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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,
providedtheoriginalworkisproperlycited.

Canyouidentifyasinglecolleaguewhohasnothadamanuscriptreturnedwiththecommentneedstobe
reviewedbyanativeEnglishspeaker?Manyresearchersreceivethisresponseevenaftertranslationorrevision
byanofficialtranslatororanativeEnglishspeakingcoauthor.Overthepastfouryears,whileconductingmy
doctoral,andnowmypostdoctoral,workhereinBrazil,Ihavebeenaskedtobothtranslateandhelprevise
numerousmanuscriptsformyfellowBrazilianresearchers.However,despitebeinganativeEnglishspeakerand
aresearcher,Ihavefoundthesetaskstobequitestressfulattimes.Thetruthis,justlikeitisonethingtowritein
PortugueseandanothertowritewellinPortuguese,thesameappliestowritingwellinEnglish.Furthermore,not
everynativeEnglishspeakerwhowriteswellinEnglishcanwritewellforthescientificliterature.Scientific
Englishwritinghasitsownstyleandrhythm,suchastheuseofpassivevoice.Passivevoiceisconsideredpoor
Englishinmostformsofwriting(news,novels,blogs,etc.)outsideofscience.Themostrecentversionof
MicrosoftOfficeWordwillevenhighlightpassivevoiceaspoorgrammarandaskyouifyouwanttorephrase.
However,theuseofpassivevoiceisacceptableandevenencouragedinsomescientificwriting.
Althoughyouwouldexpectrevisinganalreadytranslatedpaperwouldtakelesstimethantranslatinganentire
manuscript,Ieventuallycametoprefertranslation.Revisionstendtotakemetwiceaslong.Onlinetranslators
maybepartlytoblameforthisphenomenon.NotonlydidIspendhoursbeingfrustratedbyconfusingphrases
resultingfromsimplemistakes,butIalsospentthemajorityofmytimefixingthesamemistakesoverandover
again.
Forthisreason,Idecidedtoassembleacompilationofthe10mostcommonerrorsmadebynativePortuguese
speakerswhenwritingscientificpapersinEnglish.Iputerrorsinquotesbecausemanyofthefollowingtips
arejustthat:tips,ordicas.TheydonotalwaysrefertoincorrectEnglish,butrathertopoorEnglish,andtheyare
notnecessarilyabsoluterules.Mostofthesearecommonmistakesorpoorwritinghabitsthataffectevennative
Englishspeakers,socorrectingthembeforesubmittingyourmanuscriptcangiveyouanadvantagewiththe
reviewers.ItmayevenhelpyoutoavoidthedreadedneedstobereviewedbyanativeEnglishspeaker.
1.AvoidbeginningsentenceswithItis.
InPortuguese,phrasesthataremeanttogiveemphasiscommonlybeginas:
importante,Tambmmuitocomum,Hpoucaateno
Manypeopledirectlytranslatethesephrasesas:

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Itisimportant,Also,itisverycommon,Thereislittleattention
Althoughthesesentencesaregrammaticallycorrect,theyareweakandsomewhatjuvenileinstructure(The
bookisonthetable).Oneortwopersectionmaybefine,butrepeatedlyusingthissentencestructurecan
diminishtheperceivedmaturityofyourwork.
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,sotheusageofthein
thephraseherewoulddependgreatlyonthecontextoftheparagraph:
queocasionougrandefluxodepopulaeshumanasparaaregio.(referringtoaspecificeventin
time)
whichcausedlargeinfluxofhumanpopulationstotheregion.
whichcausedthelargeinfluxofhumanpopulationstotheregion.
3.Onlycapitalizesubjectsiftheyrefertotheformalnameofaplace/department/title.
Themostcommonmistakeisstate.Thiswordisonlycapitalizedwhenitcomesafterastate'snameaspartof
itsformaltitle.
ODepartamentodePediatriadaUFFlocalizadonoEstadodoRiodeJaneiro.

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Becausethisphraseisreferringtothespecificformalnameofapediatricsdepartment,andifwekeepthestatein
frontofRiodeJaneiro,thecapitalizationshouldbe:
TheDepartmentofPediatricsofUFF(FORMAL)islocatedinthestate(INFORMAL)ofRiodeJaneiro.
However,youmaysometimesrefertotheplacewhereyouconductedastudybythetypeof
location/department/clinic,ratherthanbyitsformalname:
OestudofoirealizadonoHospitalUniversitriodaUniversidadeFederaldoRiodeJaneironoEstadodo
RiodeJaneiro.OHospitaldaUniversidadeatendemaisde100pacientespordia.
Inthiscase,youdonotneedtocapitalizethedepartment/universityinthesecondphrasebecausetheyarenotthe
formaltitlesofthehospitalandtheuniversity.Additionally,ifyouplacestateafterRiodeJaneiro,itcan
nowbecapitalizedbecauseitispartofthetitle:
ThestudywasconductedattheUniversityHospitaloftheFederalUniversityofRiodeJaneiro
(FORMAL)inRiodeJaneiroState.Thehospital(INFORMAL)oftheuniversity(INFORMAL)attendsmore
than100patientsperday.
Anothercommonmistakeoccurswhenreferringtodirectionsorregions,suchasnorthornorthern.
Capitalizenorth,south,eastern,northwestandrelatedtermswhentheyrefertospecificregionnamesor
topeoplewholiveintheseregions.Forexample:
AmaioriadasamostrasforamcoletadasdoCentroOestedeBrasil.
MajorityofsampleswerecollectedfromCentralWest(orMidwest)Brazil.
Donotcapitalizethesewordsiftheyrefertothegeneraldirectionorlocation:
MajorityofsampleswerecollectedfromthecentralwesternregionofBrazil.
4.Removethat!
ThisisaverycommonstyleissuemadebynativeEnglishspeakersandisaquickwaytonotonlywritein
EnglishbutalsotowritewellinEnglish.
Thatshouldonlybeusedatthebeginningofadependentclauseorwhendescribingasubject/noun:
Osresultadosmostraramquemuitaspessoasgostamdefrutas.
Directlytranslated,Portuguesespeakersnormallyfeelmorecomfortableleavingthewordthatinthesentence.
IhaveevenhadcolleaguesaddthatafterIhadremovedit.
Theresultsshowedthatmanypeoplelikefruits.
Ifyouremovethethat,themeaningofthephrasedoesnotchange,andthephraseisnotbrokenbyabreath
whenyoureadthesentencealoud:
Theresultsshowedmanypeoplelikefruits.
Readbothaloud.Canyouhearhowthatcanbreakupasentenceandnotflowasnicely?
However,youdoneedthatinothersituations:

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Osresultadosqueforamencontradosnesseestudomostraramquemuitaspessoasgostamdefrutas.
Theresultsthatwerefoundinthisstudyshowedmanypeoplelikefruits.
Herearesomewordsthatarefrequentlyusedinthescientificliteraturethatcommonlydonotneedtobe
followedbythat:
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,thenyoudonotneed
thesforpatient.Eventhoughthesubjectisplural,suchadjectivesinEnglish,arenotplural.
However,ifyouareusingpatientsasapossessiveadjective(thechartsbelongedtothepatients),then
youcankeepthes,butyoumustputanapostrophebeforeorafterthes.Ifthereisonepatient,then
thephraseshouldbepatient'schartsifthereismorethanonepatient,thenthephraseshouldbe
patients'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
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describe).
Itis/the/formalstate/that/isdescribed.
Itistheformalstatethatisdescribed.
Reciteorwritethisphraseatthetopofyourmanuscriptbeforereviewingyourworktorememberwhattolook
forwhilerevising.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,itsometimesbecomesdifficulttotellwhichsubjectyou
arereferringtointhesubsequentphrase.
Inthisstudy,74patientswereincluded.Ofthese,7(9.5%)patientsweremale.
RememberitismoreimportanttobeparallelwhenwritinginEnglishthantonotberepetitive.
7.Trytousethefirstperson(Iandwe)aslittleaspossibleandexchangeitwithpassivevoice.
Theusageofactiveandpassivevoiceinthescientificliteraturehasbeenintenselydebatedovertheyears.
Whereassomewouldarguethatactivevoiceismoretothepoint,passivevoicealsohasitsuses.Thesuggestion
tousepassivevoicehereisdirectlyrelatedtoPortugueseEnglishtranslation,inwhichthefirstpersonpluralis
oftenoverused.
ManyphrasesinPortuguesewillbeginwithweassumed:
Encontramosvriostiposdemosquitos.
Thisphrasewoulddirectlytranslateto:
Wefoundvarioustypesofmosquitos.
ManynativeEnglishspeakingresearcherswilluseweintheirwriting,quiteoftenactually.However,thereisa
definedtheoryastowhypassivevoiceisspecificallyusedinthescientificliteratureandnotinothertypesof
writtenmaterialinEnglish.Ingeneral,passivevoiceisusedtogiveemphasistoanobjectuponwhichanaction
isbeingperformed.Forexample:
Inactivevoice:Themanatetheapple.Themainpointofthissentenceisthatthemanwastheonewhoatethe
apple.
Ifwereverseittopassivevoice:Theapplewaseatenbytheman.Nowthemainpointofthesentenceisthat
theapplewaseaten.
Returningtothepreviousphrase,ifyousaywefoundvarioustypesofmosquitos,thenyouareemphasizing
thatyoufoundtheresults.
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Now,ifyouputthephraseinpassivevoice:Varioustypesofmosquitoswerefound.Here,youare
emphasizingthatvarioustypeswerefound,andit'snolongerasimportantthatyoufoundthem.Inthiscase,you
areemphasizingthatinyourwelldesignedstudy,whichcanberepeatedbyanyotherresearcher,varioustypes
ofmosquitoswillbefound.Afterall,aren'treproducibleresultswhatistrulyimportanttoemphasizewhen
communicatingresearch?
Feelfreetousewe,keepinginmindtheabovedescribedtheory.Ifyoudouseit,trytolimittheuseofweto
conveyinformationorresultsthatyouwouldliketoemphasizeasnovelorhighimpact.Additionally,we
shouldbeusedinsteadofpassivevoicewhenaverbphraseconstructedinpassivevoiceplusagerundisnot
beingperformedby(ordoesnotmatch)thesubject:
Incorrect:PCRwasconductedusingtaqDNApolymerase.Here,itisnotPCRthatisusingtaqDNA
polymeraseitistheauthor.Therefore,wewouldbetheappropriatechoice.
Correct:WeconductedPCRusingtaqDNApolymerase.
Theverbtouseismostcommonlymisusedinthiscontext.YoushouldconductaFindsearchinMicrosoft
OfficeWordforusedandusingtocheckwhetheryouhaveusedthisverbcorrectly.Ispecificallydidnot
includeaPortugueseversionofthisphrasebecausethisisaverycommonmistakethatisevenfoundin
publishedtextswrittenbynativeEnglishspeakers.
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
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colleague,friendorotherprofessorreadyourworkcritically,specificallyforthePortuguese.Whenatranslation
isreturnedtomebecausethejournalrequestedareviewbyanativeEnglishspeaker,Inormallyfindunfamiliar,
randomparagraphswithverypoororconfusingEnglishinthesubmittedmanuscript.Frequently,whenafinal
draftiscirculatedamongagroupofresearchersforfinalapprovalbeforesubmission,coauthorswilladdlast
minutedetails,thoughtsorreferences.TheseextraparagraphswithunrevisedEnglishareeasytoidentifyand
decreasetheoverallqualityofthetext.Thus,alwaysmakesureyouaresendingtheabsolutefinaldraftfor
translation.JustoneparagraphcouldresultinhavingthepaperreturnedtoyouforreviewbyanativeEnglish
speaker,unnecessarilydelayingthepaper'spublicationforweekstomonthsandaddingcostsforadditional
Englishrevision.Worse,thereviewersmaythinkyoudidnotcareenoughtoreviewyourpapercarefullybefore
submission,biasinghowtheyratethemanuscriptingeneral.Awellwrittenarticlecaneliminatethepossibility
ofreviewersrejectingapapersolelybecausetheycouldnotunderstandthemainpointortherelevanceofthe
researchtothejournalatfirstread.Reviewersdonothavethetimetostopandreadoverandoveragainto
understandthemeaningofyourarticle.Itisuptoyoutoshowthemwhyyourhardworkshouldbepublishedin
theirjournal.Don'tletsomethinglikepoorEnglish,whichisnotrelatedtothequalityofyourresearch,cause
yourrejection.
Aboveall,rememberthattheunderlyingprincipleinscientificwritinginEnglishislessismore.Thisconcept
variesgreatlyfromtheprincipleunderlyingmostformalPortuguesewriting,inwhichyoumustbeelaborateto
beunderstood.Considerpreparinganoutlinebeforeyoubeginwriting,andtrytoavoiddeviatingfromit.An
outlinewillhelpyoutobemoreobjectiveandrationalaboutthewho,what,when,whyandhowofyour
research,whichwillbereflectedinthequalityofyourworkinEnglish.Evenifanideaisrelatedtothetopicof
yourresearch,iftheideadoesnotaddtotherationaleofwhyyouconductedthestudyorwhyyouobtainedyour
results,cutitout.Anotherstrategyistofindasimilarpaperfromthesamejournaltowhichyouwillsubmityour
manuscriptandtrytomimicitsstyle,structureandcontent.
Asafinalnote,onetoomanyfirstreportsarebeginningtoemerge.AsEnglishhasalargeselectionof
adjectivesanddescriptivephrases,theoveruseofthisphraseisquicklybecomingapparent.Althoughthephrase
mayappeartoaddsignificancetoyourwork,itsoundslikeasimpledescriptivestudywhentranslatedtoEnglish.
Suchphrasingdoesnotgrabareader'sattentionandsuggeststhatthestudydidnothavearesearchquestion.Try
tofocusyourtitleonthelargerresearchquestionorthemostimportantresultofyourstudy.
Itismyhopethatyouhavefoundthissummaryofmyexperiencestobehelpfulandinformative.Brazilian
institutionshaveanincrediblewealthofinformationtosharewiththeinternationalcommunity.Thereisnomore
importantmomentthannowforBrazilianresearchtobefairlyandaccuratelyseen,heardandunderstood.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Goto:

TheauthorwouldliketothankDr.LeeRileyoftheUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,andDra.ClaudeteArajo
CardosoandDr.FbioAguiarAlvesoftheUniversidadeFederalFluminensefortheirinputandcriticalreview
ofthemanuscript.MarlowMAissupportedbyNIHResearchTrainingGrant#R25TW009338,fundedbythe
FogartyInternationalCenterandtheOfficeofAIDSResearchattheNationalInstitutesofHealth.
Footnotes

Goto:

Nopotentialconflictofinterestwasreported.

ArticlesfromClinicsareprovidedherecourtesyofHospitaldasClinicasdaFaculdadedeMedicinadaUniversidade
deSaoPaulo

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