Five myths about academic writing debunked
If you can lay these myths to rest, you will convey your message more easily and effectively.
5. I need to use big words.
In academic writing and scientific writing, you’ll probably already have quite a few big words to describe the context of your research. You can’t change these key words, but you can balance them out with shorter, simpler words. Choose short words whenever possible to lighten up the sentence.
For example, choose:
- “use” instead of “utilize” and
- "also" instead of "in addition".
Using shorter, more common words gives your reader a chance to catch their breath!
4. Passive voice makes me look objective.
Passive voice does not have the power to cause objectivity. All passive voice does is take away the agent of an action. The passive voice and active voice are tools that allow you to move the parts of the sentence around and in doing so, improve the flow.
Sometimes the passive voice can help you (like when discussing methods or processes), but other times it can hinder you (like when drawing conclusions). If you overuse the passive voice in your discussion, for example, it can make you look like you are not taking responsibility for the conclusions you’ve drawn or the decisions you’ve made. Read more here.
3. I need to have complicated sentences because my topic is complicated.
Actually, the more complicated the topic, the simpler the sentence structure should be. A complicated structure obscures your message because you give your reader two things to decipher (structure and message) rather than just one (message). Use parallelism to create elegant simplicity.
2. I should use a thesaurus to avoid repeating any words.
On the contrary, you will need to repeat certain words exactly to avoid confusing your reader. Rarely do we find two words that are exact synonyms.
Follow this guideline:
If you mean the same thing, use the same word.
If you mean something different, use a different word.
1. The only way my article will get accepted is if I write the way everyone else is writing, even if I don’t like it myself.
The best writers make every effort to write clearly at all stages of their education. Have the courage to write an article you would want to read. Don’t use words you wouldn’t normally use when talking about your research. If you read a sentence and can’t understand it yourself, then no one else can either. We (your readers, as well as publishers and journals) want you to write clearly, concisely and actively; we don’t want jargon-laden, noun-heavy, paragraph-long sentences.