How to Improve Clarity and Conciseness in Scientific Writing

Clear scientific writing is built from a clear message, a logical order and simple sentences. Conciseness means removing words that add nothing, not removing information the reader needs.

Principles

1. Know your message for each paragraph before writing.
2. Put the main point first, in the topic sentence.
3. Use one idea per sentence and keep subject and verb close together.
4. Prefer active, specific verbs ("we measured") where the journal allows, and avoid unnecessary nominalisations ("conducted an analysis of" → "analysed").
5. Remove redundancy ("a total of", "in order to", "it should be noted that").
6. Be consistent with terms, units and abbreviations.
7. Use parallel structure in lists and comparisons.

Before and after examples

• "A total of 120 patients were recruited in order to participate" → "We recruited 120 patients."
• "There was a statistically significant difference found between the groups" → "The groups differed significantly (p = 0.02)."
• "It is well known that diabetes is a common disease" → delete or cite and quantify.

An editing process

1. Write quickly, then revise.
2. Cut 10% of the words from each paragraph.
3. Read aloud; fix any sentence that makes you run out of breath.
4. Ask someone outside your field to summarise it.

Illustrative example

Invented for teaching. A methods sentence of 55 words about data collection is split into three sentences: who collected data, what instrument was used and how quality was checked. Reviewers find it easier to follow.

Working with a non-native English audience

Many readers of medical journals read English as a second language, so plain wording is a courtesy as well as a style choice. Prefer familiar words ("use" rather than "utilise"), avoid idioms and define terms that are specific to one health system. If you are writing in a second language yourself, language editing services or a colleague's review can help, and most journals welcome this as long as the scientific content remains your own.

Common pitfalls

• Hedging every statement until nothing is claimed.
• Cutting needed detail in the name of brevity.

Key takeaways

• Clear message, simple sentences, no filler.
• Edit and test on a reader.

This page is general educational information about research methods. It is not medical, legal or regulatory advice; follow your institution's ethics board and your target journal's instructions.