Uni-edit English Writing Tip: Variants of World English – American and
British

Difficulty: Easy

Have you heard of the term lingua franca? It’s a Latin phrase, but you
can use it in English. It comes from Latin, and literally means ‘French
language’: it is used nowadays to mean a common language between people
who do not speak the same language. In the 18th century, French was the
language of international diplomacy: that’s the origin of this term.

Nowadays, English is the international lingua franca. What makes English
truly unique is that there are more non-native speakers in the world
than there are native speakers. How ironic that English has become
literally a “French language”! Although it unites the world, there are
regional variations of English that persist, and which you should be
aware of.

American (US) and British (UK) English are the two most common systems
of written and spoken English. American English is the English of the
USA; British English is the English of the UK. Many countries of the
British Commonwealth (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) originally
favored UK English, but have since diverged, with country-specific
variations in spelling and style. Australian English is very similar to
UK English, with a few words permitting American spelling (e.g.,
“inquire” instead of “enquire”). Canadian English retains UK spelling
for many words, but American spellings are also common because of
geographical proximity.

Example 1 (US): We inquired whether participants were taking estrogen
supplementation. Example 2 (UK): We enquired whether participants were
taking oestrogen supplementation. Example 3 (Aus): We inquired whether
participants were taking oestrogen supplementation. Example 4 (Can): We
enquired whether participants were taking estrogen supplementation.

The most noticeable variations in written English are punctuation and
spelling. A common instruction from academic journals is for authors to
use “either US English or UK English, but not a mixture”. Increasingly
common is “English in academic style”: basically, the author should
choose his or her preferred system. Because requirements vary from
journal to journal, it is essential that you check a journal’s Author
Guidelines page to determine an appropriate English system before
editing and submitting your manuscript.

Example 1: (Nature publications) Oxford UK English spelling.
http://www.nature.com/ncomms/authors/submit.html Example 2: (IEEE
publications) Change all British spellings to American spellings where
applicable.

US spelling and grammar is a safe choice for the majority of
international publications. UK-based publishing companies (e.g., Oxford
University Press) usually prefer UK spelling. Local publications in
Canada or Australia will sometimes adhere to their version of English.
For example, if you are writing your thesis for an Australian
university, writing in Australian English is the way to go.

If the journal does not specify the spelling system, we recommend US or
UK spelling. One final note: native speakers like to play up differences
between variants of English, saying UK English is the ‘true’ English
since it England is the land of its origin, or that US English is the
best to learn because of the US’s global reach. However, in a globalized
world, many of these differences correspond to cultural identity rather
than meaning. A wise author will rise above such simplistic judgments
and familiarize him or herself with the details of each English system
for publishing purposes.

END OF TIP