Word Choice: Deleting Uninformative words and avoid redundancy
“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”
– Thomas Jefferson
Research papers contain the most valuable hard work of the researcher. Hence all necessary caution is required to put in the right words for all concerned to read and understand easily. Since words are free, it is not advisable to use them more for writing such important manuscripts. The best of research papers which are better readable is written economically in terms of words. Research papers should be written concisely and in a hidden and organized way to facilitate communication effectively.
Uninformative words & redundancy the two spoilers of manuscripts:
The two major mistakes most writers of research paper do is to use uninformative words and not avoiding redundancy. It is not only a waste of time but also could be the cause of rejection. Most of the reputed and renowned journals consider a poorly written manuscript, not a valuable one. Hence the years of hard work by the researcher will go down the drain with the wrong word choices.
Even great scholars are victims:
It happens even to great scholars who do not have English as their mother tongue. Reputed journals even though the research paper contains excellent research work in it could find it not suitable for their journals with the wrong words. It is because they think it unfit, as any inferiorly written manuscripts could spoil their reputation. Even the great inventor Blaise Pascal way back in the early 17th century has emphasized the importance of words. He told a friend once that he is writing a long letter because he did not have time to shorten it.
How to avoid uninformative words and redundancy?
There are three ways to avoid uninformative words and redundancy in research papers. They are while writing the research paper, while editing it and by evaluating it from experts.
1.Writing manuscripts without uninformative words and redundancy:
Manuscript writing, like other writing, is a series of choices. The choices include topics, sources, time, theses, and above all, words. Hence word choice is only up to writer. Hence, by avoiding the uninformative words and redundancy while writing manuscripts could make them written in impeccable English.
2.English editing of the manuscript:
Whatever may be the caution of the researcher, there could be the usage of uninformative words in the manuscript. It is due to the tremendous pressure of researching for a long time. Also, the deadline to finish it and placing it in the form of a manuscript is a daunting task. Hence the researchers, while writing the manuscript, may use uninformative words and could not avoid redundancy. Hence editing it several times to bring it to perfection in terms of the English language is vital for its publication in reputed and renowned journals.
3.Evaluation of the manuscripts:
Always an expert evaluation before submission of the manuscript is essential. Though the researchers may be profound in the scientific terms, they maybe not so good putting it in proper English. Hence an evaluation by an expert could solve the issues of English language in the manuscript. They may point out the uninformative words and the redundancy in them.
The above ways could facilitate the researches for the right word choice. It will also help in avoiding the uninformative words, and redundancy in the manuscripts. An excellent research paper with all the necessary scientific aspects written with the right word choice of words could make the research reach its destination. Also, it will make the researcher to reach great heights in studies and career.