Friday, November 14, 2008

五步驟快速校稿技巧 幫助您完成一個零錯誤的文稿

Submit an Error-Free Manuscript: 5 Proofreading Tips for Researchers


Proofreading errors leave a negative impression with the editor and the referee. Small mistakes and oversights in a manuscript often lead to misinterpretation or confuse the reader.

In this article, we illustrate the common language and formatting errors that authors are likely to spot when they proofread a manuscript. The list of errors is followed by 5 simple tips on how authors can avoid such errors in future.

This article will help you identify errors in your writing and submit an error-free copy to the journal.

What does proofreading mean?
To proof means to examine text carefully to find and correct typographical errors and errors in punctuation and spelling. Thus, proofreading is the process of checking text to ensure that it reads correct and is ready for publication

Why is proofreading important?

An instructor has quite humorously, but aptly, pointed out the effects of bad proofreading:
Turning in a paper with bad proofreading is like going to a party, dressed in your finest but without having brushed your teeth that morning. Basically, bad proofreading makes you look careless and dumb, which you are not.

On a more serious note, a number of manuscripts that are returned after peer review include referee comments such as
Please check the spellings in the manuscript carefully.
A number of grammatical errors are still evident in the manuscript.
English writing needs to be improved; the manuscript still contains language errors.

Besides leaving a negative impression with the editor and the referee, small mistakes and oversights often lead to misinterpretation or confuse the reader. For instance, a typographical error in the concluding sentence of a study could reduce the overall impact of the entire study.


詳全文

93%的日本研究人員認為英文語言在決定期刊影響力指數中佔了重要角色

The Quality of English Language in Japanese Journals—Opinions of Authors, Journal Editors, Journal Managers, and Publishers

93% of the researchers in Japan believe that English has a role in deciding the impact factor of a journal—a survey report!"

In a survey conducted by the Center for Research Writing Resources, based on a presentation at the 2005 SPARC summit in Japan, 93% of the Japanese researchers claimed that the English language has a role in influencing the ranking and impact factor of English journals published in Japan.
The survey revealed that editing is an important activity in preparing a manuscript. In order to accomplish this task successfully, journal editors have encouraged authors to employ professional English editing services.

The purpose of this survey was to form a collective opinion on the quality of the English language in Japanese journals. This report aims to provide you—the researcher—an opportunity to understand the current trends in English research writing from the perspective of authors and journal editors.

It offers you valuable insight and information on the editing process and the prime causes for rejection of articles by editors. The information contained in this report is of great value to all those researchers who wish to dramatically improve the chances of their success.

閱讀此報告全文

英文編輯對研究人員有什麼樣的幫助?

想想你是試著說服某本期刊你的研究對於科學界會產生重大影響的研究人員。但他們拒絕了你的研究,原因就只因為你的完成手稿有錯。這是不是很有可能的事?

語言、一致性、選字等的錯誤反應出作者某種程度的粗心,而且可能會讓論文審查人懷疑你的研究是否真的值得在國際期刊上發表。

此外,國際期刊在發表特定研究方面有他們自己一套嚴格的判斷規則。他們的審查委員會由專精於快速判斷出某篇特定文章是否適合期刊目標讀者閱讀的人員所組成。這表示打算發表在期刊上的手稿,必須完全符合該期刊訂下的規則和指示。

再者,期刊編輯覺得格式正確、沒有語焉不詳且結構良好的手稿更容易閱讀,並因此更容易理解。當他們的想法不是在注意你的手稿的錯誤,而是在研究本身時,你可以放心的是你的研究被接受出版的機率將會大幅提高。

請記得,你花在修改論文的每一分錢都值得,因為首先它消除了你心中的疑慮,並讓你安心寫出你的想法,第二,它可以讓你有更多時間專心撰寫論文,而不是將時間花在擔心你的撰寫品質上。論文發表後,對你的鼓舞超乎你的想像,這樣能激勵你越寫越多。第一次撰寫的作者和職業作者之間的差別只在於有沒有一個好的編輯。請立即與我們聯絡,這樣你寫出的內容會得到你應該受到的重視。

想更了解英文編修服務 請到以下網址 www.editage.tw