笔者曾经分享过学术论文写作的语法误区，根据读者留言，笔者了解到这些经验文章对不少作者都有所帮助，让笔者觉得分享这些经验是值得的！

上一期推文，读者留言，希望我们讲讲英文学术写作的常见标点符号用法，投必得作为一个专业的科研服务机构，旨在帮助大家能够更好地提高自己的英文论文写作水平。为此，笔者总结并撰写了学术论文里的标点符号用法汇总系列，讨论逗号、分号、冒号、引号、省略号、破折号和各种括号的使用。

如果你正在撰写你的第一篇SCI论文，请一定不要错过这个系列。

对于英语写作来说，一个众所周知的棘手问题是拼写，但其实标点符号也很重要！当我们说话时，我们可以暂停或改变语调来表示强调。当我们写作时，我们可以用标点符号来突出重要的内容。

使用正确和适当的标点符号会使读者更容易理解作者表达的内容，这是标点符号的主要功能，也是我们应该学会正确使用标点符号的主要原因。不遵守规则或使用不恰当的标点符号会影响读者的阅读感受，从而忽略或者误解了论文的实际内容。

很多作者在标点符号的使用上并不是很了解，只会用最基本的逗号和句号。其实，使用好标点符号至关重要，直接作用就是让你的论文增色不少！

本期笔者将介绍一下学术论文里冒号的用法，后续会介绍其它标点符号，敬请关注！

冒号通常用在独立子句(一个完整的句子)的结尾，用来强调冒号后面的单词或者短语。冒号被描述为强停顿，主要用来表示后面的内容是前面提到的内容的说明或例子。

冒号可以制造悬念：它的后面可以是一个例子，一个引用，或者一个解释。冒号不能在are、include和such as后面。

接下来，笔者给大家总结了以下几个冒号的用法（这里主要是通过例句的方式给大家演示如何使用冒号，并给出了笔者的个人经验，仅供参考）。

• This essay investigates three aspects of  global warming: historical events, environmental influences, and human influences.

• This essay investigates three aspects of global warming, which are:  historical events, environmental influences, and human  influences.

• Julie went to the store for some groceries: milk, bread, coffee, and cheese.

• The Environmental Management and Policy degree course is highly regarded: academic standards are high, the lecturers cater for on and off campus studies and opens future employment avenues in a variety of fields.

• The visiting professor can be summed up in one word: educational.
• I know the perfect job for her: a politician.

• In view of academic writing being an interactive feat, Hyland (2002, p.1) states the following: "A writer's development of an appropriate relationship with his or her readers is widely seen as central to effective academic persuasion as writers seek to balance claims for the significant, originality, and correctness of their work against the convictions and expectations of their readers."
• In his Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln urges Americans to rededicate themselves to the unfinished work of the deceased soldiers: "It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

• This is the bottom line: I refuse to lecture every day.

• On the Relative Order of Adverbs in the I-domain: A Study of English and Swedish

• Road construction in Dallas has hindered travel around town: parts of Main, Fifth, and West Street are closed during the construction.

• 冒号不能用在连接动词，介词或诸如such as, like, and for example等短语后，因为句子不需要冒号就可以继续，这一点和中文语法不太一样。例如，我们用第2句代替第1句：

• 英文写作要在冒号后面留一个空格，大家应该习惯标点符号和单词后面留空格。
• 冒号的用法并不复杂，关键是我们怎么用冒号给我们的论文增色。笔者曾经把冒号用在了学术论文的标题里，冒号分割两个子句，强调第二个子句。这种类似的例子很多，我们可以在别人的论文中看到各种冒号的使用。

• 你有没有发现，当你读他人论文的时候，你会特别关注冒号后面的句子，看到冒号就知道后面的大致内容。一个标点符号就是这么强大，希望各位读者能够在学术论文写作中重视标点符号的使用，不仅不能用错，还要想想怎么用更好。