Scientific Writing Tips for Non-Native Speakers of English

Non-native speakers of English sometimes struggle to write scientific papers in English and are at a disadvantage when competing for space in journals. There may be a variety of reasons for this difficulty, but in this video I focus on syntax and suggest seven ways that an author can ensure their writing meets the expectations of an English-speaking reader. You may need to pause the video to read examples. If you want to jump to a specific point, see the time stamps below.
00:00 Intro
02:04 Subject-verb separation
03:54 Topic of the sentence
04:29 Old vs. new information
05:18 Paragraph structure
05:48 Passive vs. active voice
07:10 Transitions
07:34 Verb choice
Some links to additional information:
How to Write Clearly: Cohesion and Coherence: • How to Write Clearly: ...
Writing Effective Transitions in a Scientific Paper: • Writing Effective Tran...
Improving Narrative Flow in a Scientific Paper: • Improving Narrative Fl...
Active Versus Passive Voice in Scientific Writing: • Active Versus Passive ...
If you use video in your research or would like to make a video about your research, check out my other CZcams channel, The Scientist Videographer: / sciencevideography
Follow me on Twitter: @SciWri_KLMcKee

[@sergi6malaka6]

Shoutouts to my homie Karen, respect the hustle and passing on of immense street-science knowledge accumulated, shiaa

[@afroo623]

Hi Karen, thank you so much for generously sharing your knowledge and experience. Although I’m not a total stranger to the publication world, I do find your videos very helpful as a non-native English speaker. You have no idea how much your videos have helped me throughout the last stage of my PhD. Thanks again for your good work!

[@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK]

Thanks for letting me know!

[@ccbww9677]

Thank you so much from 🇱🇰 srilanka

[@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK]

Thanks for leaving a comment.

[@ghug8340]

This is extremely helpful.

[@joseluismarcelopena4863]

Thank you very much. Professor Karen, for taking the time to think about us.

[@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK]

I've worked with a number of international students and so know how difficult writing in English can be.

[@ceciliocarpizo9604]

Thanks you for share, it's a brief and objective explain and examples, congratulations, please make more videos.

[@noelnesakumar]

Addicted to your channel...

[@Rainstorm121]

Thank you Karen. Very useful tips!

[@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK]

Glad it was helpful!

[@natalyak9040]

thanks a lot!

[@drhashmisyedarshadalisyedk9039]

Thank You Karen, for your efforts to make us better scientific writers.I have gone through all your videos (except about presentations). You have successfully changed my mindset about scientific writing and reading.

[@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK]

Thanks for your comment. In my videos, I try to provide the help that I never got as a student. We were expected to somehow "know" how to write scientific papers without any explicit training in technical writing. But as many students discover, learning to write well (enough to get published) takes a lot of effort, insight, and practice. I share what worked for me as an incentive for others to develop their own writing skills. Making these videos is also fun for me and a way to stay engaged in retirement.

[@AR_23131]

Thank you for the valuable videos its very useful to me

[@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK]

Glad to hear that

[@NS-gr9cy]

Thanks for the great content.
I always suggest your channel for anyone keen to write better.

[@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK]

I appreciate that!

[@piyushuniyal]

Most awaited video... Thanks for sharing. It was really helpful.

[@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK]

Glad it was helpful!

[@nataliaaraujodonascimentob9464]

Thank you so much for teaching and helping us ☺️ Btw, thank you from Brazil

[@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK]

My pleasure!

[@marianmandoz5995]

Very useful videos. Thank you very much💌

[@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK]

Glad you like them!

[@AndyCorkum]

This is really helpful. In my experience I find that writers with English as a second language sometimes particularly struggle with 'articles'. It would be great if you could cover that topic sometime as well -- if you take requests ;-)

[@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK]

Glad it was helpful! I have several video #shorts focused on grammar and punctuation. Here are links to two that might be of interest
:
Definite vs. Indefinite articles: czcams.com/video/h-jEKgJIgCI/video.html
Using Location Prepositions: czcams.com/video/6f0LSzFXXUo/video.html

[@konik8620]

It will take our studen'ts writing places they can only imagine. Thanks from Russia

[@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK]

Thanks for letting me know my video is helping your students.

[@arieflukmanhakim5340]

Terimakasih Bu Karen, penjelasannya keren banget. Sederhana, mudah difahami dan disertai contoh. Sekali lagi Terimakasih.

[@sangaylama6311]

Thank you so much for sharing your profound knowledge and experiences, do you also assist in writing research papers

[@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK]

I've chosen video tutorials as the most effective way for me to help others improve their writing skills.

[@thaisadastra8227]

Hi Karen, first of all, thank you for sharing all your knowledge with us. It's been awesome and useful. I have a question about plagiarism, could you help me, please? I published my thesis 2 years ago and since then, I've been trying to publish my articles, but apparently, the journals have been rejecting them, saying that I'm plagiariazing...but when I check out on turntin, I see that I'm "plagiarizing myself, my own thesis" I've been writing and re-writing my paper again and again....but it always happens the same. Could you please give some recommendations about what should I?? Thank you in advance! Have a great new year!

[@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK]

I’m sorry you are having this problem.
First, was your thesis actually published (by an academic publisher) or was it simply posted to a repository by your university? If the former, you would have signed over the copyright to the academic publisher. If the latter, the thesis is not considered to be published and you would be free to submit it (or portions of it) to a journal. But there could still be a problem if the repository copy is online. In this case, it might be possible to have the copy of your thesis taken offline.
If your thesis was published (and you signed over the copyright), then another publisher (e.g., of a journal) may have a problem with a manuscript containing intact portions of that published thesis. But it would be worthwhile to contact the journal or the publishing house to inquire about their policy regarding reuse of thesis/dissertation material. For example, Elsevier has the following statement clarifying their policy on prior publication: “To avoid any doubt, Elsevier does not count publication of an academic thesis as prior publication.” (www.elsevier.com/connect/editors-update/clarification-of-our-policy-on-prior-publication ). They additionally advise checking the journal’s instructions for their specific policy on thesis publication. Perhaps you can find a journal/publisher with a similar policy on academic thesis publication?
If you are still in contact with your thesis advisor, perhaps they can help you deal with this situation.

[@fuquanzhang1213]

Thanks Karen! I think you can open a channel on bilibili to Chinese student/researchers!

[@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK]

What is that?

[@fuquanzhang1213]

@@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK 头To me, Bilibili is the best video sharing site in China. It is super popular and of course includes everything. Some channels like you are sharing are also shared on bilibili, like James Hoffmann. He is a coffee master having his youtube channel and also shares videos on bilibili.

[@ScientificWritingwithKarenLMcK]

Thanks. I'll check it out.