投稿至學術期刊時，您會希望編輯和評審把注意力放在文章的內容而不是寫作的文筆上。所以，寫作上必須要能傳遞您想表達的意思，但是又不會把讀者的注意力分散到表達能力那方面去。
無庸置疑地，文法、標點符號、拼字等方面正確無誤相當重要。此外，您的文句還得要讀起來就像是母語人士所寫的那般自然。做到這一點的其中一個方法是避免在遣詞用字上出現細微的錯誤。我自己在ESL 編輯上常碰到的一個錯誤就是把concerning 當成形容詞來用。
原句：
There was a concerning trend toward long-term late deterioration in the laminectomy-alone group.
儘管有一些字典說concerning 可以作為形容詞，意思是「令人憂心的（giving concern）」（Merriam Webster’s Unabridged 則註明這是古式用法），這個用法的確會讓許多母語人士覺得很怪，即便這個字跟alarming、disturbing很像，且毫無疑問簡直就是形容詞的模式。若用Google Scholar作搜尋，「a concerning trend」只會跳出大概五百條結果。
相較之下，「an alarming trend」則有超過三千五百條結果，而「a disturbing trend」則有超過七千條結果。我建議可以把上面那個例句改成下列兩種形式：
編修後：
There was a disturbing trend toward long-term late deterioration in the laminectomy-alone group.
In the laminectomy-alone group, there was a trend toward long-term late deterioration, which is a cause for concern.
接下來再多舉幾個例句，出處都是已經發表的文獻。
原句：
We observed a concerning trend toward a higher incidence of postoperative bleeding in patients who received clopidogrel within 5 days of undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting.
編修後：
We observed a worrisome trend toward a higher incidence of postoperative bleeding in patients who received clopidogrel within 5 days of undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting.
原句：
Although we have not yet seen this phenomenon with ZD1839, this is still a concerning result that will require additional study.
編修後：
Although we have not yet seen this phenomenon with ZD1839, this alarming result will require additional study.
原句：
This concerning state of affairs led to a surge in research activities to discover and develop new antibiotics to combat the increasing threat of bacterial resistance.
編修後：
Concern about this state of affairs led to a surge in research activities to discover and develop new antibiotics to combat the increasing threat of bacterial resistance.
這看似僅是個用字細節，但好的作者會盡量避免讓讀者分散注意力。所以，最好還是只把concerning 當介係詞來用；也就是說，把concerning 作為「in reference to」或「about」的意思來用，比如「Controversy concerning the mechanism of cell-penetrating peptides has recently arisen」。
