Comparison on English writing styles in abstracts of foreign and national medical journals

Abstract

Objective To analyze and compare the characteristics of English sentence structures in national medical journals and foreign medical journals to improve the level of English writing. Methods Comparison was made in respectively 17 English abstracts from foreign and national medicine periodicals.Analysis involved text length(sentences), sentence types, tenses, and passive voice in the abstracts.Statistic processed in our study. Results It was showed that in terms of sentence type selection, the usage rate of compound sentences in foreign journals was higher than that of national journals (P<0.01). In terms of passive voice use, foreign journals were generally more current and generally used in the past than national journals.The difference was statistically significant (P<0.05 or<0.01). The use of passive voice in national journals was higher than that of foreign journals (42.27% vs 27.59%, P<0.01). Conclusions National medicine periodicals should verify the sentence types, avoid the use of passive voice. Key words: Medical journals; Abstract; Writing; Styles