Commonly Misused Words in Academic Writing
This section includes specific words which Chinese learners of English often use incorrectly in academic writing.
evidence
Example of incorrect use
The empirical evidences show that a sentence coherence model based on event information outperforms one based on entity or word information.
In addition, there are increased evidences showing that the peripheral refraction may play a key role in onset of myopia.
Academically-appropriate equivalent
The empirical evidence shows that a sentence coherence model based on event information outperforms one based on entity or word information.
In addition, increasing evidence shows that the peripheral refraction may play a key role in the onset of myopia.
research
Example of incorrect use
Laser deflection techniques have been used in flame researches for many years.
Academically-appropriate equivalent
Laser deflection techniques have been used in flame research for many years.
literature
Example of incorrect use
The designed AC bus frequency in the literatures is only hundred Hz.
Academically-appropriate equivalent
The designed AC bus frequency in the literature is only hundred Hz.
Evidence/ research/ literature are uncountable nouns that must be used in the singular.
work
Example of incorrect use
Wan’s works on protein sub-cellular localization are groundbreaking.
There are several research works about burning hydrogen-enriched fuels.
Academically-appropriate equivalent
Wan’s study (or work) on protein sub-cellular localization is groundbreaking.
There is extensive research on burning hydrogen-enriched fuels.
Work is used in the singular as “works” refers to an art or music collection/ an artist’s collection of work. Study is used in the singular when referring to one specific study, and in the plural when generalising remarks about research in a particular area.
detail
Example of incorrect use
It is important to provide sufficient detail of the new design.
The detail information will be provided in the methodology section.
Scientists have explained this theory in details.
Academically-appropriate equivalent
It is important to provide sufficient details of the new design.
Detailed information will be provided in the methodology section.
Scientists have explained this theory in detail.
Detail is in the singular when used as “in detail” (e.g. “this section describes the results in detail”) but in the plural (e.g. when referring to the details of a research study). Detailed is an adjective and should be used when describing a study or information (e.g. detailed information, a detailed study).
lack
Example of incorrect use
Arginine starvation leads to cell cycle arrest, particularly in the cancer types that are lack of a completed urea cycle.
Although the battery-based RE system on the island has been evaluated, this study is a lack of sufficient experimental tests.
Academically-appropriate equivalent
Arginine starvation leads to cell cycle arrest, particularly in the cancer types that lack a completed urea cycle.
Although the battery-based RE system on the island has been evaluated, this study lacks sufficient /this study has insufficient experimental tests.
Lack can be used as a noun (the study has a lack of accurate data) or as a verb (the study lacks accurate data) and this creates confusion about its use, as the examples above show. Other language can be used to substitute “lack” and a range of alternatives is available. Use “a lack of” or “an absence of” with another noun, or substitute it with an adjective such as “inadequate” and “insufficient”.
can
Example of incorrect use
Since human-produced summaries lack agreement (Rath et al., 1961), automatic summaries can be compared against chosen sets of multiple human-produced summaries (Salton et al.,1997).
The shallow content-driven coherence is compatible with almost all existing summarization approaches because it can direct the arrangement of selected summary contents.
Based on words and word relations, we can also derive entities and events that provide more semantic dimensions to the shallow content of a text.
Academically-appropriate equivalent
Since human-produced summaries lack agreement (Rath et al., 1961), automatic summaries should be compared against chosen sets of multiple human-produced summaries (Salton et al.,1997).
The shallow content-driven coherence is compatible with almost all existing summarization approaches because it directs the arrangement of selected summary contents.
Based on words and word relations, it is also possible to derive entities and events that provide more semantic dimensions to the shallow content of a text.
Can is often used by Chinese learners of English when it is unnecessary. For example, in Sentence 1 above, “should” is more precise in meaning. In Sentence 2, no model verb is necessary since the compatibility of shallow, content-driven coherence is presented as a fact. In Sentence 3, “it is more possible” is more precise.