Skip Navigation

Applied Linguistics 1992 13(4):337-374; doi:10.1093/applin/13.4.337
© 1992 by Oxford University Press
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (13)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by ATKINSON, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Articles

The Evolution of Medical Research Writing from 1735 to 1985: The Case of the Edinburgh Medical Journal

DWIGHT ATKINSON

University of Southern California

A crucial event in the historical evolution of scientific English was the birth of the scientific journal. This event, and its early rhetorical consequences, have been well described in recent research. In contrast, few details are known concerning subsequent developments in scientific writing from the eighteenth century onward. In this paper, the changing language and rhetoric of medical research reporting over the last 250years are characterized and the underlying causes of these changes investigated.

Research articles from the Edinburgh Medical Journal, the oldest continuing medical journal in English, constitute the corpus in this study. Sampling took place at seven intervals beween 1735 and 1985, with two types of data analysis being performed: rhetorical analysis focusing on the broad genre characteristics of articles; and linguistic analysis of these articles' registral features using Biber's system of text analysis.

Results indicate that the linguistic/rhetorical evolution of medical research writing can be accounted for on the basis of the changing epistemological norms of medical knowledge, the growth of a professional medical community, and the periodic redefinition of medicine vis-a-vis the non-medical sciences.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Journal of English LinguisticsHome page
Z. Xiao and A. McEnery
Two Approaches to Genre Analysis: Three Genres in Modern American English
Journal of English Linguistics, March 1, 2005; 33(1): 62 - 82.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Written CommunicationHome page
C. REEVES
Language, Rhetoric, and AIDS: The Attitudes and Strategies of Key AIDS Medical Scientists and Physicians
Written Communication, January 1, 1996; 13(1): 130 - 157.
[Abstract]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.