我在美国学习和做科研已有35年之久了。来美后常收到国内朋友请求，让我帮助润稿。我深切体会到英文写作仍是国内学者的一个难题，于是开始研究中国学者，包括自己，英文写作的瓶颈在哪里。我自己英文写作的提高经历了一个漫长的过程。出国前我TOEFL考了当时北京的最高分数，这个分数让我争取到了美国常春藤大学的奖学金。但来美后英语仍是“听不懂，说不出，写不清”。我的MIT博士后导师是美国微生物学杂志主编，也写教科书。我的每篇论文他都仔细修改，使我受益匪浅。他的言传身教对我的写作水平提高起到了很大作用。 英文科技写作有它自己的规律，在一定的英文基础上，是可以达到专业水平的。我主要从三方面研究英文写作：一是阅读有关论文写作的专著；二是从写作的角度阅读大量不同杂志的优秀论文；三是通过修改国内学者的稿件，找出问题所在。这本书就是集中了过去25年我对英文科技论文写作研究的总结。 我在2006年组建Sciwriting编译团队（www.sciwriting.cn），已经协助国内学者修改15000多篇SCI稿件，结合各位编辑的意见，我发现国内学者SCI写作的问题主要表现在： 1．词汇缺乏　导致用词不准或错误，不能准确表达。这可能是最大的问题。 2．语法问题及流畅问题　科技写作的语法与基础英语的语法一样，但有些是科技英语中常用的语法问题，如时态、名词罗列等，我们对一些英语特有的语法掌握不好。论文写作思路要清晰，语句表达要流畅，但有时我们对语句的连接，思维的逻辑性表达不足。 3．中式英语　中文的句式和语法与英语有很多不同之处，直接逐句翻译往往会写成中式英文。由于词汇不足和对英语写法的不了解，写出的句子会不符合英语习惯，这可能是最难克服的弱点。 而一些没发表的稿件除了存在上述问题，更多的是对SCI论文理解不深。SCI论文中创新好比是根本，好的思路是枝干，语言好比是枝叶。很多作者没有跟踪文献，创新性和意义无法提高，只在语言上下功夫，会舍本逐末。学英文写作是个漫长过程，不可能短时间内人人都成为专业人才。要增强国际交流，首先要把精力放在选好创新性题目，设计并完成实验上。英文写作要学好还需要花很大功夫，也需要一个能了解英语母语表达方式的环境。对于语言，请专业编辑人才修改英文写作是学术界接受的一个普遍做法。通过仔细研究专业人才所修改的稿件，学习SCI论文写作技巧，不断积累，才能逐步得到提升。 《SCI论文写作和发表：You Can Do It》第一版和第二版出版后，很受读者欢迎。同时热心的读者也提出了宝贵的改进建议。结合论文润色服务中了解到的作者需求，第三版增加了如下内容： 1．添加了新的一章：投稿，稿件重修和答复信的写法。着重讲解如何重修稿件，特别是如何写好答复信。对如何答复一些常见到的审稿人的问题，详细举例说明。 2．扩展了第三章中的“中式英文”部分，对一些常见的中式英文予以剖析。希望读者在自己的写作中尽量避免中式英文。 3．对书中的大段英文，有的加了解释，有的进行了翻译，以便于读者阅读。 再次感谢读者的鼓励和支持。

张俊东 [email protected] 2023年3月于Boston

I have been studying and working in U.S. for more than 35 years. Frequently, my friends in China have asked me to edit their manuscripts. It was these requests that prompted me to study scientific writing in more depth and to look into what was necessary for Chinese scientists to prepare their own manuscripts in professional English. It took me a long time to improve my own English writing skills, even though I had a very high TOEFL score when I was applying US universities. My initial training was from my postdoctoral advisor at MIT, the editor-in-chief of a renowned biology journal as well as the author of several textbooks. By studying his revisions of my own manuscripts, my scientific writing skills improved greatly. English writing, like many other skills, is mastered by both learning and practice. I further improved my skills by reading many scientific writing books and journal articles, while always paying special attention to the writing. Editing manuscripts of fellow Chinese scientists and identifying the common mistakes provided me additional insight. I published a book《Guide for Scientific Writing》by Shandong University Press Co. in 2004 to summarize the key areas that I believe are essential for Chinese scientists to improve their scientific writing skills. To meet the requests for manuscript editing, I built a team of editors in the U.S. to offer editing service in 2006 (www.sciwriting.cn). We have edited more than 15000 manuscripts so far. Enriched by the editing experience and authors’ feedback, I have revised the book and published the 2nd edition in 2016. In this 3rd edition, a new chapter on “Manuscript Submission, Revision, and Response Letter Writing” is added. The section on how to avoid writing “Chinese English” is expanded, and more Chinese translations are provided for easier reading. There are several obstacles Chinese scientists have to overcome. The first and most difficult one is the proper selection and usage of words. The poor writing of non-English speaking scientists can often be improved by developing knowledge of the subtle differences in the accurate use of words. Simple words are overused, and in many cases, the wrong words are used instead. The second obstacle is grammar and sentence flow. Scientific writing should meet the same standards for grammar as general writing while accommodating for the additional rules of scientific writing. The sentence flow, which can be improved by the correct usage of connecting words, is critical for readers to understand the authors. The third obstacle is Chinese- English：English written as if literally translated from Chinese, including inappropriate expressions and improper grammar. While the author might not realize, a native speaker can notice it right away. Writing a publishable manuscript is a difficult task: one which requires hard work and persistence. A manuscript written in proper English is the prerequisite for its acceptance for publication; however, the most critical criterion is still the contents of the manuscript, especially the novelty of your research finding. To write clearly the purpose of your study, what questions you want to answer or hypothesis to demonstrate, and the differences from the previous reports are the core of the paper. Without a proper understanding of the requirements for a publishable manuscript in SCI journals and the up-to-date knowledge of the literature in your research field, even the best writer still cannot publish a scientific paper. It takes a long time, the proper language environment, and tremendous efforts to master the skills of English writing; it seems to me it is a better way for scientists to focus on their science and ask professional editors to help with their English writing. It is a well-accepted practice in English-speaking countries to have professional editors to edit a manuscript or grant proposal. It is this need for English editors that is driving me to sharpen my own English writing skills, train other interested individuals, and provide professional service for the needed scientists. I sincerely appreciate the encouragement and support received from readers and fellow scientists.

Jundong Zhang [email protected] March 2023, Boston