Breaking up long sentences is a fundamental practice for effective research writing, significantly impacting clarity, readability, and the likelihood of publication. Long sentences pose several challenges that can hinder a reader's understanding and negatively influence the perception of your research.
Problems with Long Sentences in Research Writing:
- Increased Risk of Misunderstanding: Longer sentences with multiple clauses and qualifications are harder to process and increase the chance of misinterpreting the intended meaning. Comprehension drops significantly as sentence length increases.
- Reader and Referee Fatigue: Referees and readers prefer sentences that are easy to understand on the first reading. Struggling with long, convoluted sentences can lead to frustration and a negative evaluation.
- Obscuring Key Findings: Important results and conclusions can get lost within complex sentences. Readers tend to focus on the beginnings and ends of sentences.
- Potential for Ambiguity and Vagueness: Intricate sentence structures increase the risk of unclear word order, ambiguous pronoun references, and vague connections between ideas.
- Tedious Reading Experience: A series of long sentences can make reading tiring and cause readers to scan rather than read carefully, potentially missing important information.
Recommended Sentence Length:
Aim for an upper limit of around 25 words per sentence in academic writing. Experts generally recommend 15 to 18 words for optimal readability. Be cautious if the first part of your sentence exceeds 12-15 words, suggesting you should avoid adding another long clause (over 10-12 words).
Practical Techniques to Break Up Long Sentences:
- Deconstruct Sentences with Link Words and Phrases: Identify and leverage connecting words as potential breaking points.
- "And": Split sentences where "and" adds less critical information.
- Link Words of Contrast: Use words like "however" or "on the other hand" to start new sentences when contrasting ideas.
- Link Words of Explanation: Break clauses introduced by "because," "since," or "as" into separate sentences, potentially starting with "This is because" or "In fact".
- "Which" and Relative Clauses: Separate non-essential relative clauses starting with "which" into new sentences, potentially replacing "which" with "this".
- -ing Form: If the -ing form lengthens the sentence or links phrases awkwardly, use a different verb form and start a new sentence, possibly repeating the subject or starting with "This".
- Phrases indicating purpose (e.g., in order to): Split sentences with lengthy rationale introduced by such phrases.
- Leverage Punctuation:
- Semicolons: Replace semicolons, which join independent clauses, with full stops to create shorter sentences.
- Excessive Commas: Break down sentences with numerous commas that separate multiple clauses, indicating a need for better structuring.
- Manage Lists: Divide long lists within sentences into shorter sentences or use bullet points for clarity.
- Focus on Ideas per Sentence: Aim for a maximum of one or two main ideas per sentence.
- Re-evaluate Parenthetical Phrases: Avoid using parentheses for lengthy explanations that interrupt sentence flow.
- Maintain Subject-Verb Proximity: Place the subject and verb close together for immediate understanding.
- End at Thought Boundaries: Start a new sentence when you reach a natural break in the logical progression of ideas.
- Repeat Key Words Strategically: Don't avoid repeating key words when splitting sentences, as this enhances clarity.
Broader Impact on Research Paper Quality:
Breaking up long sentences leads to:
- Enhanced Clarity and Readability: Making your research more accessible.
- Improved Referee Perception and Acceptance Rates: Easier-to-read papers are more likely to be appreciated by referees.
- Facilitation of Logical Flow: Shorter sentences contribute to a clearer progression of ideas.
- Effective Highlighting of Key Information: Concise sentences for key findings ensure they stand out.
- Contribution to Conciseness: Often reveals and helps eliminate redundancy.
- Reduction of Ambiguity: Clear, direct sentences minimize misinterpretations.
By prioritizing reader-centered writing through the practice of breaking up long sentences, you significantly improve the effectiveness and impact of your research communication.
