Cohesion and Clarity
12- 20
Brevity of expression is achieved through streamlining, which is eliminating unnecessary words and expressions that clutter language and interrupt the flow of thought. Thus, an important task for you as a scientific writer is to streamline your writing. Streamlining primarily involves making paragraphs and sentences a reasonable length, reducing wordiness, and using short words instead of longer ones when possible.
Tips for Streamlined Writing
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Break long sentences into shorter ones.
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Eliminate wordiness.
▪ Use shorter words rather than long ones when possible.
Each tip is discussed in detail below.
√ Break long sentences into shorter ones.
One requirement of writer-responsible writing is that as the writer, you must help readers understand what you write. One easy way to make your writing more easily understood is to break your long sentences into shorter ones. Why? The shorter a sentence is, the fewer words readers must store in their short- term memory. Scientific writing in English allows longer sentences than other types of writing do, but the fact remains that shorter sentences are more easily understood. Use your own judgment as to what is too long, but as a guideline, keep your sentences to about 15 to 20 words.
In the sentences below, which example is easier to follow?
58-word sentence:
The daf-2 pathway-mediated regulation of dauer arrest and of metabolism, which can be decoupled from life-span regulation, involves distinct outputs of the daf-2 insulinlike signaling pathway, which in neurons may produce a senescence-inducing neuroendocrine output that is not produced in muscle or intestine, the cells of which may contribute dauer and metabolic regulatory signals. (From Wolkow et al., 2000)
3 shorter sentences:
The daf-2 pathway-mediated regulation of dauer arrest and of metabolism, which can be decoupled from life-span regulation, involves distinct outputs of the daf-2 insulinlike signaling pathway. Daf-2 pathway signaling in neurons may
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