THE METHODOLOGY OF BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH: SCIENTIFIC DISCOURSE PART 1: FIVE INTERROGATIVES

English scientific discourse is examined, and the continuity of the English tradition of this type of writing is stressed to underline the difference between English and Italian prose and the fact that Italian scientific writers must realize that their native and spontaneous prose patterns are different from those of English prose. It is pointed out that the parameters of the Royal Society, back in the seventeenth century, became not only those of scientific writing but also those of English literary style, so that modern English has inherited a tradition of prose that renders it particularly suitable for scientific discourse. With these premises in mind, English scientific discourse is examined and the five questions that help determine its structure are proposed: 1) What reader? 2) What information? 3) What sequence? 4) What register? 5) What reaction?