Scientific Writing (The Style of Scientific Prose)

The main functionof the scientific style is rational cognition and linguistic presentation of the dynamics of thinking. Inner differen­tiation and the formation of the sub-styles and genres of the scientific style used in different fields of science are characterized by different manners of scientific presentation (thesis, abstract of thesis, mono­graph, article, report, annotation, review, etc.). “Sub-languages” of scientific styles are law, political, medical, economic, technical, computer, linguistic, etc. Types of presentation: description and argumentation (deduction, induction). Scientific texts present diffe­rent degrees of polemics. The popularization of the scientific information adds similarities to literary writing to the text. The addressee factor also plays a significant role. Style-forming features: a great role of tradition in the use of language means, an objective and non-categorical presentation, specific means of expression, a certain extent of emphasis, restrictions in the use of intensification, evaluation, emotio­nal language means, the absence of imagery.

Many publications require that an informative abstract accompany every paper. For a research paper, the abstract should summarize the principal findings. For a review paper, the abstract should describe the topic, the scope, the sources reviewed, and the conclusion. The purposes of the abstract are to allow the reader to determine the nature and scope of the information given in the paper. It should be concise and self-contained. Abbreviations and acronyms should be used sparingly and only when necessary to prevent awkward con­struc­tion or needless repetitions. In the result section it is essential to summarize the data collected and the statistical treatment of them. Equations, figures, and tables are given where necessary for clarity and conciseness. The discussion section should be objective. The fea­tures and limitations of the work are pointed and the results are interpreted.

Language means of the scientific style are the following.

Lexical means – highly specialized scientific terminology, termi­nological groups, revealing the conceptual systems of the scien­tific style, the peculiarities of the use of terms in scientific spe­ech, the use of nouns and verbs in abstract meanings; strong verbs are used: they are essential to clear, concise writing; special reference words, scientific phraseology – cliché s, stereo­typed and hackneyed word combinations and idioms, the priority of neutral vocabulary, limitations in the use of emotional – eva­luative and expressive vocabulary and phraseology, the absence of non-literary vocabulary and phraseology (slang words, vulgar­isms, obscene words); authors stick to the original meaning of words: they do not use a word to express a thought if such usage is the fourth or fifth definition in the dictionary or if such usage is primarily literary; instead of “man” the words “people”, “humans”, “human beings”, or “human species” are used; peculiarities in word-building (standard suffixes and prefixes, mainly of Greek and Latin origin – tele-, morpho-, philo-, -ism, etc.), pecu­liarities in the scarce use of imagery (usually trite and hackneyed, the priority of the functions of intensification and decoration, a non-systematic, narrow contextual character, the absence of rich associations, a schematic and generalized character).

Grammatical means: a nominal character (the predominance of nouns over verbs) in the use of parts of speech; the use of pre­positional “of-phrases” to substitute the genitive case; the tran­sposition of the classes of nouns; a wide use of the Passive Voice (though the Active voice is recommended to be used whenever possible: it is less wordy and unambiguous; brevity is effective); Indefinite Tenses (present and past tenses are used in the introduction. Simple past tense is used to describe procedures. Present tense is used to discuss results and conclusions); the specialization of pronouns in demonstrative and inten­sification functions; numerous conjunctions revealing the logical order of the text as well as double conjunctions (not merely... but also, whether... or both... and, as...as), adverbs of logical connecting; instead of “he” and “she” the plural (“they” and “theirs”) or first person (“we”, “us”, and “ours”) are used.

Syntactical means: short declarative sentences are easiest to write and easiest to read, and they are usually clear; to avoid abruptness and monotony authors start with simple declarative sentences and then combine some of them with long rambling sentences and then try to shorten them; the priority of full, logically correct, regular syntactical models, the syntax of simple sentence in the scientific speech – an extensive use of extended two-member sentence, the priority in the use of compound sentences, an extensive use of secondary predicative constructions (Complex Object, Participial and Gerundial Constructions), a wide use of conjunctions and denominative prepositions, a concise expression of syntactical connection in word combinations, sentences, groups of sentences, an absolute priority of declarative sentences in the use of com­municative types of sentences.

Composition of scientific text: as an explication of the stages of cognition and productive thinking, the usual model is presented by the following scheme – a problem situation, idea, hypothesis, proof, conclusion, compositional speech forms of discussion, argumentation and description, conclusion, types of narration, a wide-spread co-referential repetition as a specific method of text development.

Functional restrictions: strong objections to the use of non-literary vocabulary, a scarce use of emotional and intensification units of vocabulary and phraseology, and stylistic devices (metaphors, metonymies, etc.), the absence of the second person form and corresponding personal pronouns, a scarce use of “I-speaking”, a limited use of incomplete and non-declarative, and one-member sentences; first person is perfectly acceptable only where it helps keep the author’s meaning clear. However, phrases like “we believe”, “we feel”, “we concluded” and “we can see” are unnecessary, as are personal opinions.