Understanding why authors of medical research articles use hypes and how these influence readers
| Project/Area Number |
18K00735
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Review Section |
Basic Section 02100:Foreign language education-related
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| Research Institution | University of Tsukuba |
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Principal Investigator |
Millar Neil 筑波大学, システム情報系, 准教授 (70751981)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
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| Project Status |
Discontinued (Fiscal Year 2021)
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| 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)
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| Keywords | Discourse analysis / ESP / Medical Ethics / Medical discourse / Medical ethics / EAP / Applied linguistics / Evaluative language |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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Report
(4 results)
Research Products
(4 results)
