COMMON VERBS IN TECHNICAL RESEARCH REPORTING

CONTENTS

DESCRIBING THE AIMS OF THE RESEARCH ................................................................................................... 2

DESCRIBING THE PURPOSE OF THE REPORT ................................................................................................. 2
REPORTING THE WORK OF OTHER RESEARCHERS........................................................................................ 3
CITING RESEARCH STUDIES WITHIN THE TEXT OF YOUR OWN WORK: ........................................................ 3
DISCUSSING METHODS ................................................................................................................................. 5
REFERRING TO DIAGRAMS ............................................................................................................................ 5
PRESENTING RESULTS ................................................................................................................................... 6
DISCUSSING FINDINGS .................................................................................................................................. 7

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 COMMON VERBS IN TECHNICAL RESEARCH REPORTING

DESCRIBING THE AIMS OF THE RESEARCH

In English, there is a tendency to PERSONIFY the study:

This study sets out to quantify the performance of various

centrifuges for the separation of fat globules in suspension (intro)

The current review focuses on the use of new methods for the
measurement of heat transfer through windows. (intro)

In this research, we investigate the use of fluxes in a modern iron-

smelting furnace. (intro)

The present work studies the selection of anti-virus software in small

companies in Scandinavia. (intro)

This work attempted to establish a correlation between the chemical

composition of pulp and quality of the finished product.

We do, however, also find examples of the pattern “the aim is to (verb)…..”:

The objective of this report in the series was to investigate the

chemistry of the liquor produced during pulping of recycled newsprint.
(intro)

The purpose of the study was to establish the boundary conditions

for calculating thermal stresses in diswashers. (intro)

The experimental goal was to visualize the mechanisms of fluid

penetration.

DESCRIBING THE PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

This paper presents a selection of data from an investigation on heat
transfer.

This paper demonstrates how thermal stress in dishwashers can be

controlled.

In the remainder of this note, we restrict our attention to PID

control.

In this section, some recent advances in the field are reviewed.

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 COMMON VERBS IN TECHNICAL RESEARCH REPORTING

The present paper is concerned with the heat transfer between

component parts.

To understand several observed phenomena, we consider the

structure of a paper web.

REPORTING THE WORK OF OTHER RESEARCHERS

Publications in the recent literature indicate that both standard and
heavily-adapted techniques are widely used.

Collins and DuBartell (1997) have shown that accurate values can
be obtained by simulating the process in the laboratory.

Skärevik [8] presented the most thorough and complete review of

recent innovations in the field.

Wallington [6] observed that the third model performed best in more
extreme conditions.

Dehmann [13] investigated the phenomenon using a series of

experiments involving pressure measurements.

In [4], Kessner explored the adhesive properties of kaolin.

CITING RESEARCH STUDIES WITHIN THE TEXT OF YOUR OWN WORK:

If you report research by beginning with the author’s name (prominent author
citations), put the date of the research in brackets after the name of the author.
Note that only the author’s surname should be given:

Hamilton (1994) studied the relationship between weather conditions and the
density of wood in pinus sylvestris.

If you report research beginning with the focus of the research (weak author
citations), put the surname of the author and the date of the research in
brackets after the reference to the work done:

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 COMMON VERBS IN TECHNICAL RESEARCH REPORTING

The relationship between weather conditions and the density of wood in pinus
sylvestris has been studied (Hamilton 1994).

If several sources are cited, include them all in the same set of brackets:

Successful studies on the wood density of pinus sylvestris have been carried
out using a variety of measuring tools (Ishiguro 1996, Weckberg 1999)

NOTE: the abbreviation “et al.” (et alia = and others) is only used when the
work cited is by three or more researchers. When citing a study by two
researchers, give BOTH names:

The device designed by Haarala et al. (2000) seemed to protect the egg very
well.

A study of recursive parameter estimation of non-linear dynamic systems has

been made (Ikonen & Heikkinen 1993).

The system of citations by numbers is sometimes used. In this case, the

sources are then numbered in the References section:

Taniguchi et al. [12] suggested a slightly different model for Cd1-xFexSe

NN (2001) has found that.....

writes that .....
reports that.....
indicates that.......
states that.....(todeta)
suggests that....(ehdottaa, vihjata)
claims that.....(väittää)
remarks that....(huomauttaa)
implies that......(vihjata)
stresses that......(tähdentaa)
emphasises that......( tähdentää, korostaa)
maintains that.......(väittää )
asserts that.......(väittää, vakuuttaa)
contends that.....(lujasti väittää)
alleges that......(väittää)

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 COMMON VERBS IN TECHNICAL RESEARCH REPORTING

DISCUSSING METHODS
Samples were taken simultaneously from the inner and outer
streams.

A set of trials was performed on a casting ladle.

Data was obtained by taking digital photographs at 1-second

intervals.

For each case, a flow chart of activity was developed.

Pressures were calculated using the Antoine equation.

A large amount of data was collected over a range of conditions.

Experiments were performed with the nozzle diameter set at 30mm.

Experiments were conducted with with a row of tightly packed tubes

representing the wall of a boiler.

Calculations were made of the heat transfer from the radiator to the
plastic valve components.

Pretreatment and cooking were carried out in a multi-unit stainless

steel vessel.

In the first set of experiments, a standard fermentation vessel was

employed.

The process was modelled using the Stepney-Redman technique.

The feedback controllers were tuned before the experiment started.

REFERRING TO DIAGRAMS
Fig. 1 shows the flow pattern within a centrifuge.

Figure 2 shows the relationship between the temperature and the

pressure.

Table 1 gives the measurements of the chlorine levels in the pool.

Table 4 lists the temperatures recorded during successive tests.

The experimental findings are summarized in the table below.

The source of the leak is illustrated in Fig. 3.

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 COMMON VERBS IN TECHNICAL RESEARCH REPORTING

The flow pattern was as depicted in the upper half of Fig. 4.

Figure 5 suggests that recycling of plastics has gone through three

distinct phases.

Fig. 6 plots the values taken during shear strength tests.

PRESENTING RESULTS
The results show that the expression given in Equation (8) accurately
describes the temperature-pressure relationship.

These results show that the process can be controlled directly from
the cab of the crane.

Using the modified approach resulted in improved control

performance compared to the traditional approach.

The chlorine-free samples were found to perform best.

It was found that the highest values were obtained from the
contaminated samples.

The results suggest that the higher yield is derived mainly from
addition of fluxes.

The data demonstrate that the pretreatment prior to pulping

enhances pulp quality.

The result indicates that acid treatment results in greater cost-

effectiveness.

The result demonstrates the possibility of employing a lower water

pressure during rinsing.

From laboratory experiments, we were able to determine that

soaking in a saline solution is a viable solution.

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 COMMON VERBS IN TECHNICAL RESEARCH REPORTING

DISCUSSING FINDINGS
The reduced shear strength of the components may be attributed
to the brittleness which increases as a function of age.

However, it can be deduced that the flow within the pipe is a function
of the operating pressure and the viscosity of the liquid.

These results reinforce the need for tight monitoring when variables
are manipulated.

The results obtained from the field studies were generally consistent
with previous simulation studies.

The technique presented is limited in its effectiveness by the fact

that it improves on earlier techniques along one dimension only.

From the experimental results we can conclude that leaching is the

main mechanism for the changes in the pH levels.