Science Research Writing - Discussion/Conclusion

Science Research Writing for Non-Native Speakers of English by (Glasman-Deal, 2009) takes all the credit for images and examples.

Structure

Information Flow

A Model for Discussion / Conclusion

A useful writing model can be transferred, but don’t expect a perfect model.

All models are wrong, but some are useful. The famous quote about statistical models by George E.P. Box also applies to writing models.

Four Basic Components

Model Components
Part I
Revisiting previous sections
Summarizing/Revisiting General or Key Results
Part II
Mapping the Present Work into the Research Map
Part III
Achievement/Contribution
Refining the Implications
Part IV
Limitations
Current and Future Work
Applications

Train of Thoughts

In this section, the message that you’d like to send to your readers is:

Something is a possible reason, or an obvious interpretation, or a probable implication.

A good writing model for the Discussion/Conclusion section should answer the following questions:

• How do writers normally start the Discussion/Conclusion?
• What type of information should it contain, and in what order?
• How do writers normally end the Discussion/Conclusion?

In the Discussion/Conclusion section (in contrast to the Introduction section), you

• Begin by revisiting some aspects of your work to create a reverse interface.
• Move away from your relatively narrow research focus to a wider, more general focus.
• End by helping your readers move out of the article.
• Locate your study in relation to that research map.
• Articulate to what extent you have responded to that gap or solved the problem.

You will normally outline the limitations of your own work, but this is NOT expressed as a problem with your work, rather it provides suggestions for future work. This invitation to the research community improves the status of your work by communicating that there is much research to be done in this area.

• Use will to communicate your own intentions or work in progress.
• Use should to invite research from others.

Grammar and Writing Skills

Modal Verbs

Modal verbs are often used to modify the “truth value” of a sentence. They are difficult to use for mainly two reasons. First of all, some modal verbs have more than one meaning. Therefore, make sure you know exactly what’s your implication when you are using a modal verb. Second, most modal verbs do not follow standard grammar rules. Some disappear and others change their meaning in the negative, or in a different tense.

Some use of modal verbs, such as suing may and can to request permission, are not included because they are not useful in science research writing.

Ability/Capability

Tense	Form	Example
Present Simple	can	This software can distinguish between different viruses.
Present Simple Negative	cannot	Until 18 months a child cannot use symbols to represent objects.
Past Simple	could	It was found that the gun could shoot accurately even at 300 meters.
	could have	If we had extended the time period we could have produced more crystals.
Past Simple Negative	could not	In 1990, 80% of households could not receive digital television.
	could not have	The subjects reported that they could not have fallen asleep without medication.

• For Future Simple tense, you need to switch to be capable of or be able to.
• Could means “was generally capable of doing/was able to do something in the past”, whereas was able to is used in relation to specific past events or past occasions. Generally speaking, be able to is a safer choice when you are not sure which to use.

Possibility/Options

Tense	Form	Example
Present Simple	may might could can	A rubber seal may/might/could/can be useful at this location.
Present Simple Negative	may not might not could not cannot	A rubber seal may not/might not be useful at this location.
Past Simple	may have might have could have can have	The fall in pressure may have been/might have been/could have been caused by leakage.
Past Simple Negative	may not have might not have could not have cannot have	The fall in pressure may not have been/might not have been caused by leakage.

• well can be added to communicate a stronger belief in the possibility.

  This may well be due to leakage.

• might is slightly weaker than may

• can not and cannot don’t mean the same thing at all!

  • can not means possibly not in the same way as may not or might not
  • cannot means impossible

Probability/Belief/Expectation

Tense	Form	Example
Present Simple	should ought to	The material should remain stable if it is kept below 30°C.
Present Simple Negative	should not ought not to	It is clear that contamination cannot/could not be due to the presence of sea water in the pipe.
Past Simple	should have ought to have	Our results indicate that contamination must have been due to the presence of sea water in the pipe.
Past Simple Negative	should not have ought not to have	It was clear that contamination could not be/cannot have been/could not have been due to the presence of sea water in the pipe.

*Although ought to means the same as should, it’s less common in science research writing.

Virtual Certainty

Tense	Form	Example
Present Simple	must have to	Our results indicate that contamination must be due to the presence of sea water in the pipe.
Present Simple Negative	cannot	It is clear that contamination cannot/could not be due to the presence of sea water in the pipe.
Past Simple	must have	Our results indicate that contamination must have been due to the presence of sea water in the pipe.
Past Simple Negative	cannot have could not could not have	It was clear that contamination could not be/cannot have been/could not have been due to the presence of sea water in the pipe.

• “virtual certainty” modals communicate the fact that no other explanation is possible.
• have to is less common in science writing, so examples have not been given.
• must not means “not allowed/permitted”, it doesn’t mean “not possible”.

Advice/Opinion

Tense	Form	Example
Present Simple	should ought to	The apparatus should be disconnected from the mains during repairs.
Present Simple Negative	should not ought not to	This material should not be exposed to sunlight.
Past Simple	should have ought to have	Our results indicate that contamination must have been due to the presence of sea water in the pipe.
Past Simple Negative	should not have ought not to have	It was clear that contamination could not be/cannot have been/could not have been due to the presence of sea water in the pipe.

Necessity/Obligation

Tense	Form	Example
Present Simple	must need to have to	The apparatus must/needs to/has to be disconnected from the mains during repairs.
Present Simple Negative	need not do not need to do not have to	The apparatus need not/does not need to/does not have to be disconnected from the mains during repairs.
Past Simple	needed to had to	We needed to/had to heat the valves before use.
Past Simple Negative	did not need to did not have to need not have	We did not need to/did not have to heat the valves before use. We need not have heated the valves before use.

Vocabulary

Mapping

This/Our study/method/result/approach is…	This/Our study…
analogous to	broadens	modifies
comparable to	challenges	proves
compatible with	compares well (with)	provides insight into
consistent with	confirms	provides support for
identical (to)	contradicts	refutes
in contradiction to	corresponds to	supports
in contrast to	corroborates	tends to refute
in good agreement (with)	differs (from)	verify
in line with	extends
significantly different (to/from)	expands
the first of its kind	goes against
(very/remarkably) similar (to)	lends support to
unlike	mirrors

Achievement/Contribution

*Science writing does not generally permit the use of the exclamation mark (!), but the vocabulary used to state your achievement or contribution can still communicate that the achievement is exciting.

Exclamation Mark Substitutions

Col 1	Col 2
compelling	overwhelming
crucial	perfect
dramatic	powerful
excellent	remarkable
exceptional	striking
exciting	surprising
extraordinary	undeniable
ideal	unique
invaluable	unusual
outstanding	unprecedented
	vital

Positive Language

Adjective	Verb
accurate	assist
advantage	compare well with
appropriate	confirm
attractive	could lead to
beneficial	enable
better	enhance
clear	ensure
comprehensive	facilitate
convenient	help to
convincing	improve
correct	is able to
cost-effective	offer an understanding of
easy	outperform
effective	prove
efficient	provide a framework
encouraging	provide insight into
evident	provide the first evidence
exact	remove the need for
feasible	represent a new approach to
flexible	reveal
important	rule out
low-cost	solve
novel	succeed in
productive	support
realistic	yield
relevant
robust
simple
stable
straightforward
strong
successful
superior
undeniable
useful
valid
valuable

Limitations/Current and Future Research

Col 1	Col 2
a/the need for	possible direction
at present	promising
encouraging	recommend
fruitful	remain to be (identifi ed)
further investigations	research opportunities
further work is needed	should be explored
further work is planned	should be replicated
future work/studies should	should be validated
future work/studies will	should be verifi ed
in the future, care should be taken	starting point
in the future, it is advised that…	the next stage
holds promise	urgent
interesting	worthwhile
it would be beneficial/useful

Applications/Applicability/Implementation

Col 1	Col 2
eventually	apply
in future	have potential
soon	implement
possible	lead to
	produce
	use
	utilize

Reference

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1. Glasman-Deal, H. (2009). Science research writing for non-native speakers of English. World Scientific.