Examining Structure in Scientific Research Articles: A Study of Thematic Progression and Thematic Density

Alvin Ping Leong; Audrey Lin Lin Toh; Soo Fun Chin

doi:10.1177/0741088318767378

Written Communication Jul 2018

Examining Structure in Scientific Research Articles: A Study of Thematic Progression and Thematic Density

Alvin Ping Leong Nanyang Technological University ; Audrey Lin Lin Toh Nanyang Technological University ; Soo Fun Chin Nanyang Technological University

Abstract

While scholars in the field of writing studies have examined scientific writing from multiple perspectives, interest in its thematic structure has been modest. Recent studies suggest that the themes in scientific writing tend to be anchored on one or a few points of departure. There has also been an attempt at quantification using the thematic-density index (TDI), although this has only been tested on abstracts. In this study, we investigated the thematic structure and TDIs of 30 research articles in biology. The results revealed a progressive thematic pattern in the introduction section, followed by an anchored development in the subsequent sections. The anchoring was realized by the pervasive use of the first-person pronoun “we.” The mean TDI was lowest in the introduction section (2.593) and highest in the results section (7.095). The results were consistent across the articles in the corpus, underscoring the uniform way in which the articles were thematically structured, and in turn suggesting a core thematic pattern for scientific research writing in general. Based on these findings, the authors suggest that future studies compare the thematic structure of the introduction section vis-à-vis the other sections, and investigate the possible factors resulting in such a structure.

Journal: Written Communication
Published: 2018-07-01
DOI: 10.1177/0741088318767378
CompPile: Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access: Closed
Topics: scientific writing
Export: BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

Laudenbach et al. (2024)

Visualizing formative feedback in statistics writing: An exploratory study of s…

Assessing Writing
Hesse (2019)

Journals in Composition Studies, Thirty-Five Years After

College English

References (49) · 2 in this index

Amdur R. J. (2010)

American Medical Writers Association Journal
10.1017/S0047404500019205

↗
Atkinson D. (1999)

Scientific discourse in sociohistorical context: The philosophical transactions of the Ro…
Banks D. (2008)

The development of scientific writing: Linguistic features and historical context
10.1186/s40554-017-0045-5

↗

Show all 49 →

Bazerman C. (1988)

Shaping written knowledge: The genre and activity of the experimental article in science
Bazerman C. (1997)

Landmark essays on rhetoric of science: Case studies
Buranyi S. (2017, June 27). Is the staggeringly profitable business of scientific publishing bad for science?…
Carciu O. M. (2009)

Ibérica
Cargill M. (2009)

Writing scientific research articles: Strategies and steps
Cell . (2017). Information for authors. Retrieved from http://www.cell.com/cell/authors…
Conrad (2018)

The Use of Passives and Impersonal Style in Civil Engineering Writing

Journal of Business and Technical Communication
10.1515/9783110872521.132

↗
10.1515/9783111676524.106

↗
Ding (2002)

The Passive Voice and Social Values in Science

Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
10.1515/text.1.1987.7.2.89

↗
Evans K. (2015). When to use—and not to use—the passive voice. CrossTalk. Retrieved from http://crosstalk.cel…
Fries P. H. (1992)

Occasional Papers in Systemic Linguistics
10.1093/oso/9780195134544.001.0001

↗
10.4324/9780203783771

↗
10.1016/j.amper.2015.06.002

↗
10.1016/S0889-4906(00)00012-0

↗
10.1016/S0378-2166(02)00035-8

↗
Jalilifar A. R. (2010)

Asian ESP Journal
10.1016/S0889-4906(97)00058-6

↗
10.1371/journal.pone.0127502

↗
Leong P. A. (2004)

Theme and rheme: An alternative account
Leong P. A. (2014)

10.22323/2.13010203

Journal of Science Communication ↗
10.1515/text-2015-0001

↗
10.1080/00437956.2016.1248668

↗
10.1075/z.59

↗
10.1016/j.jslw.2005.06.001

↗
McCabe A. M. (1999). Theme and thematic patterns in Spanish and English history texts (Unpublished doctoral d…
10.1093/applin/ams059

↗
Murray R. (2009)

Writing for academic journals
10.1177/030631285015004002

↗
Nature . (2017). How to write a paper. Retrieved from http://www.nature.com/authors/aut…
10.1016/S0889-4906(97)85388-4

↗
10.1515/9783110883527.369

↗
10.1515/opli-2017-0001

↗
Science. (2017). Some notes on science style. Retrieved from http://www.sciencemag.org/site/feature/contribin…
Scimago. (2016). Scimago journal and country rank. Retrieved from http://www.scimagojr.com/
Seoane E. (2006)

Syntax, style and grammatical norms: English from 1500–2000
Swales J. M. (1981)

Aspects of article introductions
Swales J. M. (1990)

Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings
10.1016/S0889-4906(97)00032-X

↗
Weil H. (1844)

De L’ordre des Mots dans les Langues Anciennes Comparées aux Langues Modernes
10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.04.007

↗
10.1075/lic.9.2.03wil

↗

CrossRef global citation count: 13 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Examining Structure in Scientific Research Articles: A Study of Thematic Progression and Thematic Density

Abstract

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

References (49) · 2 in this index

Related Articles