| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 281, Issue 17, 14, April 28, 2006
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
English Style in Scientific Papers
(Baker, J. R. (1963) J. Biol. Chem. 238, 3519–3521)
The Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC) Classic reprinted here is a departure from the usual research papers we have been highlighting. The paper, by John R. Baker, entitled "English Style in Scientific Papers," deals with writing scientific papers. It originally appeared in Nature in 1955 (1) and was reprinted in the JBC 8 years later. The reason for publishing Baker's article in the JBC was given in the following Editorial Comment:
The Editors of this Journal strive to promote the writing of scientific papers in clear, straightforward, idiomatic English, so that the findings of the author may be transmitted to his readers as lucidly and unambiguously as possible. Many of the papers we publish fall far short of this ideal, in spite of the efforts of authors and editors, but we do not believe in giving up the struggle.
Baker opens his article by saying, "Many scientific papers published in Great Britain are written in a style quite different from that adopted by good English authors. There would be no disadvantage in that, if an improved version of our language had been invented for scientific papers. This, however, is not so." He then goes on to discuss what he feels are the three main kinds of error that occur in scientific papers: grammar, grandiloquence, and German construction.
Grammatical errors, Baker says, often make it impossible to understand the meaning of a sentence. Especially troubling are words ending in –ing that are, in his opinion, frequently misused. He argues that, "anyone who is intelligent enough to carry out scientific research at a university can easily grasp everything that it is essential to know about the use of present participles and gerunds in fifteen minutes."
Grandiloquence, or the use of an extravagantly colorful, pompous, or bombastic style, is extremely common in scientific literature according to Baker. Many scientists are guilty of using long words to express simple ideas. For example, instead of writing that something is visible to the naked eye when the body cavity is opened, a scientist will write "this phenomenon can be macroscopically observed upon laparotomy." Grandiloquent writers are also guilty of using abstract words where none are required, saying something "occupies a juxta-nuclear position" rather than just stating that it is near the nucleus. Genteelism, such as using "sacrificed" instead of "killed," and the avoidance of non-vogue, simple words are also common habits of the grandiloquent.
However, grandiloquence is not the worst enemy of good English, asserts Baker. He believes far worse is the piling up before a noun of words that are not adjectives but are used adjectivally. Baker calls this "German construction" because the German language is ripe with piled up adjectival phrases. One would never say "a tea containing cup" rather than "a cup containing tea," yet we do not blink twice at the use of "iron containing globules" instead of "globules containing iron."
In the end though, Baker concedes that scientists are not a lost cause and says that "When an author has finished the scientific part of his paper, he often addresses a note of general information to the reader. At this point he suddenly discloses for the first time that he can write English, for his ideas are clearly expressed."
The author of this Classic paper, John Randal Baker (1900–1984), was an anthropologist, ethnologist, zoologist, and cytologist at the University of Oxford in the mid-twentieth century. He was born in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England and attended Oxford University where he received his B.A. (1922), M.A. (1927), D.Phil. (1927), and D.Sc. (1938). Baker spent his entire career at Oxford and was a lecturer in zoology, a reader in cytology (1955–1967), a reader emeritus (1967–1984), and a professorial fellow of New College (1964–1967).
Baker's early studies were conducted in sexual reproduction and population management, but he earned his scientific reputation for his pioneering work in microscopy and the study of cytology, particularly in the area of cellular mechanics. He was the author of numerous scientific books, including Sex in Man and Animals, Cytological Technique, The Chemical Control of Conception, and Science and the Planned State. He is probably best remembered, however, for his 1974 book Race (2), which attempts to classify human races in the same way that animal subspecies are classified. Baker was a member of the Royal Society and president of the Royal Microscopical Society (1964–1965). Included in his awards and honors are the Oliver Bird Medal from the Family Planning Association (1958) and an honorary fellowship from the Royal Microscopical Society (1968).
REFERENCES
CiteULike 
Complore 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us 
Digg 
Reddit 
Technorati What's this?
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| All ASBMB Journals | Molecular and Cellular Proteomics |
| Journal of Lipid Research | ASBMB Today |
