四、Writing Skills in English for Research Paper

　　写paper注意九个环节：Preparation, Structure, Title, Abstracts, Introduction,  Conclusion, Body of Paper, Recision,  Acknowledgement。Preparation就是收集资料，找出灵感和方向，主要依靠的是journal in  library。Structure是重点，paper的structure应该是两个triangle组成的：上面一个倒三角，下面一个正三角，意思就是选题要宽(wide)，研究方向要窄，然后最后的conclusion又发散开来。在paper的body前后都必须有declarative  statement，用最少的字句表达出自己的观点，吸引读者。

　　Title必须清晰简短(clear，short)，表达出自己唯一的topic以提升读者的兴趣(promote the interest of  reader)，然而title中切记不能出现abbreviation和自己的result。

　　Abstracts是paper的一个缩写(miniature of whole paper)，一定要简明扼要(less than 200  words,one  paragraph)，按照paper的顺序介绍主要研究对象(subject)、实验设计(design)、实验步骤(procedures)以及最后结果(results)，这种介绍必须让非专业的人员能够(non-specialist)看懂。

　　Introduction同样要保证简短，顺序是一般背景介绍、别人工作成果、自己的研究目的及工作简介，其中介绍别人工作时只需介绍和自己最相关的方面(very  relevant)，而对自己的工作介绍不用说明细节，因为这个要放到body中去。不要忘记在介绍自己工作之前要有一个declarative  statement。

　　Body部分可以分为methods、result和discussiong三个部分：①Methods，详尽的介绍自己的实验方案以便于他人能够重复自己的实验过程，对于通用的实验方案可以简略，重点要放到自己的独创方案上面(own  procedures)，按照实验的先后顺序介绍，为了文章的阅读方便，不要使用过多层次的subheadings，比如subsubsubsection等等。②Result，使用text、table、figure等手段表达出来，其中table不要使用过多，而figure必须保证图线清楚、注解明确，必要的时候还要对于自己的result中的一些结论进行解释说明。③Discussion，这个部分是为了以后的study，在其中提出自己的problem或者是hypothesis，和别人的成果进行比较，暗示自己的主要收获，为后面的conclusion做准备。

　　Conclusion中不要包含body以外的information，保持brief、neat和concise，一定要舍得结束自己的paper;如果自己的paper只是project的一部分，稍做说明。Revison是在写完之后回头看看是否有逻辑上的错误，是否考虑到了读者兴趣，自己的declarative  statement是否令人满意，Brevity is the soul of literary  construction。Acknowledgement，不要忘记，这个反应了一个人的个人品质。

　　五、How to Write an Article by Gill B

　　We very much welcome articles written by forumers, whether historical,  strategic or about castles. Hopefully you will find a few hints and a bit of  advice here which will help.

　　1. Before you do anything at all, check that nobody is already writing a  similar article. You don't want to spend a long time on research and writing  only to find that someone else has already written about the same thing.  Probably, for simplicity, you should mail your idea to me and I can check with  the right person.

　　2. It helps if you can write in clear and correct English. However, if  English isn't your first language, don't let this put you off. I am happy to  edit/proof read/anglicise what you have written.

　　3. Look at previous articles on the site to see the sort of thing we like.  Historical articles need to be factual, but not too dry. Strategy/design  articles need to be accurate. Both need to be about something not already  covered on the site.

　　4. Your article needs to be original. You will need to do a lot of research  on the web and/or in books. Of course you can use the information you find, but  it will need to be rewritten in your own words. If you are using the internet  for your research, try to find at least two sites confirming the information as  there are some very inaccurate websites out there - we don't want to be one of  them.

　　5. If at all possible you will need illustrations for your article.

　　a) If they are your own photos, drawings or screenshots, that's great.

　　b) If you need an image of a unit, commodity or building from the game,  there's a good chance we will already have an image uploaded somewhere.

　　c)If you want to use an image from another website, you will have to write  and ask permission. Do this politely; explain about the article you are writing,  tell them that there will be a link to their site and send them a link to  Stronghold Heaven so that they can see where their images will be used. If you  are lucky, they will reply straight away giving you permission. More likely they  will not reply at all, in which case you will need to look elsewhere. Please note that, for these purposes, HeavenGames is considered a commercial site  (because we make a little money on the adverts, not a lot, but it's the idea  that counts). This means a lot of pics that are in 'public' domain, will not be  available to us, as they are for non-commerical use only. Permission to use  external images is mandatory and we may need to see it before your article can  be uploaded. We do have blanket permission to use images from some Castle Sites  as long as they are credited, which might help you in your search.

　　6. The final bit.

　　a) When you have written your article and are happy with it, send it to me,  preferably as a .txt file (though a .doc file is OK), together with any images  you want to use. If the images are external, let me have the url where they can  be found. Indicate in the article where you want each image to be.

　　b) I (or another angel) will edit it and query with you anything we don't  understand, then we will code and upload the article and you will be sent the  url so you can have a look and see if you are happy with it.

　　c) If not, we'll work on getting it how you want it; if so, it will be  newsed and linked in to its appropriate place.

　　六、撰写论文初稿(writing the first draft)：

　　(1)材料和方法(methods and  materials)：做了什么和怎样做?材料和方法是文章开始写作的最理想部分，这部分的内容作者最了解。写作要求：用过去时，尽可能按实验的先后顺序描述。

　　(2)结果(results)：发生了什么?基本写作要求：可用图、表或文字表达，三者间尽量减少重复。在正文部分叙述主要结果和意义，用图或表给出较详细的数据，用过去时。

　　(3)讨论(discussion)：所得结果是否为“前言”提出的关键问题的答案?结果是如何支持答案的、如何证实假说的?基本写作要求：集中讨论与本结果有关的问题，突出本研究的创新及重要性，;与相关研究结果进行比较分析;给出结果所支持的结论;指出前景、不足和改进。用现在时叙述已知或被证明的事实，用过去时描述本研究结果。

　　(4)文献(references)：与本研究方法、结果、讨论有关的其它研究有哪些?准确完整规范著录。

　　(5)前言(introduction)本研究的背景和目的是什么?试图回答的关键问题是什么?基本写作要求：本研究之目的和重要性;简要复习文献。

　　(6)致谢(acknowledgment)：除了作者，谁协助完成了本研究、分析结果并撰写论文?谁提供了基金和物质帮助?写作要求：仅列出对本工作提供特殊的实质性贡献者姓名;须得到被致谢者同意。

　　(7)摘要(abstract)：论文告诉我们什么(通常<250字)?摘要是论文要点的浓缩，应在文章各主要部分完成后再写，这样有利于文章要点的提炼。优秀的摘要能有效抓住读者兴趣。写作要求：用含有必要词汇的短的简单句，以使摘要清楚而简洁?避免使用缩写词和晦涩难懂的词句;用小标题叙述研究论文的各部分;用过去时(但问题的陈述和结论可用现在时);强调研究的创新和重要方面。

　　(8)文题(title)：本文关于什么?最佳文题的标准是用最少的必要术语准确描述论文的内容。写作要求：准确(accuracy)、简洁(brevity)、有效(effectiveness)和吸引人。

　　(9)作者(author list)：谁参与了本研究的设计、工作及论文的撰写?

　　(10)准备论文最后一稿(preparing the final  manuscript)：论文初稿完成以后，必须对内容及格式进行反复推敲和修改，达到“投稿须知”的一切要求。绝大多数有经验的编辑都认为：不认真准备的稿件绝不是高水平科学研究成果的良好载体(A  poorly prepared manuscript is，almost without fail，the carrier vehicle of poor  science. Day  AR.)。如果希望论文发表，在准备投稿时必须做到打字整洁、无错、符合期刊格式、含有期刊要求的所有材料。该过程一般分三步：再次阅读拟投期刊的“投稿须知”;用“投稿须知”中提供的“稿件对照检查表”(manuscript  checklist, author's checklist)与自己论文一一核对;根据期刊要求打印输出，完成最后一稿。

　　七、英语学术论文写作的几个细节

　　A. 时态：当提到本文、此图、此表等说明了、表达了什么时要用一般现在时，而不用一般过去时。This paper describes ……The  focus of this paper is ……Figure 1 shows ……Most of the common condensation  polymers are listed in Table 1-1.

　　B.  数：在学术论文里，有时很难顾及数的逻辑。但一般不将逻辑上的问题视为语法错误。只须注意在一个句子中的数和谓语动词的统一即可。单、复数的选用有一些非定性、但可供参考的趋向：

　　◆◆当含意上强调复数时建议用复数。The catalyst concentrations for the different reactions are different.Our research focuses on the syntheses and characterizations of a  series of polycarbonates with different chemical structures.The physical and  chemical properties of this compound have been studied.The chain lengths of the  oligomers with different molecular weights are different.

　　◆◆当含意上不强调复数时可用单数或复数。Our research focuses on the synthesis of  polycarbonates.The property of the compounds in group 1 is different from the  property of the compounds in group 2.The chain length of the oligomers increases  with increasing reaction time.

　　◆◆在标题、小标题中或描述一类事物、现象等，提到具体物质时常用复数。【Polyesters】Polymers are macromolecules  built up by large numbers of small molecules. The small molecules which combine  with each other to form polymer molecules are termed  monomers.在标题、小标题或描述一类事物、现象等，提到抽象概念时可用单数、也可用复数。【Step Copolymerization】Newer Types  of Step Polymerizations. This chapter will consider the characteristics of step  polymerization in detail.

　　◆◆学术论文、有关学术的科普文章中的名词的可数或不可数特性的划分区别于非学术文章《非学术文章中的可数或不可数特性可从字典查到》。以下是在学术文章中通常视为可数名词的单词：《但在一般字典中它们或它们做某种含义解时可能被划归不可数名词》。

　　application development consideration

　　composition concentration distribution

　　structure length weight

　　◆◆当同时提及几个图、表、方程式时要用复数(分别单个地提及则不用)：The reaction rate constant can be  calculated from Equations 2 and 3. The reaction rate constant can be calculated  from Equation 2 and Equation 3. Figs. 4 and 5 show ……

　　C. 冠词：

　　◆◆单数名词前一般要加冠词：a , the等; 但以下情况可不加：表示不特指的、较抽象的概念：

　　This chapter will consider the characteristics of step polymerization in  detail. An understanding of the relative ease of cyclization or linear  polymerization comes from a variety of sources.Different polymers are  synthesized to yield various mechanical behaviors by the appropriate  combinations of crystallinity, crosslinking, Tg, and  Tm..但需注意这些单词前加冠词也是经常见到的，这是由它在句中的含义决定的(如有一定的特指意义)：Polyisoprene is a typical  elastomer – it is amorphous, easily crossed, has a low Tg (-73°C) and a high Tm  (14°C).

　　◆◆目录、标题中通常省略冠词：

　　1 Introduction

　　1-1 Types of Polymers and Polymerizations

　　…

　　1-4 Molecular Weight

　　1-5 Physical State

　　图、表的题目中有时可省略冠词：Fig. 2-2 Second order plot of the self-catalyzed  polyesterification of adipic acid with diethylene glycol at 166 °C.……Fig. 8  Dependence of the ease of cyclization on the size of the  ring.化学药品、化学物质前通常不加冠词：The polymerization is catalyzed by protonic or lewis acids  although a wide variety of base catalysts such as calcium acetate and antimony  trioxide can also be used.图中的横、纵坐标的名称前不加冠词。

　　D. 大小写：请注意以下结构的大、小写：当提及具体第几章、节;图、表;方程式时，首个字母通常要大写。As discussed in Chapter  2, ……In Section 1.2, we ……As shown in Figure 1, ……The results are listed in  Table 3.当不指明是第几章、节;图、表;方程式时，首个字母如在句中通常用小写。In the previous chapter, ……As shown in  this figure, ……

　　E. 缩写：以下全名和缩写在文中通常视为同等，可以互换。

　　Figure Fig. Figures Figs.

　　Table Tab.

　　Chapter Chap.

　　Section Sec.

　　Equation Eq. Equations Eqs.

　　F. 一些常用词汇用法

　　◆◆research, study,  investigate：research可做名词、动词，但通常做名词用，很少见到动词的用法。句中需要动词时常用study或investigate来表达。

　　◆◆detail/detailed：The properties of this compound were studied in  detailhttp://muchong.com/html/200909//The detailed properties of this compound  were studiedhttp://muchong.com/html/200909//The details of the properties of  this compound were studied.

　　◆◆follows/following：The results are as follows: ……//We got following  results: ……

　　◆◆increase, decrease：均可做名词和动词，We can observe an increase in the reaction  ratehttp://muchong.com/html/200909//The reaction rate increases.

　　◆◆focus, concentrate：focus: n. , v. The focus of this paper is ……This paper  focuses on ……Our study focuses on ……We focus our study on ……Our study is focused  on ……concentrate: v. We concentrate our study on ……Our study is concentrated on  ……

　　◆◆effect, affect：effect: n. //affect: v.

　　◆◆compose, consist：A is composed of B and  Chttp://muchong.com/html/200909//A consists of B and C.

　　◆◆increase, improve：increase: 主要指数值上的增加。improve: 主要指性质的增加、改善。

　　G. 名词修饰：在学术文章中，很多时候会用到直接用名词做修饰，而不用’s 或 …… of …… 的形式。常见的这类词有：reaction  rate;reaction rate constant;reaction temperature;reaction condition

　　molecular weight distribution……

　　H. 分词修饰：the reaction we studied;the temperature used;the nonlinearity  observed。所有格：非人的所有格用……of……, 而不用……’s ，