4. Language functions
4.1 Agreeing and Disagreeing
Agreeing and disagreeing are typical elements of spoken English but may also appear in scientific writing. When writers want to compare their findings with those of other scientists, they may have to express their agreement or disagreement. For example:
- These results agree with the findings of X's research...
Other contexts in which phrases expressing agreement appear in scientific literature include making assumptions or conclusions:
Assumption | It is generally agreed that... |
Conclusion | In the previous chapter, we agreed to... |
Language you can use to express agreement
The following verbs and phrases express varying degrees of agreement.
- The results confirm the results of Smith et al...
- These results are in agreement with the results of Smith et al...
- These results support the results of Smith et al....
- Our findings support those of....
- The results generally agree with those obtained in previous studies
- Similar findings were (have been) reported by X ....
- Similarly, X and XX state ...
- A similar point is made by ....
- ...is similar to figures (results) reported elsewhere (e.g. XY et al.)
- Support for this interpretation comes from ........
- There is considerable evidence to support ........
- As X suggests (also notes/points out/states) .....
Expressing disagreement
There are a variety of verbs and other phrases for expressing disagreement.
- These results conflict with those of Smith et al...
- These results are different from those of Smith et al...
- These results differ from .....
- Another view is that ....
- Unlike some (many) earlier studies ....
- This contrasts with .... who found that ....
- Current theory, as it stands, does not adequately account for ....
- Although a number of studies exist on ....there is a great deal of disagreement on ....
- X's theory can be challenged on various grounds, e.g. ...
- Although controversial ....
- Critics of ... argue that ....
- The question has been raised whether ....
- Other authors also called for ....
- An alternative ...., suggested by X, is ....
Some linking phrases for contradicting what someone else has written:
- In actual fact, ...
- In point of fact, ...
- On the contrary, ...