English writing skills

Feb 16

The art of writing PhD thesis acknowledgments: A guide for economics students

By Cristina N. English writing skills, PhD life, Tips

After more than a decade spent copyediting and proofreading PhD theses for economics students, I can say that, in general, doctoral candidates view writing thesis acknowledgments as either a formality or a celebration of finishing thesis writing. Between the two extremes lies a unique opportunity to show your personality, strengthen your professional network, and enjoy the “warm glow of giving”—all without the constraints of academic writing.

In this long blog post, I’ll examine the seemingly trivial topic of writing acknowledgments to help you make the most of this thesis section. I aim to achieve two goals. The first is to change your opinion about the importance of PhD thesis acknowledgments. The second is to help you write memorable acknowledgments you can be proud of even when the euphoria of finishing your PhD is gone.

Although all the examples here are from economics theses, my tips should be useful for writing acknowledgments in any other academic field. Read More

Feb 24

How to respond to reviewers’ comments: A practical guide for authors

By Cristina N. Academic papers, Editing, English writing skills

In February 2020, Nature announced that it would give authors the option to publish their referee reports and responses to reviewers. Though this change is only a trial for this journal, other Nature Research journals have opened the peer-review process. I applaud the effort of these and other journals to make peer review more transparent, and hope it will become a standard.

Whether you publish your referee reports with your paper or not, how you respond to reviewers’ comments on submitted articles is essential to publication. Read More

Dec 23

Placement of only: What’s the correct way of using only in a sentence?

By Cristina N. English writing skills, Grammar, Short and sweet

In spoken English or informal writing, the placement of only is rarely an issue, so go with your ear. Here is an example:

Tea only tastes good when I’m sad. Tea tastes good only when I’m sad.

Both sentences have the same meaning: I like the taste of tea only when I’m sad.

In academic writing, though, be careful with the placement of modifiers to avoid introducing ambiguity and attracting criticism from reviewers.

Does the placement of only in a sentence matter?

Feb 01

Is noon 12 a.m. or 12 p.m.?

By Cristina N. English writing skills, Short and sweet, Vocabulary

You may think this simple question has a simple answer (either 12 a.m. or 12 p.m.), but it’s not quite so.

The abbreviation a.m. stands for the Latin phrase ante meridiem, and p.m. stands for post meridiem. In Latin, ante means before; post means after; and meridies means noon, or midday.

Midday is neither before noon (a.m.) nor after noon (p.m.). It’s m. (abbreviation for meridies).

So, it would be illogical to write 12 a.m. or 12 p.m. to mean noon. Read More

Mar 23

Verb tenses in scientific writing: Which tense should you use?

By Cristina N. Academic papers, Editing, English writing skills

If you’re fluent in English, using tenses in scientific writing should come naturally to you. You shouldn’t need to flip through a grammar book, ask a freelance editor, or search online for “methods tense” or “literature review tense”.

But verb tenses may start to haunt you if you’re writing an article for a top peer-reviewed journal and you know you have to get every detail right. For example, you may wonder, What tense should be used in methodology sections? Should the introduction or literature review be written in the present tense or past tense?