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WritingscientificarticleslikeanativeEnglishspeaker:toptentipsforPortuguesespeakers

Clinics(SaoPaulo).2014Mar69(3):153157.

PMCID:PMC3935133

doi:10.6061/clinics/2014(03)01

WritingscientificarticleslikeanativeEnglishspeaker:toptentipsforPortuguese
speakers
MarielA.MarlowI,,II
I
UniversityofCalifornia,SchoolofPublicHealth,DivisionofInfectiousDiseasesandVaccinology,Berkeley/CA,USA.
II
UniversidadeFederalFluminense,LaboratrioUniversitrioRodolfoAlbino,LaboratriodeEpidemiologiaMoleculareBiotecnologia,Niteri/RJ,Brazil.
Correspondingauthor:Email:mmarlow@berkeley.edu,Tel.:Phone:552126299569
Copyright2014HospitaldasClnicasdaFMUSP
ThisisanOpenAccessarticledistributedunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommonsAttributionNonCommercialLicense
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync/3.0/)whichpermitsunrestrictednoncommercialuse,distribution,andreproductioninanymedium,provided
theoriginalworkisproperlycited.

Canyouidentifyasinglecolleaguewhohasnothadamanuscriptreturnedwiththecommentneedstobe
reviewedbyanativeEnglishspeaker?Manyresearchersreceivethisresponseevenaftertranslationorrevisionby
anofficialtranslatororanativeEnglishspeakingcoauthor.Overthepastfouryears,whileconductingmydoctoral,
andnowmypostdoctoral,workhereinBrazil,Ihavebeenaskedtobothtranslateandhelprevisenumerous
manuscriptsformyfellowBrazilianresearchers.However,despitebeinganativeEnglishspeakerandaresearcher,
Ihavefoundthesetaskstobequitestressfulattimes.Thetruthis,justlikeitisonethingtowriteinPortugueseand
anothertowritewellinPortuguese,thesameappliestowritingwellinEnglish.Furthermore,noteverynative
EnglishspeakerwhowriteswellinEnglishcanwritewellforthescientificliterature.ScientificEnglishwritinghas
itsownstyleandrhythm,suchastheuseofpassivevoice.PassivevoiceisconsideredpoorEnglishinmostforms
ofwriting(news,novels,blogs,etc.)outsideofscience.ThemostrecentversionofMicrosoftOfficeWordwill
evenhighlightpassivevoiceaspoorgrammarandaskyouifyouwanttorephrase.However,theuseofpassive
voiceisacceptableandevenencouragedinsomescientificwriting.
Althoughyouwouldexpectrevisinganalreadytranslatedpaperwouldtakelesstimethantranslatinganentire
manuscript,Ieventuallycametoprefertranslation.Revisionstendtotakemetwiceaslong.Onlinetranslatorsmay
bepartlytoblameforthisphenomenon.NotonlydidIspendhoursbeingfrustratedbyconfusingphrasesresulting
fromsimplemistakes,butIalsospentthemajorityofmytimefixingthesamemistakesoverandoveragain.
Forthisreason,Idecidedtoassembleacompilationofthe10mostcommonerrorsmadebynativePortuguese
speakerswhenwritingscientificpapersinEnglish.Iputerrorsinquotesbecausemanyofthefollowingtipsare
justthat:tips,ordicas.TheydonotalwaysrefertoincorrectEnglish,butrathertopoorEnglish,andtheyarenot
necessarilyabsoluterules.MostofthesearecommonmistakesorpoorwritinghabitsthataffectevennativeEnglish
speakers,socorrectingthembeforesubmittingyourmanuscriptcangiveyouanadvantagewiththereviewers.It
mayevenhelpyoutoavoidthedreadedneedstobereviewedbyanativeEnglishspeaker.
1.AvoidbeginningsentenceswithItis.
InPortuguese,phrasesthataremeanttogiveemphasiscommonlybeginas:
importante,Tambmmuitocomum,Hpoucaateno
Manypeopledirectlytranslatethesephrasesas:
Itisimportant,Also,itisverycommon,Thereislittleattention

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Althoughthesesentencesaregrammaticallycorrect,theyareweakandsomewhatjuvenileinstructure(Thebook
isonthetable).Oneortwopersectionmaybefine,butrepeatedlyusingthissentencestructurecandiminishthe
perceivedmaturityofyourwork.
Thesephrasescanalmostalwaysbestrengthenedbyrephrasing(orevendirectlyreversing):
Example1:
Portuguese:importantedestacarostrabalhosmaisrecentesque
WeakEnglish:Itisimportanttohighlightthemostrecentworksthat
StrongEnglish:Themostrecentworksthat()areimportanttohighlight.
Example2:
Portuguese:Hpoucaatenodadaaoevento.
WeakEnglish:Thereislittleattentiongiventotheevent.
StrongEnglish:Littleattentionisgiventotheevent.
2.Learnwhentousethetrytoremoveitfromthebeginningofthesentenceandtoonlyincludeitwhen
referringtospecificevents/objects/people.
InPortuguese,aphrasebeginswithO,Os,AorAswhenstartingasentencewithasubject:
Asclulasforamplaqueadas
WhichmeanstheEnglishtranslationwouldbe:
Thecellswereplated
Specificallyforscientificwriting,thecanberemovedtosoundmoreprofessional.
Cellswereplated
However,youshouldaddthetoaphrasewhenitreferstospecificpeople,places,eventsorpopulations.These
typesoferrorsusuallyresultfromincorrectusageofde,daordoinPortuguese,sotheusageoftheinthe
phraseherewoulddependgreatlyonthecontextoftheparagraph:
queocasionougrandefluxodepopulaeshumanasparaaregio.(referringtoaspecificeventintime)
whichcausedlargeinfluxofhumanpopulationstotheregion.
whichcausedthelargeinfluxofhumanpopulationstotheregion.
3.Onlycapitalizesubjectsiftheyrefertotheformalnameofaplace/department/title.
Themostcommonmistakeisstate.Thiswordisonlycapitalizedwhenitcomesafterastate'snameaspartofits
formaltitle.
ODepartamentodePediatriadaUFFlocalizadonoEstadodoRiodeJaneiro.
Becausethisphraseisreferringtothespecificformalnameofapediatricsdepartment,andifwekeepthestatein
frontofRiodeJaneiro,thecapitalizationshouldbe:

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TheDepartmentofPediatricsofUFF(FORMAL)islocatedinthestate(INFORMAL)ofRiodeJaneiro.
However,youmaysometimesrefertotheplacewhereyouconductedastudybythetypeof
location/department/clinic,ratherthanbyitsformalname:
OestudofoirealizadonoHospitalUniversitriodaUniversidadeFederaldoRiodeJaneironoEstadodo
RiodeJaneiro.OHospitaldaUniversidadeatendemaisde100pacientespordia.
Inthiscase,youdonotneedtocapitalizethedepartment/universityinthesecondphrasebecausetheyarenotthe
formaltitlesofthehospitalandtheuniversity.Additionally,ifyouplacestateafterRiodeJaneiro,itcannow
becapitalizedbecauseitispartofthetitle:
ThestudywasconductedattheUniversityHospitaloftheFederalUniversityofRiodeJaneiro(FORMAL)
inRiodeJaneiroState.Thehospital(INFORMAL)oftheuniversity(INFORMAL)attendsmorethan100
patientsperday.
Anothercommonmistakeoccurswhenreferringtodirectionsorregions,suchasnorthornorthern.Capitalize
north,south,eastern,northwestandrelatedtermswhentheyrefertospecificregionnamesortopeople
wholiveintheseregions.Forexample:
AmaioriadasamostrasforamcoletadasdoCentroOestedeBrasil.
MajorityofsampleswerecollectedfromCentralWest(orMidwest)Brazil.
Donotcapitalizethesewordsiftheyrefertothegeneraldirectionorlocation:
MajorityofsampleswerecollectedfromthecentralwesternregionofBrazil.
4.Removethat!
ThisisaverycommonstyleissuemadebynativeEnglishspeakersandisaquickwaytonotonlywriteinEnglish
butalsotowritewellinEnglish.
Thatshouldonlybeusedatthebeginningofadependentclauseorwhendescribingasubject/noun:
Osresultadosmostraramquemuitaspessoasgostamdefrutas.
Directlytranslated,Portuguesespeakersnormallyfeelmorecomfortableleavingthewordthatinthesentence.I
haveevenhadcolleaguesaddthatafterIhadremovedit.
Theresultsshowedthatmanypeoplelikefruits.
Ifyouremovethethat,themeaningofthephrasedoesnotchange,andthephraseisnotbrokenbyabreathwhen
youreadthesentencealoud:
Theresultsshowedmanypeoplelikefruits.
Readbothaloud.Canyouhearhowthatcanbreakupasentenceandnotflowasnicely?
However,youdoneedthatinothersituations:
Osresultadosqueforamencontradosnesseestudomostraramquemuitaspessoasgostamdefrutas.
Theresultsthatwerefoundinthisstudyshowedmanypeoplelikefruits.
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Herearesomewordsthatarefrequentlyusedinthescientificliteraturethatcommonlydonotneedtobefollowed
bythat:
Suggestorsuggested(sugerequeousugeridoque)
Observed(observamosqueoufoiobservadoque)
Foundorwasfound(encontramosqueoufoiencontradoque)
Showorshown(mostramosqueoufoimostradoque)
Isimportant(importanteque)
Highlight(destacamosque)
5.Attempttoplaceadjectives,includingpossessiveadjectives,infrontofnounswhenpossible(adjective
nounratherthannounofadjective).Youmayneedtoremovethesfromapluraladjective.
Caratersticasdoprograma
Programcharacteristics
Pronturiodopaciente
Patientchart
Pronturiosdospacientes
PatientchartsorPatients'charts
Here,youhavetwochoices.Ifyouareusingpatienttodescribethetypeofchart,thenyoudonotneedthe
sforpatient.Eventhoughthesubjectisplural,suchadjectivesinEnglish,arenotplural.However,if
youareusingpatientsasapossessiveadjective(thechartsbelongedtothepatients),thenyoucankeepthe
s,butyoumustputanapostrophebeforeorafterthes.Ifthereisonepatient,thenthephraseshouldbe
patient'schartsifthereismorethanonepatient,thenthephraseshouldbepatients'charts.
ThereareafewcommonphrasesinsciencethatarenormallywrittenasnounofadjectiveinEnglish.For
example:
Nmerodecasosshouldremainasnumberofcases,andnotcasenumber.
DepartamentodeImunologiacanstayasDepartmentofImmunology.
Anextranoteontheusageofof:hereisanotherverycommonmistake:
Em2010,houve8.8milhesdecasosdessadoenanomundo.
Incorrect:In2010,therewere8.8millionsofnewcasesofthisdiseasearoundtheworld.
Incorrect:In2010,therewere8.8millionsnewcasesofthisdiseasearoundtheworld.
Correct:In2010,therewere8.8millionnewcasesofthisdiseasearoundtheworld.
Hereisamnemonicdevice,orashortmemoryaid,tohelpyoutorememberthesefirstfivetips:
Itis(Tip#1),the(Tip#2),formalstate(Tip#3),that(Tip#4)isdescribed(Tip#5,referringtoadjectives,which
describe).
Itis/the/formalstate/that/isdescribed.
Itistheformalstatethatisdescribed.
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Reciteorwritethisphraseatthetopofyourmanuscriptbeforereviewingyourworktorememberwhattolookfor
whilerevising.Justthesefirstfivetipsaresimplequickfixesthatwilldrasticallyimproveyourwriting.The
remainingfivetipsaremorestylisticandcontextualbutequallyimportant.
6.InPortuguese,itiscommontouseanassumedsubjectifyouhavealreadymentionedthetopicinthe
previoussentencehowever,inEnglish,youneedtocontinuetoexplainwhatyouarereferringto
throughoutthephrase.
Nesteestudo,74pacientesforamincludos.Destes,7(9.5%)foramdosexomasculino.
Directlytranslated:
Inthisstudy,74patientswereincluded.Ofthese,7(9.5%)weremale.
However,itisimportanttorestateyoursubject.Theimportanceofthispracticewillbecomemoreapparentin
longer,moredescriptivephrases.Otherwise,inEnglish,itsometimesbecomesdifficulttotellwhichsubjectyouare
referringtointhesubsequentphrase.
Inthisstudy,74patientswereincluded.Ofthese,7(9.5%)patientsweremale.
RememberitismoreimportanttobeparallelwhenwritinginEnglishthantonotberepetitive.
7.Trytousethefirstperson(Iandwe)aslittleaspossibleandexchangeitwithpassivevoice.
Theusageofactiveandpassivevoiceinthescientificliteraturehasbeenintenselydebatedovertheyears.Whereas
somewouldarguethatactivevoiceismoretothepoint,passivevoicealsohasitsuses.Thesuggestiontouse
passivevoicehereisdirectlyrelatedtoPortugueseEnglishtranslation,inwhichthefirstpersonpluralisoften
overused.
ManyphrasesinPortuguesewillbeginwithweassumed:
Encontramosvriostiposdemosquitos.
Thisphrasewoulddirectlytranslateto:
Wefoundvarioustypesofmosquitos.
ManynativeEnglishspeakingresearcherswilluseweintheirwriting,quiteoftenactually.However,thereisa
definedtheoryastowhypassivevoiceisspecificallyusedinthescientificliteratureandnotinothertypesof
writtenmaterialinEnglish.Ingeneral,passivevoiceisusedtogiveemphasistoanobjectuponwhichanactionis
beingperformed.Forexample:
Inactivevoice:Themanatetheapple.Themainpointofthissentenceisthatthemanwastheonewhoatethe
apple.
Ifwereverseittopassivevoice:Theapplewaseatenbytheman.Nowthemainpointofthesentenceisthatthe
applewaseaten.
Returningtothepreviousphrase,ifyousaywefoundvarioustypesofmosquitos,thenyouareemphasizingthat
youfoundtheresults.
Now,ifyouputthephraseinpassivevoice:Varioustypesofmosquitoswerefound.Here,youareemphasizing
thatvarioustypeswerefound,andit'snolongerasimportantthatyoufoundthem.Inthiscase,youare
emphasizingthatinyourwelldesignedstudy,whichcanberepeatedbyanyotherresearcher,varioustypesof
mosquitoswillbefound.Afterall,aren'treproducibleresultswhatistrulyimportanttoemphasizewhen
communicatingresearch?
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Feelfreetousewe,keepinginmindtheabovedescribedtheory.Ifyoudouseit,trytolimittheuseofweto
conveyinformationorresultsthatyouwouldliketoemphasizeasnovelorhighimpact.Additionally,weshould
beusedinsteadofpassivevoicewhenaverbphraseconstructedinpassivevoiceplusagerundisnotbeing
performedby(ordoesnotmatch)thesubject:
Incorrect:PCRwasconductedusingtaqDNApolymerase.Here,itisnotPCRthatisusingtaqDNA
polymeraseitistheauthor.Therefore,wewouldbetheappropriatechoice.
Correct:WeconductedPCRusingtaqDNApolymerase.
Theverbtouseismostcommonlymisusedinthiscontext.YoushouldconductaFindsearchinMicrosoft
OfficeWordforusedandusingtocheckwhetheryouhaveusedthisverbcorrectly.Ispecificallydidnot
includeaPortugueseversionofthisphrasebecausethisisaverycommonmistakethatisevenfoundinpublished
textswrittenbynativeEnglishspeakers.
8.Inyourgraphs,titlesshouldalwaysbesingular,anddonotusevariablesasaheading.
Avariableisonlyavariableinthemethodswhenyouareanalyzingyourresults,afterwhichitbecomesa
characteristic,riskfactor,demographicorotherparameter.BesuretochangeALLofyourdecimalcommasinto
decimalperiods!HighlightingthetableandconductingaFind/Replacesearchfor,/.canhelptoensure
thatyoudon'tmissany.

9.Prepositionalphrases,transitionsandadverbsinthebeginningofsentencesshouldbefollowedbya
comma:
Nesteestudoencontramosesteresultado.
Inthisstudy,thisresultwasfound.
Othercommonphrases:
InBrazil,
Ofthese,
However,
Therefore,
Currently,
Aspreviouslyreported,
Trytoreadthephrasealoud.Ifyoutakeabreathorpausewhenreadingthesentence,thenyoulikelyneeda
commathere.Ifasentencecontainsmorethantwocommas(notincludinglists),itshouldbesplitintomorethan
onesentence.
10.IfitispoorlywritteninPortuguese,thenitwillbepoorlywritteninEnglish.
Translatorsarenotmiracleworkers.MakesurethatyouconsultaPortugueseprofessional,orsimplyhavea
colleague,friendorotherprofessorreadyourworkcritically,specificallyforthePortuguese.Whenatranslationis
returnedtomebecausethejournalrequestedareviewbyanativeEnglishspeaker,Inormallyfindunfamiliar,
randomparagraphswithverypoororconfusingEnglishinthesubmittedmanuscript.Frequently,whenafinal
draftiscirculatedamongagroupofresearchersforfinalapprovalbeforesubmission,coauthorswilladdlast
minutedetails,thoughtsorreferences.TheseextraparagraphswithunrevisedEnglishareeasytoidentifyand
decreasetheoverallqualityofthetext.Thus,alwaysmakesureyouaresendingtheabsolutefinaldraftfor
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translation.JustoneparagraphcouldresultinhavingthepaperreturnedtoyouforreviewbyanativeEnglish
speaker,unnecessarilydelayingthepaper'spublicationforweekstomonthsandaddingcostsforadditional
Englishrevision.Worse,thereviewersmaythinkyoudidnotcareenoughtoreviewyourpapercarefullybefore
submission,biasinghowtheyratethemanuscriptingeneral.Awellwrittenarticlecaneliminatethepossibilityof
reviewersrejectingapapersolelybecausetheycouldnotunderstandthemainpointortherelevanceoftheresearch
tothejournalatfirstread.Reviewersdonothavethetimetostopandreadoverandoveragaintounderstandthe
meaningofyourarticle.Itisuptoyoutoshowthemwhyyourhardworkshouldbepublishedintheirjournal.
Don'tletsomethinglikepoorEnglish,whichisnotrelatedtothequalityofyourresearch,causeyourrejection.
Aboveall,rememberthattheunderlyingprincipleinscientificwritinginEnglishislessismore.Thisconcept
variesgreatlyfromtheprincipleunderlyingmostformalPortuguesewriting,inwhichyoumustbeelaboratetobe
understood.Considerpreparinganoutlinebeforeyoubeginwriting,andtrytoavoiddeviatingfromit.Anoutline
willhelpyoutobemoreobjectiveandrationalaboutthewho,what,when,whyandhowofyourresearch,which
willbereflectedinthequalityofyourworkinEnglish.Evenifanideaisrelatedtothetopicofyourresearch,ifthe
ideadoesnotaddtotherationaleofwhyyouconductedthestudyorwhyyouobtainedyourresults,cutitout.
Anotherstrategyistofindasimilarpaperfromthesamejournaltowhichyouwillsubmityourmanuscriptandtry
tomimicitsstyle,structureandcontent.
Asafinalnote,onetoomanyfirstreportsarebeginningtoemerge.AsEnglishhasalargeselectionofadjectives
anddescriptivephrases,theoveruseofthisphraseisquicklybecomingapparent.Althoughthephrasemayappear
toaddsignificancetoyourwork,itsoundslikeasimpledescriptivestudywhentranslatedtoEnglish.Such
phrasingdoesnotgrabareader'sattentionandsuggeststhatthestudydidnothavearesearchquestion.Trytofocus
yourtitleonthelargerresearchquestionorthemostimportantresultofyourstudy.
Itismyhopethatyouhavefoundthissummaryofmyexperiencestobehelpfulandinformative.Brazilian
institutionshaveanincrediblewealthofinformationtosharewiththeinternationalcommunity.Thereisnomore
importantmomentthannowforBrazilianresearchtobefairlyandaccuratelyseen,heardandunderstood.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Goto:

TheauthorwouldliketothankDr.LeeRileyoftheUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,andDra.ClaudeteArajo
CardosoandDr.FbioAguiarAlvesoftheUniversidadeFederalFluminensefortheirinputandcriticalreviewof
themanuscript.MarlowMAissupportedbyNIHResearchTrainingGrant#R25TW009338,fundedbythe
FogartyInternationalCenterandtheOfficeofAIDSResearchattheNationalInstitutesofHealth.
Footnotes

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Nopotentialconflictofinterestwasreported.

ArticlesfromClinicsareprovidedherecourtesyofHospitaldasClinicasdaFaculdadedeMedicinada
UniversidadedeSaoPaulo

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