Medical discourse: Aspects of author's comment

Abstract

One of the major problems for students reading articles in medical journals is distinguishing objective statements of accepted fact from author-marked observations of opinion, hypothesis, or recommendation. In an attempt to determine how, why, and where the subjective element is introduced in the main categories of articles in medical journals, a selection of papers from the British Medical Journal was studied. An examination revealed that author's comment is expressed by verbal and nonverbal modals and by a wide range of attitudinal markers. The incidence of these varies from one category of article to another, editorials being more author-marked throughout, while clinical case notes and research papers contain sharp differences between the objective recounting of the methods and results sections and the more subjective discussion or comment sections. It is recommended that the frequent occurrence of expressions of emphasis, advice, and evaluation should be reflected in the production of more relevant materials for students of English for medical sciences.