The paper focuses on the key issues Russian scientists face in the process of writing abstracts in English. The undertaken study outlines practical solutions to such challenges. The paper relies on an overview of previously published research literature on the subject, as well as classification, generalisation, descriptive research, quantitative and frequency analysis. In order to verify the obtained data, corpus analysis was used. As a result, the research reveals common difficulties of abstract writing Russian authors experience and identifies discrepancies in the available findings. The paper argues that referring to authentic lexicographic and corpus online resources can become a way to avoid and/or eliminate errors. Removing the major (linguistic) stumbling block can result in overcoming academic writing issues. In addition, the article provides a brief description of the best practices for working with such resources.

The history of creation and the content of the elective lecture course “Basics of scientometrics and preparing scientific publications” created in 2022 at the School of Biology of Lomonosov Moscow State University are considered. The course, consisting of 12 lectures, is intended for Ph.D. students of any schools of Moscow State University, who, unlike undergraduate students, already have some experience in scientific work and publication of its results. The topics covered in the course are listed, a list of questions proposed in the test is given. Among other things, the main scientometric indicators, work on lists of references, search for possible borrowings in the manuscript, requirements for illustrations, compliance with publication ethics, determining whether a scientific publication belongs to “predatory”, reviewing scientific articles, their correct structuring, etc. are considered. Since the majority of course participants are Ph.D. students of the School of Biology of Moscow State University, special attention in the lectures is paid to the ethical issues of publishing the results of research conducted on animals and humans. It is noted that the course of lectures attracted a fairly large number of listeners interested in the correct design of their articles and choosing the best scientific editions for them. It is emphasized that these issues are especially relevant for scientists involved in the preparation of applications for grants, without which it is now almost impossible to imagine serious scientific research. The results of the test carried out after the end of the course are briefly analyzed.