Chapter 1 Planning and Preparation 1.1 Why should I publish? How do I know whether my research is worth publishing? 1.2 Should I write the initial draft in my own language rather than writing it directly in English? 1.3 Which journal should I choose? 1.4 How do I know what style and structure to use? 1.5 What preparation do I need to do? 1.6 How can I create a template? 1.7 Writing style: how do I keep the referees happy? 1.
7 In what order should I write the various sections? 1.8 How can I highlight my key findings? 1.9 How can I improve the chances of my paper not only being published, but also being read, understood and cited? 1.10 I know that the recommendations in this book about writing simply and clearly will improve the readability of my paper, but my professor . 1.11 Summary Chapter 2 Word order and sentence length 2.1 Basic word order in English: subject + verb + object + indirect object 2.2 Place the subject before the verb 2.
3 Keep the subject and verb close to each other 2.4 Avoid inserting parenthetical information between the subject and the verb 2.5 Don''t separate the verb from its direct object 2.6 Put the direct object before the indirect object 2.7 Don''t use a pronoun ( it, they ) before you introduce the noun that the pronoun refers to 2.8 Locate not before the main verb, but after auxiliary and modal verbs 2.9 Locate negations near the beginning of the sentence 2.10 Deciding where to locate an adverb 2.
11 Put adjectives before the noun they describe 2.12 Deciding where to put new and old information within a sentence 2.13 Analyse why and how long sentences are created 2.14 Learn how to break up a long sentence 2.14 Summary Chapter 3 Structuring Paragraphs 3.1 Elegance vs Effectiveness 3.2 Choose the most relevant subject to put it at the beginning of a sentence that opens a new paragraph 3.3 First paragraph of a new section - begin with a mini summary plus an indication of the structure 3.
4 Deciding where to put new and old information within a paragraph 3.5 Link each sentence by moving from general concepts to increasingly more specific concepts 3.6 Present and explain ideas in the same (logical) sequence 3.7 Break up long paragraphs 3.8 How to structure a paragraph: an example 3.9 Summary Chapter 4 Being Concise and Removing Redundancy 4.1 Being concise is not just an option 4.2 Write less and you will make fewer mistakes in English, and your key points will be clearer 4.
3 Cut any unnecessary generic words 4.4 Consider deleting abstract words and phrases 4.5 Prefer verbs to nouns 4.6 Choose the shortest expressions 4.7 Cut redundant adjectives 4.8 Cut pointless introductory phrases and unnecessary link words 4.9 Be concise when referring to figures and tables 4.10 Consider reducing the length of your paper 4.
11 Summary Chapter 5 Avoiding ambiguity, repetition, and vague language 5.1 Use a simple and accessible style 5.3 Beware that pronouns are probably the greatest source of ambiguity 5.4 Avoid replacing key words with synonyms and clarify ambiguity introduced by generic words 5.5 Restrict the use of synonyms to non-key words 5.6 Be as precise as possible 5.7 Choose the least generic word 5.8 Use punctuation to show how words and concepts are related to each other 5.
9 Defining vs non defining clauses: that vs which / who 5.10 Clarifying which noun you are referring to when which, that, who and the -ing form 5.11 - ing form vs. subject + verb 5.12 Avoiding ambiguity with the - ing form : use by and thus 5.13 Uncountable nouns 5.14 Definite and indefinite articles 5.15 Referring backwards: the dangers of the former, the latter 5.
16 Referring backwards and forwards: the dangers of above , below, previously, earlier, later 5.17 Use of respectively to disambiguate 5.18 Distinguishing between both . and, and either . or 5.19 Talking about similarities: as, like, unlike 5.20 Differentiating between from and by 5.21 Be careful with Latin words 5.
22 False friends 5.23 Be careful of typos 5.24 Summary Chapter 6 Clarifying and Highlighting 6.1 Why is it so important highlight and differentiate my findings in relation to the findings of other research groups? 6.2 Check your journal''s style - first person or passive 6.3 How to form the passive and when to use it 6.4 Use the active form when the passive might be ambiguous 6.5 Consider starting a new paragraph to distinguish between your work and the literature 6.
6 Ensure you use the right tenses to differentiate your work from others, particularly when your journal prohibits the use of we 6.7 For journals that allow personal forms, use we to distinguish yourself from other authors 6.8 Make good use of references 6.9 Avoid long blocks of text 6.10 When you have something really important to say, make your sentences shorter than normal 6.11 Other means of attracting the reader''s eye and keeping their attention 6.12 Show your paper to a non-expert and get them to underline your key findings 6.13 Summary Chapter 7 Discussing your limitations 7.
1 What are my limitations? Should I mention them? 7.2 Recognize the importance of ''bad data'' 7.3 How to avoid losing credibility 7.4 Be constructive in how you present your limitations 7.5 Clarify exactly what your limitations are 7.6 Anticipate alternative interpretations of your data 7.7 Refer to other authors who experienced similar problems 7.8 Tell the reader that with the current state-of-the-art this problem is not solvable 7.
9 Explain why you did not study certain data 7.10 Don''t end your paper by talking about your limitations 7.11 Summary Chapter 8 Readability 8.1 You are responsible for enabling your readers to understand what you have written 8.2 Basic rules of readability 8.3 Place the various elements in your sentence in the most logical order possible: don''t force the reader to have to change their perspective 8.4 Don''t force readers to hold a lot of preliminary information in their head before giving them the main information 8.5 Try to be as concrete as possible as soon as possible 8.
6 When drawing the reader''s attention to something use the least number of words possible 8.7 State your aim before giving the reasons for it 8.8 Be as specific as possible 8.9 Avoid creating strings of nouns that describe other nouns 8.10 Be careful how you use personal pronouns and avoid stereotyping 8.11 Summary Chapter 9 Chatbots 9.1 What are the key things I need to know about chatbots? 9.2 What prompts (instructions) can I use to get a chatbot to fulfill my request? 9.
3 How can I see the changes that the bot has made? What can I learn from the list of changes generated? 9.4 What good corrections do chatbots make? 9.5 What can''t GPT do? Is it a good idea to pre-edit my original text that I wrote in English? 9.6 What kinds of grammar mistakes does a bot currently fail to correct? 9.7 What kinds of errors will a bot probably never be able to correct? 9.8 What the most dangerous errors that chatbots make when revising a text in English? 9.9 What are the dangers of modifying the chatbot''s version? Is there a solution? 9.10 What decisions do I need to make before rejecting a change made by GPT? 9.
11 Will a chatbot negatively affect my writing style? 9.12 How can I assess whether the bot''s version is actually better than my original version? 9.13 Using AI to generate a rebuttal letter 9.14 When not to use a bot to generate / correct an email 9.15 How easy is it to tell that a text has been generated by artificial intelligence? 9.16 Is using a chatbot an act of plagiarism? 9.17 Summary Chapter 10 Automatic translation 10.1 How does this chapter differ from the chapter on translation (Chapter 16) in the companion volume on Grammar, Usage and Style ? 10.
2 Should I use machine translation? Which application? 10.3 Pre-editing: how to improve the chances of getting an accurate automatic translation 10.4 Grammar and vocabulary areas where MT may be more accurate than you 10.5 Typical areas where automatic translators may make mistakes in English if your language is not a major language 10.6 Areas where machine translation will not help you even if your language is a major language 10.7 The dangers of using machine translation 10.8 How can I combine my use of machine translation with a chatbot? 10.9 Will I still improve my level of English if I use machine translators and chatbots? 10.
10 Do NOT use an automatic translator to check your English 10.11 A note for EAP teachers 10.12 Summary Chapter 11 Titles 11.1 How important is my title? 11.2 How can I generate a title? 11.3 Should I try to include some verbs in my title? 11.4 How will prepositions help to make my title clearer? 11.5 Are articles ( a / an, the ) necessary? 11.
6 Will adjectives such as innovative and novel attract attention? 11.7 What other criteria should I use to decide whether to include certain words or not? 11.8 How should I punctuate my.