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Understanding why authors of medical research articles use hypes and how these influence readers

Research Project

Project/Area Number 18K00735
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Section一般
Review Section Basic Section 02100:Foreign language education-related
Research InstitutionUniversity of Tsukuba

Principal Investigator

Millar Neil  筑波大学, システム情報系, 准教授 (70751981)

Project Period (FY) 2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
Project Status Discontinued (Fiscal Year 2021)
Budget Amount *help
¥2,730,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥630,000)
Fiscal Year 2021: ¥130,000 (Direct Cost: ¥100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥30,000)
Fiscal Year 2020: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Fiscal Year 2019: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Fiscal Year 2018: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
KeywordsDiscourse analysis / ESP / Medical Ethics / Medical discourse / Medical ethics / EAP / Applied linguistics / Evaluative language
Outline of Final Research Achievements

Authors of medical research increasingly ‘hype’ their research; that is, use subjective, promotional language to make the research field, methods or results seem more appealing to the readers (e.g. words such as robust, novel, innovative, unprecedented, excellent, talented). In this research, we (1) assessed authors’ motivations for the use of hype, and (2) how ‘hype’ influences consumers of medical research.
In an interview study with seven authors, we found that all participants identified hype in their writing as promotional in function. Motives for hyping related to external editorial intervention, linguistic ability, and replication of conventionalised discourse, underlined by pressure to publish, and writing instruction. In an experimental study, we found that the presence in abstracts of hype had no statistically significant on clinicians’ evaluation of the research.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

Results serve to sensitise reviewers, editors and authors to value-laden language in scientific writing. We have highlighted implications for writing instruction, advocating a critical pedagogical approach to help students unpack ethical and practical issues surrounding hype in research writing.

Report

(4 results)
  • 2021 Final Research Report ( PDF )
  • 2020 Annual Research Report
  • 2019 Research-status Report
  • 2018 Research-status Report
  • Research Products

    (4 results)

All 2020 2019

All Journal Article (1 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 1 results,  Peer Reviewed: 1 results) Presentation (3 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 3 results)

  • [Journal Article] Hype in reports of clinical research: The authors' perspectives2020

    • Author(s)
      Millar Neil、Budgell Brian、Salager-Meyer Fran?oise
    • Journal Title

      English for Specific Purposes

      Volume: 60 Pages: 53-64

    • DOI

      10.1016/j.esp.2020.07.001

    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Understanding why authors of clinical research articles hype2019

    • Author(s)
      Neil Millar; Brian Budgell; Francoise Salager Mayer
    • Organizer
      COMET 2019 (Communication, Medicine, and Ethics Conference)
    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Authors' use of hype in clinical research articles2019

    • Author(s)
      Neil Millar; Brian Budgell; Francoise Salager Mayer
    • Organizer
      BAAL 2019 (British Association of Applied Linguistics)
    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] “This is the first research to prove that…”: Why do authors of clinical research use hype?2019

    • Author(s)
      Neil Millar; Brian Budgell; Francoise Salager Mayer
    • Organizer
      ALAPP 2019 (Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice)
    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research

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Published: 2018-04-23   Modified: 2023-01-30  

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