THE JOURXAL
OF BIOLOGICAL
CHEMISTRY
Vol.
236, No.
11, Novenrber
1963
Printed
in
U.S.A
Editorial
Comment:
Some Matters
of Style
The Editors
of this Journd
strive
to promote
the writing
of
scientific
papers
in clear, straightforward,
idiomatic
English,
so
that
the findings of the author may be transmitted
to his readers
as lucidly
and unambiguously
as possible.
Many of the papers
we publish
fall
far short of this
ideal,
in spite of the efforts of
authors and editors, but we do not believe in giving up the strug-
gle.
Eight
years ago Dr. John R. Baker of Oxford,
in a brief
article
published
in Nature,
offered some valuable
comment
on
English
style in scientific
papers.
It deserves to be recalled
to
our authors
today; hence, with
the permission
of Dr. Baker and
the Editors of Nature, we reprint
it here.
Many scientific writers
could convey their
findings and ideas far better
to their
readers
if they heeded his advice.
Recent manuscripts
submitted
to
the Journal
of Biological
Chemistry contain
constructions
as ap-
palling
as any that Dr. Baker has cited in his article; one recent
example,
eliminated
before publication,
was “an
insoluble
pa-
pain digested
immune
globulin
preparation.”
This
is not only
unnaturally
cumbrous;
it is ambiguous.
Which was insoluble,
the papain
or the immune globulin?
It was in fact the papain.
On writing
instead
“a preparation
of immune
globulin
digested
by insoluble
papain”
the ambiguity
disappears
and the reader
finds his way comfortably
through
the phrase.
This example
is only one of many.
Dr. Baker offers a theory of the Germanic
origin
of some of
the constructions
he deplores
in English,
and especially
in Ameri-
can, scientific writing.
This
theory
is plausible
but
contro-
versial;
some of our readers may challenge
it. What
he says
concerning
the natural
idiom of the English
language,
however,
is in our view solid and beyond controversy.
We reprint
his