Abstract: N that-cl patterns, which comprise a shell noun and a that-cl complement, frequently occur in academic written corpora. The fact that the shell nouns in the pattern are semantically unspecific and rely on the lexical realization of that-cl has aroused the attention of many researchers. Previous studies on N that-cl patterns mainly concern the discourse organizing function, stance constructing function and the pedagogical methods of the patterns, yet few has made a contrastive study of the patterns produced by Western and Chinese scholars in terms of their co-selections and functions in a specific register. In this study, we conduct a corpus-based contrastive study, on the basis of the Beijing CARE corpus, of the frequencies, co-selections and functions of 25 most frequently used N that-cl patterns in research articles by Western and Chinese scholars. The study reveals that Chinese scholars use N that-cl patterns remarkably less frequently than Western scholars, especially the Fact group, Cognitive Process group and Possibility group. Meanwhile, Chinese scholars tend to use more general N that-cl patterns like the Research group to review the literature or make reference to their own research. Moreover, the divergent usages of some N that-cl patterns reveal the unique features of Chinese and Western academic discourses. Chinese scholars give more weight to own research conclusions, while Western scholars set great store by expounding different viewpoints and logical reasoning. The study provides implications for academic discourse analysis and second language academic writing.