How to write and publish a scientific paper - Barbara Gastel, Robert A. Day 2022

Readable writing
Writing clearly across cultures and media
Scientific style

When you write for an Internet venue … your words travel the globe in a flash. But … what you think you’re saying isn’t always what the far-flung reader understands.

—Steve Outing

Readable writing

Earlier chapters have presented principles of writing readably: structuring sentences simply, using proper syntax, deleting needless words, condensing wordy phrases, using words accurately, using mainly active voice, avoiding strings of nouns, using verbs rather than nouns made from them, punctuating properly, using short and familiar words, minimizing the use of abbreviations, and defining abbreviations.

Also for readability, generally avoid starting sentences with “It is” or “There is.” For example, change “It is not necessary to remove this structure” to “This structure need not be removed” or (if appropriate) “You need not remove this structure.” Likewise, condense “There is another method that is gaining acceptance” to “Another method is gaining acceptance.”

In general, say what things are, not what they are not. If you mean that something is important, do not say that it is “not unimportant.” If you mean that it is substantial, do not say “not insubstantial.” Avoiding such double negatives makes writing more readable.

Many suggestions for making writing more readable also make it shorter. This brevity can especially help if you have a word limit or page limit, such as for a scientific paper or grant proposal.

Over the years, formulas have been devised to estimate the readability of documents. Microsoft Word can compute two such measures of readability, the Flesch Reading Ease score and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score. (Doing so is an option under “When correcting spelling and grammar,” in “Proofing.”) Computing these scores, which are based on average number of words per sentence and average number of syllables per word, can help you estimate how readable your writing is (or how much progress you have made in making it more readable). These formulas, however, do not take into account all aspects of readability. Thus, they are imperfect measures. Indeed, a piece of writing could make no sense but still get an excellent readability score if it consisted of short words in short sentences.