These are just a few of the most common errors made by non-native English-speaking authors in their scientific writing. There are of course many more that can’t be dealt with here, but they all have the same result: a loss of clarity and/or introduction of ambiguity. If you apply the three “C”s when writing your next paper, with an awareness of some of the traps that can lead to ambiguities or a loss of clarity, you will automatically improve your chances of getting your study published. If you also focus on removing any repetition and redundancy, and apply attention to detail to ensure that your meaning is clearly conveyed in each sentence, you will increase them further. As a general rule, it is a good idea to keep sentences simple, using shorter expressions wherever possible, rather than long, complicated and confusing. The slogan for the Beijing Olympics was “One world, One dream”; when it comes to scientific writing you should think “One sentence, One idea”. The simplest solution is always the best.
