The most common English language mistakes the PRs have noticed in the manuscripts they have reviewed are related to style, sentence structure, and grammar, particularly the correct use of conjunctions. Papers by NNSEs are particularly noticeable because NNSEs tend to have more difficulties meeting the requirements of the referencing system. In such situations, “journal editors might sometimes comment that the paper needs editing for English, but that it has been sent for review at this stage because it seems to offer an interesting and novel study” (Judith). The PRs also reported that they could generally recognize different mistakes between different native tongues. For example, the English written by authors from Brazil is quite different from that written by authors from Japan (Sara). Additionally, helped by her abilities as a linguist, Judith can easily tell the difference between writers with native tongues in languages from Asia, Europe, and Eastern Europe. Similarly, a poorly written paper by an NSE stands out from that of an NNSE, because it contains typical mistakes NSEs make when they don’t take proper care with their writing, which are usually related to the way they speak in English.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *