Which phrases are common in academic English?

1. Establishing why your topic (X) is important

X is the main / leading / primary / major cause of ..

Xs are a common / useful / critical part of…

Xs are among the most widely used / commonly discussed / well-known / well-documented /

widespread / commonly investigated types of …

X is recognized as being / believed to be / widely considered to be the most important …

It is well known / generally accepted / common knowledge that X is …

X is increasingly becoming / set to become a vital factor in …

Xs are undergoing a revolution / generating considerable interest in terms of …

Xs are attracting considerable / increasing / widespread interest due to …

X has many uses / roles / applications in the field of …

A striking / useful / remarkable feature of …

The main / principal / fundamental characteristics of X are:

X accounts / is responsible for

2. Outlining the past-present history of the study of X (no direct references to the literature)

Last century X was considered to be / viewed as / seen as the most …

Initial / Preliminary / The first studies of X considered it to be

Traditionally X / In the history of X, the focus has always been …

Scientists / Researchers / Experts have always seen X as …

Until now / For many years / Since 1993 Xs have been considered as …

X has received much attention in the last two years / in the past decade / over the last two decades …

For the past five years / Since 2011 there has been a rapid rise in the use of Xs

The last two years have witnessed / seen a huge growth in X …

The past decade / last year has seen a renewed importance in X …

Recent developments in / findings regarding X have led to …

X has become a central / an important / a critical issue in …

3. Outlining the possible future of X

The next decade is likely to see / witness a considerable rise in X

In the next few years X will become / is likely to have become

Within the next few years, X is set / destined / likely to become an important component in …

By 2025 / Within the next ten years, X will have become …

X will soon / shortly / rapidly / inevitably be an issue that …

4. Indicating the gap in knowledge and possible limitations

Few researchers have addressed the problem / issue / question of …

Previous work has only focused on / been limited to / failed to address …

A basic / common / fundamental / crucial / major issue of …

The central / core problem of

A challenging / An intriguing / An important / A neglected area in the field of …

Current solutions to X are inconsistent / inadequate / incorrect / ineffective / inefficient / oversimplistic / unsatisfactory

Many hypotheses regarding X appear to be ill-defined / unfounded / not well grounded / unsupported / questionable / disputable / debatable

The characteristics of X are not well understood / are misunderstood / have not been dealt with in depth.

It is not yet known / has not yet been established whether X can do Y.

X is still poorly / not widely understood.

X is often impractical / not feasible / costly …

Techniques to solve X are computationally demanding / subject to high overheads / time consuming / impractical / frequently unfeasible.

A major defect / difficulty / drawback / disadvantage / flaw of X is …

One of the main issues in our knowledge of / what we know about X is a lack of …

This particular / specific area of X has been overlooked / has been neglected / remains unclear …

Despite this interest, no one to the best of our knowledge / as far as we know has studied …

Although this approach is interesting, it suffers from / fails to take into account / does not allow for …

In spite of / Despite its shortcomings, this method has been widely applied to …

However, there is still a need for / has been little discussion on …

Moreover, other solutions / research programs / approaches have failed to provide …

Most studies have only focused / tended to focus on …

To date / Until now this methodology has only been applied to …

There is still some / much / considerable controversy surrounding …

There has been some disagreement concerning / regarding / with regard to whether

There is little / no general agreement on …

The community has raised some issues / concerns about …

Concerns have arisen / been raised which question / call into question the validity of …

In the light of recent events in x, there is now some / much / considerable concern about …

5. Stating the aim of your paper and its contribution

In this report / paper / review / study we …

This paper outlines / proposes / describes / presents a new approach to …

This paper examines / seeks to address / focuses on / discusses / investigates how to solve …

This paper is an overview of / a review of / a report on / a preliminary attempt to …

The present paper aims to validate / call into question / refute Peng’s findings regarding …

X is presented / described / analyzed / computed / investigated / examined / introduced / discussed in order to …

The aim of our work / research / study / analysis was to further / extend / widen / broaden current knowledge of …

Our knowledge of X is largely based on very limited data. The aim of the research was thus / therefore / consequently to

The aim of this study is to study / evaluate / validate / determine / examine / analyze / calculate / estimate / formulate …

This paper calls into question / takes a new look at / re-examines / revisits / sheds new light on …

With this in mind / Within the framework of these criteria / In this context we tried to …

We undertook this study / initiated this research / developed this methodology to …

We believe that we have found / developed / discovered / designed an innovative solution to …

We describe / present / consider / analyze a novel / simple / radical / interesting solution for …

6. Explaining the key terminology in your field

The term ‘X’ is generally understood to mean / has come to be used to refer to / has been applied to…

In the literature, X usually refers / often refers / tends to be used to refer to …

In the field of X, several / various / many definitions of Y can be found.

The term X is / was / has been used by Molotov [2011] to refer to …

Molotov uses the term X [2011] to refer to / denominate …

X is defined by Peng [1990] to refer to / to mean …

Vitous [2015] has provided / put forward / proposed a new definition of X, in which …

X is defined / identified / described as … [Njimi 2004].

In the literature there seems to be no general definition of X / a general definition of X is lacking /

there is no clear definition of X.

Several authors have attempted to define X, but as yet / currently / at the time of writing there is still no accepted definition.

In broad / general terms, X is / can be defined as a way to …

The broad / general / generally accepted use of the term X refers to …

X is sometimes equated with / embodies a series of …

X, Y and Z are three kinds / types / categories / classes of languages.

There are three kinds of languages: / The three kinds of languages are: / Languages can be divided into three kinds: X, Y and Z.

7. Explaining how you will use terminology and acronyms in your paper

The acronym PC stands for / denotes …

The subjects (henceforth named / hereafter ‘X’) are…

The subject, which we shall call / refer to as ‘X’, is …

Throughout this paper / section we use the terms ‘mafia’ and ‘the mob’ interchangeably, following /

in accordance with the practice of this department where this study was conducted.

The fonts, i.e. / that is to say the form of the characters, are of various types.

There are three different types, namely / specifically: X, Y and Z.

Throughout the / In this paper we use / will use the term X to refer to …

In this chapter X is used / will be used to refer to …

In this paper the standard meaning of X is / will be used ..

This aspect is / will be dealt with in more detail in Sect. 2.

We will see / learn / appreciate how relevant this is in the next subsection.

8. Giving the structure of paper

This paper is organized as follows / divided into five sections.

The first section / Section 1 gives a brief overview of …

The second section examines / analyses …

In the third section a case study is presented / analyzed …

A new methodology is described / outlined in the fourth section …

We / I propose a new procedure in Section 4.

Some / Our conclusions are drawn in the final section.

This paper / chapter / section / subsection begins by examining …

The next chapter looks at / examines / investigates the question of …

Problems / Questions / Issues regarding X are discussed in later sections.

A discussion of Y is / falls outside the scope of this paper.

For reasons of space, Y is not addressed / dealt with / considered in this paper.

9. Giving general panorama of past-to-present literature

There is a considerable / vast amount of literature on …

In the literature there are many / several / a surprising number of / few examples of …

What we know / is known about X is largely based on …

Much / Not much / Very little is known about …

Many / Few studies have been published on … [Ref]

Various approaches have been proposed / put forward / suggested / hypothesized to solve this issue [Ref].

X has been identified / indicated as being … [Ref]

X has been shown / demonstrated / proved / found to be … [Ref]

X has been widely investigated / studied / addressed … [Ref]

Xs have been receiving / gaining much attention due to …

In the traditional / classical approach, X is used to …

In recent years there has been considerable / growing interest in … [Ref]

A growing body of literature has examined / investigated / studied / analyzed / evaluated … [Ref]

Much work on the potential of X has been carried out [Ref], yet / however there are still some critical issues … [Ref]

10. Reviewing past literature

In their seminal / groundbreaking / cutting edge paper of 2001, Peters and Jones …

Initial / Preliminary work in this field focused primarily on …

Some preliminary work was carried out in the early 1990s / several years ago …

Doyle in 2000 was among / one of the first to …

The first investigations into / studies on X found that …

The first systematic study / report on X was carried out / conducted / performed in 1995 by …

An increase in X was first noted / reported / found by …

11. Reviewing subsequent and more recent literature

Experiments on X were conducted / carried out / performed on X in 2009 by a group of researchers from …

In a major advance in 2010, Berlusconi et al. surveyed / interviewed …

Jeffries and co-workers [2011] measured / calculated / estimated …

In [67] the authors investigated / studied / analyzed …

A recent review of the literature on this topic / subject / matter / area [2012] found that …

A number / An increasing number of studies have found that …

Since 2011 / In the last few years, much more information on X has become available …

Several studies, for example / instance [1], [2], and [6], have been carried out / conducted / performed on X.

More recent evidence [Obama, 2013] shows / suggests / highlights / reveals / proposes that …

It has now been suggested / hypothesized / proposed / shown / demonstrated that … [Cosimo 2010]

Many attempts have been made [Kim 2009, Li 2010, Hai 2011] in order to / with the purpose of / aimed at …

12. Reporting what specific authors have said

In her analysis / review / overview / critique of X, Bertram [2] questions the need for …

In his introduction to / seminal article on / investigation into X, Schneider [3] shows that …

Dee [4] developed / reported on a new method for X and concluded that …

Southern’s group [5] calls into question some past assumptions / hypotheses / theories about X.

Burgess [6], an authority on X, notes / mentions / highlights / states / affirms that …

She questions / wonders / considers / investigates whether [or not] X can …

He traces the advances in / development of / history of / evolution of X

They draw our attention to / focus on X.

They make / draw a distinction between …

He claims / argues / maintains / suggests / points out / underlines that …

She concludes / comes to the conclusion / reaches the conclusion that …

She lists / outlines / describes / provides several reasons for …

Her theory / solution / proposal / method / approach is based on …

13. Mentioning positive aspects of others’ work

Smith’s [22] use of X is fully justified / very plausible / endorsed by experience.

Kamos’s [23] assumptions seem to be realistic / well-founded / well-grounded / plausible / reasonable / acceptable.

The equations given in [24] are accurate / comprehensive …

It has been suggested [25] that … and this seems to be a reliable / useful / innovative approach …

14. Highlighting limitations of previous studies – authors not mentioned by name

Research has tended to focus on X rather than Y. An additional problem is that / Moreover X is …

The main limitation / downside / disadvantage / pitfall / shortfall of X is …

One of the major drawbacks to adopting / using / exploiting this system is …

This is something of a pitfall / disadvantage …

A well-known / major / serious criticism of X is …

A key problem with much of the literature on / regarding / in relation to X is that …

This raises many questions about / as to / regarding whether X should be used for …

One question / issue that needs to be asked / raised is …

Unfortunately, it does not / fails to / neglects to explain why …

This method suffers from a number / series / plethora of pitfalls.

There is still considerable ambiguity / disagreement / uncertainty with regard to …

Many experts contend, however / instead / on the other hand, that this evidence is not conclusive.

A related hypothesis holds / maintains that X is equal to Y, suggesting / indicating that …

Other observations indicate / would seem to suggest that this explanation is insufficient …

15. Highlighting limitations of previous studies – authors mentioned by name

Peng [31] claimed / contended that X is … but she failed to provide adequate proof of this finding.

Peng’s findings do not seem / appear to support his conclusions.

This has led authors such as / for example / for instance Mithran [32], Yasmin [34] and Hai [35] to investigate ..

The shortcomings / pitfalls / flaws of their method have been clearly recognized.

A serious weakness / limitation / drawback with this argument, however, is that …

Their approach is not well suited to / appropriate for / suitable for …

The main weakness in their study is that they make no attempt to … / offer no explanation for … / they overlook …

Their experiments were marred / flawed / undermined by X.

X is the major flaw in / drawback to / disadvantage of their experiments.

The major defect in their experiments is that they entail tedious / repetitive / time-consuming / laborious / labor-intensive calculations with regard to …

Such an unreasonable / unjustified / inappropriate / unsuitable / misleading assumption can lead to serious / grave consequences with regard to …

Their claims seem to be somewhat exaggerated / inaccurate / unreliable / speculative / superficial …

In our view, their findings are only conjectures / speculations based on unjustified / implausible / unsatisfactory / ambivalent / unsubstantiated assumptions.

Their paper / work / study / research / approach / findings / results might have been more interesting / innovative / useful / convincing / persuasive

Their attempts to do X are cumbersome / unnecessarily complicated / financially unfeasible …

Their explanations are superficial / impenetrable / doubtful / confusing / misleading / irrelevant …

Another / An additional weakness is …

An even greater source of concern / issue / problem is …

16. Using the opinions of others to justify your criticism of someone’s work

As mentioned by Burgess [2011], Henri’s argument / approach / reasoning relies too heavily on …

As others have highlighted [34, 45, 60], Ozil’s approach raises many doubts / is questionable …

Several authors / experts / researchers / analysts have expressed doubts about / called into question / challenged Guyot on the grounds that …..

Marchesi [2010] has already noted an inconsistency with Hahn’s claim / methodology / method / results / approach …

Friedrich’s approach [2013] has not escaped criticism / been subjected to much criticism and has been strongly / vigorously challenged …

Many experts now contend / believe / argue that rather than using Pappov’s approach it might be more useful to …

Their analysis has not found / met with / received general acceptance …

Some recent criticisms of / critical comments on Kim’s work are summarized in [25].

The most well-known critic of Sadie’s findings is … who argued / proposed / suggested that an alternative explanation might be that / could be found 

17. Describing purpose of testing / methods used

In order to identify / understand / investigate / study / analyze X …

To enable / allow us to … , we …

To see / determine / check / verify / determine whether …

To control / test for X, Y was done.

So that we could / would be able to do X, we …

In an attempt / effort to do X, we …

X was done / We did X in order to …

18. Outlining similarities with other authors’ models, systems etc.

The set up we used can be found / is reported / is detailed in [Ref 2].

Our experimental set up bears a close resemblance to / is reminiscent of / is based on / is a variation

on / was inspired by / owes a lot to / is more or less identical to / is practically the same as the one proposed by Smith [2014].

We used a variation of Smith’s procedure. In fact / Specifically, in our procedure we …

Our steps proceed very much in the same way as / follow what is indicated in [Ref. 2]. First, …

The procedure used is as described / explained / reported / proposed by Sakamoto [2013].

The method is in line with a variation of / essentially the same as that used by Kirk [2009] with some changes / modifications / alterations / adjustments.

We refined / altered / adapted / modified / revised the method used / reported / suggested / explained / proposed / put forward by Bing [2012].

Our technique was loosely / partially / partly / to some extent based on …

More details can be found / are given in our previous paper [35].

This component is fully compliant with international norms / regulations / standards.

19. Describing the apparatus and materials used and their source

The instrument used / utilized / adopted / employed was …

The apparatus consists of / is made up of / is composed of / is based on …

The device was designed / developed / set up in order to …

X incorporates / exploits / makes use of the latest technological advances.

The system comes complete / is equipped / is fully integrated / is fitted with a …

It is mounted on / connected to / attached to / fastened to / fixed to / surrounded by / covered with /

integrated into / embedded onto / encased in / housed in / aligned with …

It is located in / situated in / positioned on ….

X was obtained from / supplied by Big Company Inc.

X was kindly provided / supplied by Prof Big.

20. Reporting software used

The software application / program / package used to analyze the data was SoftGather (Softsift plc, London).

The data were obtained / collected using SoftGather.

Data management / analysis was performed by / using SoftGather.

X was carried out / performed / analyzed / calculated / determined using SoftGather.

Statistical significance was analyzed by using / through the use of SoftGather.

We used commercially available software / a commercially available software package.

Free software, downloaded from www.free.edu, was used / adopted to …

21. Reporting customizations performed

X was tailored / customized for use with …

X can easily be customized / adapted / modified to suit all requirements.

Measurements were taken using purpose-built / custom-built / customized equipment.

The apparatus was adapted as in [Ref] / in accordance with [Ref] / as follows:

The following changes / modifications were made:

The resulting ad hoc device can / is able to / has the capacity to …

22. Formulating equations, theories and theorems

This problem can be outlined / phrased / posed in terms of …

The problem is ruled by / governed by / related to / correlated to …

This theorem asserts / states that …

The resulting integrals / solution to X can be expressed as …

… where T stands for / denotes / identifies / is an abbreviation for time.

By substituting / Substituting / Substitution into …

Combining / Integrating / Eliminating .. we have that: …

Taking advantage of / Exploiting / Making use of X, we …

On combining this result with X, we deduce / conclude that …

Subtracting X from Y, we have that / obtain / get …

Equation 1 shows / reveals that

This gives the formal solution / allows a formal solution to be found …

It may easily / simply verified that …

It is straightforward / easy / trivial to verify that …

For the sake of simplicity / reasons of space, we

23. Explaining why you chose your specific method, model, equipment, sample etc.

The aim / purpose of X is to do Y. Consequently we / As a result we / Therefore we / We thus …

This method / model / system was chosen because it is one of the most practical / feasible / economic / rapid ways to …

We chose this particular apparatus because / on account of the fact that / due to / since …

It was decided that the best procedure / method / equipment for this investigation / study was to …

An X approach was chosen / selected in order to …

The design of the X was based on / is geared towards …

We opted for / chose a small sample size because / due to / on the basis of …

By having / By exploiting / Through the use of X, we were able to …

Having an X enabled us to / allowed us to / meant that we could do Y.

24. Explaining the preparation of samples and solutions

We used reliable / innovative / classic / traditional techniques based on the recommendations of …

Xs were prepared as described by / according to / following Jude [2010].

Xs were prepared in accordance with / in compliance with / as required by….

Y was prepared using the same / a similar procedure as for X.

All samples were carefully / thoroughly checked for …

X was gradually / slowly / rapidly / gently heated

The final / resulting solutions contained …

This was done by means of / using / with a calculator.

25. Outlining selection procedure for samples, surveys etc.

The traditional / classical / normal / usual approach to sample collection is to …

The criteria / reasons for selecting Xs were:

The sample was selected / subdivided on the basis of X and Y.

The initial sample consisted of / was made up / was composed of …

Approximately / Just over / Slightly under a half / third / quarter of the sample were …

A total of 1234 Xs were recruited for this study / this survey / for interviews.

At the beginning of the study, all of the participants / subjects / patients were aged ……

In all cases patients’ / subjects’ / participants’ consent was obtained.

Interviews were performed / conducted / carried out informally

The interviewees were divided / split / broken down into two groups based on / on the basis of …

26. Indicating the time frame (past tenses)

Initial studies were made / performed / done / carried out / executed using the conditions described

above over / for a period of …

X was collected / used / tested / characterized / assessed during the first / initial step.

Prior to / Before doing X, we did Y.

First we estimated / determined the value of X, then / subsequently we studied / analyzed / evaluated Y.

Once / As soon as / After X had been done, we then did Y.

The levels were thus / consequently / therefore set at …

After / Afterwards / Following this, X was subjected to Y.

The resulting / remaining Xs were then …

The experiment was then repeated / replicated under conditions in which …

Finally, independent / separate / further / additional tests were performed on the …

27. Indicating the time frame in a general process (present tenses)

In the first step / During the first phase / In the initial stage of the process …

Once / As soon as / After X has been done, we can then do Y.

This sets the stage / We are now ready for the next step.

At this point / Now X can be …

After / When / As soon as these steps have been carried out, X …

With the completion of these steps / When these steps have been completed, we are now ready to …

This condition cannot be reached until / unless X has been …

When / As soon as X is ready, the final adjustments can be made.

The completed X can now / then / subsequently be used to …

By reducing the amount of X / If the amount of X is reduced, Y can then be done.

To reduce the risk of Y, place / The risk of X can be reduced by placing all the Xs in a container.

The experiment proceeds / continues following the steps outlined below.

28. Indicating that care must be taken

To do this entails / involves / requires doing X.

It is seldom / rarely / usually / generally / often / always practical to …

Considerable / Great care are must be taken / exercised when …

A great deal of / Considerable attention must be paid when …

Extreme caution must be taken / used when …

29. Describing benefits of your method, equipment etc.

This method represents a viable / valuable / useful / groundbreaking / innovative alternative to …

This equipment has the ability / capacity / potential to outperform all previous Xs.

This apparatus has several / many interesting features / characteristics.

Our method has many interesting / attractive / beneficial / useful / practical / effective / valuable applications.

Of particular / major / fundamental interest is …

The key / basic / chief / crucial / decisive / essential / fundamental / important / main / major / principal advantages are:

Our procedure is a clear improvement / advance on current methods.

We believe this solution will aid / assist researchers to …

This solution improves on / enhances / furthers / advances previous methods by …

The benefits / advantages in terms of X far outweigh the disadvantages with regard to Y.

30. Outlining alternative approaches

A less lengthy / time-consuming / cumbersome / costly approach is …

A neater / more elegant / simplified / more practical solution for this problem …

An alternative solution, though with high overheads / slightly more complicated / less exhaustive is…

One / One possible / A good way to avoid the use of X is to use Y instead.

31. Explaining how you got your results

To assess X / evaluate X / distinguish between X and Y, Z was used.

X analysis was used to test / predict / confirm Y.

Changes in X were identified / calculated / compared using …

The correlation / difference between X and Y was tested.

The first set of analyses investigated / examined / confirmed / highlighted the impact of …

32. Reporting results from questionnaires and interviews

Of the study population / initial sample / initial cohort, 90 subjects completed and returned the questionnaire.

The response rate was 70% at / after / for the first six months and …

The majority of respondents / those who responded felt that ….

Over half / Sixty per cent of those surveyed / questioned reported that …

Almost / Just under / Approximately two-thirds of the participants (64%) said / felt / commented that …

Only / Just a small number / Fifteen per cent of those interviewed reported / suggested / indicated that …

Of the 82 subjects who completed the questionnaire / took part in the survey / agreed to participate, just under / over half replied that ….

A small minority of / Hardly any / Very few participants (4%) indicated …

In response to Question 1, most / nearly all / the majority of those surveyed indicated that …

When the subjects were asked about / questioned on X the majority commented that ….

The overall response to this question was surprisingly / unexpectedly / very / quite negative.

33. Stating what you found

These tests revealed / showed / highlighted that …

Strong / Some / No evidence of X was found …

Interestingly / Surprisingly / Unexpectedly, for high values of X, Y was found ..

There was a significant positive / no correlation between …

On average / Generally speaking / Broadly speaking, we found values for X of …

The average / mean score for X was …

This result is significant only / exclusively at an X level.

Further analysis / analyses / tests / examinations / replications showed that …

34. Stating what you did not find

No significant difference / correlation was found / identified / revealed / detected / observed / highlighted between ….

There were no significant differences between X and Y in terms of Z / with regard to Z / as far as Z is concerned.

The analysis did not show / reveal / identify / confirm any significant differences between …

None of these differences were / Not one of these differences was statistically significant.

Overall / Taken as a whole / Generally speaking / With a few exceptions, our results show X did not affect Y.

35. Highlighting significant results and achievements

The most striking / remarkable result to emerge from the data is that …

Interestingly / Curiously / Remarkably / Inexplicably, this correlation is related to ….

Significantly / Importantly / Crucially / Critically, X is …

The correlation between X and Y is interesting / of interest / worth noting / noteworthy / worth mentioning because …

The most surprising / remarkable / intriguing correlation is with the …

The single most striking / conspicuous / marked observation to emerge from the data comparison was …

It is interesting / critical / crucial / important / fundamental to note that …

We believe that / As far as we know / As far as we aware this is the first time that X …

We believe that / We are of the opinion that / In our view the result emphasizes the validity of our model.

This result has further strengthened our confidence in X / conviction that X is / hypothesis that X is …

Our technique shows a clear / clearly has an advantage over …

The importance of X cannot be stressed / emphasized too much.

This underlines / highlights / stresses / proves / demonstrates just how important X is.

The utility of X is thus underlined / highlighted / stressed / proved / demonstrated.

This finding confirms / points to / highlights / reinforces / validates the usefulness of X as a …

Our study provides additional support for / further evidence for / considerable insight into X.

These results extend / further / widen our knowledge of X.

These results offer compelling / indisputable / crucial / overwhelming / powerful / invaluable /

unprecedented / unique / vital evidence for …

36. Stating that your results confirm previous evidence

Our experiments confirm / corroborate / are in line with / are consistent with previous results [Wiley 2009].

The values are barely / scarcely / hardly distinguishable from [Li 2010] who …

This value has been found to be / is typical of X.

This is in good agreement / in complete agreement / consistent with …

This fits / matches / concurs well with [65] and also confirms our earlier / previous findings [39, 40, 41].

This confirms / supports / lends support to / substantiates previous findings in the literature …

These values correlate favorably / satisfactorily / fairly well with Svenson [2009] and further support the idea / role / concept of …

Further tests carried out with X confirmed / corroborated / concurred with our initial findings.

As proposed / suggested / reported / indicated / put forward by Dong [2011], the evidence we found points to …

Our results share / have a number of similarities with Claire et al.’s [2012] findings …

37. Stating that your results are in contrast with previous evidence

It was found that X = 2, whereas / on the other hand Kamatchi [2011] found that …

We found much higher values for X than / with respect to those reported by Pandey [2000].

Although / Despite the fact that Li and Mithran [2014] found that X = 2 we found that X = 3.

In contrast to / contradiction with earlier findings [Castenas, 2009], we …

This study has not confirmed previous research on X. However / Nevertheless / Despite this, it serves to …

Even though these results differ from some published / previous / earlier studies (Cossu, 2001;

Triana, 2002), they are consistent with those of …

Kosov et al. noted that x = y. Our results do not support / appear to corroborate / seem to confirm their observation, in fact …

Georgiev is correct to argue / propose / claim that x = y. However, his calculation only referred to the limited case of …. and our conclusion of x = z, would thus seem to be justified / justifiable /

defensible / correct / acceptable / warranted.

Although our results differ slightly / to some extent / considerably from those of Minhaz [2001],

Erturk [2007], and Hayk [2014], it can / could nevertheless be argued that …

Our findings do / The current study does not support previous research in this area. In fact, contrary to / unlike / in contrast with what was previously thought, we found that …

These findings refute / disprove / are in contradiction with / contrast with / significantly differ from previous results reported in the literature.

38. Stating and justifying the acceptability of your results

As expected / anticipated / predicted / forecast / hypothesized, our experiments show / demonstrate / prove that …

Our formula captures / reproduces the response of …

Apart from this slight discordance / discrepancy / disagreement / non-alignment, the result is confirmation of …

Despite / Notwithstanding the lack of agreement, we believe our findings compare well with …

Although / Even though / Despite the fact that there was some inconsistency …

There is satisfactory / good / exceptional / perfect agreement between …

No significant / substantial / appreciable / noteworthy differences were found …

Our findings appear to be well substantiated / supported by …

The number of Xs that confirmed our findings was appreciable / significant / substantial.

39. Expressing caution regarding the interpretation of results

Initially we thought that x was equal to y. However, a more careful analysis / closer inspection revealed that …

These results / data / findings thus need to be interpreted with caution / care / attention.

The conclusions of the review should be treated / interpreted / analyzed / read with caution.

However, due care / careful attention / extreme caution must be exercised / paid in …

Given that our findings are based on a limited number of Xs, the results from such analyses should thus / consequently / therefore be treated with considerable / the utmost caution.

Other researchers have sounded / We should sound a note of caution with regard to such findings.

40. Outlining undesired or unexpected results

As was / might have been expected, our findings were often contradictory …

Contrary to expectations / Unlike other research carried out in this area, we did not find a significant difference between …

Our results were disappointing / poor / inadequate / unsatisfactory / below expectations. However, …

Our study was unsuccessful / not successful in proving that …

Our research failed to account for / justify / explain / give an explanation for / give a reason for the low values of …

Surprisingly / Unfortunately / Disappointingly / Regrettably, no signs of X were / evidence for X was found.

What is surprising / we were surprised to find / we are unable to account for is the fact that …

A substantial / appreciable / noticeable disagreement is evident.

The Xs appear to be over-predicted / overestimated / overstated …

This number is slightly lower than the value we expected / anticipated / predicted and there is certainly room for improvement.

41. Admitting limitations

We aware that our research may have two limitations. The first is … The second is … These

limitations highlight / reveal / underline / are evidence of the difficulty of collecting data on ….

It is plausible that a number of limitations may / might / could have influenced the results obtained.

First / To begin with … An additional / Another possible source of error is …

Since / Given that / As the focus of the study was on X … there is a possibility / there is some

likelihood / it is not inconceivable that dissimilar evaluations would have arisen if the focus had been on Y.

The restricted use of X could account for / be the reason for / explain why …

There are several sources for / causes of / reasons for possible error.

A major source of unreliability / uncertainty / contamination is in the method used to …

Unfortunately, it was not possible / we were unable to investigate the significant relationships of X and Y further because / due to the fact that Z is …

Inevitably / Not surprisingly / As expected / As anticipated, there were some discrepancies / inaccuracies / problems due to …

The performance was rather / slightly / a little disappointing. This was probably as a result of …

One downside / disadvantage / negative factor regarding our methodology is that …

Further data collection is required / would be needed to determine exactly how X affects Y.

42. Explaining and justifying undesired or unexpected results

It is very likely / probable / possible that participants may have erroneously … and this may have led to / brought about changes in …

The prime / primary / foremost cause of the discrepancy is due to / a result of / a consequence of X.

This apparent lack of correlation can be attributed to / explained by / justified by …

The reason for this rather contradictory result is still not entirely / completely clear, but …

There are several possible explanations for this result / finding / outcome.

These differences can be explained / justified / accounted for in part by …

It can thus be suggested / conceivably hypothesized / reasonably assumed that …

The unexpectedly high / low level of X is undoubtedly / certainly / without any doubt due to …

A possible / reasonable / satisfactory explanation for X may be that ….

Another possible explanation / rationalization / reason for this is that …

Clearly / Evidently / Naturally there may be other possible explanations.

This happened / occurred / may have happened / may have occurred because we had not examined X sufficiently / in enough depth due to …

The reasons for this result are not yet wholly / completely / entirely understood.

It cannot be ruled out / ignored that there was some unintended bias in …

An unintended bias cannot be ruled out / should be taken into consideration.

We cannot rule out that X might / may have influenced Y.

The observed increase in X could be attributed to / might be explained by it / could be interpreted as being a result of …

Despite the fact that / Although X was expected to do Y, it was not predicted that X would also do Z.

However, this is not particularly surprising given the fact / in light of the fact / if we consider that

43. Minimizing undesired or unexpected results

Although performance was not ideal / perfect / optimal, we still / nevertheless believe that …

This poor performance was not unexpected / surprising / very significant. In fact …

This result was not expected / predicted / anticipated. However, the reason for this is probably / it is likely that the reason for this is / it is probable that the reason for this is that …

Our investigations so far have only been on a small scale / applied to …

These discrepancies are negligible / can be neglected / considered as insignificant / are of no real consequence due to the fact that …

Despite the limitations of this method, and consequently the poor results in Test 2, our findings do nevertheless / in any case / however suggest that …

Given that / Since / On account of the fact that this was only a preliminary attempt to do X it is hardly surprising that …

As is well known, Xs are extremely hard / difficult / problematic / time-consuming / cumbersome to control, so / thus / consequently ….

In fact, X was beyond the scope of this study / not a primary goal in this research / not the focus of this study / not attempted in this study.

Consequently, it is inevitable / understandable / not hard to appreciate / not surprising that …

Note / It should be noted / It is worthwhile noting that …

A / One limitation of our research is that the surveys were not conducted in the same period.

However / Nevertheless / Despite this, we can still state that …

We failed / were not able / were unable to find a link between x and y, but this may / might depend on the methodology chosen for our research.

44. Expressing opinions and probabilities

To the best of our knowledge / As far as we know / We believe that no other authors have found that x = y.

It would seem / appear that …

Our findings would seem to show / demonstrate / suggest / imply that x = y.

This factor may be responsible / is probably responsible / could well be responsible for this result.

Presumably / We hypothesize / I argue that this factor is …

We believe that our method could be used / probably be usefully employed in…

Our approach would lend itself well for use by / may be useful for …

In our opinion / view, this method could be used in …

We believe / feel strongly that …

There is evidence to suggest / support the hypothesis that …

It is proposed / This may mean / It seems likely / It may be assumed that …

This implies / suggests / would appear to indicate that …

The results point to the likelihood / probability that …

There is a strong / definite / clear / good probability that …

45. Announcing your conclusions and summarizing content

In conclusion / In summary / In sum / To sum up, our work …

Our work has led us to conclude / the conclusion that …

We have presented / outlined / described …

In this paper / study / review we have …

This paper has investigated / explained / given an account of …

46. Restating the results (Conclusions section)

The evidence from this study suggests / implies / points towards the idea / intimates that …

The results / findings of this study indicate / support the idea / suggest that …

In general, / Taken together, these results suggest / would seem to suggest that …

An implication / A consequence / The upshot of this is the possibility that …

47. Highlighting achievements (Conclusions section)

Our research / This paper has highlighted / stressed / underlined the importance of …

We have managed to do / succeeded in doing / been able to do / found a way to do X.

We have found an innovative / a new / a novel / a cutting-edge solution for …

We have obtained accurate / satisfactory / comprehensive results proving / demonstrating / showing that …

We have devised a methodology / procedure / strategy which …

We have confirmed / provided further evidence / demonstrated that …

Considerable progress has been made / insight has been gained with regard to …

Taken together, these findings suggest / implicate / highlight a role for X

Our study provides the framework / a springboard / the backbone / the basis / a blueprint / an agenda / a stimulus / encouragement for a new way to do X.

The strength / strong point / value / impact / benefit / usefulness / significance / importance of our work / study / contribution lies in …

X provides a powerful tool / methodology for …

X ensures / guarantees that X will do Y, and it can be generalized to …

Our investigations into this area are still ongoing / in progress and seem likely to confirm our hypothesis.

These findings add to a growing body of literature on / substantially to our understanding of X.

48. Highlighting limitations (Conclusions section)

Our work clearly has some limitations. Nevertheless / Despite this we believe our work could be the basis / a framework / a starting point / a springboard for

Despite the fact that there are / In spite of the fact that / Although there are limitations due to Y, we…

The most important limitation lies in / is due to / is a result of the fact that …

The current study was limited by / unable to / not specifically designed to…

The present study has only investigated / examined X. Therefore / Consequently …

The project / analysis / testing / sampling was limited in several ways. First, …

Finally, a number of potential limitations / weaknesses / shortfalls / shortcomings / weak points need to be considered. First, …

However, given the small sample size, caution must be exercised / taken / used / applied.

The findings might not be transferable to / generalized to / representative of …

The picture / situation is thus still incomplete.

49. Outlining possible applications and implications of your work

This study is the first step / has gone some way towards enhancing our understanding of …

These observations have several / three main / many implications for research into …

This work has revealed / shown / highlighted / demonstrated / proved that …

The present findings might help to solve / have important implications for solving / suggest several courses of action in order to solve this problem.

X is suitable for / has the potential to …

Our method / technique / approach / procedure could be applied to …

One possible / potential / promising application of our technique would be …

Results so far have been very promising / encouraging and …

This approach has the potential / requirements / characteristics / features to …

This could eventually / conceivably / potentially / hypothetically lead to …

Our data suggest that X could be used / exploited / taken advantage of / made use of in order to …

In our view these results are / constitute / represent an excellent initial step toward …

We believe / are confident that our results may improve knowledge about …

These early successes may hope to resolve / tackle / solve / deal with …

Another / An additional / A further important implication is …

Our research could help / be a useful aid for / possibly support decision makers because …

We think that our findings could / might be useful for …

We hope that our research will be helpful / useful / beneficial / constructive / valuable in solving the

difficulty of … At the same time / In addition / Further / Furthermore we believe that …

Our research suggests that the policy makers should encourage / it is important for policy makers to encourage stakeholders to …

The findings of my research have serious / considerable / important managerial implications.

50. Future work already underway or planned by the authors

We are currently / now / in the process of investigating …

Research into solving this problem is already underway / in progress.

To further our research we plan / are planning / intend to …

Future work will concentrate on / focus on / explore / investigate / look into …

Further studies, which take X into account, will need to be undertaken / performed.

We hope that further tests will prove our theory / confirm our findings.

These topics are reserved for / deferred to future work.

51. Future work proposed for third parties to carry out

Further work needs to be done / carried out / performed to establish whether …

Further experimental investigations / tests / studies are needed to estimate …

More / Additional / Further work on X, would help us to do Y.

We hope / believe / are confident that our research will serve as a base for future studies on …

It is recommended / We recommend / We suggest / We propose that further research should be undertaken in the following areas:

More broadly / On a wider level, research is also needed to determine ….

This research has raised / given rise to / thrown up many questions in need of further investigation / study / examination.

This is an important / a fundamental / a vital issue for future research.

The design and development of Xs will challenge / be a challenge for us for years.

Future work should concentrate / focus on enhancing the quality of X.

Future studies should target / aim at / examine / deal with / address X.

Future studies on the current topic are therefore required / needed / recommended / suggested in order to establish / verify / validate / elucidate …

Our results are encouraging / promising and should be validated by a larger sample size.

These findings suggest the following directions / opportunities for future research: ….

An important issue / matter / question / problem to resolve for future studies is …

The prospect of being able to do X, serves as a continuous incentive for / stimulus for / impulse for / spur to future research.

52. Acknowledgements

This work was carried out / performed within the framework of an EU project and was partly sponsored by …

This research was made possible by / benefited from a grant from …

Support was given by the Institute of X, who funded the work in all its / its initial stages.

We thank / would like to thank the following people for their support, without whose help this work would never have been possible:

We gratefully acknowledge the help provided by Dr. X / constructive comments of the anonymous referees.

We are indebted / particularly grateful to Dr. Alvarez for …

We thank / are grateful to / gratefully acknowledge Dr. Y for her help / valuable suggestions and discussions.

Thanks are also due to / The authors wish to thank Prof. X, who gave us much valuable advice in the early stages of this work.

Dr. Y collaborated with / worked alongside our staff during this research project.

We also thank Prof. Lim for her ongoing collaboration with our department / technical assistance in all our experimental work.

53. Referring to tables and figures, and to their implications

Table 1 compares / lists / details / summarizes the data on X.

Table 2 proves / shows / demonstrates / illustrates / highlights that X is …

Figure 1 presents / reports / shows / details the data on X.

Figure 3 pinpoints / indicates exactly where X meets Y.

As shown / highlighted / illustrated / detailed / can be seen in Fig. 1, the value of …

The value of X is greater when Y = 2 (Fig. 1 / Eq. 2)

The results on X can be seen / are compared / are presented in Fig. 1.

From the graph / photo / chart / histogram we can see / note that …

It can be seen in / is apparent from Fig. 1 that …

We observe / note from Table 1 that ..

The graph above / below / to the left / to the right shows that …

Figure 8 shows a clear trend / significant difference in …

The table is revealing / interesting in several ways. First …

54. Making transitions, focusing on a new topic

If we now turn to / Turning now to / Let us know look at the second part …

As far as X is / Xs are concerned …

As regards / Regarding / Regarding the use of / As for X, it was found that …

55. Referring backwards and forwards in the paper

As was mentioned / stated / noted / discussed / reported in the Methods, …

As reported above / previously / earlier / before …

As mentioned / stated / outlined in the literature review …

The above- / afore-mentioned X is …

More details on this will be given below / in the next section / in the appendix.

The following is / Here follows / Below is a list of …

Please refer to Appendix 2 / Table 6 / the Supplementary Material for….

56. Referring back to your research aim

As stated in the Introduction, our main aim / objective / target / purpose / goal was to …

As stated in the Introduction, the research was conducted / undertaken / carried out in order to …

Given that / Since our main aim was, as mentioned in the Introduction, to …

Before interpreting our results, we remind the reader of / would just like to restate our main aims.

Returning to the hypothesis / question posed at the beginning of this study, it is now possible to state that …

57. Referring outside the paper

See the respective handbook [Ref] for a description of X.

For a detailed review on this topic see [Ref].

More details on this topic can be found in [Ref].