The English language has a rich history of borrowing words from other languages, especially from Latin. Latin abbreviations such as ‘a.m.’, ‘p.m.’ and ‘CV’ have become part of our everyday vocabulary. Such abbreviations are also frequently used in academic writing, from the ‘Ph.D.’ in the affiliation section to the ‘i.e.’, ‘e.g.’, ‘et al.’, and ‘QED’ in the rest of the paper.
This guide explains when and how to correctly use ‘et al.’ in a research paper.
為此，你需要清楚引用任何非原創文本、意念或資料來源。所有轉載或改編的材料也需獲版權授權。同樣地，如你獲准在學習期間得到某些協助，你便需要在「致謝詞」中表明曾獲支持。
致謝詞可以體現學術誠信和透明度，讓你公開向曾為你工作成果作出重大貢獻的人士或團體致謝；不論他們是義務還是受聘支持你的工作，致謝詞都可以顯示你的專業精神，也可以表明你懂得如何成為學術界中謙恭有禮的一員。說到底，你也會希望未來幫助同行時得到同樣肯定。
你需要在下列情況在致謝詞表明誰曾支持你：
本指南將就如可準備畢業論文和期刊手稿的致謝詞提供一般建議。我們將按以下六個步驟討論如何為這兩種文獻撰寫致謝詞。
第一步：列出曾直接幫助你的人士，說明他們如何幫助
第二步：列出其他曾幫助你的人士，說明他們如何幫助
第三步：為自己的工作負責
第四步：考慮研究和出版道德
第五步：檢查文件指引
第六步：編輯和校閱
整合全文：速查表
「Acknowledgments」為美式拼法，英式拼法為「Acknowledgements」。如果你只向一名人士、一個團體或一家機構致謝，你也可以在章節標題使用單數式。
第一步是透明、準確地列出所有曾協助你完成工作的非作者，以及他們所提供的外在貢獻大支持。清楚列明資料或數據來源非常重要，因為這些資料可幫助其他有意重複或借鑑你發現的研究員。
請詳列曾經助你一臂之力人士或機構的全名。你可以不提先生（Mr）或女士（Ms）等稱謂，但是視乎你以美式、英式或你報告的其他常規而定，你可以使用博士（Dr）或教授（Prof）等稱謂。如情況許可，你也應包括致謝名單上每位人士的所屬機構；另外如果期刊要求，你也應標示被致謝人士的職稱、專業領域或部門。
無論是畢業論文還是手稿的致謝詞，通常都需要表達對特定支持的謝意，包括：
你可以選擇以不同方法，在畢業論文和手稿中正式而有禮地感謝支持。直接的方法是在句首使用相關動詞或名詞，例如「We thank X [person] for Y [contribution as verb+ing or noun]」、「We appreciate the Y [contribution as noun] of X」、「Thanks are due/owed to X…」，又或簡單地「Thanks go to X…」：
We sincerely thank Dr Alan Pan (Department of Surgery, ABC University) for assisting with case selection.
I thank Prof Kate Chang of the University of ABC for permission to use and reproduce the survey instrument.
We appreciate the assistance of the staff of the ABC Division of ABC University, who recruited the volunteers.
Special thanks go to Mari Beer (ABC Editing Company) for useful comments on and for editing an earlier draft of this manuscript.
使用代表感謝的形容詞或名詞，會是較間接和強烈度較輕的方法，例如「We are thankful/grateful to」或「We express/extend our thanks/gratitude/appreciation to」：
I am grateful to the ABC University Core Research Unit for providing DNA sequencing services.
We extend our gratitude to Prof. Mike Jackson (Director, Centre for ABC, University of ABC) for providing the samples used in this study.
再間接一些，和再含蓄的方法，是以代表意圖的動詞開始，例如「I would like to」、「I wish to」和「I want to」：
We would like to thank the patients at ABC Medical Centre who participated in this study.
I wish to express my gratitude to Julia Punn for drawing the graph in Figure 2.
「acknowledge」這個動詞（如「acknowledge X for Y」或「acknowledge Y by/from X」）也可能會暗示責任或不情願：
I acknowledge the ABC Department at ABC University for permission to use the data.
We gratefully acknowledge the copyediting performed by Dr Ruth Cone, Associate Professor in English at the University of ABC.
致謝詞中，感謝的文法主語通常是「I」（或在多於一位作者的期刊手稿時用「We」）。如果出版風格需要避免使用個人代名字，你可以用「The author/s」作為主語：
The author is thankful to Louis Grey of ABC Language Services for proofreading the manuscript.
另外，被致謝方也可以用作句子的主語，主動或被動語態皆可。
Jeff Smith, Head Librarian at ABC University, deserves special thanks for providing access to the university archives.
The staff at the Institute of ABC are thanked for providing technical advice and facilities throughout the project.
資助通常會被最先或最後致謝，而且會以被動語態作事實陳述，語氣也較冷淡：
This study was supported in part by the ABC University Grants Committee (Award No. 123456).
Research funding for this project was provided by the ABC University Grants Committee (Award No. 123456).
請查閱你的機構／院校、出版商或資助者的政策，瞭解各方所容許的支持種類和程度。例如，大部份大學嚴格禁止寫作協作，但或會在某些情況下容許在編輯和校閱上獲得支援。部份期刊認為撰寫初稿的人士也稱得上是作者。
致謝的典型先後次序是先提及直接支持，再向間接支持致謝。另一選擇是讓排序反映貢獻的重要性，最重要的先致謝，不論貢獻是直接還是間接。
最好把類似的角色分組致謝。致謝名單的介紹句應使用冒號。你可能需要以分號充當「超級逗號」，藉以清楚說明每一項貢獻。例如：
This article has benefited from the contributions of the following people: my former primary supervisor, Dr A (ABC University), who obtained project funding and reviewed multiple drafts; Prof B (DEF University), who provided useful discussion on theoretical frameworks; and Dr C (GHI University), who tutored me in advanced research methods.
畢業論文的非技術致謝通常採用半正規、較有感情的風格撰寫，較多使用正面的形容詞和副詞：
Many thanks go to my supervisor, Prof Jane Wong, for advice, encouragement, and support throughout my degree. Without her immensely valuable and motivational feedback at weekly meetings and on multiple drafts, this dissertation would never have been completed.
Last but not least, I am indebted to my family for their unfailing love and unconditional support. Their strong belief in me kept me going through both thick and thin in my studies.
This dissertation is dedicated to my grandparents, Naomi Tanaka and the late Tom Tanaka. They are my constant guiding light.
期刊手稿的致謝應使用正規的風格。不用向聯合作者致謝，指導老師則只於他們未能滿足期刊作者身份準則時才需致謝。非技術致謝的例子如下：
I am grateful to my supervisor, Prof Gladys Cho, for her encouragement and guidance.
We thank the two anonymous journal reviewers and the handling editor, Dr Andy Harris, for helpful comments on an earlier draft.
This article is dedicated to the memory of Dr Yvonne Koo, the third co-author, who died during the preparation of this manuscript.
要避免重複使用同一句感謝說話，你可以在短語上多作變化，也可配合一些信號詞，例如是「In addition」、「Furthermore」和「also」。你也可以把最有意思或最特別的貢獻放到最後致謝，用語方面可選擇：「In particular, I am most grateful for」、「Most importantly, I thank」、「I especially thank」，或「Finally, special thanks go to」。
All opinions, omissions, and errors remain my own.
The responsibility for the content and any remaining errors remains exclusively with the authors.
此外，作者也可能被要求（例如由資助人要求）明確表達內容完全屬於其個人。例如：
The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of their institutions, employers, or funders.
畢業論文的致謝詞可以在結語或起首語中，加入研究員的簡短聲明，說明其對於學位課程的反思，表達其如何成為研究社群中可信和成熟的一份子。例如：
This degree has taught me both academic and personal lessons, including how to be a responsible, resilient, and professional researcher.
[按作者] Author contributions. A.B.C.: study conception and design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of results, drafting. D.E.F: data collection, analysis and interpretation of results, drafting. G.H.I: analysis and interpretation of results, drafting. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
[按貢獻] Author contributions. Conceptualisation: A.B.C.; Methodology: A.B.C.; Investigation: A.B.C., D.E.F.; Formal analysis: A.B.C., D.E.F., G.H.I.; Writing – original draft: A.B.C.; Writing – review & editing: D.E.F., G.H.I. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
請只向那些真正有幫助過你完成工作的人士。不要把致謝變成攀附名人的舉動，也不要在此向沒有協助過你的知名人士致謝。期刊通常要求致謝詞所有被點名人士均已書面同意在致謝名單中出現。
學術書籍和專著都可能在書籍的首尾設有整體致謝詞，而每個書章章末也可能會有個別致謝。本段內容適用於手稿和畢業論文的各類致謝詞，但也可以用較長和較個人化、較富感情的方式撰寫。
| 步驟 | 任務 | 重點 |
| 1 | 列出曾直接幫助你的人士，說明他們如何幫助 | 列舉研究或匯報期間的知識、技術、材料或財務支持來源。 |
| 2 | 列出其他曾幫助你的人士，說明他們如何幫助 | 請點名感謝曾為你提供一般或間接支持的人士，特別是畢業論文，需感謝曾提供精神或個人指引的人士。 |
| 3 | 為自己的工作負責 | 如有需要，請聲明內容均由你原創，而且你會就任何錯誤承擔負責。 |
| 4 | 考慮研究和出版道德 | 如期刊有所要求，請連同道德聲明（人類／動物研究、此前發表、利益衝突、作者貢獻） |
| 5 | 檢查文件指引 | 遵從院校／機構或期刊的內容、文風和格式風格。 |
| 6 | 編輯和校閱 | 檢查語氣、拼寫、文法和標點符號。 |
只要按照上述指引，你便可以寫出得體有效的致謝詞。預祝你草擬畢業論文或手稿成功！如果你需要其他編輯上的協助，歡迎電郵至 cs@asiaedit.com 聯絡我們。
Our latest online workshop built on the success of face-to-face workshops we developed specifically for local universities. Over 30 faculty members joined the session, presented by our Chief Operating Officer, Mr Nick Case, to learn from our case studies on editing research proposals.
The response to our workshop, which included a constructive and insightful Q&A session, was very positive.Drawing on our extensive experience working with hundreds of Hong Kong researchers targeting the GRF and ECS every year, we used examples of poor and subsequently improved proposals to show the attendees how they can make their applications stand out.
Nick also focused on the “Pathways to Impact” section, a relatively new section that is often the most problematic area for applicants.
The response to our workshop, which included a constructive and insightful Q&A session, was very positive.Drawing on our extensive experience working with hundreds of Hong Kong researchers targeting the GRF and ECS every year, we used examples of poor and subsequently improved proposals to show the attendees how they can make their applications stand out.
Nick also focused on the “Pathways to Impact” section, a relatively new section that is often the most problematic area for applicants.
Our latest online workshop built on the success of face-to-face workshops we developed specifically for local universities. Over 30 faculty members joined the session, presented by our Chief Operating Officer, Mr Nick Case, to learn from our case studies on editing research proposals.
The response to our workshop, which included a constructive and insightful Q&A session, was very positive.Drawing on our extensive experience working with hundreds of Hong Kong researchers targeting the GRF and ECS every year, we used examples of poor and subsequently improved proposals to show the attendees how they can make their applications stand out.
Wondering why some abbreviations such as ‘et al.’ and ‘e.g.’ use periods, whereas others such as CV and AD don’t? Periods are typically used if the abbreviations include lowercase or mixed-case letters. They’re usually not used with abbreviations containing only uppercase letters.
Our latest online workshop built on the success of face-to-face workshops we developed specifically for local universities. Over 30 faculty members joined the session, presented by our Chief Operating Officer, Mr Nick Case, to learn from our case studies on editing research proposals.
The response to our workshop, which included a constructive and insightful Q&A session, was very positive.Drawing on our extensive experience working with hundreds of Hong Kong researchers targeting the GRF and ECS every year, we used examples of poor and subsequently improved proposals to show the attendees how they can make their applications stand out. The response to our workshop, which included a constructive and insightful Q&A session, was very positive.Drawing on our extensive experience working with hundreds of Hong Kong researchers targeting the GRF and ECS every year, we used examples of poor and subsequently improved proposals to show the attendees how they can make their applications stand out. The response to our workshop, which included a constructive and insightful Q&A session, was very positive.Drawing on our extensive experience working with hundreds of Hong Kong researchers targeting the GRF and ECS every year, we used examples of poor and subsequently improved proposals to show the attendees how they can make their applications stand out.
Wondering why some abbreviations such as ‘et al.’ and ‘e.g.’ use periods, whereas others such as CV and AD don’t? Periods are typically used if the abbreviations include lowercase or mixed-case letters. They’re usually not used with abbreviations containing only uppercase letters.
Dr Trevor Lane是一名學術出版和教育顧問，同時他亦是出版倫理委員會當選理事之一。他有25年幫助作者在同行評審的學術期刊上發表研究成果的經驗
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