common errors in research paper

The top 10 most common research mistakes (and how to avoid them)

A lot can go wrong in experimental science, but proper planning and attention to detail can prevent accidents, wasted resources, and damaged reputations.

As the saying goes, we learn by our mistakes. And so it goes for virtually all research scientists, with most mistakes occurring during their formative years when they are still being mentored. While missteps in the research process are not usually catastrophic, the risks of allowing them to occur unchecked are many: personal safety is at stake, as are the careers and reputations of individuals, departments, and entire institutions. All of these risks can be significantly mitigated through proper training at the early stages of a researchers’ career. Here, I describe ten common mistakes (listed in no particular order) that occur in laboratory research settings.

Mistakes can occur at many levels, and sometimes they turn out to be due to innocent reliance on common or specialized methods – even published protocols – that are less than optimal. All experiments should begin with a well-planned protocol. If the protocol is investigator-initiated, permutations of steps should be built into the protocol to determine the optimal methodological approach. If the protocol being used is a peer-reviewed method, there’s no guarantee that it will work for everyone. It’s a mistake to assume that the protocol will work flawlessly the first time you use it in your research. Practice makes perfect, but you also need to consider the possibility that a published protocol may have failed to provide important caveats (e.g. the method doesn’t work well when cultured cells are in S phase of growth). That can cause experiments to fail or yield inconsistent results.
Failing to troubleshoot by at least attempting to get advice from others who have successfully used a method is also a mistake. You can reduce the risk of failed protocols by reaching out the investigator who published the protocol.
A third research mistake concerns the need to pay close attention to all of the reagents used in a given experiment. Reagent expiration dates need to be assessed before using a given material in an experiment. Reputable manufacturers pre-test their products in quality control studies to determine their products’ shelf life.
A related mistake is the use of reagents that haven’t been stored properly (e.g. refrigerated instead of frozen). This is particularly common when using perishable biological reagents.
Another research mistake that is absolutely avoidable concerns how experiments are documented. Laboratory notebooks must contain detailed information if an experiment that works is to be consistently reproduced. Everything should be recorded. This includes all materials used, nuances of methods applied, anything that may have happened during an experiment that’s not typical (e.g. a brief power failure). Even so-called simple things such as the water used can impact an experiment one way or another. Be consistent!
Disregarding the “consistency imperative” is a big mistake. If your experiments require the use of distilled, deionized water, always use distilled, deionized water.
Avoid taking short cuts. If an incubation period is 30 minutes, be patient and wait for the entire incubation period to be completed before moving on to the next step. When you plan an experiment, know what your time investment will be.
Failure to optimally maintain equipment is another mistake that can plague the most seasoned investigators. Standard maintenance is critical, especially when equipment is designed to protect users from environmental hazards (e.g. fume hoods). Is the equipment’s certification up to date?
Failure to perform manufacturers’ recommended calibration of equipment is another equipment-related mistake. A personal pet peeve is the failure to calibrate micropipettes used to measure minute volumes of reagents. When a protocol calls for one microliter of a reagent and the micropipette used to aliquot that volume hasn’t been appropriately calibrated, significant variance in the amount of reagent used can occur, resulting in significant variance of results from experiment to experiment.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a set of related mistakes that occur in laboratory settings are caused by failure to adhere to good laboratory practices. While most of us are good citizens who try to adhere to and advocate for these practices, we sometimes fail to comply with what our laboratory safety officers tell us to do for our own good. That’s a big mistake – one we can’t afford if we want to keep ourselves and others safe in our work environments.

The list of related mistakes (the “never” imperatives) is long and includes:

Never bringing any food or drink into the laboratory and do not eat, drink, or smoke there.
Never smelling or tasting any chemicals or other lab samples for any reason.
Never working alone or unsupervised.
Never working when you are exhausted or emotionally upset.
Never leave experiments running unattended in the laboratory.
Never wearing loose or sloppy clothing that could get caught in any equipment or come in contact with any chemicals. Long hair should be pulled back out of the way of any reagents or machinery.
Never forgetting to wear the appropriate gloves, safety glasses or goggles, and a clean lab coat when handling chemical and/or biohazardous materials.
Never leaving the lab wearing protective personal equipment (PPE). How many times have you seen someone wearing protective laboratory gloves pressing an elevator button? If you do, do all of us a favor and tell that person why it’s against laboratory safety rules.
Never pipetting by mouth.
Never assuming that an accident that happens in the lab can be swept under the rug. If an accident or spill happens, be sure to notify your supervisor so that the appropriate protocols can be observed.
And finally, just like your mother always told you when you were growing up, never forgetting to wash your hands. Always do this before you exit the laboratory and especially after handling biohazards or chemical reagents.

The ever-present possibility of mistakes in experimental research should always be taken seriously, but should not be discouraging; all of these mistakes are preventable when researchers are properly trained and remain vigilant. By reducing mistakes we not only create a safer, more productive environment, but we do better science as a result.

Richard Coico , PhD is Professor of Cell Biology and Medicine, and Vice Dean for Scientific Affairs at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Dr. Coico earned his PhD in immunology from New York University. His research has focused on the study of the role of immunoglobulin D (IgD) in lymphocyte regulation.

This article is also published on the OUP Blog .

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The top 10 most common research mistakes (and how to avoid them)

Acquired by Oxford University Press in 2015, Epigeum is the leading provider of online courses designed to help universities and colleges transform their core activities – in teaching, research, studying, and leadership and management.

By Richard Coico
June 26 th 2016

As the saying goes, we learn by our mistakes. And so it goes for virtually all research scientists, with most mistakes occurring during their formative years when they are still being mentored. While missteps in the research process are not usually catastrophic, the risks of allowing them to occur unchecked are many: personal safety is at stake, as are the careers and reputations of individuals, departments, and entire institutions. All of these risks can be significantly mitigated through proper training at the early stages of a researchers’ career. Below, I describe ten common mistakes (listed in no particular order) that occur in laboratory research settings:

Mistakes can occur at many levels, and sometimes they turn out to be due to innocent reliance on common or specialized methods – even published protocols – that are less than optimal. All experiments should begin with a well-planned protocol. If the protocol is investigator-initiated, permutations of steps should be built into the protocol to determine the optimal methodological approach. If the protocol being used is a peer-reviewed method, there’s no guarantee that it will work for everyone. It’s a mistake to assume that the protocol will work flawlessly the first time you use it in your research. Practice makes perfect, but you also need to consider the possibility that a published protocol may have failed to provide important caveats (e.g. the method doesn’t work well when cultured cells are in S phase of growth). That can cause experiments to fail or yield inconsistent results.

Laboratory. By darko Stojanovic. CC0 public domain via Pixabay.

Failing to troubleshoot by at least attempting to get advice from others who have successfully used a method is also a mistake. You can reduce the risk of failed protocols by reaching out the investigator who published the protocol.
A third research mistake concerns the need to pay close attention to all of the reagents used in a given experiment. Reagent expiration dates need to be assessed before using a given material in an experiment. Reputable manufacturers pre-test their products in quality control studies to determine their products’ shelf life.
A related mistake is the use of reagents that haven’t been stored properly (e.g. refrigerated instead of frozen). This is particularly common when using perishable biological reagents.
Another research mistake that is absolutely avoidable concerns how experiments are documented. Laboratory notebooks must contain detailed information if an experiment that works is to be consistently reproduced. Everything should be recorded. This includes all materials used, nuances of methods applied, anything that may have happened during an experiment that’s not typical (e.g. a brief power failure). Even so-called simple things such as the water used can impact an experiment one way or another. Be consistent!
Disregarding the “consistency imperative” is a big mistake. If your experiments require the use of distilled, deionized water, then always use distilled, deionized water.
Avoid taking short cuts. If an incubation period is 30 minutes, be patient and wait for the entire incubation period to be completed before moving on to the next step. When you plan an experiment, know what your time investment will be.
Failure to optimally maintain equipment is another mistake that can plague the most seasoned investigators. Standard maintenance is critical, especially when equipment is designed to protect users from environmental hazards (e.g. fume hoods). Is the equipment’s certification up to date?
Failure to perform manufacturers’ recommended calibration of equipment is another equipment-related mistake. A personal pet peeve is the failure to calibrate micropipettes used to measure minute volumes of reagents. When a protocol calls for one microliter of a reagent and the micropipette used to aliquot that volume hasn’t been appropriately calibrated, significant variance in the amount of reagent used can occur, resulting in significant variance of results from experiment to experiment.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a set of related mistakes that occur in laboratory settings are caused by failure to adhere to good laboratory practices. While most of us are good citizens who try to adhere to and advocate for these practices, we sometimes fail to comply with what our laboratory safety officers tell us to do for our own good. That’s a big mistake – one we can’t afford if we want to keep ourselves and others safe in our work environments.

The list of related mistakes (the “never” imperatives) is long and includes the following:

Never bringing any food or drink into the laboratory and do not eat, drink, or smoke there.
Never smelling or tasting any chemicals or other lab samples for any reason.
Never working alone or unsupervised.
Never working when you are exhausted or emotionally upset.
Never leave experiments running unattended in the laboratory.
Never wearing loose or sloppy clothing that could get caught in any equipment or come in contact with any chemicals. Long hair should be pulled back out of the way of any reagents or machinery.
Never forgetting to wear the appropriate gloves, safety glasses or goggles, and a clean lab coat when handling chemical and/or biohazardous materials.
Never leaving the lab wearing protective personal equipment (PPE). How many times have you seen someone wearing protective laboratory gloves pressing an elevator button? If you do, do all of us a favor and tell that person why it’s against laboratory safety rules.
Never pipetting by mouth.
Never assuming that an accident that happens in the lab can be swept under the rug. If an accident or spill happens, be sure to notify your supervisor so that the appropriate protocols can be observed.
And finally, just like your mother always told you when you were growing up, never forgetting to wash your hands. Always do this before you exit the laboratory and especially after handling biohazards or chemical reagents.

Featured image credit: Chemistry lab, by Republica. CC0 public domain via Pixabay .

Richard Coico , Ph.D. is Professor of Cell Biology and Medicine, and Vice Dean for Scientific Affairs at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Dr. Coico earned his Ph.D. in immunology from New York University. His research has focused on the study of the role of immunoglobulin D (IgD) in lymphocyte regulation.

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6 Common mistakes in research paper writing: And how to avoid them

June 2, 2021
PRODUCTIVITY

Common mistakes in research paper writing

My supervisor frequently mentions the following phrase: “Scientific articles are not written in English. It is a different language that you must learn separately”. I only grasped the significance of that remark when I attempted to write my first scientific article.

Despite the fact that conducting scientific research is always thrilling, one thing is certain: scientific writing is difficult to master. Scientific papers are essentially well-presented pieces of information. You’ve been given the challenge of conveying your ideas in a simple, easy-to-understand manner while maintaining high standards. But, how do you go about doing it?

To begin, you must recognize that the sole purpose of conducting research is to educate one another . When you have that mindset, you’ll discover new methods to “communicate” with others more effectively. This endeavour will immediately elevate you to the status of “expert” in your field — a perfect win-win!

On top of that mindset, consider the following recommendations to help you write your perfect scientific essay by avoiding common mistakes in research paper writing. Simply avoiding these mistakes can put you light years ahead of the pack. Let’s get started!

1.Poor organization : one of the most common mistakes in research paper writing

Poor organization is one of the most common mistakes in research paper writing, according to various studies on the subject.

“Even if a scientific report is uninteresting or contains long phrases and big words, if the reader feels the topic is important to him, he can plough through it. But if it’s disorganized, there’s no way someone is willing to go through the text. It’s impossible to make sense of what’s written.”

It’s important to stick to standard formats in general. An abstract; table of contents; summary; introduction; main body (theory, apparatus and methods, findings, and discussions); conclusions and suggestions; nomenclature; references; and appendices, for example, are all included in a general scientific article.

Because you will have a clear sense of the “flow” of the entire text, you can always make suitable adjustments to the structure in the end. However, if you begin without an unconventional framework or no framework at all, your project will fail miserably. So, when you’re working on the first drafts, make sure you have a properly defined framework in mind.

You can use a note taking app to jot down notes and come up with a structure — eliminating these common mistakes in research paper writing.

2.Not clearly understanding your audience.

One of the most common mistakes in research paper writing, that researchers make when they first start is not knowing who would benefit from their work, which is an issue right from the bat. You may write an outstanding essay on your study. Still, if you don’t identify your target audience beforehand, you’ll be in trouble. Never lose sight of your audience. As a result, it’s critical to begin your research endeavour with a deeper grasp of your target audience. Knowing who you want to read your article can help you pick the right journal, come up with a proper title, and be clear about your argument.

Your paper aims to chronicle your results and share them with the rest of your community. It is the exchange of ideas, not the documentation of them, that advances science. Consider your paper to be the initiation or continuation of a dialogue. It’s simpler to remember that you’re speaking to someone else rather than merely preserving your work for posterity by just documenting them.

Also, in your writing, avoid seeming overly intellectual. Despite the fact that your audience is likely to represent the same scientific community, be courteous and clarify acronyms the first time you use them. Don’t get carried away with technical language that’s hard to understand. Consider how well-informed your targeted audience is on the subject. Rather than assuming, it’s always better to clarify.

3.Not having a clear hypothesis or argument.

This is a typical blunder committed by many graduate and undergraduate researchers at the start of their careers. When writing their first scientific article, most of them find they don’t have a well-defined hypothesis. This is a significant component of the list of the most common mistakes in research paper writing.

Authors frequently use this section to discuss the study’s objectives and the problem they are addressing. However, many authors make the error of leaving it up to the reviewer to figure out “why” the problem is significant and challenging.

This is why it is critical to begin writing your first paper as soon as possible. Even if you comprehend it afterwards, having a clear grasp of your study hypothesis as you start your literature review is probably a good idea.

Suppose you discover that you need adequate hypotheses for your study when writing your first paper. In that case, it is usually a better idea to alter your priorities for a bit and focus solely on defining your research hypotheses rather than attempting to write the paper. Yes, indeed! It’s that critical.

4.Writing in a complex language.

This is simply one of the most common mistakes in research paper writing. Anyone who has read detailed reports understands the dangers of “technicalese,” a pretentious, exaggerated language that makes your work look like it was created by a computer or corporation rather than a human. By my definition, “technicalese” is a more sophisticated language than the topics it is used to explain. Technicians and bureaucrats hide behind a mess of incomprehensible memos and reports using jargon, clichés, outdated words, passive sentences, and an excess of adjectives in their works.

It’s tempting to employ technical terms to demonstrate our understanding of a subject. Jargon, clichés, archaic words, and passive sentences, on the other hand, make your work more complicated than it has to be. To counteract this problem, use the active voice to make your writing more direct and dynamic.

For example:

Passive: The metal beams were entirely corroded by the usage of saltwater.

Active: The usage of saltwater entirely corroded the metal beams.

How can you avoid using “technicalese” in your writing? To begin, stay away from jargon. Use a technical phrase only if it clearly explains your purpose. When you minimize jargon, your writing will be understandable to both novices and experienced experts. Make use of contractions. Avoid using cliches and out-of-date language. Write straightforwardly. As much as possible, use the active voice. Always keep in mind that the goal is to spread information to as many people as possible, not to please a limited intellectual elite.

5.Not writing for skim-readers

The title will be read by the majority of individuals who look at your paper. The majority of folks who are interested in the title will read merely the abstract. Many people who go past the abstract will only glance at the figures and figure captions (to get a quick overview of your findings), as well as the final line of the Intro (to understand why you undertook the study) and the last line of the Conclusions or Discussion (to find your take-home message). Your article should make sense to all of these readers. It should not be easily misunderstood by those who aren’t paying attention.

So, in your title, tell as much of the story as concisely as possible, as clearly as possible in your abstract (covering what you did, why, and why the results matter), think carefully about the last line of each section, and try to make the figures tell the story on their own.This way , you will have the opportunity to not only make the content look much nicer but to avoid these types of common mistakes in research paper writing which is a huge advantage.

Yes, I admit it! I also used to write several pages at the start of several chapters BEFORE stating the objectives and what will be accomplished. I eventually got the message when my professors criticized me for not putting the important ideas front and centre on the first or second page of multiple papers. If at all possible, include all of your research objectives in the first two pages of your paper rather than later. This entails writing succinctly. Background information can be more verbose once the objectives are provided, but it should emphasize coherence.

“Show your audience what you’re about to tell them, then tell them, and lastly summarize what you just told them,” one of my lecturers said. It’s indeed easier stated than done. When I was pondering “what to write” between chapter segments, I didn’t understand how effective this statement was until I found myself writing “new” concepts in the paper that hadn’t been presented earlier. This involved going back through earlier portions of the document to see whether any “new” points were added accidentally (“I told the audience more than I initially promised”) or if any information was missing (“I didn’t tell the audience everything as promised”). What are the key takeaways you’re “communicating” to the audience?

Suppose a skim reader can comprehend the general picture by skimming. In that case, there is a far better probability that they will read the entire text.

6.Not understanding what your advisor expects.

While some advisors may just approve your paper, many will insist on reading it and providing feedback before you submit it. If you’re in a large group, your adviser is likely to be preoccupied with a variety of tasks, such as reading the dissertation of a graduate student who is defending next week or planning a week-long trip (Happened to me once!). Many students would not take this as one of the common mistakes in research paper writing, but this would easily be someone’s worst nightmare if they did all the hard work but could not submit the paper on time .

As a response, be respectful and allow enough time. While one professor may be permitted to work on a paper until the very last minute, another may stipulate that a complete draft be submitted a specified amount of time before the due date.

If your advisor prefers to talk about the research before you finish your draft, you should do so. A competent adviser, for example, may assist you in determining what to emphasize, what is innovative and why, what the flow and structure of the paper should be, what to emphasize in the assessment, which earlier work and study you must analyze, and so on. This can result in a far better first draft that just takes little editing than a paper that is not well focused and may require extensive reworking.

These suggestions should help you overcome some of your fears and anxieties about writing and make the process smoother and more productive – eventually, come up with a proper text by eliminating most of the common mistakes in research paper writing.

Finally, bear in mind that success in writing — or any kind of communication — is primarily a question of attitude: if you don’t believe writing is important enough to devote the time and effort necessary to do it well, you won’t. If, on the other hand, you feel writing is essential and want to improve, you will!

Images Courtesy : Business vector created by pikisuperstar – www.freepik.com , Education photo created by wayhomestudio – www.freepik.com

Aruna Kumarasiri

Founder at Proactive Grad, Materials Engineer, Researcher, and turned author. In 2019, he started his professional carrier as a materials engineer with the continuation of his research studies. His exposure to both academic and industrial worlds has provided many opportunities for him to give back to young professionals.

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3.3: Common Mistakes in Research

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Anol Bhattacherjee
University of South Florida via Global Text Project

The research process is fraught with problems and pitfalls, and novice researchers often find, after investing substantial amounts of time and effort into a research project, that their research questions were not sufficiently answered, or that the findings were not interesting enough, or that the research was not of “acceptable” scientific quality. Such problems typically result in research papers being rejected by journals. Some of the more frequent mistakes are described below.

Insufficiently motivated research questions . Often times, we choose our “pet” problems that are interesting to us but not to the scientific community at large, i.e., it does not generate new knowledge or insight about the phenomenon being investigated. Because the research process involves a significant investment of time and effort on the researcher’s part, the researcher must be certain (and be able to convince others) that the research questions they seek to answer in fact deal with real problems (and not hypothetical problems) that affect a substantial portion of a population and has not been adequately addressed in prior research.

Pursuing research fads . Another common mistake is pursuing “popular” topics with limited shelf life. A typical example is studying technologies or practices that are popular today. Because research takes several years to complete and publish, it is possible that popular interest in these fads may die down by the time the research is completed and submitted for publication. A better strategy may be to study “timeless” topics that have always persisted through the years.

Unresearchable problems . Some research problems may not be answered adequately based on observed evidence alone, or using currently accepted methods and procedures. Such problems are best avoided. However, some unresearchable, ambiguously defined problems may be modified or fine tuned into well-defined and useful researchable problems.

Favored research methods . Many researchers have a tendency to recast a research problem so that it is amenable to their favorite research method (e.g., survey research). This is an unfortunate trend. Research methods should be chosen to best fit a research problem, and not the other way around.

Blind data mining . Some researchers have the tendency to collect data first (using instruments that are already available), and then figure out what to do with it. Note that data collection is only one step in a long and elaborate process of planning, designing, and executing research. In fact, a series of other activities are needed in a research process prior to data collection. If researchers jump into data collection without such elaborate planning, the data collected will likely be irrelevant, imperfect, or useless, and their data collection efforts may be entirely wasted. An abundance of data cannot make up for deficits in research planning and design, and particularly, for the lack of interesting research questions.

Common Errors to Avoid in a Research Paper

When it comes to writing a research paper, there are a few common errors that students must avoid. Knowing about these possible mistakes before you begin your paper can go a long way toward ensuring that you avoid them. This will reduce a great deal of tension and anxiety.

When writing a paper, the possibilities of making a mistake are quite high, yet many of these errors are predictable and may be avoided with little care.

If you stop making these mistakes then you’ll be able to produce a paper that will amaze your professor and one you’ll be proud of.

So, Here are Some of the Most Common Errors to Avoid in a Research Paper:

1. insufficient research p rior to selecting a thesis statement:.

Students may rush their subject choices for a paper if they are worried or busy. As a result, their concentration and connection to the subject matter may decrease, and this will undoubtedly show in their writing.

Writing a strong thesis statement, and ultimately a successful paper, requires thorough research and the selection of a topic to which you feel personally connected.

2. Not Having a Strong Thesis Statement:

Regardless of your discipline or topic, your paper should have a thesis statement that states your main point. Many students, on the other hand, make the error of producing a paper without a thesis. It’s important to remember that a good research paper is more than just a list of your sources; it also demands you to make a unique argument.

This is a crucial, basic component of a well-written paper. You must have a clear point of view, in order to write an effective thesis statement.

The thesis statement should be simple and concise, expressing only one essential point. It should be an issue that deserves to be discussed further. A strong thesis statement is genuine, captivating, and entices the reader to keep reading.

3. Citing Sources Incorrectly is a Big No-No:

All data and references utilized in a study must be properly acknowledged. Depending on the teacher, the specific requirements for doing so may differ.

Whether you’re using MLA or another format, each style has its own set of rules and standards for referencing sources. Check with your instructor for specifics so that you may credit sources in accordance with the rules.

Fortunately, software is now available that can assist in the drafting of research articles. Whether you’re using MLA, APA, or another citation style, formatting software can assist take the uncertainty out of the procedure.

Knowing how to avoid these typical errors while writing a research paper can go a long way toward avoiding them. If you follow these steps, you’ll be well on your way to creating an excellent research paper.

4. Not to Mention the Study’s Shortcomings:

Students frequently make the mistake of concealing their research’s limits. Nobody is expecting you to produce a flawless paper. In truth, there is no such thing as a “perfect” study or research; everything can be improved.

You are actually informing the readers that you have properly reviewed your results and methodology by recognizing the limits of your study. A good academic article should not only state its own limits, but also suggest new study areas in the future.

5. Failure to Connect the Thesis Statement to the Supporting Statements in a Meaningful Way:

A research paper’s structure runs from the thesis statement through the supporting statements, which make up the paper’s body. The finest research articles are essentially a long-term study and interesting debate on a well-defined topic. From your thesis statement to your supporting argument, your paper must flow smoothly.

6. There is a Scarcity of Solid, Relevant Evidence to Back Up Claims:

All supporting statements in a paper should be backed up by credible sources that justify the thesis statement’s point of view. Your supporting statements should elaborate on your initial thesis statement and be based on solid, factual evidence that you cite and that the reader can easily check.

7. Having a Lack of Structure:

If your ideas, arguments, facts, and results are not correctly organized, they will be useless to readers. One of the most common mistakes students make is submitting a haphazardly organized research paper, especially when they are under time constraints.

It is in your best interests to create a paper outline before you begin writing. You may improve readability and minimize confusion by sketching out divisions and sub-parts.

8. Leaving the Research Question Unsolved:

Your research paper might have a fantastic start; you could have used all essential facts and cited everything perfectly. However, if you make the error of leaving your research question unresolved, your work will lose its value.

Any research paper conclusion might be tough to write since it is difficult to wrap up all loose ends. Before you begin addressing your research question, go back over it again and compare it to the rest of the article.

9. Making Use of Complex Language:

Don’t use too much technical language or long, complicated phrases in your work. Consider the reader’s point of view and make your tone as straightforward as possible. This will keep the reader’s attention on your paper.

Avoid becoming repetitive by not going overboard with the writing. If you need to explain an expression more than once in your work, be imaginative and use simple language.

10. Poor Abstract:

Never go above the allotted word count in your abstract. Only the most important aspects of your work should be highlighted, with each section’s substance covered in a clear and concise manner.

Cite no references in the abstract, with the exception of the most important work for the study (usually limited to one or two citations). The abstract will be the first portion of your work that readers will see, so make it appealing and engaging enough for them to continue reading the rest of the article.

Well, one common solution to all the mistakes mentioned above is only one, that is, proofreading and editing. Proofreading and editing your research paper is the only way to avoid and rectify all the common errors listed here.

Making these mistakes will make your writing drastically incredible and unattractive. So, rely on proofreading and editing services to make your research paper free of any common pitfalls.

-Isabell S.

6 Common Mistakes Students Make With Research Papers — and How to Avoid Them

Post author By Denis John
Post date July 5, 2023

Image Source: Pexels

Embarking on a research paper can be an intimidating prospect for students, but steering clear of common mistakes will greatly enhance the process.

To get you up to speed, we’ll delve into six frequent errors and offer valuable tips on how to circumvent them, ensuring you produce a well-crafted and successful academic piece.

Mistake 1: Insufficient Research and the Art of Note-taking

A prevalent issue among research paper novices is inadequate preparation before diving into writing. Undertaking extensive research on your chosen topic and distilling critical information are vital steps that lay the groundwork for a well-rounded argument.

To avoid this mistake, dedicate sufficient time to explore diverse sources like books, articles, or online databases. Also, develop an effective note-taking system to clearly identify key points, themes, and evidence relevant to constructing your narrative later on. As you invest in researching properly upfront, you’ll save valuable time during the actual writing process.

Mistake 2: Plagiarism Pitfalls – How to Properly Credit Sources

Plagiarism is a major academic offense that can result in severe consequences for students. To sidestep this trap , ensure you attribute credit where it’s due, whether quoting or paraphrasing someone else’s work. Familiarize yourself with proper citation styles like APA, MLA, or Chicago to accurately reference your sources.

Additionally, using plagiarism detection tools and double-checking your writing for originality will help guarantee the integrity of your research paper. By conscientiously acknowledging the scholarship and ideas of others in your field, you’ll build credibility while avoiding repercussions tied to plagiarized content.

Mistake 3: Not Fully Understanding the Guidelines

Misinterpreting or overlooking crucial guidelines can be detrimental to your research paper’s success, causing unnecessary setbacks in an already demanding task.

To write a research paper with academic writing standards , thoroughly read and internalize the criteria provided by your instructor, including format, citation style, length constraints, and deadline expectations. Seek clarification on any ambiguous points before you commence writing.

Adhering closely to these requirements ensures that you deliver precisely what educators expect while also demonstrating your diligence and mastery of academic conventions.

Mistake 4: Ineffective Thesis Statements and Crafting Your Argument

A clear, compelling thesis statement is the cornerstone of a solid research paper. It sets the stage for presenting your argument confidently and coherently throughout the piece. Weak or vague statements can hinder readers’ engagement, leaving them puzzled over your central claim’s purpose and relevance.

To improve upon this aspect, meticulously refine your thesis by focusing on brevity, precision, and significance to your research question. As you analyze evidence during the writing process, continually reassess whether it supports your assertion effectively or demands further revisions.

Mistake 5: Failure to Structure and Organize Your Paper Efficiently

A well-organized research paper is crucial for maintaining the reader’s interest and making your argument more accessible. Disjointed thoughts or insufficient transitions between sections can hinder the overall flow.

To avoid this pitfall, compose a detailed outline that breaks down each segment of your paper – including introduction, body paragraphs, sub-topics, and conclusion. Logical progression, smooth transitions, and concise headings will make it easier for readers to follow your train of thought while proving you’ve mastered critical thinking skills necessary in academic writing.

Mistake 6: Neglecting Proofreading, Editing, and Revision Techniques

Many students underestimate the significance of reviewing their research papers for mistakes or areas requiring improvements. To avoid this:

Conduct multiple rounds of proofreading to eliminate errors in grammar, syntax, punctuation, and consistency.
Edit your paper by trimming any wordiness or repetitiveness while enhancing clarity.
Investing time in revisions and feedback from peers or professors

This will ultimately polish your research paper into a comprehensive piece that reflects competence and skillful writing.

Wrapping Up

The overarching misstep students make is underestimating the amount of time and effort they need to put into a research paper, so get this aspect right and the rest will fall into place.

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3 Common Mistakes in Research Publication, and How to Avoid Them

For researchers, getting their work published is essential to success in the competitive world of academia. There are several factors that journals consider when they publish an article, including the originality and efficacy of the thesis/ideas, the quality of the research, the author’s writing style, and compliance with formatting guidelines. Academic writers tend to focus on these areas but often overlook three mistakes that can get an otherwise good paper sent to the rejection file and possibly hurt the researcher’s career.

The three most common mistakes academic researchers can make in their writing are:

using improper or no source citation,
deficient academic transparency,
lack of standardization in format.

Since each of these problems can lead to rejection or even worse repercussions for a researcher’s career, we’ll examine them all in detail. The good news is that each of these three problems can be solved by leveraging SciSpace — an integrated platform for writing, collaborating, and publishing research papers — that has recently integrated with long-time text similarity detection solution iThenticate , helping scholars overcome these often overlooked mistakes.

1. Improper and/or No Citation

most-common-research-writing-mistake-improper-formatting

The improper and/or lack of citation of sources in research papers is probably the most egregious mistake a scholar can make, but it’s also the easiest to rectify. Citing improper sources is commonly referred to as plagiarism, which is defined as “the process or practice of using another person’s ideas or work and pretending that it is your own .” Although this definition is fairly straightforward, improper source citation and plagiarism are nuanced problems.

Not citing sources at all in one’s work fits the classic definition of plagiarism, and generally speaking, it should be relatively easy to avoid that pitfall. But, improper source citation is a bit of a trickier problem. Although improper source citation isn’t considered plagiarism in many contexts, it can be considered so in some cases , especially with academic research.

Therefore, making sure you have properly cited sources in your paper is crucial for acceptance into academic journals. It’s important to point out that though many open-access journals publish research at a rapid pace, they still subject all potential entries to rigorous standards of proper citation and plagiarism.

2. Deficient Academic Transparency

lack-of-academic-transparency-common-mistake-in-research-publication

Deficient or lack of academic transparency is closely related to the first mistake, although it’s generally the result of a lack of knowledge of the process more than any conscious attempt at unethical behavior. This lack of awareness can lead to utilizing other's work inappropriately, without giving credit to the author of the original idea. Another instance of misconduct related to insufficient understanding of academic transparency is self-plagiarism, which is recycling or reusing one’s previous work without citation or acknowledgment . Self-plagiarism is actually fairly common, so much so that many don’t even consider it a problem, but it is an issue that can derail an academic career nonetheless.

Even many scholars who know that self-plagiarism is a mistake still find themselves doing it because they are not proofreading their work properly, which can especially be the case in STEM disciplines where multiple authors contribute to a single article.

3. Lack of Standardization in Formatting

improper-formatting-a-common-mistake-in-research-writing

Improper formatting of research papers might be overlooked by many scholars due to its somewhat more tedious nature. Let’s face it, when you’re presenting your research in print the last thing you probably want to think about is how your paper is formatted, but that could be a major mistake.

So what can happen to scholars' research work if they don't standardize or format their articles according to a journal's guidelines or recommended structure? — REJECTED ❌

Furthermore, manually formatting articles is exhausting and can lead to errors that ultimately result in rejection, even if the articles present solid research and are otherwise well-written. Rejection rates are up to 70% for journals, and scholars who fail to bring standardization in their articles face downright rejection.

However, reformatting articles in line with journal guidelines and policies becomes laborious. If only a tool exists that can provide a template for every journal where you just upload your file and... boom, you get the output! You can save two weeks to two months spent structuring your articles in standard journal templates.

SciSpace is all-in-one research writing platform especially designed to help you structure your articles in standard formats and get them published in the desired journal publications. It enables you with:

Automated formatting, including a collection of over 100,000 journal templates to choose from,
Create/Add feature for inserting scientific expressions, footnotes, images, tables, and
One-click citation formatting and references ordering

So, scholars and students can cut down those tedious hours and save more than 60% of their time invested in formatting-reformatting their manuscripts.

SciSpace and iThenticate As the Solution

Since research writing is difficult and full of stress, anyone can fall prey to these three mistakes, but you can mitigate the risks by utilizing SciSpace with iThenticate. The iThenticate text similarity detection software has proven to be effective for a wide range of scholars across many different disciplines and fields of study, so using it will greatly enhance your ability to prevent improper and missing source citation. By employing iThenticate’s Similarity Report, you’ll be able to see what sections of your paper match previously published works, allowing you to take the appropriate steps to cite those passages.

iThenticate can also be effective in helping you overcome a lack of transparency in your writing. The iThenticate similarity software searches more than 91 billion active and archived web pages as well as more than 170 million journal articles. iThenticate compares each submission against this extensive database of scholarly content, so if you recycled some of your published work and are not even aware of it, the iThenticate Similarity Report will catch it.

As vital as the publication process is in academia, it’s also difficult and fraught with many potential career-ending obstacles. We reviewed three potentially costly yet common mistakes many scholars make in their writing. Preventing these mistakes using SciSpace and iThenticate in a bundle will help you protect your reputation and publish with confidence.

Learn more about how you can use iThenticate with SciSpace here .

Hey there! We encourage you to visit our SciSpace discover page to explore how our suite of products can make research workflows easier and allow you to spend more time advancing science.

When performing a literature review you should take notes about your citation so that you can keep track. Citing is a breeze with SciSpace Discover. You can generate citation text on the article page by clicking the 'cite' button, which will be preloaded in multiple formats, so you can copy-paste it as needed.

You can refer to the below blogs to learn more about research writing

How to become good at academic research writing?
The 4-Step Guide That Will Get Your Research Published
4 Common Research Writing Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
Research writing simplified
The myth around academic publishing every researcher should know

5 Reasons why Professors are Moving Away from Manual Formatting of Research Papers

Introducing SciSpace — Revolutionizing research workflows end-to-end

How Pandoc is helping us redefine our Publishing Stack

Twelve Common Errors

Download this Handout PDF

This list includes only brief examples and explanations intended for you to use as reminders while you are editing your papers. If you would like to learn more, consider the following options:

Take one of the free grammar, style, and punctuation classes offered by the Writing Center.
Set up an appointment for an individual conference in the Writing Center.
Confer with your course instructor.
Consult a handbook for additional examples and complete explanations

1. Sentence fragments

Make sure each word group you have punctuated as a sentence contains a grammatically complete and independent thought that can stand alone as an acceptable sentence.

Tests of the Shroud of Turin have produced some curious findings. For example, the pollen of forty-eight plants native to Europe and the Middle East.

[2nd sentence = fragment]

Tests of the Shroud of Turin have produced some curious findings. For example, the cloth contains the pollen of forty-eight plants native to Europe and the Middle East.

Scientists report no human deaths due to excessive caffeine consumption. Although caffeine does cause convulsions and death in certain animals.

Scientists report no human deaths due to excessive caffeine consumption, although caffeine does cause convulsions and death in certain animals.

2. Sentence sprawl

Too many equally weighted phrases and clauses produce tiresome sentences.

The hearing was planned for Monday, December 2, but not all of the witnesses could be available, so it was rescheduled for the following Friday, and then all the witnesses could attend.

[There are no grammatical errors here, but the sprawling sentence does not communicate clearly and concisely.]

The hearing, which had been planned for Monday, December 2, was rescheduled for the following Friday so that all witnesses would be able to attend.

3. Misplaced and dangling modifiers

Place modifiers near the words they describe; be sure the modified words actually appear in the sentence.

Not sure what a modifier is? Check our our FAQ.

When writing a proposal, an original task is set for research.

When writing a proposal, a scholar sets an original task for research.

Many tourists visit Arlington National Cemetery, where veterans and military personnel are buried every day from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

Every day from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., many tourists visit Arlington National Cemetery, where veterans and military personnel are buried.

Still unsure? For more explanation and examples, see our grammar and style FAQ.

4. Faulty parallelism

Be sure you use grammatically equal sentence elements to express two or more matching ideas or items in a series.

The candidate’s goals include winning the election, a national health program, and the educational system.

The candidate’s goals include winning the election, enacting a national health program, and improving the educational system.

Some critics are not so much opposed to capital punishment as postponing it for so long.

Some critics are not so much opposed to capital punishment as they are to postponing it for so long.

5. Unclear pronoun reference

All pronouns must clearly refer to definite referents [nouns].

Use it, they, this, that, these, those, and which carefully to prevent confusion.

Einstein was a brilliant mathematician. This is how he was able to explain the universe.

Einstein, who was a brilliant mathematician, used his ability with numbers to explain the universe.

Because Senator Martin is less interested in the environment than in economic development, he sometimes neglects it.

Because of his interest in economic development, Senator Martin sometimes neglects the environment.

6. Incorrect pronoun case

Determine whether the pronoun is being used as a subject, or an object, or a possessive in the sentence, and select the pronoun form to match.

Castro’s communist principles inevitably led to an ideological conflict between he and President Kennedy.

Castro’s communist principles inevitably led to an ideological conflict between him and President Kennedy.

Because strict constructionists recommend fidelity to the Constitution as written, no one objects more than them to judicial reinterpretation.

Because strict constructionists recommend fidelity to the Constitution as written, no one objects more than they [do] to judicial reinterpretation.

7. Omitted commas

Use commas to signal nonrestrictive or nonessential material, to prevent confusion, and to indicate relationships among ideas and sentence parts.

When it comes to eating people differ in their tastes.

When it comes to eating, people differ in their tastes.

The Huns who were Mongolian invaded Gaul in 451.

The Huns, who were Mongolian, invaded Gaul in 451.

[“Who were Mongolian” adds information but does not change the core meaning of the sentence because Huns were a Mongolian people; this material is therefore nonrestrictive or nonessential.]

For more information on commas see Commas: Punctuating Restrictive and Non-restrictive Modifiers and Punctuating Coordinating Conjunctions and Sentence Adverbs , or take one of the free grammar, style, and punctuation workshops offered by the Writing Center.

8. Superfluous commas

Unnecessary commas make sentences difficult to read.

Field trips are required, in several courses, such as, botany and geology.

Field trips are required in several courses, such as botany and geology.

The term, “scientific illiteracy,” has become almost a cliche, in educational circles.

The term “scientific illiteracy” has become almost a cliche in educational circles.

9. Comma splices

Do not link two independent clauses with a comma (unless you also use a coordinating conjunction: and, or, but, for, nor, so, yet ).

Instead use a period or semicolon, or rewrite the sentence.

Comma splice:

In 1952 Japan’s gross national product was one third that of France, by the late 1970s it was larger than the GNPs of France and Britain combined.

In 1952 Japan’s gross national product was one third that of France. By the late 1970s it was larger than the GNPs of France and Britain combined.

Diseased coronary arteries are often surgically bypassed, however half of all bypass grafts fail within ten years.

Diseased coronary arteries are often surgically bypassed; however, half of all bypass grafts fail within ten years.

10. Apostrophe Errors

Apostrophes indicate possession for nouns ( “Jim’s hat,” “several years’ work” ) but not for personal pronouns (its, your, their, and whose).

Apostrophes also indicate omissions in contractions ( “it’s” = “it is” ).

In general, they are not used to indicate plurals.

In the current conflict its uncertain who’s borders their contesting.

In the current conflict it is [it’s] uncertain whose borders they are [they’re] contesting.

The Aztecs ritual’s of renewal increased in frequency over the course of time.

The Aztecs’ rituals of renewal increased in frequency over the course of time.

11. Words easily confused

“Effect” is most often a noun (the effect), and “affect” is almost always a verb.

Other pairs commonly confused: “lead”/”led” and “accept”/”except.”

Check a glossary of usage to find the right choice.

The recession had a negative affect on sales.

The recession had a negative effect on sales. (or) The recession affected sales negatively.

The laboratory instructor chose not to offer detailed advise.

The laboratory instructor chose not to offer detailed advice.

12. Misspellings

Spelling errors are usually perceived as a reflection of the writer’s careless attitude toward the whole project.

Don’t allow your hard work to be marred in this way!

In addition to comprehensive dictionaries, you may want to use electronic spell checks, spelling dictionaries, and lists of frequently misspelled words found in handbooks.

Grammar and Punctuation

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Using Dashes

Using Commas

Using Semicolons

Using Coordinating Conjunctions

Using Conjunctive Adverbs

Subject-Verb Agreement

Using Gender–Neutral Pronouns in Academic Writing

How to Proofread

Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist

Clear, Concise Sentences

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5 Common errors in the research process

Designing a research project takes time, skill and knowledge. If you don’t go into the process with a clear goal and methods, you’ll likely come out with skewed data or an inaccurate picture of what you were trying to accomplish. With Qualtrics survey software , we make the survey creation process easier, but still you may feel overwhelmed with the scope of your research project. This handy guide might help.

While it’s important to use proper methodology in the research process, it’s equally important to avoid making critical mistakes that could produce inaccurate results. In this article, we’ll list 5 common errors in the research process and tell you how to avoid making them, so you can get the best data possible.

Get your research right every time with our ultimate guide to conducting market research.

1. Population Specification

Population specification errors occur when the researcher does not understand who they should survey. This can be tricky because there are multiple people who might consume the product, but only one who purchases it, or they may miss a segment looking to purchase in the future.

Example: Packaged goods manufacturers often conduct surveys of housewives, because they are easier to contact, and it is assumed they decide what is to be purchased and also do the actual purchasing. In this situation there often is population specification error. The husband may purchase a significant share of the packaged goods, and have significant direct and indirect influence over what is bought. For this reason, excluding husbands from samples may yield results targeted to the wrong audience.

How to avoid this: Understand who purchases your product and why they buy it. It’s important to survey the one making the buying decision so you know how to better reach them.

2. Sampling and Sample Frame Errors

Survey sampling and sample frame errors occur when the wrong subpopulation is used to select a sample, or because of variation in the number or representativeness of the sample that responds, but the resulting sample is not representative of the population concern.

Unfortunately, some element of sampling error is unavoidable, but sometimes, it can be predicted. For instance, in the 1936 presidential election between Roosevelt and Landon, the sample frame was from car registrations and telephone directories. The researchers failed to realize that the majority of people that owned cars and telephones were Republicans, and wrongly predicted a Republican victory.

Example: Suppose that we collected a random sample of 500 people from the general U.S. adult population to gauge their entertainment preferences. Then, upon analysis, found it to be composed of 70% females. This sample would not be representative of the general adult population and would influence the data. The entertainment preferences of females would hold more weight, preventing accurate extrapolation to the US general adult population. Sampling error is affected by the homogeneity of the population being studied and sampled from and by the size of the sample.

How to avoid this: While this cannot be completely avoided, you should have multiple people reviewing your sample to account for an accurate representation of your target population. You can also increase the size of your sample so you get more survey participants.

3. Selection

Selection error is the sampling error for a sample selected by a non-probability method. When respondents choose to self-participate in a study and only those interested respond, you can end up with selection error because there may already be an inherent bias. This can also occur when respondents who are not relevant to the study participate, or when there’s a bias in the way participants are put into groups.

Example: Interviewers conducting a mall intercept study have a natural tendency to select those respondents who are the most accessible and agreeable whenever there is latitude to do so. Such samples often comprise friends and associates who bear some degree of resemblance in characteristics to those of the desired population.

How to avoid this: Selection error can be controlled by going extra lengths to get participation. A typical survey process includes initiating pre-survey contact requesting cooperation, actual surveying, and post-survey follow-up. If a response is not received, a second survey request follows, and perhaps interviews using alternate modes such as telephone or person-to-person.

4. Non-responsive

Nonresponse error can exist when an obtained sample differs from the original selected sample.

This may occur because either the potential respondent was not contacted or they refused to respond. The key factor is the absence of data rather than inaccurate data.

Example: In telephone surveys, some respondents are inaccessible because they are not at home for the initial call or call-backs. Others have moved or are away from home for the period of the survey. Not-at-home respondents are typically younger with no small children, and have a much higher proportion of working wives than households with someone at home. People who have moved or are away for the survey period have a higher geographic mobility than the average of the population. Thus, most surveys can anticipate errors from non-contact of respondents. Online surveys seek to avoid this error through e-mail distribution, thus eliminating not-at-home respondents.

How to avoid this: When collecting responses, ensure your original respondents are participating, and use follow-up surveys and alternates modes of reaching them if they don’t initially respond. You can also use different channels to reach your audience like in person, web surveys, or SMS.

5. Measurement

Measurement error is generated by the measurement process itself, and represents the difference between the information generated and the information wanted by the researcher. Generally, there is always some small level of measurement error due to uncontrollable factors.

Example: A retail store would like to assess customer feedback from at-the-counter purchases. The survey is developed but fails to target those who purchase in the store. Instead, the results are skewed by customers who bought items online.

How to avoid this: Double check all measurements for accuracy and ensure your observers and measurement takes are well trained and understand the parameters of the experiment.

While not all of these errors can be completely avoidable, recognizing them is half the battle. Next time you’re starting a research project, use this blog as a checklist to ensure you’re doing everything you can to avoid these common mistakes.

Also, before you begin your next research project, read How to Define Your Research Question. This is vital to any research project because you can’t begin creating surveys unless you understand the research problem.

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7 common mistakes to avoid in a research article: editor’s and reviewer’s perspective

Professor dawid hanak.

November 10, 2020
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Want to know how to get your research article published? I share my editorial and reviewer experience on the common mistakes in research papers.

Publishing your research can be a nerve-wracking experience, especially at the very beginning of your academic career. It is because of the pressure that you may experience from your supervisor, peers and even yourself to publish your work in top journals.

Although most of us actively work towards more productive and supportive work environment, the “ publish or perish ” culture is still there. A change for the better needs time. I’m sure you’ll play an important role in it. In the meantime, you still need to disseminate your research to build your academic profile.

As you could read in the ebook that Magda and I put together, the opportunities to share your research are endless – mostly limited by your imagination. However, publishing your research in the form of a research article is still recognised as the most viable way of sharing your work.

It is mostly because your research will be:

peer-reviewed by experts in your field before it’s published
associated with a recognised journal in your field, gaining additional quality recognition
shared with the existing research community, gaining immediate visibility

These are just a few reasons why papers are still perceived as the best outlet for your research. And, of course, the quality of your research articles and the rank of the journals will help you become an internationally recognised expert in your research field.

However, with the pressure to deliver your project on time and publish high-quality research articles in prestigious journals , small mistakes may creep into your writing. It may result in your paper being rejected. It’s something that we all want to avoid – believe me, I know how difficult it’s to see your work being rejected.

But what if I told you that there’re some common mistakes in writing research articles that are fairly easy to avoid?

Having reviewed more than 150 manuscripts as the peer reviewer at Nature, Elsevier and American Chemical Society, and Editor at Wiley, I observed that there are 7 common mistakes that result in a rejection or a major revision if you’re lucky.

I thought I’d share these with you so that you can avoid these common issues, improve the quality of your writing, and get your research articles accepted in top journals!

Writing literature review for your research paper and research article takes lots of time to be done properly

Table of Contents

#1 Literature review is not sufficiently thorough, confusing or outdated

A literature review is a crucial part of a research article. It provides the context for your work and helps the reader understand the state-of-the-art in your research area. It should explicitly specify the rationale for your work.

So what seems to be the most common issues with a literature review?

Well, in my experience, I can tell that the most common issue is that the literature review is too vague. It means that it doesn’t include enough detail to give the reader the full picture of the most important ideas and context to the paper. For example, you may only briefly explain the key trends in your research area and refer to a group of papers. It doesn’t provide a sufficient level of detail as each of these papers made a different contribution.

It doesn’t mean you’ve got to write extremely long literature reviews in your research papers. Select only the KEY papers that will accurately represent the current state-of-the-art and provide a strong rationale for your research.

Another issue with the literature review is that it’s confusing. What it means that it doesn’t read well, there’s no logical flow of information or even information not relevant to your work. Make sure that you refer to papers that are relevant to your work, support your arguments and ideas, or present relevant counterarguments that you want to tackle in your work.

Last but not least, the fundamental issue with the literature review is that it includes outdated sources. When I was writing my very first literature review for a research article, I was told that one should only use sources from the last 3-5 years. I’d argue that we should rather focus on sources from the last 2-3 years, considering the current pace of the development across a broad spectrum of research fields. However, here are some exceptions! If you refer to a concept that was introduced much earlier and not discussed since, or if you want to refer to the origin of a specific idea, then it’s OK to use older references.

#2 Rationale and motivation for the research is not clear

The literature review in the research article has another, very important role. It provides the reader with a sufficient understanding of the research area to understand the rationale and motivation for your research study.

If the literature review isn’t thorough and/or clear enough, then your reader may be confused about why your study is important. And remember the first reader of your work is usually the editor and your peers who review your work. It’s up to them to decide whether your research article will be published in the specific journal.

Therefore, to make their life easier and increase your chance of getting published, ask yourself a question “why this research is important” when writing your literature review. Make sure it clearly comes across in your final draft.

writing research paper can be exciting - find the best place to do this

#3 Novelty

This one is a true paper killer to which you need to pay attention when writing your research article. If you don’t present the novelty of your research in your research article, then you may be more than certain that your work will be rejected from any respected journal.

The main reason why we publish our academic work is that we created or enhanced our understanding of specific phenomena, concept or idea. We contributed something new to the existing body of research. And we need to be able to explain it to the others concisely and clearly.

And it can be a difficult thing to do, believe me.

Why? Because you’ve spent so much time doing your research and analysing your results that the main idea of your work became obvious to you.

We all tend to assume that others see the world and have the same understanding of things as we do. But this is not the case.

To clearly explain the novelty of your work, write it down in 1-3 sentences. Get really down to what is your contribution and state it explicitly in your research article. That’s it.

#4 Structure of the paper is confusing

Unless otherwise stated in the guidance for authors, which I strongly advise you to read before you submit your work to any journal, most of the journals follow the same structure and include the 5 common parts:

Introduction
Methods and Materials
Conclusions

If your manuscript doesn’t include any of these sections, your readers will miss the key piece of information that will help them fully understand your work. I know this seems simple, but you’d be surprised how many papers I reviewed that didn’t include proper discussion section.

#5 Methods not explained clearly or sufficiently

A methods and materials section of your paper is crucial for the readers to understand how you did your research.

The main challenge with this section is that it should allow your readers to replicate your work and verify your results. But this isn’t always the case, is it? I bet you’ve read some super confusing papers, and you were asking yourself “how they did this” and “why they did this way” and so on. I get it a lot from my students.

And that’s why I want to encourage you to include the full description of the methods and materials you used in your research, in a way that others can replicate your work.

writing does not need to be daunting, just make sure you avoid key mistakes

#6 Results are not clearly presented and discussed

As I mentioned above, we write research articles to share new data, results and ideas. One of the key reasons why manuscripts get rejected, or worse published and not cited at all, is that the results are poorly presented and discussed.

The results can be poorly visualised or presented as large, confusing datasets. It means that the research manuscript includes no meaningful discussions of the results, beyond the current state-of-the-art in the specific research area. The discussion may be very vague, stating obvious facts (beware of the word “obvious” in research papers!) and not reflecting on the implications of the results on the current state-of-the-art.

To make sure your research is properly presented and discussed:

think outside-the-box when visualising and analysing your data (check our review of tools for data visualisation and analytics )
thoroughly analyse your data and present implications of your research
refer back to the data and ideas from the literature review to provide a clear proof of the advancement that you made in your research

#7 Inconsistent conclusions

Conclusions, right after abstract, is one of the most commonly read part of your research article. It’s because the readers are looking for the key outcomes and conclusions presented in the paper before they decide to read the full paper.

The main mistakes I observed in the manuscripts I reviewed, and ones you should avoid in writing the conclusion section, are:

introduction of new data in the conclusion section
conclusions not supported with data presented earlier in the manuscript
too long conclusion section

Although these issues are unlikely to get your paper immediately rejected, you may improve the perception of the reviewers and editors by including only the main outcomes of your work in the conclusion section.

A final word…

Writing research articles is the main way to share your research. And it may be challenging, especially if you haven’t published before and don’t have sufficient support.

In this article, I shared my take on the key issues and mistakes I noted in research papers as a peer reviewer and editor.

What annoys you most in writing research articles?

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Citation Errors in Scientific Research and Publications: Causes, Consequences, and Remedies

Ashok agarwal.

1 Global Andrology Forum, American Center for Reproductive Medicine, Moreland Hills, OH, USA.

2 Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA.

Mohamed Arafa

3 Department of Urology, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar.

4 Department of Andrology, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.

5 Department of Urology, Weill Cornell Medical-Qatar, Doha, Qatar.

Tomer Avidor-Reiss

6 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA.

7 Department of Urology, College of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA.

Taha Abo-Almagd Abdel-Meguid Hamoda

8 Department of Urology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

9 Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Minia University, Minia, Egypt.

10 Department of Urology, Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, India.

INTRODUCTION

Scientific research depends on the gathering of existing knowledge by collecting data from previous research and then building upon the collected data to design new research projects with the goal of answering unanswered scientific questions [ 1 ]. Therefore, proper citation of previously published studies is an essential and integral part of conducting medical research. Citations are used to establish the current state of knowledge in the subject being studied, identify gaps in the literature, and explain and debate the results of ongoing research [ 1 ]. This process requires proper identification and validation of the integrity of citations. Although it is recommended that the entire research paper is fully reviewed before being cited [ 2 , 3 ], it is a common experience that this is often not done, and it is reported that up to 80% of authors omit to read the full text of the research paper they are citing [ 3 ]. This omission can perpetuate significant errors within an article in the literature and mislead the research being reported [ 4 , 5 ].

Recently, there has been heightened focus on research ethics to detect fraudulent research [ 6 ], and many research oversight bodies have been founded and several guidelines have been published. These bodies include the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Most of these guidelines have been adopted by scientific journals and are stated as prerequisites for accepting manuscripts for publication [ 7 ]. However, although some authors have discussed citation errors in scientific publications [ 5 , 7 , 8 ], there are no guidelines or tools available to rectify these errors.

The Global Andrology Forum (GAF) is an online global research group which has published extensively on andrological topics [ 9 ]. It is a standard practice in the GAF to perform an intensive internal review of all citations in our manuscripts before submission to the journals. Recently, while internally reviewing one of our manuscripts being prepared for submission, the GAF reviewers identified errors in approximately 20% of citations. The manuscript had 145 references that were cited 172 times in the text. The most common error was incorrect citation information (n=9), followed by unjustified extrapolation of the conclusion of the cited work (n=6), factual errors (n=5), incorrect interpretation of results (n=5), citing a secondary source (n=4), citing a wrong reference (n=2), ignoring more suitable reference (n=2), and citing an unreliable source (n=1). The extent and importance of the problem of citation errors became evident to us, prompting us to highlight the need for routine review and audit of all citations, using the full-text of cited papers rather than their abstracts, before a manuscript is approved for submission for publication.

COMMON REASONS WHY AUTHORS FAIL TO REVIEW THE ENTIRE PAPER BEFORE CITATION

Though it is recommended that the primary or original article be thoroughly reviewed before it is cited, a common experience is that this is often not done. In fact, it has been estimated that only 20% of authors read the original paper that is being cited [ 4 ]. This practice of omitting the primary source and relying on secondary sources can result in negative consequences with misinterpretation of the cited information or unjustified extrapolation of conclusions, leading to the perpetuation and propagation of significant errors and potential misinformation [ 5 , 10 ]. We hereby highlight some of the common reasons why many authors do not read the entire full text of a paper before citing it.

Author-related factors

- Too much time and effort are required to check the full paper for each citation.
- Authors underestimate the importance of best citation practice.
- Authors think that citations in the introduction section are not important and hence approach them casually.
- Junior authors may make faulty citations that are not detected and corrected by senior authors.
- Authors may be biased toward papers from colleagues, mentors, or well-known authors, and thus ignore more appropriate papers from other authors.
- Selection bias, where newer sources are ignored, and older popular references are repeatedly cited.
- “Citation Metrics” influence, where authors are more concerned about the “number” of their publications rather than their quality.
- Self-citation ( e.g ., citing irrelevant previous self-publication).
- Unnecessarily redundant citations (needlessly including several references for the same information).
- Intentional or unintentional distortion of the cited findings or conclusions to support or endorse the authors’ findings or conclusions.

2. Article-related factors

- The full text of a paper is inaccessible.
- The abstract is thought to be sufficient for the cited findings/interpretation.
- Relying on familiar articles or narrative reviews and their reference lists and neglecting unfamiliar more recent sources.
- The secondary source is thought to be reliable enough.

3. Journal-related factors

- Influence of journal editors or reviewers, suggesting specific citations.
- Authors may try to satisfy a journal editor by including more citations from the target journal.
- Authors rely on the publishing journal to correct the style and accuracy of references. Journals usually review the reference style but with no verification of information.

4. Guidelines-related factors

- Lack of (or scarce) clear guidelines on “Best Citation Practice.”
- Lack of training in “Best Citation Practices”, while extensive training and guidance are provided for “Literature Search and Data Extraction.”
- Lack of automated software to help authors, reviewers, and journals to check citation accuracy.

COMMON CITATION ERRORS AND THEIR PROPOSED REMEDIES

Several types of citation errors may be encountered during the citation process. Here we discuss the different categories of common citation errors and provide their proposed remedies.

1. Non-citing error

Often, a paper makes a general claim but omits to provide a supporting citation. This error may be because the authors are very familiar with the subject and thus a statement is taken for granted as generally known or accepted knowledge. Alternatively, it may be a case of simple oversight on the authors’ part.

These types of errors can be overcome by carefully reviewing the manuscript and ensuring that all claims, whether they are major or minor, are supported by at least one appropriate citation.

2. Factual error

This type of error may be an incorrect description of the findings of a paper, such as the mechanism of action that was elucidated or a function of a molecule, cell, or organ that was postulated. Alternatively, it can be a numerical error, such as incorrectly citing the prevalence of a condition or a disease. Another related error is an incorrect interpretation arising from an unjustified extrapolation of a paper’s conclusion.

These error types can be overcome by careful reading and analysis of the full text of the article.

3. Selective citation

This type of error appears to have many mistake subtypes. For example, authors may cite their own papers or those of their close colleagues over others because they are more familiar with these studies. Another error is ignoring more suitable citations, such as more recent papers, due to a lack of updated knowledge on the subject. Authors may select smaller studies over more extensive studies because they fit the author’s hypothesis better.

These types of errors can be overcome by systematic literature review and searching the literature using objective means such as word searches of paper databases [ 11 ].

4. Incorrect source type

It is common to find citations of secondary literature such as reviews and books without citing the primary research paper that reported the original finding.

This error can be overcome by citing the review paper (to demonstrate that the original idea got accepted) alongside the original source.

5. Insufficient support

As research on a particular area evolves, some old information falls out of favor, and some become more popular.

It is, therefore, vital to substantiate claims by citing, along with the original paper, recent research, and review papers, to indicate the author’s claim has general support.

6. Wrong citation

This type of error occurs when a wrong reference is added to the cited information.

This type of error can be overcome by carefully reviewing the full text article to ensure that all cited information are supported by the appropriate reference.

7. Incorrect technical details

This type of error involves inaccurate details of author names, journal names, dates, and page numbers of the cited paper.

These errors can be easily overcome by systematically organizing all paper citations and using automated reference management software packages such as: EndNote, RefWorks, Zotero, and others.

BEST PRACTICES FOR CITATIONS

Below are everyday situations requiring citations when writing original research, review, or editorial papers. Each situation is described as a pairing of Purpose and Practice. More technical guidelines for proper citation can be found in the book, “Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th edition, 2020) – the official guide to the APA Style” [ 12 ].

Purpose : Making a factual claim in a paper.
Practice : Every factual claim must be supported by a citation.
This point may sound trivial, but it is common to see papers making specific claims and not substantiating them with references.
Purpose : Citing a specific paper to support a claim.
Practice : Download the cited paper and mark the relevant section in the paper. Have the marked paper available for your co-authors to validate the accuracy of the citation and ask them to validate each source independently.
Purpose : Citing a scientific discovery.
Practice : Cite the original paper that made the discovery. Also, cite additional papers showing that the finding is reproducible. If the papers were written more than ten years ago, cite a recent review to demonstrate the discovery is still relevant and accepted in the scientific community.
Purpose : Citing an original research paper versus citing a review paper.
Practice : Citing the original paper (primary source) is the best practice. An original research paper is cited using a simple citation that does not require an explanation. However, citing a review paper (secondary source) needs disclosure of the fact that a review paper is being cited. For example, you can cite “(Smith et al., 1970).” Alternatively, if you cannot find the primary source, you need to identify the primary source in this way “(Smith et al., 1970, as cited in Cohen et al., 2020).”
Purpose : Citing a numerical value such as the percentage of couples with infertility.
Practice : Cite several of the most recent original papers to provide a range of numbers or an average. Include information on the study’s size, location, and timing so the audience can assess the quality of the studies.
Purpose : Citing an original research paper finding while disagreeing with the original interpretation.
Practice : Cite the specific paper and indicate the figure or table containing the controversial data. For example, you can cite “(Smith et al., 1970, Fig 1).” Indicate clearly what is the original interpretation of the data and what your interpretation is.
Purpose : Expressing an opinion based on a claim in a paper.
Practice : Clearly indicate that the opinion you express is your own, and then cite the paper.
Purpose : Citing an interpretation or opinion of a claim in a paper.
Practice : Clearly indicate this is an interpretation or opinion based on a published claim, and then cite the paper you are referring to.

While writing multi-author papers, we have repeatedly observed citation errors, including a large proportion of authors who tend to cite references merely based on abstracts found during a quick PubMed search. Another common erroneous citation practice is to blindly trust the information referenced by other authors in secondary sources and simply accept and adopt the information in their articles, without checking the original primary source.

These practices, and the other errors listed previously, can lead to incorrect and misleading citations. Abstracts often do not paint the complete picture and may lack adequate information to judge the validity of the citation. Furthermore, citations in secondary sources might be incorrect because the authors may have: (1) made an incorrect interpretation of the cited article as they did not read the entire original article; (2) cited a wrong article in support of their claim; (3) drawn an inaccurate conclusion from the cited article; and/or (4) presented a biased view of someone’s research or opinions and they narrate it inaccurately to serve their purpose or point of view. Importantly, repeated rewording and reiteration in secondary sources (repeated paraphrasing) can eventually result in distortion of the original information – which is very similar to the broken telephone game or transmission chain experiments.

All the citation errors discussed here can lead to the proliferation of inaccuracies and half-truths, or even completely false information, in the scientific literature. These inaccuracies and errors, even though largely unintentional, harm the sanctity of scientific literature. We must reject the notion that these are just minor errors, harmless to a paper’s main message, and therefore they do not matter and need not be pursued. No error is too small to bother, and there should be no room for error in any aspect of the work required to build an article of the highest quality and reliability.

RECOMMENDATIONS

- It is essential to seek access to a full paper and review it carefully before citing it.
- In cases when access to an entire article is unavailable for any reason, relying on a mere abstract is not the best practice. In all such circumstances, the ideal option is to find the full article by requesting it through an institutional inter-library loan, or requesting it from the author, or asking a colleague who has access to the necessary resources.
- If an article of interest is in a language other than English, the author should not exclude it automatically. The author should seek help translating the article so it can be read carefully to judge if is suitable as a reference.
- It is important not to exclude articles from the search string without making all necessary attempts to find and read them. This process may be laborious and may delay the manuscript’s writing by few days or even weeks, but, in the end, having reviewed and cited all important information published shows the thoroughness of the literature review, which raises the quality of reported findings.
- A policy of verification of citations by another author is also critical. An experienced senior author should adjudicate any conflicting results at this stage.
- There is a need to develop clear and specific guidelines on “Best Citation Practices” and to train researchers to follow them correctly and to understand the implications of citation errors in a larger context.

CONCLUSIONS

Good research requires a lot of hard work, patience, determination, and accuracy. We cannot have a high-quality paper if the foundation of our arguments is contaminated with unverified or inaccurate information. Authors should not rely on abstracts or secondary sources for citations. Clear guidelines dedicated to “Best Citation Practices” are needed to improve the accuracy and quality of scientific literature.

Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful to Parviz Kavoussi, MD (Austin, USA), Manaf Al-Hashimi, MD (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and Damayanthi Durairajanayagam, PhD (Selangor, Malaysia) for their review and editing of this manuscript.

Conflict of Interest: The authors have nothing to disclose.

Funding: None.

Author Contribution: All authors have contributed to the writing of the editorial.

Get science-backed answers as you write with Paperpal's Research feature

4 Types of Language Errors in Research Papers

Publication in a string of high-profile academic journals is the Holy Grail of a researcher’s career. Naturally, this is not an easy achievement. Not only must academics be experts in their field, they must also be able to communicate their research ideas succinctly in writing — this is a big ask, and not everyone gets it right! Here Neeraj Sanghani, Business Head of Products at Paperpal , shares insights into the most common errors found in academic papers, and explains how researchers can avoid them with simple language and grammar checks online.

Being an expert in an academic field doesn’t automatically guarantee a researcher can produce a well-written manuscript. Most academic training focuses on research specifics such as study design, methods, and data collection, rather than on academic writing and the English language. However, a research manuscript that is difficult to read is as likely to be rejected as an article with an inappropriate study design. This highlights the importance for authors to develop high-quality academic writing skills and do the language and grammar checks online before they submit.

English grammar is complex, and it’s difficult for authors, especially those with English as a second language, to know how and what to check in their work. So we turned to Paperpal’s advanced AI tool to come up with some insights. Based on the expertise of leading professional academic editors, the software offers unbiased language feedback by learning how human editors enhance manuscripts for journal submission. This ensures that the corrections Paperpal suggests are on par with those of a human editor. In fact, a University of Cambridge study of the online language editing tools available has named Paperpal as the most appealing tool for researchers and best suited to academic writing.

To identify the most common errors researchers make in their writing, we used Paperpal to analyze 2,674 pre-edited research papers. The infographic below highlights the key findings based on our analysis, some of which may surprise you.

Across 2,674 papers, the tool identified 134,105 errors, with an average of 50 per manuscript. In our sample, 43% of flagged errors were related to grammar. The top three grammar issues were article usage, preposition usage, and verb form.

Because most researchers haven’t been explicitly taught English grammar since their early school days, identifying grammatical mistakes may be a challenge. This difficulty can be exacerbated for researchers who speak English as a second language who may find it more difficult to express their ideas.

Readability

Of the errors identified, 28% were issues with readability. Readability is critical in academia; even if a paper carries groundbreaking research, a peer-reviewed journal will be unable to publish it without extensive language corrections. The most common readability issues included suggested rephrasing, redundancy, comma splicing, and conciseness.

Mechanics and style

Issues related to mechanics and style made up 19% of identified errors. Interestingly, punctuation was by far the most common problem area, accounting for 43% of the mechanics and style corrections. This was followed by errors in capitalization, conventions, hyphenation, and spacing.

For confident writers, a careful proofread, reading the paper out loud, or running the tool through Word’s “Read Aloud” function, can help identify many mechanics and style issues. Some of the errors here may even turn out to be typos.

Only 10% of errors identified pertained to vocabulary, making it the category that requires the least editorial correction. This may be because academics are well-versed in the best language for their research fields. However, the software flagged 13,598 recommendations to change word choice, showing that there was room for improvement.

Error-free academic writing

Finding a tool to perform grammar check online is fairly straightforward, but these tools are unlikely to be tailored to an author’s subject area and therefore may struggle to advance the author’s academic writing.

To overcome this, advanced AI-powered tools are starting to change the way researchers write their papers. For example, Paperpal has introduced a Word add-in that acts as a real-time AI writing assistant for researchers. The tool uses state-of-the-art machine learning and AI models to suggest real-time improvements in grammar, punctuation, style, and readability, helping researchers avoid these common language issues. Paperpal for Word is simple to use, helps polish your academic writing, minimizes editing time, and reduces the risk of desk rejection due to language issues. This also helps reduce the workload for journal editors, who can focus on the merits of the research, rather than be distracted by errors in the writing.

For real-time suggestions on your academic manuscript, use Paperpal for Word or get instant checks with Paperpal for Web . Visit our website to start now.

Paperpal is a comprehensive AI writing toolkit that helps students and researchers achieve 2x the writing in half the time. It leverages 21+ years of STM experience and insights from millions of research articles to provide in-depth academic writing, language editing, and submission readiness support to help you write better, faster.

Get accurate academic translations, rewriting support, grammar checks, vocabulary suggestions, and generative AI assistance that delivers human precision at machine speed. Try for free or upgrade to Paperpal Prime starting at US$19 a month to access premium features, including consistency, plagiarism, and 30+ submission readiness checks to help you succeed.

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Become a Better Scientific Writer with Paperpal’s Writing Tips

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Common Word Choice Errors in Research Paper Writing

Word usage errors in research papers written by non-native speakers of English are more common than other mistakes and are only topped by errors in style. Since the main purpose of academic writing is to clearly convey information, knowing how to use words correctly and effectively is absolutely crucial.

Some problems with word choice stem from the fact that the English language contains pairs or sets of words that sound alike (homophones) and/or look alike (homonyms) but have different meanings. Additionally, there are words that sound and look different but have similar meanings. Other mistakes occur when ESL authors think in their mother language while writing and try to translate entire expressions into English. And sometimes, the wrong word is actually the right word spelled incorrectly. Here, we list examples of typical errors in word usage that we frequently come across in academic texts written by ESL authors and provide tips on how to avoid them.

Translation Errors and Collocations

Spelling Mistakes That Can Change Your Meaning

Confusing similar words that have different meanings is one of the most common errors in word choice, and one that happens to native speakers as well. In spoken English, many of these might not be very obvious or just sound like a slip of the tongue. However, when writing any kind of academic text, you should check for such mistakes to make sure the reader clearly understands what you are trying to convey.

1. Affect vs effect / affective versus effective

Affect as a noun describes the strong experience of feelings or emotions , while the verb to affect means to impact . The noun effect , in contrast, is the result of something , and the verb to effect means to cause something to happen or to bring about a certain result . In brief, if something affects something else, it leads to a certain effect .

NO Sleep deprivation clearly effected the patients’ overall well-being.

YES Sleep deprivation clearly affected the patients’ overall well-being.

NO The affect of exercise on depression is not clearly understood.

YES The effect of exercise on depression is not clearly understood.

2. Then vs than

Than is a conjunction/preposition that is used for comparison, while then is an adverb that means at that time or subsequently.

YES The effect of exercise on depression is less obvious than that of medication.

YES Patients were debriefed, and then asked to fill in a questionnaire.

NO The effect of exercise on depression is less obvious then that of medication

3. Principal vs principle

Principal as an adjective means the main or the most important , while as a noun, it means head of a school . A principle , on the other hand, is a general theorem or law or a system’s underlying foundation .

NO Our approach is based on the scientific principals of behavioral analysis.

YES Our approach is based on the scientific principles of behavioral analysis.

YES The principal idea of our approach is that early socialization affects behavior.

4. Advice vs advise

Since to advise means to give advice , the main difference between the two is that one is a noun and one is a verb. You therefore don’t have to worry about meaning when using these two, but only about correct grammar.

NO Patients should be adviced against smoking after cancer treatment

YES Patients should be advised against smoking after cancer treatment.

YES Our advice to patients after cancer treatment is to stop smoking.

5. Accept vs except

Accept and except sound almost identical but mean very different things – accept means to consent or to receive , while the verb and the preposition (to) except both mean to not include .

NO Subjects were called back after 2 weeks, accept for those who had dropped out.

YES Subjects were called back after 2 weeks, except for those who had dropped out.

YES Smoking is widely accepted as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease

6. Alternate vs alternative

An alternative is an additional or different option or choice , while alternating refers to the action of switching between choices, states or actions

NO TMS has emerged as an alternate treatment option for anxiety.

YES TMS has emerged as an alternative treatment option for anxiety.

YES We explored the role of alternate care sites in responsiveness to COVID-19

8. Adapt vs adopt

To adopt is to take something and make it your own , while to adapt means changing an existing idea or approach so that it suits your needs. These words often seem to be used interchangeably, but because they sound so similar, you have to make sure you are using the correct one that conveys your intended meaning.

YES Many recent studies have adopted a similar cross-sectional design.

YES We adapted the usual clinical design to better reflect patient characteristics.

9. Access vs assess

To access means to enter or approach or take hold of something, while to assess means to evaluate, determine, or judge .

NO The aim of this study was to access the clinical outcomes of the seton procedure.

YES The aim of this study was to assess the clinical outcomes of the seton procedure.

YES Author KA was granted access to patient data by the hospital ethics committee.

common word choice errors, scrabble tiles

1. Infer vs Imply

Implying means to suggest something while not directly showing or saying it. Inferring , on the other hand, means that you come to a conclusion , based on clear evidence, on your own assumptions, or on what your data or someone else imply.

YES These findings imply that neuropeptides play a role in feeding behavior.

YES Intuitive responders infer that everybody responds as they do

2. Among vs Between

Many authors, native as well as non-native speakers of English, seem to be confused about how to use among and between correctly. The problem is that there are essentially two rules on how to use these two, one that is well-known but in essence an oversimplification and one that is lesser known but explains the difference more precisely. Rule 1 says that you use between for comparisons between two things and among when you refer to groups or sets of more than two elements .

While you will very often choose the correct word when you follow this rule, this approach can lead to “overcorrections” that sound awkward. That’s where Rule 2 comes into play, which states that you can use between for any number of elements, as long as all the elements are separate and distinct . You can choose between eggs and cereals or between eggs, cereals, and toast for breakfast. Among is used for people or things that are not distinct and viewed as a group rather than as individual elements. Negotiations between Italy and Denmark (a comparison of two distinct countries) or among the EU member states (seen as a group) can fail. You share secrets between friends (from person to person) but you feel comfortable with or among your friends.

YES MoO3 showed the best performance among the investigated HDO catalysts.

YES There was no behavioral difference between the test and the control group.

3. Amount vs Number

These words might seem similar in meaning, but their correct usage is related to the concept of countable and uncountable nouns in English. Number can only be used with countable nouns, while amount is used with uncountable nouns.

NO The number of literatures included in this meta-analysis is enormous.

YES The amount of literature included in this meta-analysis is enormous.

YES The number of earlier studies on this topic is low.

Using the Correct Word Stem with the Wrong Prefix or Suffix

Additions to the beginning (prefixes) or end (suffixes) of root words can change a word from an adjective (e.g., happy) into a noun (happiness), or an adverb (happily), into its opposite (unhappy), or affect the tense of a verb. The problem with prefixes and suffixes is that they cannot be used with every word and that they do not always have the same effect. You therefore need to make sure you don’t create words that do not exist or change your intended meaning by adding the wrong prefix or suffix.

NO Changes were determinated using a computer-controlled spectrophotometer.

YES Changes were determined using a computer-controlled spectrophotometer.

NO Protein instableness is a common issue in protein pharmaceuticals.

YES Protein instability is a common issue in protein pharmaceuticals.

NO We assessed sources of diagnostic inaccurateness of cardiac markers.

YES We assessed sources of diagnostic inaccuracy of cardiac markers.

Thinking in your native language and translating phrases literally into English because they sound “natural” is one of the most common reasons for incorrect or awkward expressions in English texts written by non-native authors. While understanding and correcting such mistakes might seem more difficult than grasping the difference between two similar verbs, there are ways for you to avoid such errors.

For example, you can check your wording with Google Scholar or the Merriam-Webster online dictionary , and self-editing your text with the help of our lists of common expressions in research papers or the most useful verbs for the different parts of a paper will make your writing much stronger. And while you are at it, you are also well-advised (not “adviced”) to check your use of prepositions , another common source of mistakes in English writing. If you are not even sure what kind of expressions you might need to check, the following list of commonly mistranslated/misused expressions can give you an idea.

NO Patients underwent dizziness and worsening symptoms.

YES Patients experienced dizziness and reported worsening symptoms.

YES Patients presented with dizziness and showed worsening symptoms over time.

NO Patients underwent a questionnaire after the experiment.

YES Patients filled in a questionnaire after the experiment.

NO Patients succeeded complete remission.

YES Patients achieved complete remission.

NO The difference between groups was obtained with one-way ANOVA.

YES The difference between groups was assessed with one-way ANOVA.

Make sure who does or shows or undergoes something and that the subjects and verbs of your sentences always correspond to each other.

NO Patients performed liver biopsy.

YES Patients underwent liver biopsy.

YES Two experienced surgeons performed liver biopsy.

You also need to pay attention to the difference between people and things, because some verbs only go with one or the other.

NO The study was not able to analyze age differences, due to its design.

YES We were not able to analyze age differences, due to the design of our study.

NO PET alone was not able to diagnose our patients.

YES We were not able to diagnose our patients using PET alone.

Spelling Mistakes That Change Your Meaning

Some mistakes simply stem from phonemic differences between English and other languages. For example, native speakers of languages that do not clearly distinguish between “r” and “l” might misspell words in English without noticing. This is no problem when you make a real spelling mistake and your spellchecker catches it. But sometimes, the incorrect spelling results in a correct word that a spell checker will not flag. Such mistakes can only be avoided by careful proofreading.

NO Collect doses were determined by a series of tests.

YES Correct doses were determined by a series of tests.

NO We did not arrow participants to leave the room between sessions.

YES We did not allow participants to leave the room between sessions.

Before submitting your academic document to journals, be sure to receive professional editing services , including paper editing services , to fix any remaining language and style issues. And to correct your writing errors in real-time, try our AI online essay editor , Wordvice AI.

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20 July, 2023

Academic writing is often complex and involves the use of technical terminology, which can be challenging for the reader to comprehend. However, clear writing helps to bridge the gap between the researcher’s knowledge and the reader’s understanding by using concise and straightforward language. A well-written academic paper reflects the author’s proficiency in the subject matter and credibility as a scholar. Therefore, it is essential to prioritise clear and correct writing in academic papers to communicate ideas and research findings to the intended audience.

Common mistakes to avoid in your research paper

There are several pitfalls that researchers face when writing research papers. Broadly, these concerns might be classified as follows:

• Editorial (e.g. ignoring author guidelines while preparing and formatting the manuscript)

• Content-related (e.g. ignoring the journal’s scope, using poor methodology, using poor-quality display items)

• Ethical (e.g. falsification, fabrication, plagiarism)

• Writing-related (organization, language and grammar).

Here, we will focus on the language errors that impair clear understanding and affect a manuscript’s chances of acceptance by a journal editor.

Common language errors in academic writing

Language errors can make writing difficult to understand, less credible and less effective in communicating research findings. It is important for researchers to be aware of these errors and take steps to avoid them.

1. Poor organization and flow

Academic papers should be organized in a logical manner and have a clear structure and flow of ideas. Lack of coherence can make writing appear disjointed and difficult to understand.

2. Grammatical errors

Grammatical mistakes give a poor overall impression and can distract a reader from the great research you might have done. Here are the most common English grammar mistakes encountered in academic papers.

Incorrect tenses

A common confusion in scientific writing in the use of different tenses in different contexts or sections of a papers. To avoid incorrect tense usage, remember the following tips.

Use the past tense when describing something done to obtain results, e.g. conducting experiments, or when describing what was found in the results. Use the present tense when stating facts or describing general conclusions. Further, figures and tables must always be referred to in the present tense. Note the following examples:

Methods section

‘Fire ants were collected from mounds at three sites in the study area’.

Results section

‘DNA analysis revealed close associations among the ant species collected’.

Introduction or Discussion section

‘Fire ants are known to have a painful and persistent sting’.

Incorrect punctuation

The following punctuation errors must be avoided.

(i) Comma splice: A comma splice occurs when two independent clauses are joined by a comma without a coordinating conjunction (‘and’, ‘but,’ ‘or’, etc.) or proper punctuation.

Incorrect: I want to go to the beach, I forgot my sunscreen.

Correct: I want to go to the beach. I forgot my sunscreen.

Correct: I want to go to the beach, but I forgot my sunscreen.

(ii) Run-on sentence: A run-on sentence occurs when two or more independent clauses are joined together without proper punctuation or conjunctions.

Incorrect: I want to go to the beach I forgot my sunscreen.

(iii) Sentence fragment: A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence that lacks a subject, verb or both.

Example: In the park, on a sunny day.

Subject–verb disagreement: This error occurs when the subject and verb do not agree in number.

Incorrect: ‘An image of the excavation sites are shown’.

Correct: ‘An image of the excavations sites is shown’.

3. Word choice errors

Wordiness: It is important to write concisely and use fewer words where possible, e.g. use ‘because’ instead of ‘due to the fact that’.

Wrong word: Similar sounding words or similarly spelt words get confused easily and can change the intended meaning entirely, e.g. ‘casual’ vs. ‘causal’, ‘continuous’ vs. ‘continual’, and ‘effect’ vs. ‘affect’.

Informal tone: While clear and simple language is preferred, do not use a very casual or informal tone in your academic writing. Avoid the use of contractions (don’t, wouldn’t, etc.) and casual terms like ‘kids’ for children.

4. Miscellaneous

• Inconsistent use of abbreviations and acronyms

• Spelling errors in scientific terms and scientist names

• Incorrect use of academic conventions and terminologies, e.g. incorrect symbols and units.

Best practices researchers should follow to avoid language errors in their writing

Here are some best practices for researchers to follow to avoid language errors in research papers:

Be open to continued learning: Researchers must incorporate general reading (besides academic literature) in their daily routine to understand and learn correct grammar and punctuation. It is a good idea to attend workshops and webinars on academic writing and listen to relevant podcasts to pick up writing nuances.

Use simple and direct language: Be clear and concise when trying to communicate your ideas. Further, use active voice instead of passive voice to make your writing clearer and more direct.

Read, edit and proofread your work: Read your paper multiple times to catch any errors, and have someone else read your paper and provide feedback. Remember that relying on in-built spellcheck functions may not be enough. Once you have made edits and revisions, proofread your work to spot any errors you may have missed.

By following these best practices, researchers can ensure that their writing effectively communicates their research findings.

Learn about the other mistakes that might lead to rejection of a manuscript here .

Visit the recording of our webinar on Avoiding Common Academic Writing Errors here .

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The top 10 most common research mistakes (and how to avoid them)

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The top 10 most common research mistakes (and how to avoid them)

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6 Common mistakes in research paper writing: And how to avoid them

1.Poor organization : one of the most common mistakes in research paper writing

2.Not clearly understanding your audience.

3.Not having a clear hypothesis or argument.

4.Writing in a complex language.

5.Not writing for skim-readers

6.Not understanding what your advisor expects.

Aruna Kumarasiri

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3.3: Common Mistakes in Research

Common Errors to Avoid in a Research Paper

So, Here are Some of the Most Common Errors to Avoid in a Research Paper:

2. Not Having a Strong Thesis Statement:

3. Citing Sources Incorrectly is a Big No-No:

4. Not to Mention the Study’s Shortcomings:

5. Failure to Connect the Thesis Statement to the Supporting Statements in a Meaningful Way:

6. There is a Scarcity of Solid, Relevant Evidence to Back Up Claims:

7. Having a Lack of Structure:

8. Leaving the Research Question Unsolved:

9. Making Use of Complex Language:

10. Poor Abstract:

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6 Common Mistakes Students Make With Research Papers — and How to Avoid Them

Mistake 1: Insufficient Research and the Art of Note-taking

Mistake 2: Plagiarism Pitfalls – How to Properly Credit Sources

Mistake 3: Not Fully Understanding the Guidelines

Mistake 4: Ineffective Thesis Statements and Crafting Your Argument

Mistake 5: Failure to Structure and Organize Your Paper Efficiently

Mistake 6: Neglecting Proofreading, Editing, and Revision Techniques

Wrapping Up

3 Common Mistakes in Research Publication, and How to Avoid Them

1. Improper and/or No Citation

2. Deficient Academic Transparency

3. Lack of Standardization in Formatting

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Twelve Common Errors

1. Sentence fragments

2. Sentence sprawl

3. Misplaced and dangling modifiers

4. Faulty parallelism

5. Unclear pronoun reference

6. Incorrect pronoun case

7. Omitted commas

8. Superfluous commas

9. Comma splices

10. Apostrophe Errors

11. Words easily confused

12. Misspellings

Grammar and Punctuation

5 Common errors in the research process

1. Population Specification

2. Sampling and Sample Frame Errors

3. Selection

4. Non-responsive

5. Measurement

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