英文论文难,不是难在写作素材上,而是难在不熟悉专业的词汇,中国的留学生大多本身的英语基础不好,很多都是应付各种考试而准备的词汇,和英语母语的外国学生相比,中国学生写作能力则欠缺不少。还有一点,用英语写论文难,是因为不太了解学术英语的语言特点。本文主要在于讨论学术论文写作的方法,包括学术论文写作中常用的句型结构,对于很多初次写作的新手来说应该有所帮助,大家可以模仿和学习,以便自己的英文论文化难为易。下面我们来看看英文论文的写作技巧有哪些?
一般来说,一篇完整规范的学术论文由以下各部分构成:
Title(标题)
Abstract(摘要)
Keywords(关键词)
Table of contents(目录) Nomenclature(术语表)
Introduction(引言)
Method(方法)
Results(结果)
Discussion(讨论)
Conclusion(结论)
Acknowledgement(致谢)
Reference(参考文献)
Appendix(附录)
其中 Title,Abstract,Introduction,Method,Result,Discussion,Conclusion,Reference 等八项内容是必不可少的(其他内容根据具体需要而定)。在这八项内容中,读者最多的是Title,Abstract和Introduction部分,读者会根据这些内容来决定是否阅读全文。也就是说,一篇研究论文赢得读者的多少,在很大程度上取决于Title,Abstract和Introduction 写得好坏。因此这三项内容将各分章详细加以讲述。
学术论文的正文一般包括Method,Result,Discussion三个部分。这三部分主要描述研究课题的具体内容、方法,研究过程中所使用的设备、仪器、条件,并如实公布有关数据和研究结果等。Conclusion是对全文内容或有关研究课题进行的总体性讨论。它具有严密的科学性和客观性,反映一个研究课题的价值,同时提出以后的研究方向。
标题的写法
论文标题是全文内容的缩影。读者通过标题便能够预测论文的主要内容和作者的意图,从而决定是否阅读全文。因此,为了使文章赢得有关领域里众多的读者,论文的标题必须用最精炼的语言恰如其分地体现全文的主题和核心。本章主要探讨英语学术论文标题的语言特点及写法。
6.1 标题的长度
标题 单词总数 名词数 介词数 形容词等
1) Fire Resistant Steels for Construction: Design, Properties and Microchemistry 9 6 1 2
2) Damping Capacity of Shape Memory Alloy 6 5 1 0
3) Microelectronic Assembly and Packaging Technology: Barriers and Needs 8 5 0 3
14) Solid Oxide Fuel Cell: A Survey 6 4 0 2
5) Progress on Fuel Cell and Its Materials 7 4 1 2
6) Computer Simulation and Experimental Study on Cold Shut During Mold Filling 11 5 2 4
英语科技论文中,标题不宜过长,大多为8—12个单词左右。
英文论文引言的写作技巧
英语专业论文题目学术论文中的引言(Introduction)是对全文内容和结构的总体勾画。引言尽管不像摘要那样有一定的篇幅限制和相对固定的格式,但在内容和结构模式上也有需要遵循的规律。本章首先介绍这些规律,然后探讨需要掌握的语言技巧。
8.1 引言的内容与结构布局
引言的主要任务是向读者勾勒出全文的基本内容和轮廓。它可以包括以下五项内容中的全部或其中几项:
介绍某研究领域的背景、意义、发展状况、目前的水平等;
对相关领域的文献进行回顾和综述,包括前人的研究成果,已经解决的问题,并适当加以评价或比较;
指出前人尚未解决的问题,留下的技术空白,也可以提出新问题、解决这些新问题的新方法、新思路,从而引出自己研究课题的动机与意义;
说明自己研究课题的目的;
概括论文的主要内容,或勾勒其大体轮廓。
如何合理安排以上这些内容,将它们有条有理地给读者描绘清楚,并非容易之事。经验告诉我们,引言其实是全文最难写的—部分。这是因为作者对有关学科领域的熟悉程度,作者的知识是渊博、还是贫乏,研究的意义何在、价值如何等问题,都在引言的字里行间得以充分体现。
我们可以将引言的内容分为三到四个层次来安排(如图8.1所示)。第一层由研究背景、意义、发展状况等内容组成,其中还包括某一研究领域的文献综述;第二层提出目前尚未解决的问题或急需解决的问题,从而引出自己的研究动机与意义;第三层说明自己研究的具体目的与内容;最后是引言的结尾,可以介绍一下论文的组成部分。
第一层:
1) Introducing the general research area including its background, importance, and present level of development……………………………………………………………
2) Reviewing previous research in this area……………………………………………………………………
第二层: Indicating the problem that has not been solved by previous research, raising a relevant question ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
第三层:Specifying the purpose of your research…………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………
第四层:
1) Announcing your major findings …………………………………………………………………………………………………………
2) Outlining the contents of your paper …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
图8.1 引言的结构布局之一
值得注意的是,引言中各个层次所占的篇幅可以有很大差别。这一点与摘要大不一样,摘要中的目的、方法、结果、结论四项内容各自所占的篇幅大体比例一样(见 7.2节)。而在引言中,第一个层次往往占去大部分篇幅。对研究背景和目前的研究状况进行较为详细的介绍。研究目的可能会比较简短。
引言与摘要还有一点不同的是,摘要中必须把主要研究结果列出,而在引言中(如果摘要与正
文一同登出)结果则可以省略不写,这是因为正文中专门有一节写结果(results),不必在引言中重复。
下面这段引言的例子摘自一篇关于混合电动汽车的研究论文,大部分篇幅介绍研究背景。
sample 1
A Hybrid Internal Combustion Engine/Battery Electric Passenger Car for Petroleum Displacement I. Forster and J. R. Bumby INTRODUCTION [1] The finite nature of the world's oil resources and the general concern about automobile emissions have prompted the adoption of energy conservation policies and emphasized the need to transfer energy demand from oil to other sources of energy, such as natural gas, coal and nuclear. [2] A transfer of energy from oil to electricity can be achieved to a limited extent in the road trans- port sector by the increased use of electric vehicle. However, such vehicles are limited in range due to the amount Of energy that can he realistically stored on-board the vehicle without affecting payload. As a consequence of this, electric vehicles must he used in situations where daily usage is well defined, for example, in urban delivery duty. Indeed, i
t has been in such vehicles as the urban milk delivery vehicles that electric traction drives have been traditionally applied with a great deal of success. Currently the demand is for urban electric vehicles to he developed with greater traffic compatibility in terms of speed and range.
分析:第一层(第1—5段):介绍混合电动汽车的研究背景、意义、目前的发展水平,需要解决的问题等。第1段:指出混合电动汽车的研究背景。世界石油资源的有限性及人们对汽车排放问题的广泛关注使得能源转换问题尤为重要。第2段:使用电动汽车能够从某种程度上实现能源转换。但问题是电动汽车的续驶里程比内燃机车短。所以目前要解决的问题是提高电动汽车的速度和续驶里程。
[3] Although urban delivery vehicle applications will help to reduce the dependence of the road transport sector on petroleum-based fuels, the major part of this market requires vehicles that are not limited in range and have a performance compatible with internal combustion, i.e. engine vehicles. The use of advanced traction battery technology to overc
ome the range limitation of electric vehicles is one possible solution. However, this would still result in a vehicle limited in range and may in itself create additional problems. For example, due to the much greater on- board stored energy, the charging time required will be greater than at present. [4] The range limitations of the pure electric vehicle can be overcome by using a engine/electric drive which incorporates both engine and an electric traction system. Al- though such a vehicle can be designed to meet a number of objectives, it has been argued that a vehicle which seeks to remove the range limitation of the electric vehicle while substituting a substantial amount of petroleum fuel by electrical energy is the vehicle most worth pursuing. With the emphasis of the vehicle design on the electric drive train, the intention may be to operate in an all-electric mode under urban conditions and to use engine for long-distance motorway driving. The hybrid mode could then he used for extending urban range and/or improving vehicle accelerative performance on accelerator kick-down.[5] The concept of a hybrid electric vehicle capable of substituting petroleum fuel is' not new,