Being courteous - How to state the acknowledgments - Preparing the text

How to write and publish a scientific paper - Barbara Gastel, Robert A. Day 2022

Being courteous
How to state the acknowledgments
Preparing the text

As well as providing transparency, acknowledgments show courtesy. There isn’t anything really scientific about this section of a scientific paper. The same rules that would apply in any other area of civilized life should apply here. If you borrowed a neighbor’s lawn mower, you would (we hope) remember to express thanks for it. If your neighbor gave you a really good idea for landscaping your property and you then put that idea into effect, you would (we hope) remember to say thank you. It is the same in science; if your neighbor (your colleague) provided important ideas, important supplies, or important equipment, you should thank him or her. And you must say thanks in print, because that is how scientific landscaping is presented to its public.

A word of caution is in order. Before mentioning someone in an acknowledgment, obtain permission to do so. Often, it is wise to show the proposed wording to the person whose help you are acknowledging. State specifically what is being acknowledged, lest the person seem to be endorsing the entire paper.

We wish that the word wish would disappear from acknowledgments. Wish is a perfectly good word when you mean wish, as in “I wish you success.” However, if you say, “I wish to thank John Jones,” you are wasting words. You may also be introducing the implication that “I wish that I could thank John Jones for his help, but it wasn’t all that helpful.” “I thank John Jones” is sufficient.