A KEY TO SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH LITERATURE
        a: == What the writer said
        b: == What the writer really meant

a.      It has long been known that ...
b.      I haven't bothered to look up the original reference, but ...

a.      Of great theoretical and practical importance ...
b.      Interesting to me.

a.      While it has not been posible to provide definite answers to
        these questions ...
b.      The experiment didn't work out, but I figured I could at least
        get a publication out of it.

a.      The operant conditioning technique was chosen to study the problem ...
b.      The fellow in the next lab already had the equipment set up.

a.      Three of the Ss were chosen for detailed study ...
b.      Results on the others didn't make sense.

a.      Typical results are shown.
b.      The best results are shown.

a.      Agreement with the predicted curve is:
        a. excellent    b. fair
        a. good         b. poor
        a. satisfactory b. doubtful
        a. fair         b. imaginary

a.      It is suggested that...It is believed that... It may be that...
b.      I think

a.      It is generally believed that ...
b.      A couple of other guys think so too.

a.      It is clear that much additional work will be required before a
        complete understanding ....
b.      I don't understand it.

a.      Unfortunately, a quantitative theory to account for these
        results has not been formulated.
b.      I can't think of one and neither can anyone else.

a.      Correct within an order of magnitude ...
b.      Wrong.

a.      Thanks are due to Joe Clotz for assistance with the experiments
        and to John Doe for valuable discussion.
b.      Clotz did the work and Doe explained what it meant.