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论文写作技巧系列 | “Respectively”和数字的用法

论文写作技巧系列 | “Respectively”和数字的用法


Respectively

很多作者,无论其母语为英语或非英语,都经常会错误地使用“Respectively”一词。


”Respectively”是个副词,意思是“分别地、各自地、依次为”,经常在写论文时用到。


其实在行文时不使用这个词倒可能会更清晰一些,不过,如果在列举两组相对应的单项事物时,使用这个词的确有助于节约篇幅。


我们不妨来看下面这个句子:

“The latencies to withdrawal from a painful stimulus in control and transgenic mice were 3 s and 2 s, respectively”。


在这里,对照组小鼠的缩足反射潜伏期是3秒,而转基因小鼠则是2秒。如果我们描述的对象不是“withdrawal from a painful stimulus”,而是较短的词或词组(如,“average weights”),就不必使用“respectively”;


“Control mice weighed 20±3 g and transgenic mice weighed 17±2 g”要比“Control mice and transgenic mice weighed 20±3 g and 17±2 g, respectively”好,因为后者多了一个额外的词。


请注意,“respectively”一词仅用来表示两组或两个系列中单项事物之间一对一的关系


因此,下面这个句子是不正确的,也无从理解:“The latencies to withdrawal from 5 g and 10 g painful stimuli in control and transgenic mice were 3 s and 2 s, respectively”。


  • “The proportions of monocytes positive for CD163, CD7 and CD11a were 45%, 63% and 70%, respectively”

    (用“respectively”一词后,读者就能清楚地理解这3个百分比指代的是按相同次序排列的3个标记物)


数字

数字1到100、整十整百这样的概数需要全拼写出来,除非指数值单位,或是在叙述一个数值范围。


“The control group (three males and two females)…”

“Patients were administered 3 mg/kg TNF…”

“There were 5–10 patients in each group”


如果数字以及度量衡或时间单位出现在句首,数字和单位均应完整拼写。或者改写句子,不以数字开头。


16 species of whale have been added to the list of the world`s endangered animals. 【错误
Sixteen species of whale have been added to the list of the world`s endangered animals. 【正确


如果数字是英文拼写,其单位也要用拼写。

15 mL of buffer was added to the solution. 【错误

Fifteen milliliters of buffer was added to the solution. 【正确


“Thirty-three sections were cut from each block using a cryostat”

“Ten microliters of drug was administered to each patient”

“Drug (10 μl) was administered to each patient”


如果句首的数字超过100,为了表达清晰,最好改写这句话。

Three hundred and sixty-seven participants took part in the study. 【错误

A total of 367 participants took part in the study. 【正确


数字和单位之间应有一个空格 (百分号 %除外)

20 mg, 40 mL, 3 days, 15%


叙述量时用“of”,但是叙述浓度时不要用“of”

mice were given 50 mg of 3-NPA

mice were given 50 mg/kg 3-NPA


大于9999的数字使用千分位逗号

11,000 2,353,000


作者介绍

Daniel McGowan, PhD, 

Certified Medical Publications Professional

理文编辑学术总监

曾任《Nature Reviews Neuroscience》副主编