How to Write Better English Psychiatric Papers for Publication1

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this review article are to familiarize readers with rules of effective English-writing and to improve the writing quality of their psychiatric papers for publication. Method: Based on the format of my monograph ”Examples in Writing English Medical Papers for the 21st Century,” I compiled examples of psychiatric scientific writings. Those examples were mainly adapted from recent submitted manuscripts to The Taiwanese Journal of Psychiatry for publication. Results: For clear, effective English-writing, I first introduced the rules of 10 do's and don'ts to include using correct grammar, writing simpler sentences, varying writing styles, using more active voice writing, avoiding redundancies, reducing the use of Latinate words, choosing strong verbs, using correct parallel construction, avoiding empty words or phrases, and choosing correct specific words. Then, I showed the actual hands-on copy-edited changes in writing the introduction, methods, results, and discussion sections of manuscripts. I showed both original versions and final suggested revisions of sentences from sampled writings for illustration. Conclusion: Hopefully, you will improve the quality of English papers in your future preparation of scientific manuscripts after your studying the rules and writing samples in this article.