Common errors in scientific research articles

1. J-BEANSセミナー：第27回
Common errors in scientific research articles
科学研究論文に見られるよくある誤り
Wm R. Holden III and John Blake
Institute of General Education
Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

2. Increase the chances your manuscript will be
accepted
Identify and eliminate obstacles between your
manuscript and your audience
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Write with a journal in mind
- Submission guidelines
- Mission / vision
- Categories of submission
- Key subject areas
- Impact factor
- Rejection rate
- Reviewers
- Audience

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Analyze target journal articles
- How are articles structured
- What level of detail is used
- Level of context provided
- Important types of evidence
- Prominent stylistic features
- Organisational features

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Rejection will likely occur where
- Submission guidelines ignored
- Aim of paper not clearly stated
- Content not important or timely
- Content & journal purpose not consistent
- Research design problems
- Results & data are at odds
- Unwarranted conclusions drawn
- Multiple submission

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CONCLUSIONS
To increase the chances that your paper is
accepted, you should:
- Create time and space for writing
- Be willing to revise & rewrite
- Solicit opinions and input
- Work with an experienced author
- Collaborate with your peers
- Learn from reviewers` comments
- Take writing classes at JAIST

7. DISCUSSION
Misconceptions about the writing process can lead
to anxiety and lack of confidence or motivation
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-Writing is easy
- You can`t write well enough
- Good writing ability is innate
- Your research is of poor quality
- Your English isn`t good enough
- The reviewer was unfair
J-BEANSセミナー：第27回

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Investigate the possibility that working with
a Writing Lab tutor can increase the chances
your manuscript will be published.
J-BEANSセミナー：第27回

9. Hands-on practice
Types of errors
Source
Intralingual vs. interlingual errors (Selinker, 1972; Brown, 2000)
Accidental slips, ingrained errors vs. attempts (Edge, 1990)
Learner-induced vs. teacher-induced
Form
Lexical, grammatical vs. discoursal
Effect
Intrusive vs. non-intrusive errors
Errors that lead to rejection vs. errors that don`t
Edge, J. (1990). Mistakes and correction. Harlow: Longman.
Brown , H. (2000). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Selinker, L. (1972) Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language
Teaching, 10(3), 209-231

10. Hands-on practice
Common errors in SRAs in Writing Lab
Type Description
Accuracy concerning mistakes in facts, meaning, grammar,
usage and spelling
Brevity using too many words to say something simple
Clarity using vague or ambiguous terms
Objectivity using terms that appear subjective*
Formality using abbreviations, contractions and informal terms
Time to think…..30 errors to identify, correct and explain

11. Hands-on practice
Accuracy errors (1)
1. The population of Japan is 12,734,100 [1].
2. There are four types of… First,.. Second, ..Third,..
3. All women…
4. XXX will play a key factor in the near future.
5. This is a improtant topic
6. p < 0.5

12. Hands-on practice
Accuracy errors (1)
1. The population of Japan is 12,734,100 [1].
2. There are four types of… First,.. Second, ..Third,..
3. All women …
4. XXX will play a key factor in the near future.
5. This is a improtant topic
6. p < 0.5 cf. (p < 0.05)

13. Hands-on practice
Accuracy errors (2)
1. All the formulas on all the XXX for our XXX is
completely XXX.
2. This paper first proposes a XXX[…] and then
reformulate XXX in terms of XXX.
3. The XXX in the XXX of XXX are two.
4. XXX (e.g. XXX , XXX, XXX) has attracted many
attention.
5. However, past studies to date, including XXX, are
limited, since they have XXX on ”XXX data”.

14. Hands-on practice
Accuracy errors (2)
1. All the formulas on all the XXX for our XXX is
completely XXX.
2. This paper first proposes a XXX[…] and then
reformulate XXX in terms of XXX.
3. The XXX in the XXX of XXX are two.
4. XXX (e.g. XXX , XXX, XXX) has attracted many
attention.
5. However, past studies to date, including XXX, are
limited, since they have XXX on ”XXX data”.

15. Hands-on practice
Accuracy errors
1. Factual errors related to the world
2. Factual errors related to the article
3. Overgeneralization errors
4. Overly bold claims
5. Spelling and grammar errors, esp. LaTeX users
6. Statistical errors

16. Hands-on practice
Brevity errors
1. The concept that was chosen as the primary
focus of this research is XXX
2. ..providing the user with various XXX and asking
him/her to XXX.
3. We analyze XXX regarding the XXX qualities, XXX
qualities and XXX qualities.
4. On each and every occurrence, the XXX was
noted.

17. Hands-on practice
Brevity errors
1. The concept that was chosen as the primary
focus of this research is XXX
2. ..providing the user with various XXX and asking
him/her to XXX.
3. We analyze XXX regarding the XXX qualities, XXX
qualities and XXX qualities.
4. On each and every occurrence, the XXX was
noted.

18. Hands-on practice
Brevity errors
1. Using multiple vague words
2. Repeated words
3. Redundant words

19. Hands-on practice
Clarity errors
1. XXX is something which is XXX from XXX of
somewhere of, is something which XXX
2. It is really good for XXX.
3. Referring to Smith [10], Jones notes that he…
4. XXX found two AAA and one BBB, which CCC
5. The journal plans to publish this paper were just
a rumour.

20. Hands-on practice
Clarity errors
1. XXX is something which is XXX from XXX of
somewhere of, is something which XXX
2. It is really good for XXX.
3. Referring to Smith [10], Jones notes that he…
4. XXX found two AAA and one BBB, which CCC
5. The journal plans to publish this paper were just
a rumour. (jb)

21. Hands-on practice
Clarity errors
1. Vague expressions
2. Lexical ambiguity
3. Referential ambiguity
4. Syntactic ambiguity
5. Garden path sentence
Brevity
Clarity

22. Hands-on practice
Objectivity errors*
1. We are confident that XXX will become XXXX
2. We are pleased to announce that XXX
3. …such as services to your XXX, to your XXX, and
to XXX.
4. I interviewed 10 of my best students. (jb)
* ‘taming’ one’s subjectivity
Peshkin, A. (1988). In search of subjectivity. One`s own. Educational Researcher,
17 (7), 17-21.

23. Hands-on practice
Objectivity errors
1. We are confident that XXX will become XXXX
2. We are pleased to announce that XXX
3. …such as services to your XXX, to your XXX, and
to XXX.
4. I interviewed 10 of my best students. (jb)

24. Hands-on practice
Objectivity errors
1. Focus on people & feelings, not things & ideas
2. Emotive wording
3. Excessive personalization, e.g. use of pronouns

25. Hands-on practice
Formality errors
1. To be more precise, act doesn’t directly cause the
effect (E).
2. What’s more, we could not only control the
torque,….
3. This is the RQ of this paper.
4. A bunch of IT engineers collaborated and launched…
5. They launched the website right after the
earthquake
6. The key question to ask is: how can we…?

26. Hands-on practice
Formality errors
1. To be more precise, act doesn’t directly cause the
effect (E).
2. What’s more, we could not only control the
torque,….
3. This is the RQ of this paper.
4. A bunch of IT engineers collaborated and launched…
5. They launched the website right after the
earthquake…
6. The key question to ask is: how can we…?
RQ = CO2 eliminated / O2 consumed

27. Hands-on practice
Formality errors
1. Contractions
2. Abbreviations
3. Slang
4. Informal terms
5. Rhetorical questions

28. Hands-on practice
Example paragraph A
This is a hot topic nowadays. So, how can you accept
both the potential pros and cons of the Internet? It’s
important for us to remember that hi-tech
developments are not good or bad by themselves.

29. Hands-on practice
Example paragraph B
This has become a controversial topic recently.
Therefore, it is necessary to identify both the
potential advantages and disadvantages of the
Internet. It is important to remember that
technological developments are neither intrinsically
positive nor negative.

30. Hands-on practice
Example paragraphs A & B
This has become a controversial
topic recently. Therefore, it is
necessary to identify both the
potential advantages and
disadvantages of the Internet. It
is important to remember that
technological developments are
neither intrinsically positive nor
negative.
This is a hot topic
nowadays. So, how can
you accept both the
potential pros and cons
of the Internet? It’s
important for us to
remember that hi-tech
developments are not
good or bad by
themselves.
(Taken from new E113 Unit 11, formerly E112)

31. Hands-on practice
Common errors in SRAs in Writing Lab
Type Advice
Accuracy Check facts, spelling and grammar
Brevity Remove redundancy
Clarity Avoid ambiguity; be precise
Objectivity Focus on things and ideas, not people and
feelings
Formality Avoid abbreviations, contractions and
informal terms

32. Technical communication courses 2016-7
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Recommended
TOEIC score
Spoken Technical Communication Written Technical Communication
TOEIC < 500
Pre-
Intermediate
Interaction Seminar A
Interaction Seminar B
TOEIC 501 – 600
Intermediate
E111 Academic Discussion & Debate E112 Academic Writing
E113 Reading Research Articles
TOEIC 601 – 700
Upper
Intermediate
E212 Presenting Research E211 Writing Research
E213 Scientific Discussion I: Critical and logical thinking
TOEIC 700 plus
Advanced
E411 Writing Short Research Articles
E412 Writing Extended Research Articles
E413 Scientific Discussion II: Critical and logical thinking

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Writing Courses 2016
E112
Students will produce a 5-7 paragraph essay introducing their research.
E113
Students will learn to read research articles more effectively and efficiently.
E211
Students will plan a writing project from conception to completion, and
produce an outline and the methodology section of a short RA.
E411
Students will learn to write a short RA based on research conducted in their
field of study.
E412
Students will learn to write a longer research document that can be submitted
for publication.