如何写一篇高质量的科技论文(英文版)
三毛陈平-
What is a scientific paper? A paper is an
organized description of hypotheses, data and
conclusions, intended to instruct the
reader. Papers are a central part of research. If
your
research does not generate papers,
it might just as well not have been done.
“
Interesting
and
unpublished
”
is equivalent
to
“
non-
existent.
”
什么是科技论
文？科技论文是集假说、数据和结论为一体的概括性描述，以此向读者论述。
论文是研究
工作的中心部分。
如果你的研究没有写成论文，
也就等同于没有
做研究。
有意义
但没有发表，等同于不存在。
< br>
Realize
that
your
objective
in
research
is
to
formulate
and
test
hypotheses,
to
draw
conclusions from these tests, and to
teach these conclusions to others. Your objective
is
not to
“
collect
data.
”
要意识到研究的目的是
为了形成并证实假说，
从一些测试中得出结论，
并把结论传授给
别人。
你的研究目的不是简单的收集数据。
A paper is not just an archival device
for storing a completed research program, it is
also
a structure for planning your
research in progress. If you clearly understand
the purpose
and form of a paper, it can
be immensely useful to you in organizing and
conducting your
research. A good
outline for the paper is also a good plan for the
research program. You
should write and
rewrite these plans/outlines throughout the course
of the research. At the
beginning, you
will have mostly plan; at the end, mostly outline.
The continuous effort to
understand,
analyze, summarize, and reformulate hypotheses on
paper will be immensely
more efficient
for you than a process in which you collect data
and only start to organize
them when
their collection is
“
complete
.
”
一篇论文并不仅仅是收集已经得
到的研究结果，它也有助于形成进一步的研究工作的框架。
如果明确了论文的目的，
这对于计划开展你的研究工作有很大益处。
好的文章提要也是研究<
/p>
工作的好计划，
在研究的过程中，应该反复修改这些计划或提要。
研究工作开始时，应有完
善的计划；工作结束时，应充分的总结
。最有效率的做法是及时的理解，
分析，
总结，
形成假说；
而不是等到完成时才开始收集和整理数据。
The
reason
for
outlines.
I
emphasize
the
central
place
of
an
outline
in
writing
papers,
preparing seminars, and planning
research. I especially believe that for you, and
for me, it
is
most
efficient
to
write
papers
from
outlines.
An
outline
is
a
written
plan
of
the
organization of a paper,
including the data on which it rests. You should,
in fact, think of an
outline
as
a
carefully
organized
and
presented
set
of
data,
with
attendant
objectives,
hypotheses and conclusions, rather than
an outline of text.
为什么要写提纲？我在这里要强调提纲在论
文写作，准备报告以及研究计划中的重要作用。
我尤其相信按照提纲进行写作对我们大家
都是最有效的方法。提纲是一篇论文的行文计划，
应该包括论文所依靠的数据。事实上，
提纲不仅仅是列出各段的内容，
而是按照目的，
假说，
结论来精心组织数据。
An
outline itself contains little text. If you and I
can agree on the details of the outline (that
is, on the data and organization), the
supporting text can be assembled fairly easily. If
we
do not agree on the outline, any
text is useless. Much of the time in writing a
paper goes
into
the
text;
most
of
the
thought
goes
into
the
organization
of
the
data
and
into
the
analysis.
It
can
be
relatively
efficient
to
go
through
several
(even
many)
cycles
of
an
outline before beginning to write text;
writing many versions of the full text of a paper
is
slow.
提纲本身应该文字简练。如果大家都同意提
纲中的细节部分，那么正文组织起来就更容易。
在我们就提纲达成一致以前，
写正文是没有意义的。
写文章时，
大部份时间花在写正文上；
而大部份思考是用在整理和分析数据。在动笔前，
详细讨论几遍写作提纲会提高写作效率；
写很多遍正文反倒很慢。
All the writing that I do - papers,
reports, proposals (and, of course, slides for
seminars)- I
do from outlines. I urge
you to learn how to use them as well.
我写的所有文章，包括论文，报告，
建议（当然还有讨论会的胶片）都从提纲开始。我也
希望你们能学会使用它。
How should you construct an
outline? The classical approach is to start with a
blank piece
of paper, and write down,
in any order, all important ideas that occur to
you concerning the
paper. Ask yourself
the obvious questions:
“
Why
did
I do
this
work?
”
“
What does it
mean?
”“
What
hypothesis
did
I
mean
to
test?
”“
What
ones
did
I
actually
test?
”“
What
were
the
results?
”“
Did
the
work
yield
a
new
method
or
compound?
What?
”“
What
measurements
did
I
make?
”“
What
compounds?
How
were
they
characterized?
”
Sketch possible equations, figures, and schemes.
It is essential to try to
get the
major ideas written
down. If
you start the
research
to
test one
hypothesis, and
decide,
when
you
see
what
you
have,
that
the
data
really
seem
to
test
some
other
hypothesis better,
don't worry. Write them both down, and pick the
best combinations of
hypotheses,
objectives and data. Often the objectives of a
paper when it is finished are
different
from those used to justify starting the work. Much
of good science is opportunistic
and
revisionist.
你应该如何起草你的提要？最经典的方法就是找一页空白的
纸，
以任何顺序，
写下与这篇文
章有关
的所有重要观点。
自问一些显而易见的问题：
为什么我要做这项
工作？它意味着什么
?
我要验证哪些假设
?
我究竟验证了哪些假设？
结果如何？
这项工作产生了新方法或
新物
质吗？都是什么？我都做了那些测试？什么化合物？
它们是如何表征的？展示相关的方
程，图表和示意图。
试着写出主要的观点。如果你的研究开始是为证实一个假设，
然而当你
发现你有的数据仿佛真的可以更好地验证其它的假设时，
你也不必担心
。
把它们两者都写出
来，去选择假设，目的和数据的最佳组合。
时常，当一篇文章完成时，它的目的和开始时是
不同的。许多好的科学来自机遇和反复修
正。
When you have written
down what you can, start with another piece of
paper and try to
organize the jumble of
the first one. Sort all of your ideas into three
major heaps (A-C).
当你已经写下你能写的，再拿出一页纸，试着
草拟一份提纲。将你的观点分成三大类（见
A,B,C
）
A) Introduction
Why
did I do the work? What were the central
motivations and hypotheses?
A
）引言
为什么我要做这件工作，主要的目的和假设是什么？
B) Results and Discussion
What
were
the
results?
How
were
compounds
made
and
characterized?
What
was
measured?
B
）结果和讨论
结果是什么？化合物是怎样合成与表征的？测试方法是什么？
C) Conclusions
What does it
all mean? What hypotheses were proved or
disproved? What did I learn?
Why does
it make a difference?
C
）结论
所
有这一切意味着什么？证实或否定了什么假设？我学到了什么？结果为什么与众不同？
Next,
take
each
of
these
sections,
and
organize
it
on
yet
finer
scale.
Concentrate
on
organizing the data. Construct figures,
tables, and schemes to present the data as clearly
and compactly as possible. This process
can be slow - I may sketch a figure 5-10 times in
different ways, trying to decide how it
is most clear (and looks best aesthetically).
接下来，
把每一部分再仔细组织。尤
其是要集中整理数据。要尽可能把数据以清晰、紧凑
的图表来展示。这个过程也许会慢些
。我可能要用
5~10
次，而且是以不同的方式，来构思
一张图，以便决定怎样它才最清楚（而且看上去更加美观）
。
Finally, put everything-outline
of sections, tables, sketches of figures,
equations - in good
order.
最
后，把所有这些
-
内容的提纲、表格、草图、方程式，排好顺序
。
When
you
are
satisfied
that
you
have
included
all
the
data
(or
that
you
know
what
additional data you intend to collect),
and have a plausible organization, give the
outline to
me. Simply indicate where
missing data will go, how you think (hypothesize)
they will look,
and how you will
interpret them if your hypothesis is correct. I
will take this outline, add my
opinions, suggest changes, and return
it to
you. It usually takes 4-5
repeated
attempts
(often with additional experiments) to
agree on an outline. When we have agreed, the data
are usually in (or close to) final form
(that is, the tables, figures, etc., in the
outline will be
the tables,
figures,
„
in the paper.)
当你已经囊括了所有的数据（或者你明确知道你还需要收集哪些额外的数据）
，有了一个合
理的构架，
你对这些都感到满意时，
将大纲交给我。简要地标明哪些地方还缺数据，你认为
（或推测）
这些数据大概是什么样。
如果你的推测是正确的，
你将如何去解释它。
拿到你的
大纲后，我将把我的观点，建
议反馈给你。一般，我们需要四或五个来回才能达成一致（中
间经常还需要补做一些实验
）
。在我们的意见一致后，所有的数据通常以最终（或接近最终
的）形式确定下来（也就是说，在提纲中的表格，图表等最终将成为文章中的表格，图表）
。
You can then start
writing, with some assurance that much of your
prose will be used.
然后，你就可以开始动笔写，注意你写的这些大多将用于正文。
The
key
to
efficient
use
of
your
and
my
time
is
that
we
start
exchanging
outlines
and
proposals as early in a
project as possible. Do not, under any
circumstances, wait until the
collection of data is
“
complete
”
before
starting to write an outline. No project is ever
complete, and it saves enormous effort
and much time to propose a plausible paper and
outline
as
soon
as
you
see
the
basic
structure
of
a
project.
Even
if
we
decide
to
do
significant
additional
work
before
seriously
organizing
a
paper,
the
effort
of
writing
an
outline will have helped to guide the
research.
合理使用我们的时间的关键是，
我们应尽
可能早地交换提纲和建议。
在任何情况下，
都不要
等到你已经收集“全”了数据之后才开始动笔写提纲。
研究是永无止境的。<
/p>
当你看到你的结
果初具雏形时，
就要立即
开始准备构思文章和提纲，
这将节省你很多的精力和时间。
即便
在
认真组织成文前，
我们已经决定补做重要的其他实验，
试着写一个提纲也一定对研究有指导
意义。
The outline
提纲
What should an outline contain?
提纲需要包括哪些内容？
Title:
Authors:
Abstract: Do not write an abstract.
That can be done when the paper is complete.
标题：
作者：
摘要：不要着急写摘要，可以等文章写完后再写。
Introduction: The first paragraph or
two should be written out completely. Pay
particular
attention to the opening
sentence. Ideally, it should state concisely the
objective of the
work, and indicate why
this objective is important.
引言：文章的第
1
或
2
段应该完全用
来写引言。要特别注意写好开头一句话。最好是简洁地
陈述工作的目的，并指明该工作为
什么重要。
In general, the
Introduction should have these elements:
The objectives of the work.
The justification for these objectives:
Why is the work important?
Background:
Who else has done what? How? What have we done
previously?
Guidance to the
reader. What should
the
reader watch
for in
the
paper? What are the
interesting high points? What strategy
did we use?
一般而言，引言应该包含以下几个要素：
工作目的。
对工作目的评价：该工作为什么很重要？
工作背景：谁做了什么工作？做得怎么样？以前我们做了哪些工作？
导读：读者应该注意该文章的哪些方面？有意义的要点有哪些？我们用到了哪些策略？