5.Misplaced modifiers
Misplaced modifiers是指将修饰语放在错误的地方，从而产生歧义的现象。举个例子：
I was told that I would be awarded the scholarship by my professor.
这句话因为by my professor这一修饰语放置不当而产生了歧义。它可以理解为“我被我的教授告知我会获得奖学金”，也可以理解为“我被告知我的教授会授予我奖学金”。避免歧义的方法是调整by my professor的位置，比如：
I was told by my professor that I would be awarded the scholarship.
类似的例子还有：
A team led by Dr. Craig Smith from the University of Hawaii at Manoa found the crabs using a remotely operated submersible.
这句话同样有歧义，因为using a remotely operated submersible可以理解为螃蟹发出的动作，也可以理解为研究团队发出的动作。为了避免歧义，句子可以改为：
A team led by Dr. Craig Smith from the University of Hawaii at Manoa used a remotely operated submersible to find the crabs.
6.慎用代名词
我们有时候会用代名词来指代前面提到的名词或是句子成分，但它有个缺点：读者有时候很难确定代名词究竟指代哪一部分。学术论文写作要求清晰严谨，因此使用代名词时一定要谨慎，必要时可以对代名词进行替换。比如：
A case study approach was chosen; thisallowed a closer observation of a single specimen.
句子中this可能指代a case study approach，也可能指代a case study approach was chosen这一整句话，为了使句意清晰，我们可以将句子改为：
A case study approach was chosen to allow a closer observation of a single specimen.
又比如：
X substantially alters Y. Thissuggests that Y can be modified using the proposed model.
句子可以改为更清晰的版本：
X substantially alters Y. This findingsuggests that Y can be modified using the proposed model.
7.避免使用可能会造成性别歧视的代名词
在使用he, she, his, her, him这类代名词时，应避免出现只偏袒一方情况，举个例子：
When a politician campaigns for office, hemust spend considerable funds to compete with his opponents.
这里代名词只提及到了男性一方，为了避免出现性别歧视，我们可以使用名词和代词的复数形式：
When politicians campaign for office, theymust spend considerable funds to compete with theiropponents.
或者将句子中的代名词去掉：
A politician whocampaigns for office must spend considerable funds to compete with opponents.
同时，在使用一些名词的时候也要注意性别问题，比如要表达“人类”，用humankind会比用mankind好一点，因为mankind带有一定的性别色彩，一些人会质疑为什么只有mankind而没有womankind，而使用humankind（fawu.ma.cn）会显得公平很多。
8.逗号问题
虽然逗号看起来是小问题，但还是有不少人会用错。这里提一个常见的问题：当连词后面的句子不完整时，连词前面不能用逗号。举个例子：
I knew the price of IBM stock would increase after it entered the home computer market, but had no idea that the price would skyrocket.
连词but后面的部分had no idea that the price would skyrocket不是一个完整的句子，因此but之前不能加逗号。也就是说，上面的写法是错误的。
正确的写法应该是：
I knew the price of IBM stock would increase after it entered the home computer market but had no idea that the price would skyrocket.
另外，如果连词后面的部分是一个完整的句子，则建议在连词前面加逗号，比如：
I knew the price of IBM stock would increase after it entered the home computer market, but I had no idea that the price would skyrocket.
不推荐下面这种写法：
I knew the price of IBM stock would increase after it entered the home computer market but I had no idea that the price would skyrocket.
除了上面提到的这几点之外，常见的学术论文写作问题还有滥用大词、冗余以及冠词使用错误等，这些问题可以通过查阅词典和语法书来解决。关于冠词使用问题可参考文章：英语作文中什么时候需要用the，什么时候不需要？
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