tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post75362071205880358..comments2024-03-12T03:23:42.976-04:00Comments on NeuroDojo: Newbie mistakes in scientific writingZen Faulkeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07811309183398223358noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-73381301239003048912014-06-18T16:32:28.071-04:002014-06-18T16:32:28.071-04:00Most journals I’ve read do not italicize “et al.”
...Most journals I’ve read do <b>not</b> italicize “et al.”<br /><br />According to <a href="http://www.ece.ucdavis.edu/~jowens/commonerrors.html" rel="nofollow">this page</a>, <i>Chicago Manual of Style</i> recommends not italicizing. <a href="http://www.editage.com/insights/latin-phrases-in-scientific-writing-italics-or-not" rel="nofollow">This page</a> notes the journals are inconsistent in italicizing Latin, but that “et al.” usually is not.Zen Faulkeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07811309183398223358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-54436768478914616762014-06-16T19:19:17.791-04:002014-06-16T19:19:17.791-04:00Should et al. be written in italics? I usually do ...Should et al. be written in italics? I usually do but other people don't...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-52070886720465268042014-06-12T11:04:54.578-04:002014-06-12T11:04:54.578-04:00using `eg.'', instead of the correct ``e.g...using `eg.'', instead of the correct ``e.g.,''<br /><br />writing ``cf.,'' instead of the correct ''cf.'' (i.e., no comma)John R. Vokeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03822243132435056442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-21719648185043351892014-06-11T17:30:56.084-04:002014-06-11T17:30:56.084-04:00The plurality of "data" is a contentious...The plurality of "data" is a contentious issue -- plenty of professional editors now either prefer "data is" or have no preference. So this may well not be the sign of a newbie writer, just of someone with a different preference from you.Mike Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06039663158335543317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-47697654830367246882014-06-11T15:56:21.529-04:002014-06-11T15:56:21.529-04:00Not treating the word data as plural, e.g. using &...Not treating the word data as plural, e.g. using "the data is" rather than "the data are."Mary Canadyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15586888679659758261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-74842710495965576792014-06-11T08:57:09.038-04:002014-06-11T08:57:09.038-04:00I've seen a few papers that use "and othe...I've seen a few papers that use "and others" in place of "et al". I found it very disorienting, and came away thinking it's a bad idea. The problem is that even though "et al" started out as a translation of "an others", it now means something more specific: "and other authors of the same paper". When reading sentences like "As shown by Faulkes and others (2006), lobsters are very tasty", I find myself assuming that there were several papers that showed this, all by different authors. You don't have that ambiguity with "et al".Mike Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06039663158335543317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3522311.post-45370425666413404112014-06-11T08:55:05.513-04:002014-06-11T08:55:05.513-04:00Inexperienced scientific writers, even ones who ar...<i>Inexperienced scientific writers, even ones who are quite good good at composition and structuring sentences, often give themselves away [...] Leave your examples in the comments!</i><br /><br />How about repeating the word "good"?<br /><br />Sorry, couldn't resist!<br />Mike Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06039663158335543317noreply@blogger.com