a. 连续逗号：用于分割一系列超过2个的单词、词组和从句， 最后一项用"and"或"or"连接。

常规使用系列逗号有助于避免歧义。

例子：

1. The patient can be given penicillin, ampicillin, or erythromycin.

2. The tumor was bloody, necrotic, and malodorous.

3. The mice ate the food, drank the water, and then slept for an average of three hours.

*注意：有的文体指导里介绍在最后一项的

"and"或者"or"之前不使用逗号，但是如果用逗号的话句子含义会更清晰。

b. 连续分号（复杂情况下）：用于分割一系列超过2个的较大、较复杂的词组和从句，最后一项用"and"或"or"连接。

常规使用系列分号有助于避免歧义。

例子：

1. In the morning, the animals should be given water, feed, and medication; in the

afternoon, only water and feed; and in the evening, water, feed, and medication.

2. The rates of specimens with no change in size were 30-35% for Groups 1, 2, and 3;

40-45% for Groups 4, 5, and 6; and 50-55% for Groups 7, 8, and 9.

3. The findings were:

1) Some patients (42%) had normal sleep patterns;

2) Some patients (23%) had erratic sleep patterns, but with normal total amounts

of sleep; and

3) Some patients (35%) suffered from sleep apnea.

a. 连字符Hyphen: Used as a "connector"

例子：

1. 把前缀或者后缀和词干连接起来：ex-husband, self-inflicted, meta-analysis, etc.

2. 连接复合词：light-year, cure-all

3. 连接第二个元素是过去或现在分词的复合修饰语： 

seizure-inducing drugs, well-known physicist, well-established rules

4. 当不使用连字符时可能不明确时连接复合修饰语：

low-frequency amplitudes, a large-bowel obstruction

5. 连接修饰语与数值和单位。年龄术语采用双连字符：

a 5-g dose, 50-km radius, a 3-year-old child

6. 连接拼写的分数： 

one-third of the population, thirty-two hundredths

7. 当拼写出来时，将从21到99的复合基数词和复合序数词连接起来：

Eighty-five samples were collected.

He pointed to the Sixty-Sixth Congress.

8. 连接需要连字符的才能得到正确含义的动词：

a) He re-covered the explored well. 

...BUT He recovered quickly from the operation.

b) Such patients are usually re-treated. ...BUT The water retreated from the

structures.

9. 在引用中连接页码范围：454-455, 35-37.

10. 连接所谓的“电子术语”，其中“e”代表“电子”：e-mail, e-commerce,

e-business

b. 短破折号En dash：大写字母"N."的长度，主要用于连接，在大多数情况下意味着“through”。

例子：

1. link 2 words representing items of equal rank, including compound modifiers. In this

case, the en dash means "and" or "to":

north–south avenues, cost–benefit analysis, hexane–benzene solvent, author–editor

relationship

2. 以齐名的方式连接2个人的姓名： 

Mann–Whitney U test,

Michaelis–Menten kinetics

3. 连接包含连字符元素的词语： 

sugarmaple–dominated forest

c. 长破折号Em dash：大写字母"M."的长度，用作分隔符，用于在句子中强烈的中断。

例子：

1. 像逗号和括号一样使用：Cancer—the major cause of death in this population—is often difficult to detect in the early stages.

a. 撰写文章时，一般*参照使用以下动词时态指南：

1. Introduction - Present tense and past tense (e.g. when discussing previous literature)

2. Methods - Past tense

3. Results - Past tense

4. Discussion - Present tense (except when referring back to the results of the present study)

*在这里使用一般，是因为总是有例外。在写论文时，请参考特定期刊的写作指南。

b. As editors, sometimes we find text in which the tense is used incorrectly, or that goes contrary to what we are "generally" see.

作为编辑，有时候我们会发现论文稿件中的时态不正确，或者与我们“常见”的相反。

在这种情况下，如果稿件的英文看起来不错，而且如果改变时态对论文的影响较大的话，那么有时可以无需修改。记住，比起正确的动词时态，清晰明确的科学写作是最重要的。

* No. 8 – No. 10:

Reference: Council of Science Editors, Style Manual Committee. Scientific style and format: the CSE manual for authors, editors, and publishers. 7th ed. Reston (VA): The Council; 2006.