DZ ws 1 · 4" Whatdowritersdo? Select topics – select content – select questions to answer –...

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1 Training Wetenschappelijk schrijven Deventer Ziekenhuis Annemarie van der Zeeuw www.focusoptekst.nl/wasp Programma deel 1 De fasen in het schrijfproces Opzet van Inleiding en Discussie Useful phrases Topic and key sentences Zinslengte en de lijdende vorm De ?jden van het werkwoord

Transcript of DZ ws 1 · 4" Whatdowritersdo? Select topics – select content – select questions to answer –...

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Training  Wetenschappelijk  schrijven  

Deventer Ziekenhuis

Annemarie van der Zeeuw www.focusoptekst.nl/wasp

Programma  -­‐  deel  1    

• De  fasen  in  het  schrijfproces  • Opzet  van  Inleiding  en  Discussie  • Useful  phrases  • Topic  and  key  sentences  • Zinslengte  en  de  lijdende  vorm  • De  ?jden  van  het  werkwoord  

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Programma      -­‐    deel  2

1.  Valkuilen  van  het  wetenschappelijk  Engels  v   noun  style  v   punctua?on  v   which/that  v   dangling  modifier  

2.  Discussie:  hedging  &  boos?ng  

3.  Abstract:  s?jl  en  structuur  

HET  SCHRIJFPROCES

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WriDng  

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What  do  writers  do?

Select topics – select content – select questions to answer – find key messages – articulate the point of each paragraph – be clear about aims – add enough meta text – but not too much - gather information – search for more evidence - make a sketch or outline – try to be a fresh reader – formulate key messages – resume or paraphrase ideas of other people – check grammar, spelling, punctuation – hedge conclusions – try to say it in less words or to build shorter sentences - ……. - ……… -­‐………  

The  simple  wriDng  process

Edit,  revise,  edit…  

Write  

Plan  

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Stages  of  the  wriDng  process

Edit  

Write  –  find  words  

Organize  

Select    

Plan  

Stages  of  the  wriDng  process

Edit  

Write  

Organize  

Select    

Plan      C      O      N      T      E      N      T      

     F        O        R        M  

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Simon  Peyton  Jones,  Cambridge  ‘How  to  write  a  great  research  paper’  (You  Tube)  

 

The  first  of  SEVEN  SIMPLE  SUGGESTIONS  1.  Write  early:  wri?ng  =  researching  

The  wriDng  process  according  to  Jones

Edit  

Rewrite  

Analyze  

WRITE        C        O        N        T        E        N        T      

     F        O        R        M  

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Split  the  wriDng  and  the  thinking  BUT  ALSO    Write  to  clarify  and  develop  your  thoughts    

• WriDng    =  planning  +  selecDng  +  structuring  +  finding  words  +  viewing  your  text  through  the  eyes  of  the  reader  +  revising

So,  what  helps?

• Work  in  stages    •  Save  the  grammar/spelling/punctua?on  for  last    • Be  flexible  –  switch  between  stages  •  Talk  about  your  paper  with  others  • Ask  for  (structured)  feedback  in  an  early  stage  

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IMRAD

The  format:  IMRD Introduc=on    What  is  the  subject  of  this  study?  Why  is  it  important?  What  do  we  already  know?  What  do  we  not  know  yet?  So,  what  is  the  problem  or  reason  for  this  par?cular  study?  And:  what  is  the  major  ques?on  of  this  study?    Materials  and  methods    What  was  tested  or  inves?gated?  And  how  did  we  do  it?  Under  what  condi?ons?      Results      What  did  we  find?        Discussion    What  are  the  major  findings?  How  can  we  interpret  and  explain  them?  What  can  we  derive  from  them?  How  do  the  findings  meet  or  not  meet  our  expecta?ons?  What  are  comparisons  with  previous  studies?  What  are  possible  cri?cisms?  What  are  the  strengths  and  weaknesses  of  this  study?  How  should  we  carry  on?      Conclusions    What  is  the  answer  to  the  major  ques?on?  What  does  the  answer  implicate?  

   

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4  secDons,  4  purposes

IntroducDon

moDvate  your  reader,  background,  importance,  your  idea  

and  aim  of  your  research

 

4  secDons,  4  purposes

Materials  and  Methods  

make  replica?on  of  results  possible  +  soundness  of  argument  

 

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4  secDons,  4  purposes

Results  

outline  relevant  findings,  give  a  picture    

4  secDons,  4  purposes

Discussion  

reflect  on  results,  give  meanings  to  your  findings,    

support  conclusions,  eye  for  the  future      

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THE  INTRODUCTION

QuesDon  Tool  IntroducDon

• What  is  the  topic  of  this  paper?  • What  is  the  problem?  • Why  is  it  important?  • What  do  we  (not)  know  yet?  • How  will  I  search  for  the  answer?  

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! !The$Introduction$!

1.!What!is!the!topic!of!the!study?!!!!!!!

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$2.!What!is!the!problem?!!!!!!!

$3.!Why!is!it!important?!!!!!!

$4.!What!do!we!(not)!know?!Gap!of!knowledge?!!!!!!

!5.!How!to!find!the!answer?!!!!!!!

!!!!!

Story  line  of  the  introduc?on  TOPIC  /  MOVE   QUESTIONS  

ESTABLISHING  TERRITORY   What  is  the  topic?      

   ESTABLISHING  A  GAP    

What  is  the  problem?    

Why  important?  

What  do  we  know/what  not?    Gap  of  knowledge?    

FILLLING  THE  GAP   What  research  ques?on?    

Design  or  methodology?  How  to  find  the  answer?    

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Happiness  is  infecDous • Nicholas  Christakis  (Harvard  Medical  School)  &  James  Fowler  (University  of  California)  

• Data  from  the  Framingham  Heart  Study  (ongoing  cardiovascular  study,  begun  in  1948)    

•  Study  looked  at  5,000  individuals  over  20  years    • Happiness  spreads  like  an  emo?onal  contagion    • When  you  get  happy,  the  network  effect  can  be  measured  up  to  3  degrees  

•  This  chain  reac?on  benefits  friends’  friends,  and  your  friends’  friends’  friends…  

• Conversely,  sadness  does  not  spread  J  

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funnel  shape  of  introducDon

3  moves  of  Swales  Move  1  Establishing  a  territory  Claiming  centrality  –  Making  topic  generalisa4ons  –  Reviewing  items  of  previous  reserach  Move  2  Establishing  the  gap  Counter-­‐claiming  –  Indica4ng  a  gap  –  Raising  a  ques4on  –  Con4nuing  a  tradi4on  Move  3    Filling  the  gap  Outlining  purposes  –  Announcing  present  research  –  Announcing  main  findings  –  Indica4ng  ar4cle  structure  

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THE  DISCUSSION

Discussion  Happiness

•  Find  the  ques?ons  that  are  answered  in  the  discussion  sec?on  of  the  Happiness  ar?cle  

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Happiness  Discussion  an  outline  in  ques4ons  

1.  What  is  the  answer  to  the  main  ques?on?  -­‐>  What  does  this  show?  -­‐>  How  remarkable  is  this?  

2.  How  do  the  results  compare  with  earlier  studies?  (answer:  in  line  with  evolu?onary  theories)-­‐>  how  does  spreading  of  happiness  serve  an  evolu?onary  purpose?  

3.  How  can  we  explain  these  findings?  -­‐>  various  possible  mechanisms  (1,2,3)  

4.  What  is  a  surprising  finding?  What  can  we  learn  from  that  /  what  can  it  mean?  

5.  So  what?  Relevance?  -­‐>  example  (illness)  

6.  What  is  the  general  conclusion?  Take  home  message?  

The  discussion TOPIC   QUESTION  

Bopom  line  main  result(s)  message  implica?on  

What  is  an  important  finding?  How  do  the  data  support  the  finding?  Or:  what  is  our  claim?      

Comparison  with  earlier  studies,  what  is  different,  what  is  new?  

How  does  this  finding  relate  to  what  we  already  know?  Is  it  affirma?ve?  How?  Or  how  not?  And  what  does  that  mean?    

Explana?on,  interpreta?on  and  mechanisms.:  

How  can  we  explain  this  finding?  (If  –  partly  –  unexpected)  What  is  solved,  what  is  s?ll  unclear?      

Weakness/strengths  design/methods  sta?s?cal  power  

What  are  limita?ons  /  strengths  of  the  study,  and  how  do  they  support  or  weaken  our  claim?          

Clinical  interpreta?on  and  medical  relevance  

What  are  implica?ons?  What  can  we  derive  from  this  finding?    Who  benefits?      

Conclusion  with  implica?on,  sugges?ons  

What  is  the  general  conclusion?    How  can  we  go  on  from  here?  Sugges?ons  for  further  research.  

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PARAGRAPH  STRUCTURE:  TOPIC  AND  KEY  SENTENCE

the  topic  sentence

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Science  has  shown  an  impressive  growth  over  past  decades  and  more  scien?fic  papers  are  published  now  than  ever  before.  Between  1996  and  2011,  over  15  million  individuals  authored  around  25  million  papers.  Owing  to  expanding  research  fields,  it  is  increasingly  difficult  to  getstudies  published  in  high  impact  journals.  This  is  important  since..........  Consequently,  in  order  to  get  published,  scien?fic  discoveries  can  some?mes  be  exaggerated  or  the  poten?al  implica?ons  overstated.    Indeed,  overinterpreta?on,  overstatement,  and  misrepor?ng  of  scien?fic  results  have  been  frequently  reported.  However,  the  prevalence  of  this  problem  in  the  scien?fic  literature  is  unclear.  

The  funnel

introduc?on    

details,  examples,  comparisons,  explana?on,  

argumenta?on  

point    (key  message)    

 

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Trea?ng  pa?ents  for  a  complicated  Urinary  Tract  Infec?on  (cUTI)  with  an  oral  an?bio?c  instead  of  an  intravenous  an?bio?c  has  several  advantages.  Oren,  the  administra?on  of  intravenous  an?bio?cs  provokes  specific  complica?ons,  such  as  infec?on  of  the  iv-­‐catheter.  Also,  it  implies  hospitaliza?on  or  a  specialized  home  treatment,  of  which  complica?ons  like  hospital  acquired  infec?on,  func?onal  decline,  venous  thrombo-­‐embolism,  falls,  delirium,  sleep  depriva?on,  pressure  ulcers  and  readmissions    are  well  known.  These  risks  are  avoided  by  the  use  of  oral  an?bio?cs.    

Book  case

First  sentence  announces  content    

First  element  /  step  /  feature  /  idea    

Second  element  /  step  /  feature  /  idea  

Third  element  /  step  /  feature  /  idea    

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Pulmonary  nerve  endings  were  rela?vely  insensi?ve  to  phenal  diguanide.  Of  25  pulmonary  nerve  endings  tested,  only  10  were  s?mulated  when  this  drug  was  injected  into  the  right  atrium,  and  in  only  one  of  these  did  firing  exceed  2.2.  impulses/s.    If  the  laper  ending  is  excluded,  the  average  peak  frequency  of  the  endings  s?mulated  was  only  1.7  impulses/s.            

The  pyramid

 point  

(key  message)  

explana?on,  argumenta?on  

data,  details,  further  background    

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Few  studies  have  examined  residen?al  exposures  to  agricultural  pes?cides  and  the  results  from  these  studies  have  been  mixed.  Two  studies  examined  pes?cide  use  in  California  using  the  California  Pes?cide  Use  Repor?ng  database  and  childhood  cancer  incidence  rates  at  the  census  block  group  level.  These  inves?gators  found  no  associa?ons  between  agricultural  pes?cides  (individual,  chemical  groups,  or  toxicologic  groups)  and  childhood  ALL  or  gliomas,  except  for  a  posi?ve  significant  associa?on  between  the  90th  percen?le  of  propargite,  a  pes?cide  used  to  kill  mites,  and  leukemia.  In  a  case–control  study  of  childhood  leukemia  in  California,  Rull  et  al.  compared  the  density  of  applied  pes?cides  within  half  a  mile  from  the  birth  residence  for  213  cases  and  268  controls  and  found  posi?ve  associa?ons  with  pes?cides  categorized  into  chlorinated  phenols,  organophosphates,  and  triazines.  However,  these  findings  were  only  significant  at  the  middle  ter?le  of  exposure  and  the  strength  of  associa?on  weakened  as  exposure  increased.  

The  spread  of  happiness  seems  to  reach  up  to  three  degrees  of  separa?on,  just  like  the  spread  of  obesity  and  smoking  behaviour.  Hence,  although  the  person  to  person  effects  of  these  outcomes  tend  to  be  quite  strong,  they  decay  well  before  reaching  the  whole  network.  In  other  words,  the  reach  of  a  par?cular  behaviour  or  mood  cascade  is  not  limitless.  We  conjecture  that  this  phenomenon  is  generic.  We  might  yet  find  that  a  “three  degrees  of  influence  rule”  applies  to  depression,  anxiety,  loneliness,  drinking,  ea?ng,  exercise,  and  many  other  health  related  ac?vi?es  and  emo?onal  states,  and  that  this  rule  restricts  the  effec?ve  spread  of  health  phenomena  to  three  degrees  of  separa?on  away  from  the  ego.  

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The  first  sentence:  topic  sentence

The  first  sentence  of  a    paragraph: •  introduces  the  topic  of  the  paragraph • may  signal  the  move  or  the  quesDon  that  the  paragraph    answers

•  some%mes:  provides  the  central  idea  (the  point  or  key  sentence)  

LIJDENDE  VORM

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The passive: whodunnit?

Two  samples  were  assessed.  

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Two  samples  were  assessed.  

Actor  is  not  important

Two  samples  were  assessed.  

We  assessed  two  samples.

Actor  is  not  important

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Actor  is  unknown,  unimportant  or  anyone

•  The  subjects  were  randomly  assigned  to  one  of  three  condiDons.

•  The  therapeuDcal  potenDal  of  fish  oil  was  discussed  in  an  editorial  in  this  journal  last  year.

•  ScienDfic  texts  must  be  spelled  correctly.

We  assessed  two  samples.    

Passive  voice  is  leading  in  Methods  secDon

Actor  is  not  important

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.............  but  not  automa?cally  in  the  other  sec?ons  of  your  ar?cle          

....  because  ......  

The  acDve  voice  is  more  precise

This  method  has  been  shown  to  be  more  effecDve.

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This  method  has  been  shown  to  be  more  effecDve.  

This  method  is  more  effec?ve…      

X  has  shown  this  method  to  be  more  effec?ve..  

The  ac?ve  voice  is  more  precise  

The  acDve  voice  is  more  concise

• As  an  alterna?ve  method,  a  mul?copy  mean-­‐field  approach  can  also  be  used.  

• A  mul?copy  meanfield  approach  is  an  alterna?ve  (method).  

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The  acDve  voice  is  more  concise

• When  the  new  protocol  was  applied,  acceptable  or  beper  solu?ons  were  obtained  for  each  case.    

• Arer  applica?on  of  the  new  protocol,  each    case  resulted  in  acceptable  or  beper  solu?ons.  

In  summary,  we  provide,  to  the  best  of  our  knowledge,  the  first  evidence  for  experience-­‐dependent  changes  in  white  maper  microstructure.      

Active voice: to underline your own conclusions and considerations

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AcDve  voice:  to  emphasize  a  decision

We  constructed  a  sampling  frame  and  selec?on  process  to  minimize  selec?on  biases  and  maximize  generalizability  of  the  accumulated  evidence.  

• We  inves?gated  the  an?plaque  and  surface-­‐ac?ve  proper?es  of  mouth  rinses  containing..….    Addi?onally  the  effect  of  daily  use  was  established..  

• We  obtained  informed  consent  from  48  adults  and  placed  them  into  either  a  training  group  (n  =  24)  or  an  untrained  control  group  (n  =  24).  ..    This  was  done  by….  

Combining the two: a better style

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Use  the  passive:

•  .….  if  the  actor  is  not  important  

• …..  if  describing  general  facts,  rela?ons  or  associa?ons  

•  ....    and  to  maintain  cohesion..  

Our  analysis  of  scien?fic  abstracts  demonstrates  that  posi?ve  and—to  a  lesser  extent—nega?ve  words  are  increasingly  used  over  the  past  four  decades.  By  contrast,  this  increase  was  absent  for  neutral  and  random  words.  The  increase  in  posi?ve  words  could  not  be  aDributed  to  general  language  tendencies  as  represented  by  the  millions  of  printed  books  searched  through  in  thisstudy.  Neither  is  the  increase  driven  by  one  or  two  words,  because  all  words  showed  increased  frequency  paperns.  Even  though  the  upward  trend  in  posi?ve  word  use  was  conserved  in  high  impact  journals,  this  trend  was  significantly  less  pronounced  (fig  1⇓).  This  difference  could  be  the  result  of...  

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Use  the  acDve:

• …..  to  vary  your  style  in  Methods  and  Results  

•  .....  to  underline  reasons  or  goals  • ……  presen?ng  your  own  thoughts    

Sentence length

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Lee  and  colleagues  noted  that,  although  removal  of  physical  inacDvity  had  the  largest  effect,  in  terms  of  percentage  reducDon,  on  colon  cancer  and  the  smallest  on  coronary  heart  disease,  the  number  of  coronary  heart  disease  cases  prevented  would  be  greater  due  to  higher  global  incidence.      

(45  words)

 

Lee  and  colleagues  noted  the  following.  Removal  of  physical  inacDvity  had  the  largest  effect  on  colon  cancer.  The  smallest  effect  was  observed  for  coronary  heart  disease.  These  two  observaDons  were  expressed  in  terms  of  percentage  reducDon.  Yet,  the  number  of  coronary  heart  desease  cases  prevented  would  be  greater    than  that  for  colon  cancer.  This  is  explained  by  a  higher  global  incidence.      

(61  words)

 

Removal  of  physical  inac?vity  had  the  largest  effect  on  colon  cancer,  and  the  smallest  on  coronary  heart  disease,  in  terms  of  percentage  reduc?on.  However,  with  respect  to  the  number  of  cases  that  can  poten?ally  be  averted,  coronary  heart  disease  would  have  a  far  larger  effect  than  would  colon  cancer  because  of  its  higher  incidence.  (54  words)  

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 average  sentence  length  >  24  words  ?  

Advantages  of  short  sentences

SHORTER  SENTENCES:  • Are  more  easy  to  read  

• Make  reshuffling  of  sentences  within  a  paragraph  easier  

• Prevent  you  from  needless  mistakes    

• Give  key  messages  more  power    

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Yet  ….

• Variety  gives  more  harmony  

• Complex  sentences  oren  enhance  informa?on  density:  you  need  less  words  

• Complex  sentences  allow  more  detailed  expression  

More  detailed  expression      Emphasis  in  a  complex  sentence:    1      Main  clause  2  End  placement  

   

Source:  Gopen  and  Swan:  The  science  of  scien4fic  wri4ng.  American  Scien?st  Online  

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Emphasis  on  main  clause

• Although  Fred  is  a  nice  guy,  he  beats  his  dog.  

Emphasis  on  main  clause

• Although  Fred  is  a  nice  guy,  he  beats  his  dog.  

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• Although  Fred  beats  his  dog,  he  is  a  nice  guy.  

• Although  Fred  beats  his  dog,  he  is  a  nice  guy.  

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•  Fred  is  a  nice  guy,  but  he  beats  his  dog.  

•  Fred  beats  his  dog,  but  he  is  a  nice  guy.  

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Placement  long-­‐short

 Shorter  sentences:  topic  or  key  sentences  

 Longer:  heart  of  the  paragraph  

Example  short-­‐long

Our  results  suggest  that  adherence  to  the  full  bundle  is  

important.  Given  that  adherence  rates  for  pa?ents  who  had  

urgent  or  emergent  opera?ons  performed  by  surgeons  who  

implemented  the  bundle  were  substan?ally  lower  than  for  

pa?ents  who  underwent  scheduled  opera?ons,  we  hypothesize  

that  ins?tu?onal  barriers  may  prevent  full  bundle  adherence  for  

pa?ents  undergoing  urgent  or  emergent  opera?ons.  

 

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Example  short-­‐long

Our  results  suggest  that  adherence  to  the  full  bundle  is  

important.  Given  that  adherence  rates  for  pa?ents  who  had  

urgent  or  emergent  opera?ons  performed  by  surgeons  who  

implemented  the  bundle  were  substan?ally  lower  than  for  

pa?ents  who  underwent  scheduled  opera?ons,  we  hypothesize  

that  ins?tu?onal  barriers  may  prevent  full  bundle  adherence  for  

pa?ents  undergoing  urgent  or  emergent  opera?ons.  

 

Example  short-­‐long This  bundle  is  concordant  with  current  SSI  preven?on  guidelines.  For  example,  the  bundle  s?pulates  that  vancomycin  be  given  as  periopera?ve  prophylaxis  only  for  pa?ents  who  are  MRSA-­‐posi?ve  or  for  pa?ents  whose  S  aureus  carriage  status  is  unknown  at  the  ?me  of  the  opera?on,  which  meets  Surgical  Care  Improvement  Project  criteria.  Similarly,  guidelines  from  ASHP,  the  Society  of  Thoracic  Surgeons,  the  Infec?ous  Diseases  Society  of  America,  the  Surgical  Infec?on  Society,  and  the  Society  for  Healthcare  Epidemiology  of  America  state  that  mupirocin  may  have  u?lity  among  S  aureus  carriers,  and  that  pa?ents  carrying  MRSA  should  receive  vancomycin  and  cefazolin  or  cefuroxime  because  vancomycin  is  not  ac?ve  against  gram  nega?ve  organisms  and  it  prevents  MSSA  SSIs  less  effec?vely  than  cefazolin  or  cefuroxime.  

40  

Example  short-­‐long This  bundle  is  concordant  with  current  SSI  preven?on  guidelines.  For  example,  the  bundle  s?pulates  that  vancomycin  be  given  as  periopera?ve  prophylaxis  only  for  pa?ents  who  are  MRSA-­‐posi?ve  or  for  pa?ents  whose  S  aureus  carriage  status  is  unknown  at  the  ?me  of  the  opera?on,  which  meets  Surgical  Care  Improvement  Project  criteria.  Similarly,  guidelines  from  ASHP,  the  Society  of  Thoracic  Surgeons,  the  Infec?ous  Diseases  Society  of  America,  the  Surgical  Infec?on  Society,  and  the  Society  for  Healthcare  Epidemiology  of  America  state  that  mupirocin  may  have  u?lity  among  S  aureus  carriers,  and  that  pa?ents  carrying  MRSA  should  receive  vancomycin  and  cefazolin  or  cefuroxime  because  vancomycin  is  not  ac?ve  against  gram  nega?ve  organisms  and  it  prevents  MSSA  SSIs  less  effec?vely  than  cefazolin  or  cefuroxime.  

Embedded  sentences

The  smallest  of  the  URF's  (URFA6L),  a  207-­‐nucleoDde  (nt)  reading  frame  overlapping  out  of  phase  the  NH2-­‐terminal  porDon  of  the  adenosinetriphosphatase  (ATPase)  subunit  6  gene  has  been  idenDfied  as  the  animal  equivalent  of  the  recently  discovered  yeast  H+-­‐ATPase  subunit  8  gene.

41  

Embedded  sentences

The  smallest  of  the  URF's  (URFA6L),  a  207-­‐nucleoDde  (nt)  reading  frame  overlapping  out  of  phase  the  NH2-­‐terminal  porDon  of  the  adenosinetriphosphatase  (ATPase)  subunit  6  gene  has  been  idenDfied  as  the  animal  equivalent  of  the  recently  discovered  yeast  H+-­‐ATPase  subunit  8  gene.

Reshuffling  

The  smallest  of  the  URF's  has  been  iden?fied  as  the  animal  equivalent  of  the  recently  discovered  yeast  H+-­‐ATPase  subunit  8  gene.  This  URFA6L  is  a  207-­‐nucleo?de  (nt)  reading  frame  overlapping  out  of  phase  the  NH2-­‐terminal  por?on  of  the  adenosinetriphosphatase  (ATPase)  subunit  6  gene.    The  URFA6L  is  a  207-­‐nucleo?de  (nt)  reading  frame  overlapping  out  of  phase  the  NH2-­‐terminal  por?on  of  the  adenosinetriphosphatase  (ATPase)  subunit  6  gene.  This  URF,  the  smallest,  has  been  iden?fied  as  the  animal  equivalent  of  the  recently  discovered  yeast  H+-­‐ATPase  subunit  8  gene.        

42  

 Sentence  length  +  structure  

ü Follow  a  gramma?cal  subject  as  soon  as  possible  with  its  verb    

ü Place  new  informa?on  you  want  readers  to  emphasize  at  the  end  of  the  sentence  or  in  a  main  clause.  

ü Put  important  informa?on  in  shorter  sentences.  

Readability  Scoring

• Hemingway  App:    hpp://www.hemingwayapp.com/  

•  The  Writer’s  diet:  Helen  Sword  

• Readability  indexex  

43  

VERB  TENSES

The  tenses    

PRESENT  SIMPLE  OTT    

I  think  They  find  

PAST  SIMPLE  OVT  

I  thought  They  found  

PRESENT  PERFECT  VTT  

I  have  thought  They  have  found  

PAST  PERFECT  VVT  

I  had  thought  They  had  found  

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Present  tense:  They  say    ü     To  present  general  facts  ü     To  make  author-­‐specific  cita?ons  ü     To  paraphrase  informa?on  ü     To  give  an  opinion  ü     To  state  research  aims          

 Past  simple:  We  analyzed  

   ü To  refer  to  specific  and  finished  ac?ons,  events  or  states  in  the  past  

In  your  paper:  refer  to  your  research  and  results  in  Intro  +  Disc    ü Elsewhere  in  your  ar?cle:  oren  accompanied  by  a  past  ?me  marker:  in  early  2004,  two  decades  ago,  yesterday..  

 

45  

Present  perfect  -­‐  We  have  shown

ü To  refer  to  an  unspecified  ?me  before  now,  and  ac?ons,  events  or  states  that  are  unfinished  or  have  direct  relevance  to  the  present.    In  your  paper:  to  refer  to  recent  research  and  trends  (Introduc?on):  direct  relevance  to  current  state  or  knowledge        

In  the  IntroducDon PRESENT  SIMPLE  To  describe  general  background  in  the  beginning  -­‐      The  physical  process  of  fragmenta4on  is  relevant  to…  -­‐      Cancer  is  the  main  course  of  death  in  …..  

PRESENT  PERFECT    

To  describe  the  problem  ?ll  now  (currency):  -­‐  Persistence  has  most  oIen  been  studied  in  terms  of…  -­‐  Yet,  while  several  studies  have  evaluated  whether  healthier  foods  or  diets  cost  more,  the  evidence  has  never,  to  our  knowledge,  been  systema4cally  reviewed  

46  

In  the  IntroducDon  PRESENT  SIMPLE  +  PAST  SIMPLE  for  author-­‐specific  cita4ons:    Past  simple:  -­‐  Jones  et  al  (2006)  measured  the  components  of….  (focus  on  research:  what  did  they  DO)  

Present  simple:  -­‐  Huet  (2014)  men?ons  the  need  to  inves?gate  (focus  on  repor?ng:  what  do  they  REPORT)  

Here,  the  past  simple  is  also  possible.  

In  the  IntroducDon  PRESENT  SIMPLE  +  PAST  SIMPLE  At  the  end  of  the  introduc?on:    -­‐  To  address  this  deficiency,  we  sought  to  generate  normal  and  neoplas4c  pancrea4c  organoids  by  modifying……..  

-­‐ We  hypothesize(d)  that…  -­‐  The  aim  of  our  study  was…..    

47  

In  the  Methods PAST  SIMPLE  (your  ac?ons)  Other  info:  other  tenses  

 

Although  complete  masking  of  interven?ons  was  not  possible,  pa?ents  provided  wripen  informed  consent  to  par?cipate  in  their  own  study  group,  without  being  informed  of  the  existence  of  another  group.  This  form  of  masking  is  common  in  cluster  randomised  trials,  and  avoids  poten?al  bias  from  pa?ents  in  the  control  group  reques?ng  the  interven?on  or  otherwise  altering  their  behaviour.  Oncologists  and  inves?gators  were  aware  of  assignment.    

     

In  the  Results PAST  SIMPLE    

Three  puta?ve  GREs,  3  AREs  and  4  C/EBPβ  binding  sites  were  predicted  on  pig  3β-­‐HSD  gene  promoter  (Fig.  3a).  ChIP  

assay  revealed  significantly  lower  binding  of  GR  to  the  first  and  the  third  predicted  GREs  on  3β-­‐HSD  promoter  in  the  

liver  of  EHL  piglets  (P < 0.05,  Fig.  3b).  No  significant  breed  difference  was  observed  for  the  binding  of  AR  or  C/EBPβ  to  3β-­‐HSD  promoter  in  the  liver  of  preweaning  piglets  (Fig  3c  

en  d).  

   

48  

In  the  Discussion

MIX  

Sta?ng  the  answer  to  your  ques?on:  PRESENT  SIMPLE    

Our  results  show  that  in  pa?ents  with  exacerba?ons  requiring  hospital  admission,  a  5-­‐day  treatment  course  of  40  mg  of  prednisone  daily  is  noninferior  to  a  14-­‐day  treatment  course  with  respect  to  reexacerba?on.    

 

In  the  Discussion

MIX  

Reflec?on  on  study:  PRESENT  SIMPLE  

Looking  back:  PAST  SIMPLE  

 

Our  study  has  several  limita?ons.  When  we  designed  this  noninferiority  trial,  there  was  no  standard  glucocor?coid  regimen  for  the  treatment  of  exacerbated  COPD.  

 

49  

Summary

•  the  three  most  used  tenses:  present  simple,  past  simple,  present  perfect  

•  look  back  at  your  research:  past  simple  •  reflect  on  your  research:  present  simple  (now)  • work  of  others:  present  perfect  (s?ll  important)