排版 | AiBrain 编辑团队
Iain C. Bruce教授祖籍英国，现任Neuroscience Bulletin（NB）执行副主编（2011年8月至今），北京大学分子医学研究所客座教授，曾任浙江大学医学院教授、江南大学访问教授、香港大学副教授。从事生命科学英文论文写作教学30余年，在香港大学、台湾成功大学、浙江大学和北京大学开设生物学专业英文论文写作课程，并著有《生命科学论文写作指南》一书，广受好评。2006年以来，他为北京大学和浙江大学科研人员修改润色生命科学论文数百篇；为NB修改润色论文1400余篇，为保障NB文章的发表质量，做出了突出贡献。
2023年，时值Iain C. Bruce教授担任NB执行副主编12周年，NB编辑部特邀请他整理出他多年的工作心得，以“NB卓越论文写作技能提升”栏目在NB微信订阅号“神经小灵通”系列发表。其内容为生命科学英文论文撰写中的常见错误纠正等，专门针对中国生命科学界的青年学者和研究生。
希望此栏目能对大家的英文论文写作技能提升有所助益，敬请大家持续关注。
目
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往期：
本期：
NB卓越论文写作技能提升-5︱描述结果时避免使用CAN/COULD
NB卓越论文写作技能提升-6︱common不等于popular
精彩继续：
NB卓越论文写作技能提升-7︱detect还是measure?
NB卓越论文写作技能提升-8︱这些名词请使用单数！
Iain C. Bruce 课堂
CAN/COULD [when writing about results]
（描述结果时使用CAN/COULD）
Overuse of these indefinite words may be due to the usual style of expression in the Chinese language. However, in English, can and could suggest a level of uncertainty, as in I could meet you for lunch, but I might go to a movie instead. You almost never want to imply that your results, or the published results of others, are uncertain. So it is strange to say Acetylcholine could excite mammalian skeletal muscle (as if acetylcholine had some choice in the matter), when everybody knows that Acetylcholine excites mammalian skeletal muscle. So, if your results showed that drug A reduced apoptosis, do not say we showed that drug A could reduce apoptosis, be definite about your data and the published data of others. As much as possible, use strong words when describing your results; words like confirmed, demonstrated, established, revealed, showed, and verified.
In the Introduction and Discussion, when you consider alternative hypotheses or interpretations, can and could are appropriate since real uncertainty exists about alternative hypotheses. When you must speculate, weak words like imply, indicate, may, might, perhaps, and suggest, can be used. But DO NOT GO TOO FAR. One weak word near the beginning of the sentence is enough to tell the reader that you are not willing to defend this idea with your life. A sentence containing more than one weak word makes the reader think that this idea is so uncertain that it is not worth considering. For example, These data suggest that the activity may depend, perhaps, on the interactions between X, Y, and Z. TOO WEAK! Use of the word suggest is an admission that the author is speculating; the rest of the sentence should clearly state what is being suggested: These data suggest that the activity depends on the interactions between X, Y, and Z.
EXAMPLES
“In group C, administration of DT can ameliorate disorganization of cytoskeleton in axons (Fig. 2D–F).” (worse)
In group C, administration of DT reduced the disorganization of the cytoskeleton in axons (Fig. 2D–F). (better)
[Note: since this is describing results, the past tense is used; ameliorate is complicated, reduced is simple.]
“An experiment proved that the PKC activation could induce the synthesis and release of tumor necrosis factor, interleukins, nitric oxide, and so on (reference).” (worse)
PKC activation induces the synthesis and release of tumor necrosis factor, interleukins, and nitric oxide (reference). (better)
[Note: since this is describing published work, the present tense is used; prove is not used much in biomedical writing, since incontrovertible, black-and-white conclusions are rare, so this word is best reserved for mathematical/logical proofs; and so on is worthless and annoying.]
“…almost can be found in all the organs and tissues” (worse)
…is found in most organs and tissues (better)
[Note: most is more concise thanalmost all.]
“Researches showed that the drug could eliminate oxygen radicals.” (worse)
The drug eliminates oxygen radicals. (better)
[Note: since this describes published work, the present tense is used; the plural of research is rarely used nowadays.]
“…is one kind of multipotent polypeptide, which could inhibit the growth of cells, by inducing apoptosis. X□could form a complex upon binding to…” (worse)
…is a multipotent polypeptide, which inhibits cell growth by inducing apoptosis. XII forms a complex on binding to… (better)
[Note: the Chinese-based word-processor used the default font (usually SimSun, a Simplified Chinese font) symbol for the Roman numeral II. When a font cannot be decoded by English-based word processors it is replaced by an empty box. Always check that your symbols are in standard international font, like Times NewRoman or Arial.]
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知识点总结
1、can和could表示某种程度的不确定性。描述研究结果的时候，不建议使用can或could，因为你并不想让别人认为你对自己的研究结果是不确定的；
2、在描述你的研究结果时，建议使用表示语气较重且意思明确的词语，比如：confirmed, demonstrated, established, revealed, showed 以及 verified等；
3、文稿的”前言“和”讨论“中，当你在描述假设或是推测的时候，因为假设的确是不确定的，可以使用can或could；
4、一定要推测，可以使用一些语气较弱的词语，比如imply, indicate, may, might, perhaps以及suggest来描述你的推测。
5、句子开头出现语气较弱的词语本身就代表你并不愿意捍卫你的观点。如果一句话中再有多个这种词汇，会让人觉得你的假设和推测根本不值得考虑！！！
6、suggest后面跟随意思表达明确的句子；
7、文稿中描述自己的研究结果，使用一般过去时；
8、文稿中描述已经发表的研究结果，使用一般现在时；
9、most比almost all更明确；
10、现在很少用research的复数researches；
11、特别要注意检查文稿的文字是否为Times New Roman或者Arial，一定不要出现中文的宋体。
Iain C. Bruce 课堂
COMMON THINGS ARE NOT NECESSARILY POPULAR（普遍发生的事情不一定受欢迎）
The word common is used mainly to suggest that something occurs often. Mobile phones are common. Traveling by bus is common. The word popular contains the meaning of common, but adds something more – that the thing is desirable by many people. Having a phone with internet access is popular [many people want one] but not common [too expensive]. Train travel is common, but not as popular as flying. So, you can imagine my surprise when I read statements like: “Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is the most popular form of cancer in southern China” or “Gunshot wounds are much more popular in the USA than in China”. It makes me think that people actually want to contract this dreadful disease or get shot. I speculate that some Chinese-English or English-Chinese dictionary, which is both common and popular, provides both of these words as equivalent to a Chinese character, but I do not know.
The take-home message is: Use common, it is a neutral word; do not use popular, which implies the judgment that the thing being described is likable. So, in southern China, nasopharyngeal cancer is both common and extremely unpopular; the same goes for gunshot wounds in the USA.
[I was given this plausible explanation: in an unfortunate translation, two of the three characters in the Chinese term for Epidemiology, when used in everyday speech, mean popular.]
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知识点总结
1、描述某种疾病的流行程度，选用中性词common，不要用popular；
2、common主要指某事经常发生，而popular不仅含有某事经常发生，还包含另外一层意思，即人们渴望这件事情的发生。
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