Better science writing for the web

The tendency to present scientific text in the passive voice is fading. Most Wiley-Blackwell journals and readers now accept use of the active voice.

Nature journals prefer authors to write in the active voice ('we performed the experiment...') as experience has shown that readers find concepts and results to be conveyed more clearly if written directly.

In general, authors should use the active voice, except in instances in which the author is unknown or the interest focuses on what is acted upon.

Active voice is much preferred to passive voice, which should be used sparingly. Passive voice tends to 'depersonalize' the subject and remove the author(s) from active responsibility (or bias?) for his/her work. Active voice is generally more concise than passive voice and saves space and time. Passive voice may force the reader to stop and think about whom is doing the action. It does not relieve the author of direct responsibility for observations, opinions, or conclusions

When possible, did you use active rather than passive voice?

Use the active voice whenever possible: We will ask authors that rely heavily on use of the passive voice to re-write manuscripts in the active voice.

Write in the active [voice] and use the first person where necessary.

The first-person active voice is preferable to the impersonal passive voice.

While the use of the phrase 'the author(s)' is acceptable, we encourage authors to use first and third person pronouns, i.e., 'I' and 'we', to avoid an awkward or stilted writing style.

Sentences with many nominalizations (noun forms of verbs) result in texts that are difficult to understand. Energize your text by transforming the noun forms of verbs back into verbs and avoid noun strings (nouns modifying nouns), which result in too much compressed information that is confusing to readers.

We ask authors to avoid jargon and acronyms where possible. When essential, they should be defined at first use; after first use, the author should use pronouns when possible rather than using the abbreviation or acronym at every occurrence. The acronym is second-nature to the author but is not to the reader, who may have to refer to the original definition throughout the paper when an acronym is used.

One general point to remember is the need to avoid jargon and acronyms as much as possible.

Strategies for eliminating awkwardness and cumbersome constructions include writing short, declarative sentences; keeping subjects and verbs as close together as possible; and, given a choice, selecting shorter and simpler rather than longer words (try vs. endeavor, show vs. demonstrate).

Preferred uses: after, not following; before, not prior to; to, not in order to.

Try to avoid long sentences that have several embedded clauses.

Redundancy of text or duplication of text points in tables wastes precious space and unnecessarily complicate a manuscript. Authors should plan to do several revisions before submission to shorten and to focus an article.

Write concisely (e.g., 'even though,' not 'in spite of the fact that').

Nature is an international journal covering all the sciences. Contributions should therefore be written clearly and simply so that they are accessible to readers in other disciplines and to readers for whom English is not their first language.

The text should be clear, readable, and concise.

While a polished literary style is not demanded of scientific papers, they should conform to the elementary rules of grammar, syntax, punctuation, and clarity. Slang and jargon should be avoided.

Please write in a clear, direct, and active style. The BMJ is an international journal, and many readers do not have English as their first language.

Good writing supports and augments good research. Clear, concise language is highly desirable in scientific communications and consistent with good scholarship.

The goal is to report your findings and conclusions clearly, and with as few words as necessary. Your audience (other scientists usually) are not interested in flowery prose, they want to know your findings. Remember: Writing and thinking are closely linked enterprises - many people have noted that, 'fuzzy writing reflects fuzzy thinking.' When people have difficulty translating their ideas into words, they generally do not know the material as well as they think.