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scholarly writing clarity conciseness tips
Scholarly Writing: Clarity & Conciseness Tips
Date: 6/5/2022
Concise Guide to APA Style: 7th Edition (OFFICIAL)
Page 61 Review
Effective Scholarly Writing: A Critical Analysis
This excerpt from “Effective Scholarly Writing” offers valuable insights into crafting clear, concise, and impactful academic prose.
The authors emphasize the importance of avoiding ambiguity and promoting reader comprehension.
Let’s delve into the key takeaways.
Avoiding Misleading Language
The passage begins by cautioning against the use of figurative and overly colorful language. “Use figurative expressions with restraint and color-ful expressions with care; because these expressions can be open to interpretation and even cultural differences, they generally do not add to understanding for all possible readers.” This is a crucial point.
While creative writing thrives on such devices, scholarly writing demands precision.
The goal is to minimize ambiguity and ensure that the message is universally understood, regardless of the reader’s background.
The authors suggest a better approach: “Instead, make direct, logical comparisons (see Section 2.10) and clearly attribute actions (see Section 2.11).” Directness and clarity are paramount.
The Scourge of Wordiness and Redundancy
The excerpt then tackles the common pitfalls of wordiness and redundancy. “Wordiness can impede readers’ understanding by forcing them to sort through unnecessary words to decipher your ideas.
Unconstrained wordiness lapses into embellishment and flowery writing, which are inappropriate in academic style.” This highlights the importance of respecting the reader’s time and cognitive load.
Unnecessary verbiage adds nothing of value and can actively detract from the message.
The text provides several examples demonstrating the difference between wordy and concise phrasing.
For example:
- “at the present time” vs. “now”
- “for the purpose of” vs. “for, to”
- “there were several students who completed” vs. “several students completed”
These simple substitutions drastically improve readability.
The passage extends this concept to redundancy. “Whereas wordiness refers to using more words than are necessary, redundancy means using multiple words with the same meaning.” While some writers use redundancy for emphasis, the authors suggest alternative strategies: “Instead, use sentence structure to convey emphasis, for example, by placing the words to be emphasized at the beginning or end of a sentence.” Using the active voice is also recommended: “When possible and appropriate for the context, use the active voice (see Section 2.13) to reduce wordiness and redundancy.” The examples of redundancy drive the point home:
- “they were both alike”
- “a sum total”
- “completely unanimous”
Sentence and Paragraph Length: A Matter of Balance
Finally, the excerpt addresses sentence and paragraph length. “There is no minimum or maximum sentence length in APA Style.
Overuse of short, simple sentences produces choppy prose, however…” The key here is balance.
While brevity is generally desirable, overly simplistic sentences can create a disjointed and unsophisticated reading experience.
The passage abruptly ends at “ATALS”, implying that there may be a complete thought on the matter in the original publication.
Key Takeaways for Effective Scholarly Writing
This excerpt emphasizes several crucial principles for effective scholarly writing.
Avoid ambiguous language, prioritize conciseness, eliminate redundancy, and strive for a balanced sentence structure.
By adhering to these guidelines, writers can create clear, compelling, and impactful academic prose that effectively communicates their ideas to a broad audience.
Focus is placed upon reducing unneccessary words to ensure a more direct presentation of knowledge to the reader.
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Scholarly Writing Clarity Conciseness Tips
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