion of … ranged from … to
 … are shown in the graph above or below …
 … are given in the appendix  The effects of … on … were greatest in
 Figure X shows the distribution of … …
 the outcome of the experiment  The observed … is or was lower or higher
 The result that emerges from … is … than predicted.
 the resulting …  The results of …
 we detected …  … suggest that …
 the output varies depending on …  … appear to confirm …
 … generated the following results …  … show a clear pattern
 The analysis or experiment etc. yielded data  … fall within a narrow range
on …  … show wide variation
 … was more pronounced …  … clearly demonstrate …
 … typically increased by or to ……  … provide definitive evidence for …
 … disprove the theory or hypothesis or
claim that …
 … cast doubt on earlier findings …
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Important Expressions for Interpreting data  There are a number of factors or points
 The findings discussed here are from …
worth noting:
 This means that …  The results suggest that … is due to …
 The statistics show clearly that … rather than …
 It is significant that …  The significance of … as a factor in … is
 Significantly, … suggested by …
 Most significantly, …  The benefits of this approach are
 … plays a major role in … immediately visible
 an important point  The existence of … may be illustrated by
 a fundamental factor …
 the main cause of … is …  The influence of … on … is indisputable
 This raises a number of questions  This means that we are able to link … and
 It is probable that … …
 It is likely that …
 It is important to distinguish carefully
between …
 It seems clear that …
 It is important to emphasize …
 … can be attributed to …
 Here we see an example of the
 It is perhaps not surprising that …
importance of …
 An interesting aspect of … that emerges is  This underlines the importance of …
…
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Important Expressions for Explanation
 One explanation for or of … is that …
 This explains why …  A likely explanation for … is …
 This is because …  … important to the explanation of …
 … is self-explanatory  … can only be adequately explained by …
 … essential to the explanation of …  … accounts for a considerable number of
 This can be explained as … cases of …
 … can be explained by …  This in part explains …
 This explanation also accounts for …  This may explain …
 the most likely explanation  This would explain why …
 Many … can be explained by or as …  Other possible explanations or causes are
 … is better explained by … …
 an important factor in …  An alternative explanation would be …
 the importance of … as a factor in …  One possible explanation for … is …
 a contributory factor  A more plausible explanation for … would
 a number of external factors be that …
 this factor may contribute to …  􀂃 … has an important role in …
 … plays an important part in …  the key to the problem
 􀂃 … plays a crucial role in …  􀂃 one solution might be …
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Important Expressions for Discussion
 The importance of … is demonstrated by the fact that …
 … assumes a special significance because or as …
 One of the most obvious consequences of … is
 the or an important observation that …
 A point that can be made is that …
 This may be discussed in terms of …
 … is perhaps best viewed as …
 If this is the case, then …
 If, for the sake of argument, we assume …
 … can be deduced from …
 This attests to …
 This agrees with …
 … is or are, in effect, …
 … supports the notion that …
 … may be inferred from …
 This would suggest that …

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 There is some evidence to suggest that  This raises a further question:
…  This raises the issue whether …
 A clue to … can be or is found in …  This raises a number of questions.
 A clue to … lies in the fact that …  The notion that or of … raises a
 It may be argued that … number of fundamental or important
 This may be applicable to … questions for …
 the extent to which this reflects … is  … cannot simply be explained by or as
unclear …
 a real if elusive relationship between  This raises questions about the validity
… of …
 … is a poor predictor of …
 … is often masked by …
 … leads to overrepresentation
 systematic differences in …
 It is not obvious how or why …
 It is by no means clear that …
 The question arises whether …
 It is an open question whether …
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Important expressions for Compare and Contrast
 On the one hand …, on the other hand …  … bears a striking resemblance to …
 both …, and …  … is virtually indistinguishable from …
 as well as …  There is an obvious resemblance between
 not only …, but also … …
 … or, for that matter, …  the difference is only marginal
 Just as …, …  the results were relatively uniform
 Comparison of …  This is also true of or for …
 compared with or to …  The same is true of or for …
 To give a comparison from …,  The same applies to …
 … has been compared or likened to …  The same principles that determine,
 … is or are often compared to or with … govern etc. … apply to …
 … are broadly comparable
 much the same as …
 in much the same way as …
 the same seems to be true of …

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Important expressions for Compare and Contrast
 comparatively few…..  … similarly shows …
 relatively speaking….  similar cases etc. occur in …
 It is interesting to compare …  … shows a similar pattern to …
 For comparison, we also examined …  the similarity between …
 Comparison of … revealed that …  a similar type or kind of …
 The results were compared with or to those  Similarly, for example, …
obtained in or by …  there are many similarities between …
 a comparative study of … and …
 One of the most crucial/salient/marked  there is a great deal of similarity between
differences b/n x and y is… … and …
 X differs from Y in a number of important  The effects of X on human health are
ways. similar to those of Y.
 There are a number of important  Both X and Y generally take place in a
differences between X and Y. ‘safe environment’.
 Areas where significant differences have  These results are similar to those
been found include X and Y. reported by (Smith et al. 1999).
 In contrast to earlier findings, however, no  This definition is similar to that found in
evidence of X was detected. (Smith, 2001) who writes:
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Expressions for tying a text together
Referring forwards Referring back
 below  above
 … as follows:  in the last section
 followed by …  at the beginning of the paper or chapter
 In addition, …  To summarize :
 Furthermore, …  To sum up:
 Moreover, …  To recap:
 Accordingly, …  as already noted
 By implication, …  as already mentioned
 Similarly, …  as already stated
 Equally, …  as shown above
 A further point is …  as already discussed
 A further argument is …  as stated or discussed in …
 a related development  as stated or discussed or described above
 the related question or issue of …  … of the kind or type described or
 As well as …, … also occurs … discussed above
 Also, there is or are …
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 In a similar vein, …
Referring forwards Referring back
 for reasons discussed above
 Building on …, …
 as a result of the factors discussed in …
 Alternatively, …
 the points discussed above
 This brings us to the question of …
 … has already been pointed out above
 We now turn to …
 … has already been referred to or touched
 Now consider the issue of …
on earlier
 Next …
 It was noted earlier or above that or how …
 The next section …
 Returning to the example of …, …
 in the next chapter or section
 This type of development etc. has already
 as discussed in the next chapter
been referred to in chapter X
 The next section introduces …
 As discussed above, ...
 The following chapter addresses …
 As explained earlier, ...
 The next section broadens the discussion
 As previously stated, …
to include …
 As indicated previously …
 The next section takes up a number of
issues raised in this discussion.
 It will be shown in chapter X that or how
…
 As will be discussed or shown or seen
further below, …
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 Referring forwards Referring back
 … is or are discussed further below
 the discussion above has argued …
 …, as will be outlined later in the paper,
 the discussion so far has concentrated on
…
…
 …, about which more below
 the preceding discussion has shown how
 …, which will be taken up in chapter X …
 will be discussed in detail in chapter X  …, which has been shown to …
 … will be discussed in subsequent sections  We have previously shown how …
 … will be shown both in this and in  The discussion above demonstrates clearly
subsequent chapters …
 … will be dealt with or discussed or taken  As described on the previous page, ...
up in the following sections
 As was mentioned in the previous
 The relevance of … to … is discussed chapter, ...
further or in detail in X
 Returning (briefly) to the (subject/issue) of
 for reasons discussed below X, ...
 in the sense discussed above  As explained in the introduction, it is clear
 Reasons for this are discussed later in the that ...
chapter.  As was pointed out in the introduction to
 in the remainder of the paper this paper, ...

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 Writing the Conclusion part of
scientific writings —important phrases
 Usually serves two functions:
1) to summarize and bring together the main areas
covered in the writing, which might be called
‘looking back’;
2) to give a final comment or judgment on this,
which may also include making suggestions for
improvement and speculating on future
directions.

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 In dissertations and research papers, conclusions
tend
 To also include sections on the significance of the findings and
on recommendations for future work
 May not be presented separately from the discussion section;
the two sections may be combined. However,
 May need separate conclusions for dissertations and essays.

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 Conclusion-- —important
expressions
 Restatement of aims
 This study set out to …
 This paper has argued that ...
 This essay has discussed the reasons for ...
 In this investigation, the aim was to assess ...
 The aim of the present research was to examine …
 The purpose of the current study was to determine ... The main goal of
the current study was to determine ... This project was undertaken to
design ... and evaluate ...
 The present study was designed to determine the effect of ...
 The second aim of this study was to investigate the effects of …
Returning to the question posed at the beginning of this study, it is
now possible to state that ...

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 Summarizing research findings
 This study has shown that ...
 The findings clearly indicate that …
 The research has also shown that ...
 The second major finding was that ...
 These experiments confirmed that …
 X made no significant difference to …
 This study has found that generally ...
 The investigation of X has shown that ... The results of this investigation show
that ... X, Y and Z emerged as reliable predictors of ... Multiple regression
analysis revealed that the ...
 The most obvious finding to emerge from this study is that ...
 The relevance of X is clearly supported by the current findings.
 One of the more significant findings to emerge from this study is that ...

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 Suggesting implications for the field of
knowledge
 The results of this study indicate that ...
 These findings suggest that in general ...
 The findings of this study suggest that ...
 Taken together, these results suggest that ...
 An implication of this is the possibility that ...
 The evidence from this study suggests that ...
 Overall, this study strengthens the idea that …
 The current data highlight the importance of …
 The findings of this research provide insights for …
 The results of this research support the idea that ...
 These data suggest that X can be achieved through ...
 The theoretical implications of these findings are unclear.
 The principal theoretical implication of this study is that …

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 Significance of the findings or contribution of the study
 The X that we have identified therefore assists in our understanding of the role
of ...
 This is the first study of substantial duration which examines associations
between …
 The findings from this study make several contributions to the current
literature. First,…
 The findings reported here shed new light on …
 The study contributes to our understanding of …
 These results add to the rapidly expanding field of …
 The contribution of this study has been to confirm …
 Before this study, evidence of X was purely anecdotal.
 This project is the first comprehensive investigation of …
 This study provides the first comprehensive assessment of …
 The insights gained from this study may be of assistance to …
 This study establishes a quantitative framework for detecting …
 This work contributes to existing knowledge of X by providing ...
 This is the largest study so far documenting a delayed onset of ...
 Prior to this study it was difficult to make predictions about how …
 These findings will be of broad use to the scientific and biomedical
communities.
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 Writing the Implications part of scientific
writings —important phrases
 Implications and/or recommendations for practice or
policy
 Greater efforts are needed to ensure ...
 There is, therefore, a definite need for ...
 A second broad recommendation is that …
 Provision of X will enhance Y and reduce Z.
 Another important practical implication is that ...
 Moreover, more X should be made available to ...
 This study suggests that X should be avoided by people who are prone to …
 A key policy priority should therefore be to plan for the long-term care of ... This
information can be used to develop targeted interventions aimed at ... Taken together,
these findings do not support strong recommendations to ...
 Ensuring appropriate systems, services and support for X should be a priority for …
 The findings of this study have a number of important implications for future practice.
 An implication of these findings is that both X and Y should be taken into account
when
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 Recommendations/Implications for further
research work
 The question raised by this study is …
 More research using controlled trials is needed to …
 What is now needed is a cross-national study involving ... More broadly, research is also
needed to determine ...
 It would be interesting to assess the effects of ... It is recommended that further research
be undertaken in the following areas:
 A further study could assess the long-term effects of ...
 A future study investigating X would be very interesting.
 In terms of directions for future research, further work could ...
 Further work needs to be done to establish whether ... Further studies need to be carried
out in order to validate ...
 In the future, it will be important to explore the potential use of …
 Another possible area of future research would be to investigate why ...
 A number of possible future studies using the same experimental set up are apparent.
 In terms of future work, it would be interesting to repeat the experiments described here
using …

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 Writing the Limitations part
The weakness
 A limitation of this study is that … The strengths
 Being limited to X, this study lacks …  A key strength of the present study
 The major limitation of this study is the ... was the ...
 This study was limited by the absence of …  The main strength of this study is the
 One issue with the current study was that … exclusion of …
 One strength of this study is the high
 The most important limitation lies in the fact
that ... rate of follow-up, …
 The key strengths of this study are its
 A limitation of using this kind of data is that it
precludes ... long duration and ...
 The strengths of the study included
 Study limitations make an overall conclusion
about X extremely difficult. the in-depth analysis of …
 Although the findings should be
 Finally, a number of important limitations need
to be considered. First, ... interpreted with caution, this study
has several strengths …
 A potential source of bias for the study is the
 One of the strengths of this study is
influence the researcher had upon …
that it represents a comprehensive
 With regard to the research methods, some
examination of the whole …
limitations need to be acknowledged.
 The generalisability of these results is subject to
certain limitations. For instance, ... Dereje T Birbirso (PhD)
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 Thanks to:
 Gastel, B. and Day, R. D. (2016). How to
Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. Santa
Barbara, California: Greenwood.
 Lindsay, D. (2020) Scientific Writing:
Thinking in Words. Melbourne: CSIRO
Publishing.
 Yang, J. T. (1995) An Outline of Scientific
Writing. Singapore: World Scientific

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