Anglais Scientifique
Kursthemen
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Anglais scientifique, or "Scientific English," refers to a specialized form of the English language used within the international scientific community. It is essential for researchers, scientists, and scholars to communicate their findings, theories, and research effectively in English, as it is the lingua franca of science.
Key points about Anglais Scientifique include:
Specialized Vocabulary: It involves a specific lexicon and terminology related to various scientific fields.
Clarity and Precision: Scientific English emphasizes clarity, precision, and accuracy in conveying scientific concepts.
International Communication: It facilitates communication between scientists worldwide, enabling the exchange of ideas and research findings.
Academic Publications: Many scientific journals require articles to be written in English, further underscoring its importance.
For those studying or working in scientific fields, learning and using Anglais Scientifique is crucial for effective communication and collaboration in the global scientific community.
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Present Continuous Tense
A. We use the present continuous when we talk about something that is happening at the same time of speaking.
B. We also use the present continuous when we talk about something that is happening around the time of speaking.
C. We use the present continuous when we talk about changing situations (something that is growing or developing).
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Past simple tense
A. We use the simple past to talk about actions or situations in the past.
B. very often the simple past ends in – ed
C. In the simple past and negatives we use did/ didn’t + stem
D. We use did/ didn’t with have:
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The past perfect tense
Sometimes we talk about something that happened in the past e.g I arrived to the party. We use the past perfect to talk about something that already happened before this time (an action that happened before another one)
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Organic chemistry is the study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-containing compounds. Most organic compounds contain carbon and hydrogen, but they may also include any number of other elements (e.g., nitrogen, oxygen, halogens, phosphorus, silicon, sulfur).
In this video,
What Is Organic Chemistry?
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Organic chemistry is the study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-containing compounds. Most organic compounds contain carbon and hydrogen, but they may also include any number of other elements (e.g., nitrogen, oxygen, halogens, phosphorus, silicon, sulfur).
In this video,
What Is Organic Chemistry?
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How to find an academic research paper
This tip sheet will briefly discuss the resources we use.
Google Scholar
Let’s say we’re looking for papers on the opioid crisis. We often start with Google Scholar, a free service from Google that searches scholarly articles, books and documents rather than the entire web: scholar.google.com.
But a search for the keyword “opioids” returns almost half a million results, some from the 1980s. Let’s narrow down our search. On the left, you see options “anytime” (the default), “since 2013,” “since 2016,” etc. Try “since 2017” and the results are now about 17,000. You can also insert a custom range to search for specific years. And you can include patents or citations, if you like (unchecking these will slightly decrease the number of results).
Still too many results. To narrow the search further, try any trick you’d use with Google. (Here are some tips from MIT on how to supercharge your Google searches.) Let’s look for papers on opioids published in 2015 that look at race and exclude fentanyl (Google: “opioids +race -fentanyl”). Now we’re down to 2,750 results. Better.
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Unless you tell Google to “sort by date,” the search engine will generally weight the papers that have been cited most often so you will see them first.
Try different keywords. If you’re looking for a paper that studies existing research, include the term “meta-analysis.” Try searching by the author’s name, if you know it, or title of the paper. Look at the endnotes in papers you like for other papers. And look at the papers that cited the paper you like; they’ll probably be useful for your project.
Paywalls
If you locate a study and it’s behind a paywall, try these steps:
- Click on “all versions.” Some may be available for free. (Though check the date, as this may include earlier drafts of a paper.)
- Reach out to the journal and the scholar. (The scholar’s email is often on the abstract page. Also, scholars generally have an easy-to-find webpage.) One is likely to give you a free copy of the paper, especially if you are a member of the press.
- In regular Google, search for the study by title and you might find a free version.
Other databases
- PubMed Central at the National Library of Medicine: If you are working on a topic that has a relationship to health, try this database run by the National Institutes of Health. This free site hosts articles or abstracts and links to free versions of a paper if they are available. Often Google Scholar will point you here.
- If you have online access to a university library or a local library, try that.
- Directory of Open Access Journals.
- Digital Public Library of America.
- Subscription services include org and Web of Science.
For more on efforts to make scholarly research open and accessible for all, check out SPARC, a coalition of university libraries.
Citations as a measure of impact
How do you know if a paper is impactful? Some scholars use the number of times the paper has been cited by other scholars. But that can be problematic: Some papers cite papers that are flawed simply to debunk them. Some topics will be cited more often than others. And new research, even if it’s high-quality, may not be cited yet.
The impact factor measures how frequently a journal, not a paper, is cited.
This guide from the University of Illinois, Chicago, has more on metrics.
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Use Google Scholar for Academic Research: Google Scholar Search Tips & Tricks
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The SNDL provides you with access to a rich and diverse collection of national and international electronic documentation, covering all areas of education and scientific research
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How to get a research paper from SNDL
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If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me right away.
Best regards,
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Reading a Scientific Article
Attempting to read a scientific or scholarly research article for the first time may seem overwhelming and confusing. This guide details how to read a scientific article step-by-step. First, you should not approach a scientific article like a textbook— reading from beginning to end of the chapter or book without pause for reflection or criticism. Additionally, it is highly recommended that you highlight and take notes as you move through the article. Taking notes will keep you focused on the task at hand and help you work towards comprehension of the entire article.
- Skim the article. This should only take you a few minutes. You are not trying to comprehend the entire article at this point, but just get a basic overview. You don’t have to read in order; the discussion/conclusions will help you to determine if the article is relevant to your research. You might then continue on to the Introduction. Pay attention to the structure of the article, headings, and figures.
- Grasp the vocabulary. Begin to go through the article and highlight words and phrases you do not understand. Some words or phrases you may be able to get an understanding from the context in which it is used, but for others you may need the assistance of a medical or scientific dictionary. Subject-specific dictionaries available through our Library databases and online are listed below.
- Identify the structure of the article and work on your comprehension. Most journals use an IMRD structure: An abstract followed by Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. These sections typically contain conventional features, which you will start to recognize. If you learn to look for these features you will begin to read and comprehend the article more quickly.
- The abstract gives a quick overview of the article. It will usually contain four pieces of information: purpose or rationale of study (why they did it); methodology (how they did it); results (what they found); conclusion (what it means). Begin by reading the abstract to make sure this is what you are looking for and that it will be worth your time and effort.
- The introduction gives background information about the topic and sets out specific questions to be addressed by the authors. You can skim through the introduction if you are already familiar with the paper’s topic.
- The methods section gives technical details of how the experiments were carried out and serves as a “how-to” manual if you wanted to replicate the same experiments as the authors. This is another section you may want to only skim unless you wish to identify the methods used by the researchers or if you intend to replicate the research yourself.
- The results are the meat of the scientific article and contain all of the data from the experiments. You should spend time looking at all the graphs, pictures, and tables as these figures will contain most of the data.
- Lastly, the discussion is the authors’ opportunity to give their opinions. Keep in mind that the discussions are the authors’ interpretations and not necessarily facts. It is still a good place for you to get ideas about what kind of research questions are still unanswered in the field and what types of questions you might want your own research project to tackle. (See the Future Research Section of the Research Process for more information).
- The abstract gives a quick overview of the article. It will usually contain four pieces of information: purpose or rationale of study (why they did it); methodology (how they did it); results (what they found); conclusion (what it means). Begin by reading the abstract to make sure this is what you are looking for and that it will be worth your time and effort.
- Read the bibliography/references section. Reading the references or works cited may lead you to other useful resources. You might also get a better understanding of the basic terminology, main concepts, major researchers, and basic terminology in the area you are researching.
- Reflect on what you have read and draw your own conclusions. As you are reading jot down any questions that come to mind. They may be answered later on in the article or you may have stumbled upon something that the authors did not consider. Here are some examples of questions you may ask yourself as you read:
- Have I taken time to understand all the terminology?
- Am I spending too much time on the less important parts of this article?
- Do I have any reason to question the credibility of this research?
- What specific problem does the research address and why is it important?
- How do these results relate to my research interests or to other works which I have read?
- Read the article a second time in chronological order. Reading the article a second time will reinforce your overall understanding. You may even start to make connections to other articles that you have read on this topic.
This workshop presents effective techniques for reading and understanding a scholarly article, as well as locating definitions related to your research topic.
- Skim the article. This should only take you a few minutes. You are not trying to comprehend the entire article at this point, but just get a basic overview. You don’t have to read in order; the discussion/conclusions will help you to determine if the article is relevant to your research. You might then continue on to the Introduction. Pay attention to the structure of the article, headings, and figures.
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1. Scholarly Publication
7 Article types that journals publish
The types of publications are different in different fields. For instance, a clinical trial is possible only in the field of medicine, while an empirical study is more common in the field of social sciences. It is important to remember that not all journals publish every kind of article. Therefore, most journal publishers provide prospective authors with accurate and specific guidelines for the different articles they publish. Specifications about the types of articles published can be found under the guidelines to authors section on a journal’s website. If you have a target journal in mind, you should check whether it publishes the kind of manuscript, you are planning to write.
Some of the possible types of scientific publications are:
1. Original research: These are detailed studies reporting original research and are classified as primary literature. They include hypothesis, background study, methods, results, interpretation of findings, and a discussion of possible implications. Original research articles are long, with the word limit ranging from 3000 to 6000 and can even go up to 12,000 words for some journals. These require a significant investment of time.
2. Review article: Review articles provide a critical and constructive analysis of existing published literature in a field, through summary, analysis, and comparison, often identifying specific gaps or problems and providing recommendations for future research. These are considered as secondary literature since they generally do not present new data from the author's experimental work. Review articles can be of three types, broadly speaking: literature reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. Review articles can be of varying lengths depending upon the journal and subject area. For narrative reviews or literature reviews, the length could range anywhere between 8000 to 40,000 words while systematic reviews are usually less than 10,000 words long.6 However, some journals also publish shorter reviews, around 3000-5000 words long.
3. Clinical case study: Clinical case studies present the details of real patient cases from medical or clinical practice. The cases presented are usually those that contribute significantly to the existing knowledge on the field. The study is expected to discuss the signs, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of a disease. These are considered primary literature and usually have a word count similar to that of an original article. Clinical case studies require a lot of practical experience and may not be a suitable publication format for early career researchers.
4. Clinical trial: Once again, specific to the field of medicine, clinical trials describe the methodology, implementation, and results of controlled studies, usually undertaken with large patient groups. Clinical trial articles are also long, usually of about the same length as an original research article. Clinical trials also require practical work experience, as well as, high standards of ethics and reliability. Therefore, this format is more useful for experienced researchers.
5. Perspective, opinion, and commentary:
Perspective pieces are scholarly reviews of fundamental concepts or prevalent ideas in a field. Usually these essays present a personal point of view reviewing widespread notions pertaining to a field. A perspective piece can be a review of a single concept or a few related concepts. These are considered as secondary literature and are usually short articles, around 2000 words.2
Opinion articles present the author’s viewpoint on the interpretation, analysis, or methods used in a particular study. It allows the author to comment on the strength and weakness of a theory or hypothesis. Opinion articles are usually based on constructive criticism and should be backed by evidence. Such articles promote discussion on current issues concerning science. These are also relatively short articles.
Commentaries are short articles usually around 1000-1,500 words long that draw attention to or present a criticism of a previously published article, book, or report, explaining why it interested them and how it might be illuminating for readers.
6. Conference papers
Conference papers can be an effective way to try out new ideas, introduce your work to colleagues, and hone your research questions. Presenting at a conference is a great opportunity for gaining valuable feedback from a community of scholars and for increasing your professional stature in your field. A conference paper is often both a written document and an oral presentation. You may be asked to submit a copy of your paper to a commentator before you present at the conference. Thus, your paper should follow the conventions for academic papers and oral presentations.
7. Short Communications
Short Communications are short papers that present original and significant material for rapid dissemination. For example, a Short Communication may focus on a particular aspect of a problem or a new finding that is expected to have a significant impact. Short articles include, but are not limited to: discovery or development of new materials, cutting-edge experiments and theory, novelty in simulation and modeling, elucidation of mechanisms. As Short Communications are expected to have higher than average impact on the field rather than report on incremental research, they will receive prioritized and rapid publication. Short Communications are limited to 3000 words and are not subdivided. The paper should contain an abstract, main body and references, and contain no more than 6 figures or tables, combined. The abstract is limited to 100 words.
2. Digital Object Identifier (D.O.I)
A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a unique, persistent identifying number for a document published online. It appears on a document or in a bibliographic citation as an alphanumeric string of characters that that acts as an active link to the original digital object (journal article, report, etc.). Resolve a DOI Name
https://www.doi.org/index.html
3. Impact factor (IF) or Impact Score (IS)
The impact score (IS), also denoted as Journal impact score (JIS) or IF, of an academic journal is a measure of the yearly average number of citations to recent articles published in that journal. It is based on Scopus data.
Impact Score is defined as the ratio of the number of citations a journal receives in the latest two years (Including the year of calculation) to the number of publications (published documents) of that Journal in those two years. It is calculated as Cites / Doc. (2years).
It helps to measure the relative importance of journals within particular areas and to compare the journals within the same areas. The higher the JIS, the better it is ranked. Typically, journals with more review articles or papers are able to achieve higher JIS.
To find Impact Score of any journal
https://www.resurchify.com/if/impact-factor-search
4. Order of authors on a scientific paper
The most common way authors are listed is by relative contribution. The author who most substantially worked on the draft article and the underlying research becomes the first author. The others are ranked in descending order of contribution. For more information :
https://blog.wordvice.com/journal-article-author-order/
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