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[论坛公告] 科研论文引言部分的“公式

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发表于 1970-1-1 08:00:00 显示全部楼层 |阅读模式
良好的开头是成功的一半。如果能写好引言部分,作者对于审稿人来说就有置信度(credibility)和好的第一印象;而如果引言部分没有写好,整篇文章都会被拖累。

写引言部分的核心目的和基本功能(底线)是向读者和审稿人说清楚“我为什么要做这个研究”,能够自圆其说。而为了达到这个目的,有一个“基本公式”:

首先说这个课题引起广泛兴趣,有重要的理论和应用价值;
其次说谁谁谁做了什么,他们发现了什么,但是什么什么还不清楚,效果还不理想。
再次说有鉴于存在的问题,我们在本文中用了什么方法做了什么,得到什么结果。

老练的作者写引言部分都是按照这个思路去写的,用三、四段话就能把引言部分给构建好,每一段话功能突出、点到为止。相反,不老练的作者写引言部分显得没有章法,沿着“意识流”,想到什么地方说到什么地方,每一段话没有功能也没有结构。为什么有的文章眉毛胡子一把抓?为什么有的文章读也读不懂?是因为根本就没有按照“公式”去写!

也许有的人会说我误导研究生,但是事实上这种对科研写作有益的“八股文”被写进正宗教科书呢!2008年牛津大学Publishing出版了一本Write Like a Chemist,里面说到表演喜剧、电视里面做卖车的广告,都是有一定套路的,不按照套路出牌就吸引不了观众,就没有人来看戏、买车。同理,书中介绍了写引言部分的“公式”:

1.  Introduce the Research Area
    1.1.  Identify the research area
    1.2.  Establish the importance of the research area
    1.3.  Provide essential background information about the research area
2.  Identify a Gap (or Gaps)
3.  Fill the Gap
    3.1. Introduce the current work
    3.2. Preview key findings of the current work (optional)

The first move, with three submoves, has the broad purpose of describing the general resarch area. Submove 1.1 identifies the research topic, and submove 1.2 stresses its importance. Together, these two submoves are frequently accomplished in the first few sentences of the paper. Note that only the general topic is mentioned at this point, not the specific work that is presented in the paper. Submove 1.3 is where authors summarize essential works in the field and situate the current work in its appropriate context. This submove does not provide an exhaustive review of the literature but rather includes "sound bites" that alert readers to works that critically influenced the current work or led to fundamental knowledge in the field. The entire move is usually accomplished in a few paragraphs, with most attention devoted to submove 1.3. All three submoves are strengthened by citations to the literature. Works by other authors are cited as well as previous, relevant works by the current authors.

The second move in the Introduction section (Identify a Gap) shifts the reader's attention from what has been done (or learned or understood) to what still needs to be done (or learned or understood). The essence of this move is capyured in the sentence, "Although much is known about X, little is known about Y." Of course, to correctly identify a gap, the authors must have throughly reviewed the literature; hence, cotations to the literature are common in this move, too.

After a gap has been identified, the third and final move of the Introduction section is to fill the gap. This move typically comprises a short paragraph at the end of the Introduction and begins with a phrase like "In this paper, we..." At last, the authors can refer to the current work, and many use the personal pronoun we to accomplish this task. The authors give a short description of the current work (typically a few sentences), highlighting how the work fills the identified gas (submove 3.1). The Introduction can end here, or the authors can elect to preview their principal findings (submove 3.2). If the authors do the latter, care must be taken not to repeat sentences verbatim that appear elsewhere in the paper.


以上说了写引言的“基本公式”。结合我自己的体会,写引言部分的注意事项为:

1. 引言结构如“倒金字塔”,即从一个“宽泛的研究领域”到一个“本文要做的特定的东西”。结构不能颠倒,而且“倒金字塔”的“基底”不能无限宽广,即:不能从漫无边际的地方说起。比如写催化科研论文,如果有的人首先介绍说:“催化在国民生产中多么多么重要,80%的化工流程都有赖于催化。氧化在催化中很重要。选择氧化在氧化中很重要。使用空气作为氧化剂的选择氧化很重要。使用无毒催化剂的空气选择氧化很重要。”,那么这样引言的开场白就扯得太远了,没有直奔主题。

2. 在介绍别人和自己做了什么前期工作时,要根据这一小部分(submove 1.3)的功能有针对性、概括性地综述
,不能“堆积材料”。所谓“堆积材料”就是说引用每一篇文献时用了大量篇幅进行描述,没有概括出和本文有关的要点,而是把该文献的摘要抄了一遍。还有的人写作时,为了引文献而引文献,比如说在介绍黄金催化剂时,说现在黄金催化剂有Au/ZrO2, Au/TiO2, Au/SnO2, Au/Fe2O3, Au/Al2O3, Au/ZnO, Au/CuO, Au/C...,每一个催化剂都随机引用了5条文献,洋洋洒洒40条文献,却只说明一件事情:各类黄金催化剂被广泛研究。那么审稿人读了这句话就说,研究某种黄金催化剂的文献远远不止5篇,那么你引用这5篇的标准是什么呢?为什么不总的引用5篇综述来替代这洋洋洒洒40篇文献?

3. 避免使用时髦语,避免滥用套话。时髦语如“黄金催化剂的研究是当今催化研究皇冠上的钻石,是北极星”。看到这样的话,审稿人就会举起大斧砍下来。另外,避免滥用套话的意识就是说引言部分不能到处都是“什么什么课题引起广泛兴趣,在什么什么中有广泛引用”,如果每一段都这么说,什么一段出现几个这样的句子的话,就无趣了。

4. 指出课题组前文和本文的联系和区别。
回答既然前面已经发表过几篇文章了,为什么本文还是值得发表?既然已经发过一篇快报,现在为什么要发长文章?和前文相比,有哪些新方法、新内容、新理论?是否达到更好的应用效果?如果自己不写清楚这些东西,审稿人当然不会主动给作者回答这些问题的;而如果在引言部分写清楚这些东西,审稿人的思维就会根据这些东西来判断是否可信,往往在写审稿意见的时候也会把你写的理由复述一遍,说的确有新东西,建议发表。

5. 在引言部分的末尾建议用简练的话把本文的重要结果“预览”一下。Ratnoff在1981年说:Reading a scientific article isn't the same as reading a detective story. We want to know from the start that the butler did it.(见R.A. Day, B. Gastel. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper (6th Edition)。但是注意不能使用大篇幅预览,不能把正文里面的信息(比如用XRD做了什么,发现这个峰那个峰;用红外做了什么,发现这个峰那个峰)详细透露,一览无余。如果大篇幅预览的话,读者就不会再读文章了。这正好比电影的广告片都是有一定长度要求的,一般1-3分钟,没有20分钟的广告片。

在The ACS Style Guide (3rd Edition)p. 22概括到:
A good introduction is a clear statement of the problem or project and the reason for studying it. This information should be contained in the first few sentences. Give a concise and appropriate background discussion of the problem and the significance scope, and limits the work. Outline what has been done before citing truly pertinent literature, but do not include a general survey of semirelevant literature. Satate how your work differs from or is related to work previously published. Demonstrate the continuity from the previous work to yours.

这一段话非常短,但是值得体会。
结论是:作者说他研究的课题是世界上热门课题,有重要意义,已经引起广泛兴趣,这并不能证明(justify)作者目前这篇文章能够被审稿人接收发表。这正好比有的人申请科研经费,说能源危机多么严重,但是人人皆知的能源危机的严重性不代表政府要把科研经费给这位申请者。作者还是要思考出一套自圆其说、能justify目前这篇文章值得发表的说法。附件: 您需要登录才可以下载或查看附件。没有帐号?注册
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