Used to describe symptoms, conditions, or diseases; they refer to duration, not severity.
bad
chronic dialysis
acute administration of epinephrine
good
long-term dialysis
immediate administration of epinephrine
"Affect," as a verb, means to have an influence on; "effect," as a verb, means to bring about or cause. The two cannot be used interchangeably.
Ingesting massive doses of vitamin C may affect his recovery. (i.e., influence it in some way, possibly negative)
Ingesting massive doses of vitamin C may effect his recovery. (i.e., produce it)
"Affect," as a noun, means the subjective aspect of emotion; the term is often used as part of psychiatric diagnostic terminology. "Effect," as a noun, means a result.
The adjectival form "aged" (not "age" which is a noun) should be used to designate a person's age. Similarly, "middle-aged" is preferred to "middle age" when describing a person.
The program was designed to include children aged 5-8 years.
Sixty middle-aged men participated in the study.
"Although" is preferable as a complete conjunction; scientific writing is considered formal prose. "Though" is correct in the adverbial construction, however.
These words are used interchangeably by some authors, but there are specific distinctions of meaning that should be observed. "Assure" means to inform positively and implies removal of doubt and suspense. "Ensure" means to make sure, certain, or safe (e.g., to ensure the statistical power of the study; to ensure confidentiality). "Insure" means taking precautions beforehand to meet unforeseen contingencies (e.g., to insure one's car or house).
"Among" usually pertains to general collective relations in a group of more than two; "between" pertains to the relation between one thing and one or more other things.
In most cases, use "compare with", since it implies examining similarities or differences in detail. "Compared to" implies a single striking similarity or comparison without analysis.
"Comprise" means to include and it takes an active voice; "compose" takes a passive voice and must be used with the preposition "of".
The drug comprises several highly toxic ingredients.
The experimental group was composed of subjects from varied backgrounds.
"Different" means having at least some dissimilar characteristics; "diverse'" means having a notable range of differences; "disparate" means distinctly different; "varying" means changing.
"Different from" is usually a better choice.
Use "due to" when it is interchangeable with "attributable to". Otherwise change to "because of", "caused by" or similar construction.
Use "etc." sparingly, only when it is used to extend a list of examples. Query the author to complete the sentence if you suspect an omission, or use "and other methods" or similar construction.
Used as a noun or adjective when describing animals; however, used only as adjective when referring to humans. When referring to human studies, always use "men" and "women" instead of "males" and "females" in text and in table headings.
Six adult female golden hamsters were used in the protocol. The males were excluded.
The human test subjects comprised 10 men and 12 women.
Both female and male characteristics of the population were studied. (OK for either animals or humans, because it modifies "characteristics")
Change "following" to "after" when it starts the sentence and to avoid ambiguity. Otherwise, leave as provided by the author.
The suffix "-fold" may be preceded by a numerical value (e.g., "a 2.5-fold change") or used in words such as "severalfold". However, "fold" is sometimes used by authors as a noun, meaning "increase of", "degree of", or "multiplies of". It is preferable to substitute one of the above-given expressions, but always query and, if the author insists on its use (which is becoming increasingly popular), follow the original manuscript.
"Sex" refers to the biological state of being male or female. "Gender" adds social and/or cultural aspects. This distinction is important in scientific writing. Use "sex" when distinguishing men and women or boys and girls in a study. However, if "sex" could be construed as referring to the act of having sex, use "gender" instead.
These receptors demonstrate gender-specific involvement of D2 receptors in acute HVR.
Use "one-half" when discussing quantifiable objects. Do not indiscriminately change "half" to "one-half".
The other half of the group took part in experiment 2.
"If" is used primarily to describe a condition ("if this...then that...") or to mean "in the event that" or "in case that". "Whether" is more open ended and indicates a choice between alternatives (e.g., "considering all the whys and whethers of the matter"). Because it is more inclusive, it is frequently a better choice in scientific writing.
We could not determine whether the results were conclusive.
In particular, we need to know whether these convertible adipocytes have a thermogenic capacity...
"Manuscript" should refer only to the physical representation of the scientific paper. Hence, a reviewer reviews a "paper", not a "manuscript" (i.e., content, not its physical form). A copy editor copyedits a "paper", which becomes an "article" when it becomes part of a journal issue.
"Percent" is a term meaning "units per 100 units", and is represented by the % sign. "Percentage" is a statement of a quantity or rate expressed as the unit percent ("45%" is a percentage). Note that the difference between 25% and 50% is 25 percentage points, not a 25% difference.
good
percent error
percent change
bad
percentage error
percentage change
"Perfuse" (to force a fluid through an organ or tissue) is more commonly used. "Perifused" has a different meaning ("peri-" = "around") and should not be changed to "perfused".
"Relationship" means the state of being related or interrelated; also, the relation between two or more persons or objects. "Relation" is adequate to describe a connection between inanimate objects. Follow the author's usage, or query if in doubt.
The cause-and-effect relationship between the HIV and the AIV...
The relation of time and space...
Change "sacrifice" to "kill" (if used as a verb) or "death" (if used as a noun). It is permissible to leave "euthanize" and "euthanasia".
Because "significant" is used in the statistical sense (of reaching a predefined numeric threshold and hence pointing to a specific statistical conclusion) in almost every paper, use other adjectives — such as "great", "important", "influential", "major", or "valuable" — to convey nonstatistical meaning.
Both words usually mean "for the reason that". APS style favors the use of "because" instead of "since" when it starts the sentence. Otherwise, unless you believe that the temporal meaning of "since" could be misconstrued, follow the author's choice. Indiscriminate change of "since" to "because" is frequently contested by authors and leads to changes at proof stage.
The preferred form is "toward".
APS style follows Stedman's for the use of "trophic", meaning "related to or dependent on nutrition", and the use of "tropic", meaning "having affinity for" or "turning toward" (as in hormones). "Tropic" is encountered more frequently.
Change "upon" to "on" in such constructions as "based upon", "upon consideration", etc., where it is clearly superfluous. Otherwise, follow author's choice.
"That" should be used as a relative pronoun introducing a restrictive clause, whereas "which" introduces a nonrestrictive clause and is preceded by a comma. You will frequently find that "which" is used incorrectly instead of "that" and needs to be corrected.
The results that we are presenting here could be considered self-explanatory.
The results, which we presented in part during the last EB meeting, were sufficient to prove our hypothesis.
For the sake of clarity, APS style favors restricting the use of "while" to cases implying temporal simultaneity. You may use "whereas" in other cases, but do not change if the meaning of "while" is clear. Use your judgment: sometimes the change from "while" to "whereas" can distort the author's intent, as in the sentence that follows:
Voltage was 10 V, while the temperature was maintained at 8 degrees C.
"While" and "although" are not synonymous ("although" implies a conditional state), so do not change unless you are sure of the meaning. Always query the author.
Always capitalize the "X" (per CBE 6th ed., p. 248).
last edited 07/31/03