摘自：http://forum.e2002.com/thread-187286-1-7.html

sci论文发表流程 http://hi.baidu.com/nanoist/blog/item/30ffc8951961e94bd1135e8b.html

：《英文论文写作体会》http://www.lunwenchina.net.cn/xiezuo/yyxz/6622887615436.html

本人近日侥幸在某SCI索引的外刊发表一篇论文，想在这里浅谈一下发外文的体会，供学弟、学妹们参考。我觉得发外文时主要注意以下几点：
1. 论文中必须至少有一个创新点。创新点或是开创性的工作，或是对原有工作的改进，或是提出一种新方法。老外对公式不是很看重，主要看你是否有创新。
2. 在外刊上发过文章的同学都知道，Introduction部分是最难写的，我认为在这部分中不但要提及题目的意义，别人的研究成果，更重要的是要指出你这篇论文的贡献，以吸引审
稿人的眼球。
3. 标题也很重要，即要新颖又要体现你的论文的主要工作及采用的方法
4. 实验素材要丰富，以数据说话，让人感觉你作了许多工作。
5. 要直接用英文写，学会用英语语言思考问题，不要先写成汉语再翻成英语，这样写出来的东西总有点中国英语的味道，让审稿人看起来不舒服。
6. 平时多看一些牛刊的论文，摘抄一个常用的语句及段落，如开场白、题目的意义、章节安排、语气转折等，活学活用。这样写出来的文章看起来就很漂亮了。
7. 对审稿人提出的修改意见或建议一定要认真对待，尽量满足他们的要求，如你认为某些意见或建议不妥，要在回信中加以阐述。
8. 认真研究所发期刊的参考文献的引用格式。我的一位师兄就是因为这点直接被拒了。

看看我是如何回答审稿人的修改意见

Re: PAT-09-234 revised The manuscript PAT-09-234 has been carefully revised and some new data were added in the revised text (please see Table 2), and the major revisions were marked in red. We appreciate the detailed and useful comments and suggestions from you and referees. The point-by-point answers to the comments and suggestions were listed as below. Referee #1: Q1. In Fig 1, “50?” should be “50oC”. Answer: We accept the referee’s suggestion, this error has been corrected in the revised manuscript. Q2. Page 4, line 54: “Then the mixture was degassed to remove entrapped air at 150oC in a vacuum oven for 2h…….”. Fig 4 indicated that the gel time of 30%HBPSIEP/BCE at 160 oC is about 100min. if the resin has been cured in degassing process? Answer: These errors have been corrected and the related paragraph has been rewritten in the revised manuscript. Q3. In Fig 2, the units for wavenumber should be shown in the diagram. Answer: We accept the referee’s suggestion, the units for wavenumber have been labelled in the plot, please see the X-axis in Figure 1 in the revised manuscript. Q4. Page 11, line 40: “More interesting, it has been proved that if a material has higher char yield and lower Tmax, then the material will have better flame retardancy.” The author should provide the proof that Higher char yield indicate better flame retardancy. Answer: The suggestion has been taken seriously and these sentences have been deleted from the revised manuscript due to the deficiency of related proof. Referee #2: Q1. Authors reported negatively charged membrane but they did not studied membrane conductivity, which is essential property to asses, the suitability of charged membrane. Answer: As the referee’s comment pointed out, membrane conductivity isreally the essential property to evaluate the suitability of charged membrane,especially for their applications in fuel cells. However, for their applications in environmental field, such as the removal of heavy metal ions from the aqueous solution, membrane conductivity seems to be less important. This is because in this case we mainly concern the ion-exchange capacity rather than the proton conductivity. Consequently, we think it is not necessary to highlight membrane conductivity of the prepared negatively charged hybrid membranes and these data were not reported in this manuscript. Q2. Extremely low ion-exchange capacities of developed membranes (0.2-0.3 mmol g-1) jeopardize their applications. Answer: As the referee’s comment pointed out, the ion-exchange capacities (IECs) of the prepared membranes were relatively lower. Thus will influence their applications as adsorbent for the removal of heavy metal ions from water. This is the reason why the adsorption behaviors for removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions using these hybrid membranes were not reported in this study. For their applications in industry especially in environmental field, further work is thus required to optimize the membrane preparation process so as to highly elevate the IEC values of these hybrid membranes. We believe this problem will be solved with the further improvement on membrane properties and optimization of operational parameters. When the membrane properties are improved and ideal IECs are obtained, their adsorption behaviors for removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions will be further investigated, which will be our future job. This explain has been added in the revised manuscript, please see lines 5-14 on page 13. Q3. A membrane should have good mechanical stability for its applications. But author failed to include any information on the mechanical stability of the membrane. Answer: As the referee’s comment pointed out, good mechanical stability of a membrane can conduce to its application especially for its use in industrial separation by pressure. Geneally speaking, organic membrane has lower mechanical strength and stability, it can not meet the need of separation in industry. Consequently, hybridization technique is used to increase the membrane’s mechanical and stability. Nonetheless, for hybrid membranes potentially used in non-pressure operating condition, thermal stability may be more attractive in that they expects to be used in higher temperature and strongly oxidizing circumstances for industrial applications (as stated in the abstract). In our case, the prepared membranes expect to be used in environmental field, not be used to separate species by pressure, thus we mainly concern their thermal stability rather than their mechanical strength. Due to these reasons, the thermal stability of the prepared membranes was highlighted and the mechanical stability of the membrane was not reported in this manuscript. Q4. Author should also include proposed applications for the reported membranes. It would have been better that author should complete their investigation for adsorption behaviors for removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions using reported membranes and report the findings also. This would have been attractive feature of the manuscript. Answer: This comment was highly appreciated. The explain was given in question 2, please see the answer to question 2 and the lines 5-14 on page 13 inthe revised text. The main purpose of this manuscript is to develop new preparation technique of negatively charged hybrid membranes. As the referee’s comment suggested,when the membrane properties are greatly improved, their applications in industry will be further investigated. Finally, we appreciate very much for your time in editing our manuscript and the referees for their valuable suggestions and comments. I am looking forward to hearing from your final decision when it is made. 虽然有一些实验没有补充，但是文章还是发表了。 本文引用地址：http://www.sciencenet.cn/blog/user_content.aspx?id=252831

向国内和国外SCI投稿的几点感触

早就想写一写自己的科研经历了，只是一直觉得自己的资质可能不够怕误导了大家。今年6月就要博士毕业，论文刚写完。因为要继续在中科院留所工作，感觉没太大压力。也该把过去几年的科研经历总结一下了，希望对别人也有帮助吧。 过去几年里写了几篇SCI论文，接收或发表的有国内的5篇，包括两个中国科学D，一个科学通报，两个地质学报-英文版，还有一篇国外的Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Res。当然也被国外Chemical Geology 拒过稿。 我是做岩石地球化学研究方向，合适投稿的期刊挺多。写第一篇的时候，真的是就想弄一篇国内的以毕业，因为中科院要至少1篇SCI论文才能毕业。第一次审回的判决是改后再审，刚开始吓一跳，因为这就是半死不活的意思。仔细斟酌后发现，两位审稿者的意见有些外行，但是还是要认真对待啊，尽管都是基本问题，还不能说人家提到的问题不重要。回答了一通，旁证博引。老板看了我的Reply 之后，说别这么大的手笔，一棒子打死不好。终于写的比较委婉，对方没脾气就直接接受了。我是个认真的人，这时心里觉得不是滋味。因为我没有通过审稿过程得到提升，而是花费大量时间在应付。后来的几篇也都是在国内投，对审回意见的感触都很相似。其中一篇我写的是关于大洋中脊的岩石圈热结构的论文，还得到相关国外一著名教授的评价。后来，国内审稿人的意见是：该研究对陆地上相关研究领域有重要意义，而且是被国外某某教授修改过的，可以直接发表。这个是我第一篇被直接接受的论文，但我想这洋中脊动力学过程本身就是十分重要的，却得到的评语只有在陆地相关研究方面的意义？看来是送给搞陆地研究的人手里了，其它评语一概没有，心里开始挺兴奋，本来直接接受论文就是件振奋人心的事。这是我第5篇国内SCI论文了，兴奋了一天不到，就有了点沉思：是谁认可了我的论文？ 其实，我在接受了第一篇国内ＳＣＩ论文之后，就想下一篇试试国外的。这个想法得到老板的回答是：我鼓励你投国外，但是你要先有数量再有质量，以后才能在科研路上顺心。时下，我也是因为一篇稿子被ｃｈｅｍｉｃａｌ　Ｇｅｏｌｏｇｙ　拒稿，就没作多想。 直到最近投在Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Res上接受一篇稿子之后，才第一次觉得自己的科研结果可以被叫做成果。因为，这篇稿子经历了３次ｒｅｖｉｓｅ，每次都切中要害，审稿的是Ｎａｔｕｒｅ的编委成员，本文与其方向十分相关。第一次的意见使我改了半个篇幅以证明自己观点，然后他还给的意见是“There are some interesting and perhaps important observations in the data presented along with creative interpretations that give some redeeming aspects to the manuscript; eventually, this work should be published. However, at the present, I don’t see how this manuscript can be published given the issues discussed below.”　接下来的一个问题是很难回答的—数据太少了。尽管我不可能再增加数据，坦白说了数据不可能增加，最终老外还是通情达礼的“The authors have revised the science of this paper in ccordance with the comments by the reviewers, and in some cases argued that changes required were not exactly as outlined in the reviews.   I am inclined to generally accept these scientific responses, and if the writing was satisfactory, I would be willing to accept the paper for publication”　这就基本没什么问题了。 中国总是喊口号说要高改革，建立优秀期刊，提高科研水平。结果现在国内科研水平不高，期刊更差，即便好　稿子都到国外了，甚至以投国际ＳＣＩ稿子为极大光荣，单位也鼓励，例如，有不少单位在网站的论文快报栏里只提供国际ＳＣＩ论文。当然，上层掌权人士想法总是好的，但要是不切实际，我所作为，那都无济于事。 有个留过洋的朋友告诉我，老外对参考文献置信度顺序，从低到高一般是：中国人写的国内刊出的，中国人写的国内刊出但有老外参加的，中国人写的在国外刊出的，中国人写的在国外刊出有老外参加的，老外写的国内刊出，老外写的国外刊出。听了之后真的不舒服，老外偏见的确可恨，可国人呢？ 我也给国内ＳＣＩ期刊的编辑部提出几点自己的小建议，仅供参考：（１）稿件一定要找方向相关的人审稿；（２）国内没有专家的稿子，请国外专家审；（３）编辑视情况给国内稿子找一个以上老外审稿； 另外，还有一重要方面，如果实行，定有益处：强化和鼓励国内审稿人的责任感，例如，鼓励通过的稿件在刊出时的体现审稿人名字，文章以后被引用的次数也作为审稿人的荣誉加以提倡，当然无形中也限制了审稿人的不负责任的作为（随便通过一篇差的稿子或枪毙一篇优秀的稿子都是得不偿失的）。当然科研人员的能拿出手的审稿数也是个不错的个人荣誉认证。

[math]x^2+y^2[/math].

mineral water 矿泉水
orange juice 桔子原汁
orangeade, orange squash 桔子水
lemon juice 柠檬原汁
lemonade 柠檬水
soda water 苏打水
coke, coca cola 可口可乐
pepsi cola 百事可乐
sprite 雪碧
milk shake 奶昔
milk tea 奶茶
fruit punch 果汁喷趣酒（清凉饮料）

咖啡类
cappuccino 卡布其诺（ 咖啡混以或加上煮过的牛奶或奶油的浓咖啡）
coffee latte 拿铁咖啡
black coffee 黑咖啡
white coffee 牛奶咖啡
coffee with cream and sugar 加奶加糖的咖啡
plain coffee 纯咖啡
Blue Mountain 蓝山咖啡
mocha 摩卡
Viennese coffee 维也纳咖啡
Irish coffee 爱尔兰咖啡
decaffeinated coffee 无咖啡因的咖啡
Mesdames coffee 贵夫人咖啡
espresso coffee 意大利特浓

酒类

light beer 淡啤酒
draught beer 扎啤
rice wine 黄酒
appetizer 餐前葡萄酒
Martini 马提尼酒（一种由杜松子酒或伏特加酒和苦艾酒混合而成的鸡尾酒）
gin 姜酒；金酒（一种无色的烈性酒，由蒸馏的或再蒸馏的裸麦或其它粮谷加入杜松子或香料制成的，如大茴香、芷茴香子或白芷根作佐料）
Gordon’s gin 哥顿金酒（英伦国饮）
rum 郎姆酒
Bacardi 巴卡第（一种古巴郎姆酒）
vodka 伏特加
Smirnoff 皇冠伏特加
whisky 威士忌
brandy 白兰地酒
Calvados 苹果白兰地酒
Bailey’s 百利甜酒
Budweiser 百威啤酒
Foster’s 福士啤酒
Beck’s 贝克啤酒
Carlsbery 嘉士伯啤酒
Guinness 健力士啤酒
claret 红葡萄酒（法国波尔多地区生产的干红葡萄酒）
cider 苹果酒
champagne 香槟酒
cocktail鸡尾酒
liqueur 白酒，烧酒
bloody Mary 血玛丽（一种通常用伏特加、蕃茄汁和调味料制成的鸡尾酒）
Tequila Sunrise 龙舌兰日出
gin tonic 金汤力（用金酒和汤力调制成的鸡尾酒）
Pink Lady 红粉佳人（一种鸡尾酒，由杜松子酒、白兰地、柠檬汁或石榴汁、鸡蛋蛋白和石灰水带碎冰摇匀并过滤后形成）Gibson吉布森鸡尾酒
screwdriver 伏特加橙汁鸡蛋酒
amaretto sour 杏仁酸酒
margarita 玛格丽塔鸡尾酒；一种用龙舌兰酒、桔香酒和柠檬或莱母汁混合而制成的鸡尾酒
egg nog 蛋酒
whisky sour 威士忌酸酒
gimlet 琴蕾；一种由伏特加和杜松子酒制成的鸡尾酒，加入柠檬汁使之甜些，有时加入苏打水并饰以一片柠檬
grasshopper 绿色蚱蜢；一种由薄荷甜酒、可可香草甜酒和冰淇淋组成的鸡尾酒
kir Royal 皇家基尔（基尔酒一种用无味白葡萄酒和黑茶藨子甜酒调制的饮料）

器具类

bar 酒吧
counter 吧台
bar chair 酒吧椅
barman 酒吧男招待
barmaid 酒吧女招待
bartender 调酒师；酒吧男服务员
bottle opener 开瓶刀
corkscrew 酒钻
ice shaver 削冰器
ice maker 制冰机
ice bucket 小冰桶
ice tongs 冰勺夹
ice scoop 冰勺
cocktail shaker 调酒器
pouring measure 量酒器
juice extractor 果汁榨汁机
electric blender 电动搅拌机
water jug 水壶
champagne bucket 香槟桶
enamelled cup 搪瓷杯
ceramic cup 陶瓷杯
straw 吸管
decanter有玻璃塞的细颈酒瓶
mixing glass 调酒杯
beer mug 啤酒杯
champagne glass 香槟杯
measuring jug 量杯
wine glass 葡萄酒杯
brandy glass 白兰地杯
tumbler 平底无脚酒杯
goblet 高脚杯
tapering glass 圆锥形酒杯

Base your writing on logical thinking. Learn to use inductive and deductive reasoning in your writing. Avoid common fallacies.

INDUCTIVE REASONING: When you reason inductively, you begin with a number of instances (facts or observations) and use them to draw a general conclusion. Whenever you interpret evidence, you reason inductively. The use of probability to form a generalization is called an inductive leap. Inductive arguments, rather than producing certainty, are thus intended to produce probable and believable conclusions. As your evidence mounts, your reader draws the conclusion that you intend. You must make sure that the amount of evidence is sufficient and not based on exceptional or biased sampling. Be sure that you have not ignored information that invalidates your conclusion (called the “neglected aspect”) or presented only evidence that supports a predetermined conclusion (known as “slanting”).

DEDUCTIVE REASONING: When you reason deductively, you begin with generalizations (premises) and apply them to a specific instance to draw a conclusion about that instance. Deductive reasoning often utilizes the syllogism, a line of thought consisting of a major premise, a minor premise and a conclusion; for example, All men are foolish (major premise); Smith is a man (minor premise); therefore, Smith is foolish (conclusion). Of course, your reader must accept the ideas or values that you choose as premises in order to accept the conclusion. Sometimes premises are not stated. A syllogism with an unstated major or minor premise, or even an unstated conclusion, needs to be examined with care because the omitted statement may contain an inaccurate generalization.

THE TOULMIN METHOD: Another way of viewing the process of logical thinking is through the Toulmin method. This model is less constrained than the syllogism and makes allowances for the important elements of probability, backing, or proof for the premise and rebuttal of the reader’s objections. This approach sees arguments as the progression from accepted facts or evidence (data) to a conclusion (claim) by way of a statement (warrant) that establishes a reasonable relationship between the two. The warrant is often implied in arguments, and like the unstated premise in the syllogism, needs careful examination to be acceptable. The writer can allow for exceptions to a major premise. Qualifiers such as probably, possibly, doubtless, and surely show the degree of certainty of the conclusion; rebuttal terms such as unless allow the writer to anticipate objections.

FALLACIES: A deductive argument must be both valid and true. A true argument is based on generally accepted, well-backed premises. Learn to distinguish between fact (based on verifiable data) and opinion (based on personal preferences). A valid argument follows a reasonable line of thinking.

Fallacies are faults in premises (truth) or in reasoning (validity). They may result from misusing or misrepresenting evidence, from relying on faulty premises or omitting a needed premise, or from distorting the issues. The following are some of the major forms of fallacies:

Non Sequitur: A statement that does not follow logically from what has just been said; in other words, a conclusion that does not follow from the premises.

Hasty Generalization: A generalization based on too little evidence or on exceptional or biased evidence.

Ad Hominem: Attacking the person who presents an issue rather than dealing logically with the issue itself.

Bandwagon: An argument saying, in effect, “Everyone’s doing or saying or thinking this, so you should too.”

Red Herring: Dodging the real issue by drawing attention to an irrelevant issue.

Either…Or: Stating that only two alternatives exist when in fact there are more than two.

False Analogy: The assumption that because two things are alike in some ways, they must be in other ways.

Equivocation: An assertion that falsely relies on the use of a term in two different senses.

Slippery Slope: The assumption that if one thing is allowed, it will be the first step in a downward spiral.

Oversimplification: A statement or argument that leaves out relevant considerations about an issue.

Begging the Question: An assertion that restates the point just made. Such an assertion is circular in that it draws as a conclusion a point stated in the premise.

False Cause: The assumption that because one event follows another, the first is the cause of the second. Sometimes called post hoc, ergo propter hoc (“after this, so because of this”).

学会用GOOGLE做research

转自李笑来老师的博客（http://www.xiaolai.net），收藏下来。

——————————————————————–

Google是我们这个时代最伟大的产品之一。有了Google，本质上谁都有能力做“research”（研究）——“research”在今天已经不再像许多年前那样是少数“精英”的专利了。我常常告诉我的学生，“research”其实一点都不神秘；所谓的“research”其实只不过是“search, search, and… REsearch!”在中文里，“research”除了“研究”之外还可以用另外一个说法来翻译——“做学问”。中文的“学问”这个词拆开来是两个字“学”和“问”。做学问的人一样要学，一样要问，只不过他们比别人把“学”和“问”重复更多遍而已。

Google是个可以用来research（做学问）的工具，而国内的百度相对来讲，在这方面差了不是一点半点。相对来看Google还是更讲原则的一个产品。Google的搜索结果就是搜索结果，赞助商链接摆在旁边；而百度却为了赚钱把赞助商链接与搜索结果混在一起，并且更进一步，百度把赞助商链接放在搜索结果之前。前阵子媒体就有过报道，有一位中年人为了治疗癌症上百度搜索，找了家医院，最后病情并未得到控制，钱倒是多花了许多。百度的这种做法，直接导致人们无法分辨搜索结果与广告之间的区别，最终导致错误的判断。“如果提供假药信息,搜索引擎就是助纣为虐,谋财害命!”——国家食品药品监督管理局新闻发言人颜江瑛说（网易新闻2008年9月18日）。

Google的界面非常简洁，很多人对此相当地推崇。但过分简洁副作用就是很多人也因此“过分简单化地使用Google”。然而，想做学问的人，花几分钟学学Google的语法是相当值得的；这几分钟里学到的东西用“终生受用”修饰都不过份。

在Google的输入框里，所有的空格都被Google理解为加号（+）。如果你输入的是【purpose of education】（本文中，【……】中的文字与符号就是指你在Google的输入框里输入的文字与符号），那么Google返回的文章里既有“purpose”存在，也有“education”存在，但不一定有“purpose of education”存在。另外，过分常用的、单独存在没有意义的词汇往往被忽略掉，比如冠词“a”、“the”；介词“of”、“in”、“on”、“at”、“to”；连词“and”、“or”、“but”；从属连词“that”、“which”、“when”；代词“my”、“his”、“them”……等等。

如果你想要找含有“purpose of education”这个词组的文章，那么你必须输入【“purpose of education”】。现在的Google已经可以处理utf-8大字符集了，所以，即便你在输入的时候即便使用的是全角字符（不是半角字符的【”】而是【“】或者【”】）Google也照样能够正确处理。比较一下两种输入返回的结果：【purpose of education】vs.【“purpose of education”】。再试试【the most important benefit of education】和【“the most important benefit of education”】。这就是引号（“……”）的作用——返回“完整匹配”的结果。

为了进一步筛选搜索结果，还需要学会另外一个符号——减号（-）。比如，【“the most imporant benefit of education” – “united states”】要求Google返回含有“the most important benefit of education”但不存在“united states”的文章。

另外一个威力无穷的符号是型号（*)。Google支持通配符搜索，即搜索字符串中可以包含星号（*），用来替代任意字符串。比如，【“the most * examples of censorship”】将会返回含有类似“the most outrageous examples of censorship”、“the most brazenexamples of censorship”、“the most heinous examples of censorship”、“the moststupidest examples of censorship”、“the most dangerous examples of censorship”、“the most egregious examples of censorship”、“the most prolificexamples of censorship”、“the most absurd examples of censorship”……

在网上找例子的时候星号非常有用。比如，想找历史上“最怎么样的”老师的话可以搜索【“most * teachers in history such as”】，或者，想知道国外常见的软饮料品牌的话就搜索【“* soft drinks such as”】。星号还可以把Google当作搭配辞典使用，比如，想知道proof这个单词之前可以使用的量词都有哪些的话，可以搜索【“a * of proofs”】，返回的结果会让你知道，起码有这么几个：“a set of proofs”，“a variety of proofs”，“anumber of proofs”，“a series of proofs”……

还有一个运用相当灵活、经常带来意外收获的符号是波浪号（~）。把波浪号（～）加在某个单词前面，是在告诉Google：除了给出的关键字之外，还要搜索与波浪号（～）后面的那个单词相关的词汇。比如，搜索【the importance of ~censorship】的结果中包含着“the importance of censorship”，也包含着与censorship相关的另外一个词汇“propaganda”——“the importance of propaganda”。

再学一个在指定网站中搜索的语法“site:”。比如，【“the purpose of education” site:http://www.time.com/】就是要求Google只返回http://www.time.com这个网站里的含有“the purpose of education”的文章。

2006年，Google推出了“co-op”服务（自定义搜索引擎）。其中最常用的功能之一就是可以指定Google搜索一个或者若干个指定的网站——相当于前面提到的Google语法“site:”的扩展。比如，我就为我的学生定制了一个Google cse（customized search engine）——“Search News Media”（在我的网站的导航栏上，有一个“自定义搜索引擎”，点进去也会看到这个cse）。不妨看看在这个自定义搜索引擎上搜索【censorship】返回的结果（GRE/SAT的作文考试中，都有很多关于“censorship”的作文题）。这个cse只搜索以下10个网站：

• http://www.economist.com/
• http://www.cnn.com/
• http://www.time.com/
• http://nytimes.com/
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/
• http://www.usnews.com/
• http://usatoday.com/
• http://www.reuters.com/
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/
• http://en.wikinews.org/

我还给学生定制过一个专门搜索百科类网站的cse：“Encyclopedia Search”。这个cse只搜索以下7个网站：

• http://en.wikipedia.org/
• http://encarta.msn.com/
• http://knol.google.com/
• http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/
• http://en.citizendium.org/
• http://www.bartleby.com/65/
• http://www.eb.com/

如果你是Google的注册用户（现在几乎人人都用gmail），那么你也可以定制类似的cse，并且可以与其他人分享。关于更复杂的应用，只能查看Google CSE的帮助文档了。

It presents a series of common mistakes that we often make. So have you made any mistakes of them as follows? Whatever it takes, I do.
I figure it’s a very good guidance for young researchers who want to publish top papers. I would like to share it with you and have a further discussion with you guy.
In the near future, I will also share some articles about writing skills.

Correct Usage

• Misused Words and Expressions
• Words Pronounced or Spelled Similarly but Different in Meaning
• Words with Irregular Plurals
• Singular Verbs and Pronouns with Collective Nouns
  
• Made-up Words and Words in Vogue
  
• Expressing Coordinate Ideas in Parallel Form

This chapter deals briefly with a number of language problems that we as editors seem to encounter again and again. Our suggestions are based on one rule: what we write and edit should be clear and concise.

Use words carefully and precisely. The following words and expressions are frequently misused.

Affect, effect. In common usage affect is always a verb. It is used as a noun only in fields like psychology and psychotherapy. Affectmeans to influence (Enrollment affects tuition) or to make a show of or pretend (She affected cheerfulness to hide her concern). Effectis most often used as a noun. It means result (His warning had no effect). As a verb, effect means to bring about or accomplish (We can effect change only through compromise).

A lot, a lot of. These expressions are overused and are too informal in most contexts. Try using often or frequently for a lot and usingmany, a great deal, or much for a lot of. There is no such word asalot.

Alright. Many critic say it is wrong. Careful writers spell the expression as two words: all right. Although used less frequently than all right, it is found in journalistic and business publications and is common in fictional dialogue.

Although, though. In most uses these words are interchangeable, but it may be best to begin clauses with although, since it is more emphatic, and to use though to connect elements within a clause. (Although intelligent, he could not apply himself. She was born of poor though well-educated parents.)

Among. See Between, among.

An. Use the article a before an initial h pronounced even slightly (a historian, a hypothesis, a horse). Use of an in such cases is considered affected or archaic in this country.

And. And or but may be used as the first word of a sentence. Both are useful as transitional words between related sentences.

And/or. Don’t use this device; it is appropriate only in legal writing.And can sometimes suggest or, and generally or includes and. For the rare sentence that requires such a construction, write insteaditem 1, item 2, or both (not transcripts and/or entrance scores, buttranscripts, entrance scores, or both).

As. See Like, as and Because, since, as.

Assure, ensure, insure. All three of these verbs mean to make secure or certain. Ensure and insure are interchangeable, except that insure is generally used in the sense of guaranteeing life or property against risk. Assure is the only one of the three that has the sense of setting a person’s mind at rest.

Awhile. Awhile is an adverb. While is a noun that often appears in the prepositional phrase for a while (three words). (I considered awhile, but I considered the matter for a while.)

Because, since, as. Because is the most specific of the conjunctions used to express reason or cause. It always indicates an unequivocal causal relationship. Since is often a weak form ofbecause. It also contains a notion of duration over time thatbecause does not. Use since when the meaning of what follows it is implied by what precedes it. Using as to mean since or because is always feeble. It makes whatever follows sound trivial. Avoid this misuse. Substitute for, since, or because, except in those rare cases in which you want to tone down the reason assigned.

Between, among. Between is the only choice when two persons or objects are involved. It is also proper to use between when more than two are involved if you want to express relations taken one pair at a time (Exchanges between the five colleges were not uncommon). Use among when three or more entities are considered collectively and no close relationship is implied (Funds are divided among the eight divisions).

Borrow, lend. Borrow means to obtain or receive something on loan. Lend means to give out or allow the use of something temporarily. You borrow from but lend to. (In formal writing, always use lend rather than loan as a verb.)

Bring, take. In the sense of conveying, use bring to indicate movement toward the speaker. It implies come (here) with. Use taketo indicate movement away from the speaker. It implies go (there) with. You take food to a picnic and bring home leftovers.

But. See And.

Can, may. Use can to indicate ability to do something and may to indicate permission to do it. Don’t use can for may.

Cannot. Use cannot rather than can not.

Compose, comprise. Comprise expresses the relation of the larger to the smaller, not the other way around (think of comprise as meaning to embrace or take in). The whole comprises the parts; the whole is composed of its parts. The parts compose the whole and are comprised in it. Do not use comprised of; use instead compose,constitute, or make up. (Include is not a synonym for comprise, butcomprise has the sense of inclusion.)

Continual, continuous. Although these words have the same primary meaning, their precise meanings are different. Use continualwhen you mean action that is intermittent or repeated at intervals (the continual reminder of gunfire in the distance). Use continuouswhen you mean uninterrupted action in time or unbroken extent in space (a continuous stream of marchers).

Convince, persuade. Use convince with that or of; use persuadewith to. (You may be convinced that or of something; you must be persuaded to do something.)

Different from, different than. One thing differs from another.Different than is incorrect.

Dilemma. A dilemma is a situation that requires one to choose between two equally balanced alternatives. If no suggestion of alternatives is involved, use predicament or problem,

Discover. Do not use discover when you mean develop or invent.Something that was discovered already existed but was unknown.

Effect. See Affect, effect.

E.g., i.e. The abbreviation e.g. means for example (exempli gratia) and introduces an illustrative instance or a short list of names or other items. The abbreviation i.e. means that is (id est) and introduces a repetition in different words of the ideas just discussed, or an amplification that would be appropriate after an ordinary that is. The two expressions are always set off by commas.

Ensure. See Assure, ensure, insure.

Enthused, enthusiastic. Enthuse, a back-formation from enthusiasm, is not considered acceptable in formal writing. Useenthusiastic instead. (A back-formation is a word invented in the erroneous belief that an existing word is derived from it.)

Etc., et al. In strict usage, et cetera (and the rest) is neuter and so can refer only to things, and et alia (and others) can refer only to persons. Do not end a list of persons with etc.; instead, use and others. Using etc. at the end of a list introduced by for example,such as, or a similar expression is also incorrect. (Note: A comma is required after etc. unless it ends the sentence. Also note that etdoes not require a period but al. does; et is a word, al. is an abbreviation.)

Fact. Use this word only for matter that can be directly verified, not for matters of judgment.

Farther, further. Farther is best used to indicate distance, furtherto indicate degree. (He ran farther than she did. We discussed the issue further.)

Fewer. See Less, fewer.

Flammable, inflammable. Both words mean easily ignitable and are interchangeable in their literal sense. Use nonflammable ornoncombustible to describe something that does not burn.

Historic, historical. Use historic to describe what is important in or contributes to history (historic walk on the moon; historic meeting of the Allied powers). Use historical to refer more broadly to what is concerned with history (historical play; historical artifacts). Use a, not an, with these words.

Hopefully. It is best used to mean in a hopeful way not it is to be hoped or let us hope. Even though it is common in popular usage and conversation, it is unacceptable to many critics and can be ambiguous. Careful writers avoid this usage.

However. When however means nevertheless, avoid using it as the first word of a sentence. For this sense, the word serves better within the sentence. (His condition continued to weaken. At last, however, we saw some improvement.)

I.e. See E.g., i.e.

Imply, infer. The distinction is as clear as that between give and take. Imply is a word for the transmitting end and infer a word for the receiving end. When you imply, you deliver; when you infer, you draw from. (He implied that he didn’t want to go. From her manner, we inferred that she didn’t want to go.)

Inflammable. See Flammable, inflammable.

Innovation. The root of the word innovate is the Latin novus,meaning new. Saying new innovation is like saying new new introduction.

Insure. See Assure, ensure, insure.

lrregardless. Should be regardless. The negative is expressed by -less; adding the prefix ir- makes a double negative.

Its, it’s. Its is a possessive pronoun parallel to his, hers, yours, theirs. It’s is a contraction of it is or it has, not a possessive.

Latter. Latter refers to the second of two things, not to the last of a series of things. Repeat the necessary information or rewrite the sentence to avoid using this expression; don’t expect your reader to look back to a previous passage.

Lay. See Lie, lay.

Lend. See Borrow, lend.

Less, fewer. Less refers to quantity (less course work); fewerrefers to number (fewer courses).

Lie, lay. Lay means to put, place, or prepare. Lie means to recline or be situated. In senses involving what people do with their bodies, use the forms lie (present), lay (past), lain (past participle), lying(present participle). For what people do with objects, use lay(present), laid (past), laid (past participle), laying (present participle).

Like, as. Use as to express in what capacity or role a deed is done; use like to introduce a comparison. (She acts as a supervisor implies that she is a supervisor; she acts like a supervisor compares her to one.) Another clue: like governs nouns and pronouns; as introduces phrases and clauses. Comparisons involving a verb should be introduced with as or as if (I don’t sing as I once did, not I don’t sing like I once did. He carried on as if he were crazy, not He carried on like he was crazy.) See also Such as.

May. See Can, may.

Orient, orientate. Orientate has crept into the language, probably as a back-formation from orientation, but it is a superfluous word. Save a syllable and use orient.

Persons, people. Use persons when you mean individuals with identities; use people when you mean a large and anonymous mass. (People can be pushed only so far. She was one of those persons who can cope with pressure.)

Persuade. See Convince, persuade.

Presently. In modern usage, presently is best used to mean in a short time. Use at present, now, or currently to mean at this time.

Relatively. Use relatively only when there is a clearly implied or expressed comparison.

Respective, respectively. These words are meaningless unless they clarify a direct correspondence between one series and another. Use them only when necessary. (The departments are listed under their colleges, not The departments are listed under their respective colleges.)

Since. See Because, since, as.

Such as. Such as and like are close in meaning, but there is a distinction worth noting. Such as suggests an indefinite group of objects; like suggests a closer resemblance among the things compared (significant events in history, such as the fall of the Roman Empire, the Norman Conquest, . . . , but tangible benefits like good pay and sick leave).

Take. See Bring, take.

That, which. That is a restrictive, or defining, pronoun; it introduces a phrase or clause that is essential to the meaning of the sentence.Which is a nonrestrictive, or descriptive, pronoun; the phrase or clause it introduces, which is usually set off by commas, could be eliminated without changing the meaning of the sentence.

Though. See Although, though.

Till. Not an abbreviation of until, so never write ’til. Till is a word in its own right.

Toward, towards. Toward is preferred.

Type. Avoid combining type with a noun to create a compound adjective (hippie-type students). Use such a compound only when the reference is technical or at least highly specific. (Note: In nontechnical writing, use type to refer to specific categories andkind or sort to refer to more general groupings: that type of therapy; that kind of problem.)

Underway, under way. Always two words as an adverb (meaning in motion or operation; started). Spelled as one word as an adjective, but its use as an adjective (underway refueling) is extremely limited.

Unique. Don’t use qualifiers (more, most, less) with unique. It means without equal or the only one of its kind.

Utilize. In most cases, use is preferable to utilize, Utilize suggests putting an object or material to a new or expanded use.

Very. Use this word sparingly. Instead, use words that are strong in themselves.

Whether or not. Usually you can omit the or not to advantage (or substitute if for the whole phrase). If, however, your intention is to give equal stress to the alternative, the or not is necessary. (I will finish the project whether he gives his approval or not.)

Which. See That, which.

While. Don’t use this word to mean although, whereas, and, or but, and don’t use it where only a semicolon is necessary. While meansduring the time that and should be used to link simultaneous occurrences in instances in which simultaneity is part of the point. Be especially careful not to use while when times mentioned in the sentence are expressly stated to be different. (Although [not while] days were warm, evenings were often chilly. Several of the female graduate students were from other countries, whereas [not while] all the males were Americans.)

Who, whom. Use who when it functions as the subject or as a predicate after some form of the verb to be. Use whom as an object of a verb or preposition or as the subject of a complementary infinitive (the woman whom I took to be your sister). When you are unsure about which to use, try substituting a personal pronoun (he/she or her/him) in the sentence. If he or she is correct, usewho; if him or her is correct, use whom. Use who and whom when referring to persons. Use that and which when referring to animals and inanimate objects.

-wise. Adding the suffix -wise to a word is almost never appropriate (Contentwise the class was interesting). Avoid it.

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Watch out for words that are the same or similar in pronunciation or
spelling but different in meaning.

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Watch your use and spelling of words with irregular plurals.

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Use singular verbs and pronouns with collective nouns (class, committee, crowd, faculty, family, group, jury, staff, team, etc.). (The class of ’38 is holding its reunion in the Campus Club. The team of 12 regulars was honored Saturday.)

Plurals regarded as a unit become collectives and take singular verbs.

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The same principle applies to phrases or sentences in a series.

Express similar ideas within a sentence in the same form.

Correlative expressions should be followed by parallel phrases or clauses. Rearrange the sentence if necessary.

i.e.
- that is (stands for id
est from Latin). You can also
use it to substitute, “in other words.”

etc.
- and so on, and the rest (abbreviation for etcetera).

e.g.
- for instance, for example (abbreviation for exempli gratia in Latin). Remember e.g. by thinking of
it as “example given” and then follow it with a few examples. e.g. apples,
oranges, bananas.

et al means roughly “and others”. It is written at the end of a list of names to indicate that others are related to the same subject. In legal terms, it probalby means that the one who signs is not the only responsible for whatever he’s signing, but there are others with the same/related responsibility.“The investigation was carried out by Estell Lynch, James K, John Doe et al.” means John Doe and some others (could be partners, collaborators, relatives, heirs, etc.).