Phrasing Claims and Conclusions for Readers of Science Materials [1]
Conventional signals that carry agreed-upon meaning in the scientific community
| suggest | show |
| indicate | demonstrate |
Qualifiers used to note limitations or special conditions
| possibly | certainly | hypothetically | may | should |
| probably | without doubt | maybe | might | must |
| very likely | presumably | so far as the evidence suggests | would | can |
| necessarily | in all probability | as far as we can determine | could | shall |
[1] A. Penrose and S. Katz, Writing in the Sciences: Exploring Conventions of Scientific Discourse. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998, pp. 60-61.