Word by Word will edit 500 words of any document for free. Just email us the text you'd like us to edit, and we'll generally get an edited version back to you within 24 hours.

In the meantime, the below explains the top 3 edits we typically make to papers. We've also included a before and after example with some generic text to show you the difference between traditional academic writing and the modern academic voice.

Top 3 tips for better writing

1. Avoid nominalisation. Avoiding nominalisation is the single biggest thing you can do to improve the clarity of your writing. Nominalisation is the process of converting a verb into a noun - for example, "the analysis of" instead of simply "analyze" or "exploration" instead of "explore". Academic writing has moved on from the old fashioned practice of writing in the passive voice and ensuring that sentences remain abstract and objective. In today's highly competitive world, journals want to publish papers that are engaging, compelling and can be understood by a wide range of readers - including those who may be not be experts in your narrow field. "I refuse to spend time trying to understand what the author is trying to say", says the editor of one Elsevier journal [Elsevier, 2014]. This means avoiding nominalisation, writing in the active voice, using personal pronouns, and using plain, simple language. No more 'facilitate', 'help' or 'support' will do! For a great video on nominalisation, click here.

2. Write short sentences. The average sentence in English is only 8 to 14 words long and, as sentences get longer, they get more difficult to understand. In fact, surveys undertaken by various press associations in the US report that readers find sentences of more than 29 words very difficult to understand [Vidura, p. 47]. So keep your sentences short and, if you really struggle with English, try to always follow the subject-action-object syntax. This way, we can at least understand you. And, if we can understand you, we can convert your prose into more advanced syntaxes and more articulate language.

3. Be concise. It's very tempting to over-explain your point, especially when you aren't confident in a language. However, there's an old adage that should be followed when writing academic papers - "less is more". Being concise doesn't just mean communicating your point in as a few words as possible. It also means choosing words that convey rich meanings. We know that can be hard if English isn't your first language, but that's why we're here! Again, use plain and simple language to convey your point so we can understand you, and we'll convert your language into concise prose that reviewers will love. See below for an example of what we're talking about.

An example

BEFORE

“One of the most common motivating factors behind scientific discovery is the development of new technology. Among the most impressive technological advances recently has been DNA sequencing. The ability to conduct DNA sequencing more efficiently has resulted in a significant cost reduction in the process of DNA data generation, and greater opportunities for research access to cost-effective DNA data has, in turn, enabled more scientists to engage with data-intensive experimentation. As a result of the greater volume of experimentation, vast amounts of data are now being released into the public domain. However, the process of analyzing this data to extract valuable insights will require the development of a new set of skills in the next generation of scientists.”

 

AFTER

“Technology drives science. One of the most recent and impressive technological advances is DNA sequencing. More efficient sequencing has significantly reduced the cost of generating DNA data, which has opened the way for more researchers to do data-intensive experiments. However, extracting valuable insights from the huge amount of data now being released into the public domain will require a new generation of scientists.”