Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) research articles unpacked: a systemic functional linguistics (SFL) elemental genre approach

Abstract

Over the past two decades, extensive research has been conducted on the rhetorical structure of research articles (RAs) from the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) genre approach. However, RA configuration from the Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) genre perspective remains under-investigated, particularly in the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) field. This study aimed to examine the deployment of SFL elemental genres to construct the TCM RAs. To this end, 40 empirical articles published from 2020 to 2021 were selected from five high-impact TCM journals for the analysis. The findings showed that report, recount, argument, and explanation were employed to construct the TCM RAs. Under these broad genre families, 13 elemental genres were identified, for instance, descriptive report, procedural recount, exposition and factorial explanation. Regarding the frequency, report and recount played a major role in configuring the TCM RAs whereas argument and explanation played a supplementary role. Moreover, the ESP genre held that the macro-structure of RA is shaped like an hourglass, which was also attested by the present SFL elemental genres in terms of the generic complexity. Such deconstruction of a macrogenre into elemental genres serving as building blocks of text promises pedagogical implications for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teachers and graduate students.

Keywords:

• Traditional Chinese Medicine
• research articles
• systemic functional linguistics
• elemental genre
• English for academic purposes

REVIEWING EDITOR:

• Chen Wenjun, School of Foreign Languages, Ningbo University of Technology, China

Subjects:

• Applied Linguistics
• Discourse Analysis
• English Language
• Interdisciplinary Language Studies

1. Introduction

Throughout the Chinese history, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has played an irreplaceable role in protecting its people’s health from suffering catastrophic loss of lives in life-threatening events (Xu, 2014). Of note are the two epidemics that broke out in China in recent two decades—SARS and Covid-19. Numerous studies (e.g. Han et al., 2023; Leung, 2007; Luo et al., 2020; Shahrajabian et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2021) have attested the efficacy of TCM in curing these two diseases. Despite its Chinese origin, TCM has transcended the national boundary and gained global recognition via acupuncture, TCM formula, and other TCM modalities. Moreover, a Chinese pharmacologist Tu Youyou was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine for her discovering artemisinin which is effective for curing malaria. Tu (2016) applauded the fact that artemisinin is a gift from TCM to the world.

What accompanies the emerging role of TCM in the medical community is a rising number of TCM research articles (RAs) published in English journals in China and beyond, which reached 19,682 in 2020 via the search from the Web of Science. TCM empirical research findings and TCM up-to-date knowledge are predominantly disseminated through RAs, a genre which is hailed as “prestigious” by Swales (2014) due to the fact that it serves as the most important vehicle for presenting discoveries and new findings of scientific research (Salager-Meyer, 2001). However, despite a considerable number of TCM RAs published each year, linguistic research on this genre is still scarce. To our best knowledge, the extant studies mostly focused on the technical or specialized vocabulary of TCM articles or TCM textbooks (Hsu, 2018; Lu & Coxhead, 2020; 2023; Lu & Durrant, 2017). Thus, the insufficient attention to the TCM articles regarding their configuration is one of the reasons that motivate the present study.

Among the three traditions of genre research, namely the ESP approach, the SFL approach, and the New Rhetoric approach (Hyon, 1996), the ESP approach to genre analysis has become an established area of inquiry due to its wide application in ESP or EAP pedagogy for the past three decades. The SFL genre approach was initially devoted to the primary and secondary education curriculum (Coffin, 2006; Derewianka & Jones, 2016; Martin & Rose, 2008; Veel, 2000). In recent years, scholarly interest has shifted to deconstruct and analyze different macrogenres into elemental genres in tertiary and academic contexts, such as, linguistics RAs by Lai and Wang (2018), bachelor’s thesis of English majors by Zhang and Pramoolsook (2019), and undergraduate business country reports by Szenes (2021). The above-mentioned previous studies have provided insights into how these macrogenres were configured with different elemental genres. Nevertheless, how the TCM RAs are composed with elemental genres still remains unexplored. Aiming to fill this gap, the present study addresses the following two questions.

1. What is the overall distribution of SFL elemental genres in configuring the TCM RAs?

2. What are the SFL elemental genres employed to compose the Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion (IMRD) sections of TCM RAs?

2. Theoretical foundation

Genre, in the SFL tradition, is defined as “staged, goal-oriented social processes” (Martin & Rose, 2008, p. 6). This definition pinpoints “the purposeful, interactive, and sequential character of genres” (Hyland, 2004, p. 25). Rose (2012) categorizes genres into four types in accordance with the social purposes they fulfill: engaging, informing, proposing and evaluating. Under this broad distinction, seven genre families, each with constituent elemental genres, are classified and defined (see Rose, 2012, p. 212). However, this taxonomy is by no means exhaustive. They constitute “a fraction of the repertoire of genres available to members of a culture” (Rose, 2012, p. 209) as more elemental genres have been emerging in the literature by SFL genre researchers. Additionally, previous research (Lai & Wang, 2018; Martin & Rose, 2008) showed that report, explanation, argument, and recount are most relevant to scientific and academic fields. Hence, these four genre families, including their social purposes and stages within their generic structures, will be presented in the theoretical foundation of the current study.

Report genre is seen as a major genre in science textbooks (Martin & Rose, 2008; Veel, 2000). It is thing-oriented and organized around an entity in terms of its description, classification, and components (Derewianka & Jones, 2016). The generic structure of report genre is Classification ^ Description. Table 1 presents several sub-categories of report genre most pertinent to the current study, including the social purpose, the generic structure, and the description of stage function.

Table 1. Taxonomy of report genre (Derewianka & Jones, 2016; Martin & Rose, 2008).

Elemental genre	Social purpose	Generic structure	Description of stage function
Descriptive report	To describe the features, attributes, properties, etc., of an entity	Classification ^ Description	Classification: Categorize an entity or a phenomenon Description: Describe the features, property, etc. of an entity or a phenomenon
Classifying report	To describe the sub-types of an entity, a topic or a field	Classification ^ Description	Classification: Categorize an entity or a phenomenon Description: Describe the sub-types of an entity, a phenomenon, or a topic
Compositional report	To describe an entity, a topic or a field in relation to the parts of a whole	Classification ^ Description	Classification: Categorize an entity or a phenomenon Description: Describe each of the parts that compose an entity, a topic
Comparative report	To identify the similarities and differences between two or more of things	Classification ^ Description	Classification: Categorize an entity or a phenomenon Description: Offer systematic analysis of similarities and differences

Explanation genre is considered to be complementary with report genre in exploring a topic (Veel, 2000). Report provides “a static, synoptic snapshot of an area of scientific knowledge” while explanation is “dynamic and unfolding, telling us how/why the world behaves” (p. 168). The generic structure of explanation begins with the Phenomenon stage and then is followed by the Explanation stage. The sub-types of explanation genre germane to the present study are provided in Table 2.

Table 2. Taxonomy of explanation genre (Derewianka & Jones, 2016; Martin & Rose, 2008).

Elemental genre	Social purpose	Generic structure	Description of stage function
Sequential explanation	To explain how something occurs or is produced–usually observable sequences of activities which take place on a regular basis	Phenomenon^ Explanation sequence	Phenomenon: Provide information about a phenomenon, things Explanation: Explain sequential activities which describe how the phenomenon emerged
Factorial explanation	To explain events for which have a number of simultaneously occurring causes	Phenomenon ^ Explanation (factor 1-n)	Phenomenon: Provide information about a phenomenon, things Explanation: Explain different factors leading to an outcome
Consequential explanation	To explain events which have a number of simultaneously occurring effects	Input ^ Consequences (effect 1-n)	Input: Identify a main cause Consequence: Elaborate the major effects of the cause
Conditional explanation	To explain alternative causes and effects as contingent on variable factors	Phenomenon ^ Explanation (conditions, circumstances)	Phenomenon: Introduce a phenomenon Explanation: Explain the effects under certain conditions
Causal explanation	To explain events why an abstract and/or not readily observable process occurs	Phenomenon ^ Explanation	Phenomenon: Provide information about a phenomenon, things Explanation: Explain the cause-effect relationship of an event or a phenomenon

The overall function of argument is to persuade readers, to debate an issue, or to demolish an established position by arguing for or against that issue/position. Hence, composing an argument genre, to use Coffin’s (2006) words, requires “the ability to configure the resources of abstracting and reasoning in order to persuade” (p. 77). The three elemental genres within the argument taxonomy are presented in Table 3.

Table 3. Taxonomy of argument genre (Derewianka & Jones, 2016; Martin & Rose, 2008).

Elemental genre	Social purpose	Generic structure	Description of stage function
Exposition	To elaborate and argue for a single position	Thesis ^ Argument ^ (Reiteration)	Thesis: The statement of opinion, proposal, idea, or theory to which will be argued Arguments: reasons supporting the thesis Reiteration: Restatement of the thesis
Discussion	To present and discuss more than one position on an issue	Issue ^ Sides ^ Resolution	Issue: The issue is briefly stated and the views of the thing being discussed are summed up Sides: a series of arguments from varied sides Resolution: The author decides his/her own position regarding the issue by considering the given multiple sides
Challenge	To argue against or demolish an issue	Challenged position ^ Rebuttal argument ^Antithesis	Challenged position: Foreshadow the interpretation or belief that will be debated or denied Rebuttal argument: Arrange opposing argument along with the evidence against the arguments and evidence which support the position challenged Anti-thesis: Propose an alternative interpretation

The recount genre, also termed as chronicles by Martin and Rose (2008) as well as “recording genre” by Coffin (2006), is deployed to “reconstruct what happened as events unfolding through time” (Martin & Rose, 2008, p. 131). Four sub-genres constitute this genre family: personal recount, autobiographical recount, biographical recount and historical recount. As the first three sub-types are unlikely to occur in the scientific context, they will not be introduced here. Historical recount is to retell the public events in the past (Coffin, 2006). However, Lai and Wang (2018) deployed it to review previous studies in analyzing the linguistics RAs. Procedural recount, classified under the procedural genre by Martin and Rose (2008), is to retrospectively retell how something is done. The present study taxonomizes historical recount and procedural recount under the recount genre from “topological analysis” (Martin & Rose, 2008, p. 131) and in line with Lai and Wang’s study (2018). These two elemental genres, together with their social purposes, generic structure, and stages are presented in Table 4.

Table 4. Taxonomy of recount genre (Coffin, 2006; Lai & Wang, 2018).

Elemental genre	Social purpose	Generic structure	Description of stage function
Historical recount	To retell public events in the past	Background ^ Record of events ^ Deduction	Background: Summarize a historical event. Record of events: Chronicle the episodes (sequences) of the historical event. Deduction: Draw out the historical importance of the event.
Procedural recount	To recount in order and with accuracy the steps or methods of a scientific activity	Procedure	Procedure: Recount a method or procedure of research

3. Methodology

3.1 Data collection and management

The present data consisted of 40 full-length empirical articles in the TCM domain. Two criteria based on Nwogu (1997) were set in selecting the data: reputation and representativeness. To ensure the reputation, the first benchmark was the indexing of journals in Science Citation Index Expand (SCIE) as well as their impact factor rank. Representativeness was guaranteed from two aspects– representativeness of journals and representativeness of articles. On the one hand, journals that exclusively publish TCM articles in English are not only based in China but also beyond. To guarantee geographical representativeness, three journals published in China and two outside were selected. They were Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine (JTCM, China), American Journal of Chinese Medicine (AJCM, Singapore), Chinese Medicine (CM, China), Acupuncture in Medicine (AM, Britain), and Journal of Integrative Medicine (JIM, China). On the other hand, after scrutinizing the journals, we had two gauges to choose empirical articles: the conventional IMRD(&C) heading or headings with slight variations, and publication years from 2020 to 2021 to ensure the data currency. When these two criteria were satisfied, 40 articles were selected on a stratified and random basis to ensure representativeness of the sampled data. It was stratified because 4 articles were selected from one journal each year, thus 40 articles from five journals in two years. It was random in that as long as articles could meet the above two requirements, they were likely to be equally selected. Having said that, we attempted to cover different sub-disciplines of TCM and authors from varying countries in order to embrace data heterogeneity and to represent the whole TCM discipline.

When all the articles were downloaded from online, they were converted from PDF format into wsord format. The texts of each article were kept in a folder, with the references, tables, figures, and their accompanying legends removed. The articles were tagged according to the acronyms of each journal and in a chronological order. For instance, the serial numbers of JTCM1 to JTCM4 referred to the articles chronologically selected from issues of Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine published in 2020, and those of CM5 to CM8 referred to articles sequentially chosen from issues of Chinese Medicine published in 2021.

3.2 Data analysis

The criteria for genre identification and boundary demarcation are crucial for deconstructing the whole TCM RAs into meaningful elemental genres. First and foremost, the full-length empirical articles are commonly divided into Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion (Conclusion) section. Moreover, the content in the Methods section and the Results section is clear-cut by sub-headings, which function as “an obvious boundary indicator” (Zhang & Pramoolsook, 2019, p. 310) since the Methods section subsumes subheadings to tell different materials and procedures apart, and the Results section also contains subheadings to present several research findings in a separate and sequential way. Thus, all the analysis was conducted within these natural boundary markers. Then, the social purpose of a text segment could roughly decide its genre family, that is, to report, to explain, or to recount, and so on. Finally, the stages within the generic structure and “explicit shift in themes (field, in Hallidayan terms),” (Zhang & Pramoolsook, 2019, p. 310), namely, the shift of subject matter or topic, contributed to identifying elemental genres and demarcating their boundary. What should be mentioned is that the social purposes of a TCM RA, or even one section of it are manifold. Hence, it would be impractical to find all the stages within an elemental genre. As long as the text segment had the obligatory stage of an elemental genre, then it was deemed as a complete elemental genre.

Based on the above criteria, we observed the following procedures to identify elemental genres and to demarcate their boundary. The first step was to meticulously read a text segment to comprehend its meaning and its social purpose. Secondly, a text segment was categorized into a certain elemental genre in accordance with its social purpose. Thirdly, the different stages, if there was more than one stage within each identified elemental genre, would be analyzed and labeled in line with the generic structure frameworks sketched. Finally, the researchers read back and forth between the coded genres, particularly the adjacent genres to check whether one elemental genre was better to be a genre on its own right or a stage of its neighboring genre. These four procedures of coding clarified the overall social purpose of the text segment, the elemental genre, and the stages and boundary of the elemental genre.

As the process of identifying genres and drawing their boundary is essentially an interpretive process involving subjective judgement, an inter-coder was invited to code the data to ensure the reliability of analysis. The inter-coder is an applied linguistics PhD. holder well-versed in SFL elemental genre analysis. Thirty percent of the data (or twelve whole articles) were randomly selected and were independently coded by the first researcher and the inter-coder. The final inter-coder agreement reached 87.48%, indicating good reliability. The discrepancy arising out of coding was meticulously discussed between the first researcher and the inter-coder until their consensus was reached. Given different views still existed on the codings, the text segment was submitted to the second researcher of the present research as he is a seasoned scholar on discourse analysis, particularly, on the ESP genre and the SFL genre.

4. Results and discussion

Figure 1 presents the overall occurrences and percentage of each elemental genre identified in our corpus to provide an overall picture of how the TCM RAs are configured with elemental genres.

Figure 1. Overall distribution of elemental genres deployed in the TCM RAs.

From Figure 1, 13 elemental genres within 4 genre families were identified in the present study, that is, report, recount, argument, and explanation. Recount genre family was found to account for the largest percentage, with 45.24%, a slightly higher than report genre with 44.73%. These two genres constituted nearly 90% of the whole corpus whereas argument and explanation took up the rest of the data (10%). However, when we shift our focus from genre family to the elemental genres, descriptive report was found to take the most rhetorical weight in configuring the TCM RAs, accounting for 40.09%. This finding was congruent with Lai and Wang (2018) whose study found that descriptive report was deployed most in the RAs of applied linguistics, and by Zhang and Pramoolsook (2019) who identified that descriptive report, with 32.73%, was atop of all the elemental genres configuring the bachelor’s theses by Chinese undergraduates. What comes next is procedural recount, with 35.51% of all the elemental genres. Its heavy use in the RAs is to “establish credibility for the results by showing how they were obtained” (Cargill & O’Connor, 2013, p. 12). This is of great importance for the RAs in the natural science, particularly, in the medical discipline. Historical recount, with nearly 10% frequency, was ranked the third among the thirteen elemental genres identified. The importance of this genre in the articles lies in its purposes to review the (un)researched so as to establish a niche, and to situate the study under-investigation within a broader community to gain an in-depth discussion. Of the two subcategories of argument genre, exposition was found to take a bigger percentage (6.41%) by proposing researcher’s own viewpoints on the research, including the importance, value, and limitations of the study. Explanation genre, with a small proportion and mainly occurring in the Discussion, was to explain the cause(s) of findings.

The findings of elemental genres used to compose each section of the article, as well as some typical examples, are presented in detail below in the sequence of IMRD structure to cater to pedagogical needs.

4.1. The findings of SFL elemental genres in the TCM Introduction section

A total of 274 elemental genres within four genre families, report, recount, argument, and explanation were identified in the Introduction sub-corpus. The occurrences and frequency of these elemental genres are provided in Table 5.

Table 5. The results of elemental genres identified in the Introduction section of TCM RAs.

Genre family	Elemental genres	Occurrences (percentage)	Total
Report	Descriptive report	93 (33.9)	114 (41.6%)
	Compositional report	15 (5.47)
	Classifying report	6 (2.18)
Recount	Historical recount	69 (25.18)	96 (35.04%)
	Procedural recount	27 (9.85)
Argument	Exposition	45 (16.42)	51 (18.61%)
	Discussion	6 (2.18)
Explanation	Sequential explanation	7 (2.55)	13 (4.74%)
	Consequential explanation	3 (1.09)
	Factorial explanation	2 (0.73)
	Conditional explanation	1 (0.36)

The report genre, with 41.6%, ranked the top among the four identified genre families. Descriptive report occupied a predominant proportion (33.9%) since it was used to describe the features and the prevalence of a disease, the function of a treatment, and the purposes and findings of the study in the TCM field. Compositional report was identified because the components of a traditional Chinese herb formula are inevitably presented when introducing this herb formula. Classifying report was sporadically deployed in the Introduction section to describe the types of a treatment or sub-types of a disease. Thus, the description of the prevalence or criticality of a disease, the description of sub-types of the acupuncture and components of a TCM formula, and the introduction of the features and properties of a TCM treatment constitute the established knowledge of the TCM field, laying the foundation for conducting TCM research. Similarly, Lai and Wang (2018) also stated that the research activities of the linguistics field are firstly concerned with the description of properties, types, and components of an entity or phenomenon as such description is the cornerstone of all research. An example of compositional report and classifying report is provided in Excerpt 1 and Excerpt 2, respectively.

Excerpt 1 The Lung-toxin Dispelling Formula No.1 (祛肺毒一号方), referred to as Respiratory Detox Shot (RDS), is based on the theory of TCM medicinal properties, the classical prescription of TCM and clinical practice.//There are nine TCM ingredients in RDS: Schizonepetae Herba (Jingjie), Lonicerae Japonicae Flos (Jinyinhua), Forsythiae Fructus (Lianqiao), Scrophulariae Radix (Xuanshen), Gleditsiae Spina (Zaojiaoci), Armeniacae Semen Amarum (Kuxingren), Nidus Vespae (Fengfang), Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (Gancao) and Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma (Renshen).//The nine TCM ingredients in this prescription have been used together as an herbal formula in clinical practice for more than a decade and have been effective for the prevention and treatment of acute respiratory tract infections, as well as the common cold and flu.

The overall social purpose of the compositional report is to provide information about a TCM formula RDS. Its generic structure is as follows: Classification ^ Components ^ (Evaluation). In the Classification stage, a general statement about RDS is provided. In the Components stage, the herbal components of this formula are presented. The optional Evaluation stage comments on the effects of this formula.

Excerpt 2 Cupping is a common diagnostic or therapeutic method used in traditional oriental medicine in some countries.//The applying methods of cupping are classified as wet or dry. In wet cupping, some scarring of the skin is performed before attachment of a suction cup; dry cupping only involves vacuum stimulation within a suction cup. Dry cupping is commonly applied to body areas such as the back and abdomen.1-3

This text segment is a classifying report. Its overall purpose is to provide some information on cupping by describing and classifying this method. The Classification stage states that cupping is a method for diagnosis or therapy. The Type stage introduces two kinds of cupping–wet cupping and dry cupping.

The second most identified genre was recount (96 occurrences or 35.04%), among which 69 are historical recounts and 27 are procedural recounts. Historical recount was extensively found in the RA Introduction to review what has (not) been researched before, indicating the gap of the previous studies and paving the way for the study to be reported. The high deployment of this elemental genre indicates the importance of reviewing previous studies in the Introduction to establish a research niche. Procedural recount was deployed to briefly recount the adopted research procedures in the opening section of RA. An example of historical recount is provided in Excerpt 3.

Excerpt 3 It has been reported that Tongxieyaofang may inhibit the expression of protease activated receptor 2 (PAR-2), a serine protease receptor, reducing the levels of substance P (SP), interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in the colonic mucosa and decreasing faecal serine protease activity.13//However, further research is needed to fully elucidate the mechanism underlying the activity of Tongxieyaofang.

This text segment is a historical recount, with the overall purpose of recording previous studies relevant to the current study. This example begins with reviewing previous studies in the Record of events stage and ends with indicating a gap in the Deduction stage. Some salient linguistic clues that help identify this elemental genre are nouns like “trials”, “research”, “study”, and “evidence”, verbs such as “showed”, “found”, “demonstrated”, and “reported”, or passive voice form such as “is found”, and “has been reported”.

Fifty-one argument genres were found in the Introduction, accounting for 18.61%. Exposition genre (16.42%) is employed to present the researchers’ views or positions which include pointing out the existing problems and stressing the necessity, importance, or value of their research. The current analysis revealed that discussion was occasionally employed to compare and discuss two different treatment methods, one with its drawbacks and the other its strengths. Thus, the treatment with strength will be selected for the study. However, no challenge genre was found in the Introduction, as the social purpose of challenge is to “demolish an established position” (Martin & Rose, 2008, p. 122), demonstrating that TCM researchers are unlikely to challenge established viewpoints.

Compared to the above three genre families, explanation was the least deployed in the Introduction, with 13 occurrences or 4.74% among all the identified elemental genres. The unpopularity of this genre could be possibly explained by the fact that in the Introduction there is no need to explain much theory about the cause-effect relationship nor about the several factors leading to an outcome for two reasons. Firstly, this section is more about describing a big picture of the topic under study, reviewing previous studies pertaining to this topic, and introducing the current study. Secondly, the explanation of a theory or the explanation of how the results are obtained is anticipated to be found in the Discussion section.

In summary, four genre families encompassing eleven elemental genres were identified in configuring the TCM Introduction section, with report and recount playing a major role whereas argument and explanation playing an auxiliary role judging from their frequency. These four genres, with their respective social purpose of describing, recounting, arguing, and explaining, realized the construction of TCM Introduction, which jointly works with other sections to make a complete RA.

4.2. The findings of SFL elemental genres in the TCM Methods section

On the whole, 356 elemental genres were assembled together to constitute the 40 Methods sections of TCM RAs. The three broad genre families found in this section are recount, report, and explanation, however, no argument genre was found since researchers would not put forward their views nor discuss different perspectives on an issue here because the Methods section’s primary purpose is to state the detailed research methods and procedures straightforwardly. Details of the elemental genres found are presented in Table 6.

Table 6. The results of elemental genres identified in the Methods section of TCM RAs.

Genre family	Elemental genres	Occurrences (percentage)	Total
Recount	Procedural recount	283 (79.49)	283 (79.49%)
Report	Descriptive report	54 (15.17)	68 (19.1%)
	Compositional report	13 (3.65)
	Classifying report	1 (0.28)
Explanation	Causal explanation	5 (1.4)	5 (1.4%)

This section predominantly featured with the procedural recount, which is consistent with Lai and Wang (2018) who found that procedural recount ranked the top among all the elemental genres identified in the applied linguistics Methods section. The social purpose of this elemental genre in the context of the Methods section of TCM RAs is to retrospectively retell where the materials or participants were obtained, how the detailed research methods and procedures were conducted in the experiment, and how the data was processed and analyzed. The wide use of this genre in the Methods section is due to the nature of this section which is “characterized with formulaic procedures and methodological rules” (Hyland, 1998, p. 28). Excerpt 4 provides a typical example of procedural recount.

Excerpt 4 The viral plaque assay was performed as previously described (Xie et al., 2015). Briefly, HeLa cells were adjusted to 105 cells/mL and inoculated into a 6-well plate. When cells were > 80% confluent, 1 mL of the above supernatant was added, and the cells were incubated at 4 °C for 1 h. The supernatant was discarded, and cells were incubated in DMEM supplemented with 1.5% methylcellulose that had been pre-warmed at 37 °C for 3 days. Cells were then fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde for 4 h and stained with 5% crystal violet for 15 min. After gently rinsing with water, the number of plaque formation was counted under an inverted microscope.

This text chunk is to recount the steps of doing an assay. Firstly, it recounts that the assay was conducted as previously reported. Then, it recounts the specific steps of how to do the assay. The employment of past passive voice (was/were done), of time duration (for days/hours), and of connectors indicating temporal sequence (after, then) are all the prominent features of procedural recount.

Report genre (19.1%) was found to be the second most used in the Methods section. Descriptive report, the most frequently used sub-type among the report genre, was deployed to introduce the background of materials or participants, the inclusion or exclusion criteria of the materials used or the participants involved in the experiments, and occasionally the equipment or instrument. This finding is consistent with Lai and Wang (2018) in which descriptive report accounted for 25.7%, also the second largest number of elemental genre in the Methods section in applied linguistics. Furthermore, Lai and Wang (2018) stated that descriptive report was used in the Methods section to describe the subjects, objects, materials, equipment, and variables of the research. The social purpose of descriptive report in applied linguistics field stated by Lai and Wang (2018) is largely similar to the one in the TCM field. Compositional report, with only 3.65% of all the genres identified, was used to describe the main components of a TCM formula or the major points for traditional acupuncture, among others. Classifying report, only identified once, was employed to describe two sub-types of an experiment so as to introduce the background of procedures.

Explanation is least deployed in the Methods section, with only 5 occurrences or 1.4%. In the current study, causal explanation was found, which was not covered in Martin and Rose (2008) but in Veel (2000) and in Derewianka and Jones (2016). It is used to “describe how a particular sequences of events occur, but also why it occurs” (Veel, 2000, p. 179). In the Methods context, it functions to explain why a certain method or a certain material was adopted in the experiment. The least use of explanation in the TCM Methods section accords with Lai and Wang (2018) finding that explanation took up 4.3% (other genres below 4% were not reported in their study). Nonetheless, the current study is divergent from Lai and Wang (2018) in that causal explanation was found in the TCM Methods section while consequential explanation was identified in their study. Our study found that causal explanation was to explain why a certain method or material was deployed in the study as it “links events together both as a sequence and as a set of cause-and-effect relationships” (Veel, 2000, p. 179), whereas Lai and Wang (2018) stated that consequential explanation was to explain the consequences of selecting a certain method. Excerpt 5 provides an example of causal explanation.

Excerpt 5 Male C57BL/6 mice are very aggressive by nature and often fight, even to the death. Injured mice can be under high stress and unhealthy condition that strongly influence their body weight, food intake and other hormone levels related to metabolism.//Thus, female C57BL/6 mice were used in this study.

This short text segment is coded as a causal explanation in that it explains why female mice were chosen in the study. The Phenomenon stage of this genre is that female mice were used in the study. The Explanation stage is to explain the aggressive nature of male mice. What should be noted is that the typical generic structure of explanation begins with the Phenomenon to be explained and then is followed by the Explanation stage. However, the current example shows that the causal explanation is inverted by beginning with the Explanation stage and then followed by the Phenomenon stage.

Taken together, the Methods section was configured with three genre families comprising 5 elemental genres. Compared with the varieties of sub-genres used in the Introduction, this section deployed far less varieties of sub-genres, with procedural recount occupying nearly 80% and report genre accounting for 18.8%, which could prove that the Methods section in the TCM field is written in a straightforward and formulaic way.

4.3. The findings of SFL elemental genres in the TCM Results section

A total number of 439 elemental genres were identified in the Results section sub-corpus, with a predominant number of report genre and recount genre, and a negligible portion of explanation genre. The findings of elemental genres identified in the Results section are shown in Table 7.

Table 7. The results of elemental genres identified in the Results section.

Genre family	Elemental genres	Occurrences (percentage)	Total
Report	Descriptive report	240 (54.67)	248 (56.49%)
	Compositional report	5 (1.14)
	Comparative report	3 (0.68)
Recount	Procedural recount	183 (41.69)	190 (43.28%)
	Historical recount	7 (1.59)
Explanation	Causal explanation	1 (0.23)	1 (0.23%)

Report genre was found to occupy 56.49%, of which descriptive report, accounting for 54.67%, was deployed to describe the established knowledge of a procedure and to present the research findings. Compositional report found only 1.14% was employed to describe the main components of a formula. Comparative report, with only 0.68%, is to compare and contrast the research findings being reported with those of previous research. The wide use of report genre in the Results section could be explained by the communicative function of this section “that deals with ‘facts’ and is of descriptive nature” (Swales & Feak, 2004, p. 195). An example of descriptive report that describes the research findings is shown in Excerpt 6.

Excerpt 6 As shown in Figure 1, the MTT assay results showed that 10% and 20% TBFS containing serum exerted no significant suppression on H292 cell viability at 24 and 48 h. However, 40% TBFS containing serum markedly inhibited H292 cell viability at 48 h.

This is a descriptive report, with the Description stage to describe research findings. Yet, Classification stage is absent.

Recount ranked the second in the Results section of TCM RAs, with 190 occurrences or 43.28%. Of the two sub-categories of recount genre, procedural recount constituted a much larger proportion as high as 41.69% whereas historical recount made up only 1.59%. The former sub-genre is used to give an account of the research procedures or methodological techniques in a retrospective fashion while the latter sub-genre to review previous studies.

A minimum use of causal explanation whose social purpose is to explain the cause of findings in the Results section, with a negligible proportion of 0.23%, indicates that explaining the cause of research findings rarely occurs in the Results section of TCM RAs.

To conclude, the Results section is written in a formulaic and predictable fashion in that report and recount constitute almost all of the genres identified in this section. The report genre is deployed to describe the established knowledge of the procedure and to report the findings of the study. The recount genre is primarily employed to retell the procedural statements with the use of action verbs (e.g. perform, use, investigate, assess, and apply) or their passive form. With the insights obtained from this analysis, the TCM RA writers can be provided with a scaffold to write well-organized Results sections.

4.4. The findings of SFL elemental genres in the TCM Discussion (& Conclusion) section

A total number of 514 elemental genres were identified in this Discussion (& Conclusion) sub-corpus. In the present study, 21 RAs out of 40 had the Conclusion section. As the Conclusion section is a succinct part summarizing the major findings, pointing out the limitations of the study, or making recommendations for future study. This section is similar to the last paragraph of the Discussion section. Therefore, we combined the Conclusion section into the Discussion section and referred them to Discussion section for short. Ten elemental genres within four genre taxonomies, including their respective occurrences and percentage, are explicated in Table 8.

Table 8. The results of elemental genres identified in the Discussion section.

Genre family	Elemental genres	Occurrences (percentage)	Total
Report	Descriptive report	244 (47.47)	277 (53.89%)
	Comparative report	27 (5.25)
	Classifying report	2 (0.38)
	Compositional report	1 (0.19)
Recount	Historical recount	84 (16.34)	150 (29.18%)
	Procedural recount	66 (12.84)
Argument	Exposition	56 (10.98)	56 (10.98%)
Explanation	Causal explanation	16 (3.11)	32 (6.22%)
	Factorial explanation	10 (1.95)
	Sequential explanation	6 (1.16)

Report genre accounted for 53.89% in the Discussion section. This percentage was slightly higher than 48.5% found in Lai and Wang (2018). Yet, the report genre was used most in the Discussion section of both studies. Descriptive report in the context of the Discussion was used to describe some established knowledge, to state some selected findings, and to summarize the key findings at the conclusion of the article. Its extensive use in configuring the Discussion section was of importance in that it laid the foundation for comparing new findings with those previously reported, for explaining the causes of findings, and for proposing some views which were instantiated by comparative report, explanation genre, and exposition, respectively. In this sense, descriptive report is the cornerstone on which other elemental genres stand on. Excerpt 7 presents an example of comparative report.

Excerpt 7 Similar results in terms of function and pain have been reported by a randomized clinical trial of participants with KOA,29 which demonstrated that neither laser acupuncture nor traditional Chinese acupuncture conferred benefit over sham after 12 weeks. Contrary to our trial, a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis on the efficacy of acupuncture for chronic headache and OA pain showed statistically significant improvements in pain with acupuncture compared blockade of the cyclooxygenase-2 enzyme, leading to a rapid reduction in signs and symptoms of KOA.3

This text segment is coded as a comparative report as its social purpose is to compare the differences and/or similarities that exist between the findings of the study under investigation and those of previous studies. This comparative report contains only the Description stage.

Recount genre, with 29.18%, ranked the second in configuring the Discussion section. Historical recount and procedural recount, were found with 16.34 and 12.84%, respectively. The use of procedural recount in the Discussion section was to retell the research methods or procedures to demonstrate how the findings were obtained, whereas the use of historical recount was to review some previous studies in order to “situate the study being reported in the interest of the discourse community” (Kanoksilapatham, 2005, p. 283).

Exposition was found 10.98% of all the elemental genres in the Discussion. Its use in this section is to state the value of the study, to point out its limitations, or to make suggestions for future research. This is supported by Zhang and Pramoolsook (2019) who claimed that the Introduction section and the Conclusion section are the most common sites for writers to use exposition to argue for the necessity, significance or potential value of conducting the study being reported. Excerpt 8 provides an example of exposition.

Excerpt 8 There are several limitations of this study that must be taken into consideration.//First, we did not set up a sham treatment group to control for the nonspecific effects of acupuncture, which might have introduced performance bias. Sham acupuncture, sometimes also called superficial acupuncture or minimal acupuncture, is a type of control involving penetrating needles. Compared with verum acupuncture, sham acupuncture needles are applied either at traditional acupuncture point locations but at a shallower depth or at sites not corresponding to traditional acupuncture points at similar or shallower depth.37 Second, the small sample size in this exploratory pilot trial increases the possibility of a type II error (i.e., a real effect of acupuncture being missed because of insufficient power.

This text chunk is assigned as an exposition since its primary purpose is to state researcher’s view on the limitations of the study. Two stages that move through this elemental genre are both identified: Thesis and Argument. The Thesis is the first sentence which points out the limitations of the study while the Argument stage states two reasons to support the limitations of the study.

Explanation genre turned out to be deployed least in the Discussion, with 32 occurrences or 6.22%. The causal explanation was used to explain the cause of research findings “that are generally not accessible to immediate observation or experience” (Veel, 2000, p. 179). The factorial explanation was chosen when more than one cause was involved to explain the research findings. The sequential explanation is used when researchers explain the sequence of a process. Though not many occurrences of explanation were found in the Discussion section, comparatively, it was employed much more than those in the Results section, demonstrating that TCM writers explain the cause(s) of research findings more in the Discussion than in the Results. Excerpt 9 presents an instance of factorial explanation.

Excerpt 9 Among patients with PHPS, response rates of 73.3% and 44.4% have been observed after 5 weeks of EA combined with conventional treatment and 4 weeks of MA treatment, respectively.//Several possible explanations may be offered for these discrepancies, including the combination of conventional treatment, as well as the use of varying needling locations and numbers of treatment sessions.

This text portion is categorized as a factorial explanation because it offers several possible factors to explain the research finding. In this example, the part before the slashes functions as the Phenomenon identification stage to be explained whereas the remaining part gives several possible reasons to explain the Phenomenon (the findings in our corpus).

To summarize, in the concluding section, several key findings that have been uncovered are to be succinctly summarized. Firstly, report genre, particularly descriptive report, played a major role in composing this section due to its function as a stepping stone for comparing research findings with those previously reported, for explaining the causes of findings, and for proposing some views. A certain percentage of exposition was deployed to put forward researchers’ views on the value and limitations of the study and make suggestions for future research. Explanation was found sporadically in the Discussion to explain the cause(s) of research findings. Additionally, albeit report genre and recount genre occupy a bigger proportion, these two genres serve as the bedrock of the Discussion section by stating the research findings and recounting the research procedures. With explanation genre and exposition genre, researchers could provide deeper insight into the research by explaining the cause(s) of findings and putting forward researchers’ own viewpoints, respectively. In spite of fewer occurrences of causal (factorial) explanation and exposition, they deepen the research and raise the whole RA to a higher level since “one of the basic goals of academic research is to explain the phenomena that researchers observe through causal relations” (Rahimi et al., 2023, p. 248) and because the use of exposition could demonstrate researchers’ power of independent thinking (Zhang & Pramoolsook, 2019). Thus, these four genre families, with their social purposes of describing, recounting, explaining and arguing, play different but equally important roles in making a well-structured part genre—the Discussion section.

An interesting claim could be drawn before concluding this section. In the ESP genre tradition, the macro-structure shape of a RA is compared with an hourglass by Hill et al. (1982, as cited in Swales, 1990, pp. 133–134), in which articles make transitions from general field or context of the experiment in the Introduction section to specific experiment conducted in the Methods section, and continue along a narrow, particularized path to state the specific research findings in the Results to wider implications in the Discussion. The present study holds that this macro-structure shape of the TCM RAs also holds true for the SFL elemental genres in terms of “generic complexity which could be measured by the genre number and variety” (Zhang, 2019, p. 169). To explicate this claim, 11 elemental genres within 4 genre taxonomies (report, recount, argument, and explanation) were identified in the Introduction, which were used to provide a general research picture by claiming the centrality of the research topic, by providing background information of the TCM field, and by reviewing relevant previous studies. Only 5 elemental genres within report, recount, and explanation were deployed in the Methods section to recount the research method, to describe the criteria of inclusion or exclusion of participants/materials, and to explain why a certain research method is adopted. Then, 6 elemental genres were found in the Results to recount the research method, and to describe the specific research findings. Finally, 10 elemental genres were found in the Discussion to link the research under investigation with those in the wider literature through presenting the research findings, comparing them with those previous studies, and stating the value and limitations of the study. The varieties of elemental genres, to a large extent, determine the difficulty of writing the section for TCM RA authors. In this sense, the Introduction and the Discussion pose much more rhetorical challenge to construct than the Methods and the Results do. Our claim could be supported by Swales (1990) and Swales and Feak (2004) that academic writers have more difficulty to write the Introductions than other sections. Furthermore, Bavdekar (2015, p. 40) stated that “the discussion section is considered harder to define as compared to the other sections of the research paper. While other sections require orderly and simple logical writing, composing discussion section requires logical thinking, reflection, and critical appraisal.”

5. Conclusion

With the aim to investigate how the TCM RAs are constructed with the elemental genres, the present study analyzed 40 empirical articles in the TCM domain from the SFL genre approach. Thirteen elemental genres within 4 genre taxonomies were identified. On the whole, report genre and recount genre constituted nearly 90% of the whole corpus while argument and explanation accounted for the remaining 10%. Descriptive report and procedural recount, with different varying degrees of frequency, were prevalent in all sections of articles, demonstrating their crucial role in constructing this macrogenre. Our analysis also revealed that some elemental genres were confined to certain sections. For instance, exposition was exclusively deployed to claim the importance, necessity, and significance of the study in the Introduction, and to state the value and limitations of the study or to make suggestions for later study in the Discussion. Historical recount was primarily identified to review what has (not) been researched so as to establish a niche in the Introduction, and to situate the study within a broader discourse community in the Discussion. Comparative report was found in the Results and Discussion sections to compare and contrast the findings being studied with those of previous research. Furthermore, our study also showed that each section exhibited its distinct features in relation to the deployment of certain elemental genres to achieve its social purpose. The Methods section was composed with virtually 80% of procedural recount, which is the most remarked-upon feature of this section. The Results section was predominantly configured with descriptive report and procedural recount, both together taking up almost 96% of this section, which means that researchers primarily need to recount how the research procedures are conducted and to describe their findings when writing the Results section. Both the Methods and Results were configured with fewer elemental genres and were written in a formulaic way. Meanwhile, both the Introduction and the Discussion were composed with more elemental genres and were written in a more complicated way.

A range of elemental genres were combined to constitute the IMRD sections of TCM RAs. However, our findings allow us to claim that the same elemental genre served different social purposes in different section context. In the Introduction, descriptive report was deployed to describe the prevalence or criticality of a disease, and to describe the feature and properties of TCM formula, laying the foundation for doing the research in the TCM field. In the Methods section, it was used by researchers to describe the background of materials or participants, the inclusion or exclusion criteria of selecting materials or participants, and occasionally, the equipment or instrument used in the study. In the Results section, the wide use of descriptive report is to primarily describe the findings of the research. Finally, in the Discussion, the primary social purposes of descriptive report were to describe established knowledge, to report some highlighted findings, and to summarize key findings of the study, functioning as the cornerstone for the instantiation of other elemental genres. Derewianka and Jones (2016, p. 162) explained this phenomenon by stating that “the nature of the description stage of descriptive reports varies according to the type of entity under focus”.

Hyland (2004, p. 4) stated that “describing, summarizing, expressing causality, and so on are ‘common core skills’ of a universal academic literacy”. Moreover, Bruce (2008) viewed report, recount, explanation, and so on as building blocks of authentic texts from a cognitive perspective. He argued for the effectiveness of analyzing the whole texts into these building blocks for pedagogical purposes. Similarly, our findings from deconstruction of TCM RAs into elemental genres, also seen as building blocks of a macrogenre, would inform students when to describe, to explain, to argue, and how—the common core skills required of writing academic texts. This genre-based pedagogy is envisioned to scaffold students to develop their academic writing literacy from the phases of modeling & deconstructing the text, joint construction of the text, and finally to the phase of independent construction of the text under the widely accepted ‘Teaching-Learning Cycle’ (Hyland, 2004).

The present research inevitably has its limitations, too. In selecting the sampled data, we tried to cover articles from different TCM disciplines to be representative, however, acupuncture and TCM herbal medicine formula were given more weight due to the wide use and exploration of these two sub-branches (World Health Organization, 2002). The same weight of sampled data could be selected in the future study. As the current research is a part of a larger project which involved three different layers of analysis, 40 full-length articles sufficed to achieve the research purposes. Yet, given to investigate how the TCM RAs are configured with elemental genres, a larger sample would be ideal to produce more convincing results in future inquiry.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lin Zhao

Lin Zhao, [email protected], is a PhD candidate at the School of Foreign Languages, Institute of Social Technology, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Rachasima, Thailand. Her research interests include discourse analysis, genre analysis, and systemic functional linguistics.

Pramoolsook Issra

Pramoolsook Issra, [email protected], PhD, is currently an associate professor of applied linguistics and English language teaching at the School of Foreign Languages, Suranaree University of Technology in Thailand. His research interests include disciplinary and professional discourse analysis especially scientific discourse, genre analysis, and genre-based approach to teaching writing.

Appendix 1

1.   Baicalin Inhibits Coxsackievirus B3 Replication by Reducing Cellular Lipid Synthesis, The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 2020, 48 (1), 4339 words in total.

2.   Chuanxiong (Rhizome of Ligusticum chuanxiong) Protects Ovariectomized Hyperlipidemic Rats from Bone Loss, The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 2020, 48 (2), 5494 words in total.

3.   Variations of Oral Microbiome in Chronic Insomnia Patients with Different Tongue Features, The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 2020, 48 (4), 6469 words in total.

4.   Corni Fructus as a Natural Resource Can Treat Type 2 Diabetes by Regulating Gut Microbiota, The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 2020, 48 (6), 4807 words in total.

5.   The NF-KB Signaling and Wnt/β-catenin Signaling in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells in Response to Bioactive Components from Mushroom Antrodia Camphorata, The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 2021, 49 (1), 3410 words in total.

6.   Electroacupuncture Attenuates Chronic Inflammatory Pain and Depression Comorbidity through Transient Receptor Potential V1 in the Brain, The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 2021, 49 (6), 5111 words in total.

7.   Analysis of Gut Microbiota Composition in Lung Adenocarcinoma Patients with TCM Qi-Yin Deficiency, The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 2021, 49 (7), 3164 words in total.

8.   Effects of Berberine on Gut Microbiota in Patients with Mild Metabolic Disorders Induced by Olanzapine, The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, 2021, 49 (8), 2973 words in total.

9.   Active constituents and mechanisms of Respiratory Detox Shot, a traditional Chinese medicine prescription, for COVID-19 control and prevention: Network-molecular docking-LC-MS analysis, Journal of Integrative Medicine, 2020, 18 (3), 2843 words in total.

10. Effective-constituent compatibility-based analysis of Bufei Yishen formula, a traditional herbal compound as an effective treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Journal of Integrative Medicine, 2020, 18 (4), 5567 words in total.

11. Extract of Naotaifang, a compound Chinese herbal medicine, protects neuron ferroptosis induced by acute cerebral ischemia in rats, Journal of Integrative Medicine, 2020, 18 (4A), 3692 words in total.

12. Fuzheng Huayu recipe, a traditional Chinese compound herbal medicine, attenuates renal interstitial fibrosis via targeting the miR-21/PTEN/AKT, Journal of Integrative Medicine, 2020, 18 (6), 3479 words in total.

13. Anti-hemorrhoidal activity of Lian-Zhi-San, a traditional Chinese Medicine, in an experimental hemorrhoidal model in rats, Journal of Integrative Medicine, 2021, 19 (1), 3521 words in total.

14. Therapeutic effects of herbal formula Huangqisan on metabolic disorders via SREBF1, SCD1 and AMPK signaling pathway, Journal of Integrative Medicine, 2021, 19 (2), 3479 words in total.

15. Serum metabolic profiling of traditional Chinese medicine syndromes in patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome, Journal of Integrative Medicine, 2021, 19 (3), 3363 words in total.

16. Effects and mechanism of Chinese medicine Jiawei Yupingfeng in a mouse model of allergic rhinitis, Journal of Integrative Medicine, 2021, 19 (4), 2932 words in total.

17. Differential response to targeted acupuncture by gender in patients with gastrointestinal cancer cachexia: secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial, Acupuncture in Medicine, 2020, 38 (1), 2795 words in total.

18. Effect of electroacupuncture on sedation requirements during colonoscopy: a prospective placebo-controlled randomised trial, Acupuncture in Medicine, 2020, 38 (3), 3205 words in total.

19. Electroacupuncture versus manual acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled pilot trial, Acupuncture in Medicine, 2020, 38 (5), 2320 words in total.

20. Comparison of dry needling and ischaemic compression techniques on pain and function in patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome: a randomised clinical trial, Acupuncture in Medicine, 2020, 38 (6), 3132 words in total.

21. Effects of acupuncture on anthropometric and serum metabolic parameters in premenopausal overweight and obese women: a randomized, patient- and assrssor-blind, sham-controlled clinical trial, Acupuncture in Medicine, 2021, 39 (1), 4580 words in total.

22. Electroacupuncture for post-stoke overactive bladder: a multi-centre pilot randomized controlled trial, Acupuncture in Medicine, 2021, 39 (3), 3276 words in total.

23. Comparison of electroacupuncture and manual acupuncture for patients with plantar heel pain syndrome: a randomized controlled trial, Acupuncture in Medicine, 2021, 39 (4), 3283 words in total.

24. Acupuncture stimulation at HT7 as a non-pharmacological therapy for sleep disorder caused by caffeine administration in rats, Acupuncture in Medicine, 2021, 39 (6), 2630 words in total.

25. Effect of Tongxieyaofang decoction on colonic mucosal protein expression profiles in rats with visceral hypersensitivity, Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2020, 40 (2), 3468 words in total.

26. Three Tiaobu Feishen formula reduces cigarette smoke-induced inflammation in human airway epithelial cells, Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2020, 40 (3), 2780 words in total.

27. Danggui Buxue decoction ameliorates lipid metabolic defects involved in the initiation of diabetic atherosclerosis identification of active compounds, Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2020, 40 (3), 2119 words in total.

28. Effect of spinal manipulation on degenerative scoliosis, Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2020, 40 (6), 2904 words in total.

29. Herbal formula of Bushen Jianpi combined with sorafenib inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma growth by promoting cell apoptosis and blocking the cell cycle, Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2021, 41 (2), 3837 words in total.

30. Value of Traditional Chinese Medicine syndrome differentiation in predicting the survival time of patients with advanced cancer, Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2021, 41 (4), 2204 words in total.

31. Optimal intensity and duration of cupping for minimizing possible mechanical skin deformation, Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2021, 41 (5), 3628 words in total.

32. Pingchuan formula improves allergic asthma in mice through inhibiting nuclear factor-kappa B/mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway, Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2021, 41 (6), 2989 words in total.

33. Treatment efficacy analysis of traditional Chinese medicine for novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19): an empirical study from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, Chinese Medicine, 2020, 15 (34), 4486 words in total.

34. Potential mechanism prediction of Cold-Damp Plague Formula against COVID-19 via network pharmacology analysis and molecular docking, Chinese Medicine, 2020, 15 (78), 4356 words in total.

35. The study of neuroprotective effects and underlying mechanism of Naoshuantong capsule on ischemia stroke mice, Chinese Medicine, 2020, 15 (119), 6080 words in total.

36. Beneficial effect of Indigo Naturalis on acute lung injury induced by influenza A virus, Chinese Medicine, 2020, 15 (128), 5537 words in total.

37. Potential mechanisms of Guizhi decoction against hypertension based on network pharmacology and Dahl salt-sensitive rat model, Chinese Medicine, 2021, 16 (34), 5627 words in total.

38. Shen-Zhi-Ling oral liquid ameliorates cerebral glucose metabolism disorder in early AD via insulin signal transduction pathway in vivo and in vitro, Chinese Medicine, 2021, 16 (128), 4516 words in total.

39. Traditional Chinese Medicine syndromes classification associates with tumor cell and microenvironment heterogeneity in colorectal cancer: a single cell RNA sequencing analysis, Chinese Medicine, 2021, 16 (133), 4110 words in total.

40. Acupressure in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis: a randomized controlled exploratory trial, Chinese Medicine, 2021, 16 (137), 4226 words in total.

Appendix 2

Table A. Case of deconstruction of the Introduction section into constitutional elemental genres.

The Introduction of AJCM (2)	Analysis of social purposes, elemental genres, and their generic structure
[Osteoporosis (OP) and cardiovascular disease (CVD), especially atherosclerosis are two major causes of morbidity and mortality among the aging population.// Previous studies found that postmenopausal women with OP are at increased risk for acute cardiovascular events (Tanko et al., 2005); meanwhile, the risk of OP increased in subjects with atherosclerotic diseases or metabolic syndrome (Esposito et al., 2013; Lee et al., 2016). Hyperlipidemia, especially hypercholesterolemia, might be an underlying link which mediate those chronic metabolic diseases (Pirih et al., 2012). Hypercholesterolemia was found to accelerate bone loss in postmenopausal women (Tarakida et al., 2011). Low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) and total cholesterol (TC) levels were shown to be negatively associated with bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women (Yamaguchi et al., 2002; Orozco, 2004). Estrogen deficiency in a postmenopausal state not only contributed to bone loss but also is a crucial factor affecting the other metabolic abnormalities (Carr, 2003). In women, body fat composition changes from subcutaneous fat deposition to visceral obesity during postmenopause period, resulting in an increased incidence of metabolic syndrome (Ford et al., 2002).]	1. This long text chunk is coded as a historical recount as its overall purpose is to record previous studies related to the research topic. The generic structure of historical recount identified by Coffin (2006) is Background ^ Record of Events ^ (Deduction). This example has Background stage and Record of events stage. The Background stage, which is the first sentence, is a general statement introducing that OP and CVD are two major causes of mortality among elders. The Record of events stage records the previous studies relevant to the current topic of the diseases. The Deduction stage is not found here.
[Although hormone replacement therapy is classically used for treatment of postmenopausal syndrome (Bowring and Francis, 2011), its use has been severely limited by concerns about the increased risks of breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers, heart attack and stroke.// Hence, it is worthwhile to search for a holistic approach for prevention and/or treatment of CVD and OP simultaneously.]	2. This segment is an exposition, in which the Thesis and the Argument are found. The exposition is structurally organized as Thesis ^ Argument ^ Reiteration. In this example, the Argument stage comes before the Thesis stage. The Argument stage points out that the use of hormone replacement therapy is limited due to some increased risks. The Thesis stage states the necessity of finding a holistic approach to preventing and treating the diseases.
[One of the major mechanisms by which estrogen deficiency and dyslipidemia negatively affect bone metabolism relate to oxidative stress (OS).// Reactive oxygen species (ROS) can induce the apoptosis of osteoblasts and osteocytes, thus inhibiting osteogenesis and mineralization (Domazetovic et al., 2017). OS in postmenopausal osteoporosis was produced by aging and the decrease of estrogen, which resulted in the activation of NADPH oxidase and/or decreased synthesis of anti-oxidant enzymes and GSH levels (Bellanti et al., 2013).]	3. This is a sequential explanation whose generic structure is Phenomenon identification ^ Explanation. The first sentence serves as the Phenomenon identification stage in which a major mechanism is proposed. In the Explanation stage, ROS induces the apoptosis of osteoblasts and osteocytes, thus, inhibiting osteogenesis and mineralization. Aging and the decrease of estrogen produce OS and then lead to the activation of NADPH oxidase. This is a sequential explanation in that one event is followed by the other.
[Under a hyperlipidemia condition, low density lipoprotein (LDL) particles which had undergone oxidative modifications in response to OS accumulates in vascular tissues and trigger atherosclerosis; such lipids also deposit in liver and bone tissues, where they may promote non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and OP by influencing osteoblast viability (Brodeur et al., 2008). Moreover, oxidized LDL plays critical roles in mediating hyperlipidemia induced PTH resistance in mice bones, which accelerates bone resorption (Sage et al., 2011).]	4. This is a conditional explanation whose social purpose is to explain the process of events under a certain circumstance. This elemental genre does not contain a Phenomenon identification stage, but only an Explanation stage at which two processes happen under a hyperlipidemia condition. First, low density lipoprotein (LDL) particles accumulate in vascular tissues and trigger atherosclerosis. Secondly, oxidized LDL mediates hyperlipidemia and then accelerates bone resorption.
[The rhizome of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort., also called chuanxiong (CX) in folk medicine, is a well-known Chinese herb widely used for treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in China (Li et al., 2012).// The essential bioactive compounds of CX include phenolic acids, alkaloids, phthalides, volatile oils, and others,// in which, ferulic acid (belonging to phenoic acids) is used as a marker to evaluate the quality of CX in Chinese pharmacopoeia; and tetramethylpyrazine (belong to alkaloids) is one of the important active ingredients in CX (Chen et al., 2018).]	5. This paragraph is a compositional report, in which the Classification stage and the Component stage are identified. The Classification stage states that CX, a folk medicine, is widely used for treating cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in China. The Component stage introduces the components of this folk medicine.
6. [//Current pharmacology studies demonstrated CX possesses anticerebral ischemia, antimyocardial ischemia, blood vessel protection, antithrombotic, antihypertensive, anti-atherosclerosis, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, anti-oxidant, and anti-asthma effects (Chen et al., 2018). CX and its bioactive components were proven to promote blood circulation, improve serum lipid profiles, and inhibit platelet aggregation (Li et al., 2014; Liu et al., 2016). CX contains many anti-oxidant components and CX ethanol extract possesses high anti-oxidant properties (Ge et al., 2018). Our previous studies have indicated that CX ethanol extract (CXE) could improve lipid profile, combat NAFLD, protect vascular endothelium in either estrogen-deficient ovariectomized (OVX) rats or high saturated fat-sucrose diet (HFS) induced OVX hyperlipidemic rats by its anti-oxidative activities and by upregulating endothelial nitric oxide synthesis (Li et al., 2013, 2014).//Limited systematic studies have been performed to determine the possibly bone protective effects of CX extracts. ]	6. This part is categorized as a historical recount in which the Record of events stage and the Deduction stage are identified. The Record of events stage recounts the previous studies on the Chinese medicine CX. Indicating a gap from previous studies is concluded in the Deduction stage.
7. [In the present study, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2Þ-induced MG63 preosteoblast cells were used as an in vitro model, the action and mechanism of CX ethanol extract (CXE) on osteoblastogenesesis were systematically studied. CXE was then administered to a six-month-old Sprague Dawley sham or ovariectomized (OVX) rats fed either a low saturated fat-sucrose (LFS) or a high fat-surose (HFS) diet (hyperlipidemic OVX rats as animal model for co-occurrence of postmenopausal OP and CVD) for 12 weeks, to confirm its anti-osteoporotic effects under dyslipidemic status of rats.]	The last paragraph is a procedural recount in which the author recounts the procedures deployed in the present study in detail. Only the Procedure stage is found in the Introduction section.