Deciphering Journal Articles
Many thanks to Jared B for alerting me to ‘A Guide to Understanding Journal Phraseology‘. At last I can now understand what the authors of the papers I am reading really mean! The Guide includes such gems as…
The author writes: It has long been known.
REALLY means: I haven’t bothered to look it up.
The author writes: The 4 hour sample was not studied.
REALLY means: I dropped it on the floor.
The author writes: The 4 hour determination may not be significant.
REALLY means: I dropped it on the floor, but scooped most of it up.
This will also be useful when I come to write my thesis 
May 10th, 2007 at 10:41 am
Hi Mike,
I agree with these comments- the other day I lost one of my samples as left it out of freezer (& RNA degrades)- found it in centrifuge later that day!
Liz
May 11th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Oh cool, I had something similar and lost it. Now I can print it our again and hang it above my desk - indispensable when writing papers *g*!