This study explores the linguistic variations in thematic progression patterns in the Discussion sections of 20 quantitative research articles from four prestigious sociological journals. Statistical analyses show the predominant use of constant and linear progression patterns in both English and Chinese articles, and that Chinese articles feature a dense distribution of theme-rheme structures, and are more likely to use deviated patterns of omitted themes. Textual analyses reveal that English articles often employ multiple thematic progression patterns and are more likely to use research topic related nominal phrases to construct thematic chains. In contrast, Chinese articles seem to prefer researcher related or demonstrative pronouns and nouns to establish thematic chains. These findings indicate the differences in information structure between English and Chinese academic writing and may help Chinese authors to produce articles that are more conducive to international readers’ information processing habits and gain more recognition by the international academic community.