This is just a few tips on clear writing and correct writing for research papers

1. How to write a Paper
Oncology English Clinical Sessions
Mr Jonathan McFarland
Friday 6th November 2015

4. THERE ARE
BOOKS FOR
DUMMIES
ON HOW TO DO
EVERYTHING

5. So, Today some tips on ….

7. 1.
2.

8. CLEAR WRITING
Break up long documents with
headings ……
 In Papers the headings are dictated by the
IMRAD structure –
 Introduction
 Methods
 Results
 and
 Discussion

9. And sub-headings
Very helpful to readers especially in
long Methods and Results sections
Subheadings need to be brief and
objective, eg.
“Animal studies”
“Pharmacokinetics”

10. Plenty of paragraphs
Paragraphs are used to:
- Group related thoughts
- Provide visual relief
- When you start a new topic you
should start a new paragraph

11. Do NOT be afraid of short paragraphs
If your paragraph has more than 5-7
sentences ask yourself whether it
contains more than 1 group of ideas.
Can you split it into two paragraphs?
There is nothing wrong with short
paragraphs

12. Or… of ONE sentence paragraphs
 There is NOTHING grammatically wrong with
a ONE sentence paragraph
 But use them sparingly
 Use them to emphasize ideas.
 Use them for BIG ideas.
 Or also for lists and instructions where you
wish to highlight every point!

14. Use Topic sentences to introduce
paragraphs
Very helpful if the 1st sentence in the
paragraph gives some idea of where
the paragraph is heading, eg.
“Wound healing consists of three
distinct phases( topic sentence).
First,……….Next,…………Finally, ……….

15. Use lists when helpful for readers
Remember the reader is the key!!!
You are writing for the reader!!!!
For example, the Lancet uses bullet-
point lists of key point.
Arrange lists in logical order

17. Be consistent about the use of full
stops and capitals
Normal rule is-
“For list items that are full sentences,
begin with a capital letter and end
with a full stop

18. CORRECT WRITING
Common errors -
 USE “Compare with” when looking for
differences
 INCORRECT sentence
 “We compared grottomycin to scabicillin”
 CORRECT sentence
 “We compared grottomycin with
scabicillin”

19. USE “Compare to” when likening
one thing to another
For example –
“The heart may be compared to a
pump”

20. Do NOT use “compare with” when
you can use “than”
 Incorrect-
 “We found a higher recovery rate in the
treatment group compared with the control
group”
 Correct-
 “We found a higher recovery rate in the
treatment group than in the control group.”

21. Different…......
Prefer “ Different from”
“different from” is the modern way
“different to” – old –fashioned
“different than” only used in the US

23. Fewer vs. less
Fewer – countable nouns
Eg, “Fewer psychiatric beds are
needed since the introduction of
community care”
Less – uncountable nouns
Eg, “There is less need for psychiatric
beds since the introduction of care in
the community”

24. “Which” – Commenting clauses
 “Which” is used in a commenting or
parenthetical clause –
 For example,
 “The Thames, which flows through London,
is England’s largest river”
 This means that if you take out the material
starting with “which” and the sentence is
still correct.
 The “which flows through London” is just
giving extra information.

25. “That” – defining clauses
 “That” is used before a defining clause ( ie.
Before a clause that CANNOT be taken out
without destroying the meaning of the
sentence)
 Eg. “The Thames that flows through London
is heavily polluted
 There are NO commas and the material
after the “that” is essential to make sense
of the sentence

26. Watch out for “verbless”
sentences
 Normally- sentences MUST have a verb
 INCORRECT –
 “All good scientific papers have certain qualities in
common. Such as clarity, accuracy and conciseness”
 How would you correct this ?
 1. “All good scientific papers have certain qualities in
common, such as clarity, accuracy and conciseness”
 2. “All good scientific papers have certain qualities in
common. These include clarity, accuracy and
conciseness”

28. But OK with lists….
 You can miss out verbs when writing in note
form and in lists.
 “All good scientific papers have certain
qualities in common:
 clear sentences
 accurate word choice
 concise construction”

29. Watch out for mixed singular and
plural verbs and nouns
 Incorrect-
 “Each of the lecturers have a postgraduate
degree”
 And Correct?
 “Each of the lecturers has a postgraduate
degree”

30. Remember – companies are singular
Incorrect
Megapharm are developing bradykinin
antagonists
And what is correct ?
Megapharm is developing bradykinin
antagonists

32. Apostrophes 1
 Use apostrophes carefully in possessives –
 1- Put the apostrophe before the “s” when
you are talking about something belonging
to just 1 thing.
 Eg. “Professor Smith’s experiment”
 But put it after the “s” if you are talking
about MORE than 1 thing.
 Eg. “The universities’ records.” ( More than
1 university)

33. Apostrophes 2
 Special rules for “it”
 1.It’s is short for “it is”
 Eg. “It’s usually warm in summer”
 2. “Its” for “belonging to it” has NO
apostrophe.
 “The reading was twice its usual value” ( =
belonging to it)

34. Avoid contractions
Avoid contractions such as “it’s” and
“don’t”

35. Your Turn 1 (serious)
Correct the sentences
 1. None of the drugs were prescribed
 2. The authors proposed a single regime
 3. the drug causes less serious symptoms.
 4. She was diagnosed of pericarditis and admitted at the
hospital.
 5.The abdominal CT scan revealed a foreign body into
the jejunum.
 The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma is higher in
cirrotic patients.

36. Your Turn 2 (fun!) Who said what
?
Match the quote with the
writer
1.Shall I compare thee to a
summer’s day
a. William Osler
2. The kindly word, the cheerful
greeting, the sympathetic look-
these the patient understands
b. Ludwig Wittgenstein
3.We wish to suggest a structure
for the salt of deoxyribose
nucleic acid
c. Samuel Johnson
4.Everything that can be thought
at all can be thought clearly.
Everything that can be said can
be said clearly.
d. William Shakespeare
5. What is written without effort
is in general read without
pleasure
e. Watson and Crick

37. Take home message
 If in doubt get a native English speaker to check before
you submit your work !!!!

38. Thanks, and never forget
UT
T
CROSS
OT
UT

39. Miscellanea
NEW International Case
Presentation between
Sechenov and HUSE – 26th
November 13:30 Urologists and
ONCOLOGISTS