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I was writing an abstract for an elementary mathematics paper and I came up with this phrase:

In this two-part paper we aim to present a couple of results that can be used to solve such problems, followed by some applications.

Does this sentence clearly state that I will present some results and afterwards I will show some applications of those results? The phrasing feels a bit odd, but it also doesn't sound wrong or something.

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    It's fine. But it's also Off Topic proofreading. Semantically, though, I'd have thought applications are more likely to be capable of being used to solve problems, rather than results. But presumably you know your subject here.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Mar 16, 2021 at 17:49
  • @FumbleFingers Sorry, I was in two minds about whether this is proofreading or not.
    – Alexdanut
    Commented Mar 16, 2021 at 18:14
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    Can you give any more detail about why you think the example text might not be good English? If you could, that might be enough to save it being closed.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Mar 16, 2021 at 18:24
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    Ah. Is it because after presenting the results, you want to be able to say Okay class, listen up. Now I'm going to show you how we can apply these results to solve those real-world problems I talked about earlier. With no reference to [computer-based] applications?
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Mar 16, 2021 at 18:28
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    Well, as implied by my previous comment, I thought you were talking about computer applications (I obviously hadn't read the question text carefully enough). But really, you've answered you own question in the explanatory text immediately after the "suspect" sentence. If you don't want other people to make the same mistake I made, just end your actual sentence with ...followed by some applications of those results. Note that what I wrote in my first comment explains my misreading - usually one applies principles / methods to the solving of problems, not results.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Mar 16, 2021 at 18:48

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In this two-part paper we aim to present a couple of results that can be used to solve such problems, followed by some applications.

I suggest

In this paper we present results which can be used here and their application to these problems.

I do not think you need to tell them it is in two parts. You are presenting them, not aiming to present, that would sound too diffident. Couple is informal and probably out of place here.

I am assuming you have already told the readers about the problems which you are solving as in most papers I read the motivation for the paper comes first.

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  • Thank you for your comments! So, the part with "followed by some applications" would be clear enough like this? I understood your suggestion, but I was just wondering.
    – Alexdanut
    Commented Mar 16, 2021 at 18:18
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    Your original could have been interpreted as just general applications rather than the specific problems you have mentioned previously so I tried to make it clear that this was not the case.
    – mdewey
    Commented Mar 17, 2021 at 13:36

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