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Writing a paper, the conclusion – day 2: phrases for conclusions

Writing a paper, the conclusion – day 2: phrases for conclusions

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Phrases for conclusions

Below are some of the common phrases you might need for conclusions broken out by the areas you need to cover.

Concluding

From these findings we conclude that…

One conclusion of our findings is that…

Our conclusion is that…

There are several conclusions that can be drawn…

Significance

The significance of our study is…

We have shown that…

We have demonstrated that…

Our findings illustrate the need for…

This study contributes to our understanding of…

These findings add to our understanding of…

This gives us a better understanding of…

This shows the importance of…

These findings improve on those shown by…

This highlights the importance of…

In contrast to previous research we have shown…

Limitations

One potential flaw in our methodology is that…

The limitation of this study is that…

Only one of the groups showed a positive result…

Whether these results can be applied to [x] needs to be tested…

These findings may not be repeated in a larger group…

However, this was outside the scope of this study…

Further work is needed to prove that…

It is uncertain whether…

Other possible explanations are that…

Recommendations

This shows the need for more…

More research is necessary to determine…

In order to understand [x] we recommend more research…

We recommend that this analysis is used across…

These findings highlight the importance of having…

This problem shows the importance of…

It is worth exploring whether…

More investigation is needed to understand…

Challenges in reanalysis products to assess extreme weather impacts on agriculture: Study case in southern Sweden

Conclusion

The study presented in this paper showed clearly that the frequency and intensity of dry and wet spells returned can differ widely between RPs. For our three sites, it appears overall that RPs overestimate the number of rainy days and therefore wet spells but underestimate dry spells. A noteworthy finding here was for also the substantial divergence regarding long dry spells (>15 days), i.e., Meteorological events that are likely to increase the risk of agricultural drought, and imply yield and food security implications at local or even regional level. When RP data are used in agricultural models, this divergence in representation of dry and wet spells can generate substantial differences in impact analysis of crop yields and quality. There are also implications for strategies and investments in agricultural water management (drainage and irrigation), as system design, precision, and cost-benefit must be conducted at high spatial and temporal resolution in order to be meaningful for local farmers and beneficiaries. Our findings indicate that agro-hydrologists and agro-meteorologists need to exercise caution when choosing climate RPs for agricultural research. This paper focused only on the occurrence of dry and wet days i.e. meteorological events that can potentially trigger agricultural events. The importance of a good representation of those dry and wet meteorological periods in agronomical studies are becoming more and more important if we consider also the global temperature rise—so evaporative fluxes—which could cause faster transfer from meteorological event to agricultural event.

Representation of meteorological events resulting in dry and wet spells, which is not generally considered when evaluating RP quality, is a future challenge for agro-climatic research. The scientific community should work to improve representations of important agro-climatic features, in particular the distribution of wet and dry spells, in evaluations of soil moisture and yield responses in agro-climatic investigations. Of the four RPs investigated, MESAN (available until 2013) best depicted dry and wet days and spells at our study sites. MESAN was developed over a more limited area (northern Europe) than the other RPs (European or global scale), which could explain its better representation of agro-climatic parameters at the Swedish field site. It is however important for the authors to highlight that this study was not aiming to point out which RP is better. The aim was to show the divergence that can result in using one RP or another. The goodness of RP is somehow depending upon the location considered. This comparison of RPs was conducted in a region with a dense observation data network, on which the RPs are based. Divergence between available RPs may be even stronger in poorly monitored regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa. The issue of accurate representation of dry and wet spells may also arise in results generated by climate models, which are widely used to project food production over the next century.

This extract is taken from: Grusson Y, Barron J (2022) Challenges in reanalysis products to assess extreme weather impacts on agriculture: Study case in southern Sweden. PLOS Climate 1(9): e0000063. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000063

Phrases from the extract

The study presented in this paper showed clearly: introduces the main findings

A noteworthy finding here: and another finding

There are also implications for strategies: introduces a key implication

Our findings indicate that agro-hydrologists and agro-meteorologists need to exercise caution: highlighting a limitation/caution in related to future research

This paper focused only on: highlighting another limitation

The importance of: showing significance of the research

…is a future challenge for agro-climatic research: describing future recommendations

scientific community should work to improve: and another future recommendation

…which could explain: explanation / interpretation of the finding

…important for the authors to highlight that: defining the study and finding

The aim was to: reinforcing the aim of the study

The issue of: this is used to introduce one final observation for the future

 Further study for this week

This week try to write a conclusion section covering the key items. Try the short quiz below to test your understanding.

Lesson tags: English for scientists, phrases for conclusions, Writing a conclusion, writing a paper
Back to: English for Scientists