You can often omit the word “the” from your text without losing any meaning. Subscribe for free to get unrestricted access to all our resources on research writing and academic publishing including: We hate spam too. How to Survive Peer Review in Social Sciences and Humanities? You can use abbreviations for long phrases that are used often in the manuscript. A natural tendency would be to go searching for words you don't need. Check below for examples of how to reduce your word count by removing overly descriptive, redundant, overly emotive and first-person language. Take the time to trim your essay only after you're done writing. (16 words). (13 words), Revised sentence: However, here, gold-standard annotations were actually done in English. For example, “The measurements of the soil moisture were made at dawn” can be changed to “The soil moisture was measured at dawn” by replacing the bland verb 'made' with the more apt 'measured.' You can reduce word count without effecting the substance of the writing, though. Our advanced workshop modules cater to the needs of researchers who want to know more about the issues pertinent to successful publication. You can substitute “on the other hand” with “conversely”, or “in addition to” with “also”. A very easy way to reduce the word count, particularly in the abstract, is to remove the spaces between numbers and mathematical operators such as =, , >, etc. Why is there a word count? The word count gives an indication of the level of depth you are expected to go into Keep the word limit in mind as you write, but don't worry if you go over a bit. One of the most agonizing parts of academic writing is cutting down your hard-won draft to meet a page, word, or character limit. Critical writing makes you apply all the three types of academic writing mentioned so far. But there is a simple rule you can follow: make sure the words you use add meaning. So, now you know how to go about reducing the word count in academic manuscripts. (23 words, 121 characters), Revised: Patients treated with drug X had no symptoms after 3 days. Passive: The samples were collected by the researcher. (17 words). When you use the “ing” form of verbs, you can eliminate one or two other words. In academic essays, you may be required to provide quotes from secondary sources to support your essay. Sometimes writers like to get a head start on a sentence by using phrases such as “there are,” “it is,” and “the fact that.” These phrases can be rewritten to shorten your text and make your writing more direct and concise. (15 words). Critical writing obliges you to practically breathe your topic once you present it. But when submitting your manuscript to a journal, you must ensure that you meet the required word count. Also, you can reduce the word count of your research paper by dividing big sentences into smaller and easier ones. You can reduce word count without effecting the substance of the writing, though. Original: The entire treatment lasted for four days, and the drug greatly improved the health of patients. Look for needless words you can delete and lengthy phrases you can shorten. If so, you’re not alone! It has been reported that 3. A second level menu drops down. Getting Indexed in International Citation Databases. (8 words), Revised sentence: We amplified seedling DNA using PCR. Thank you for staying and ordering with us. (22 words), Revised sentence: Participants chose the number on the scale that better represented their feelings after listening to each practice sound. Employ vs Use: Which Term Should You Choose? (11 words, 83 characters), Revised: We studied whether using the drug would help improve health. Planning your format, structure and content beforehand helps keep articles tight. Often, you may have to cut word count at the request of an editor (for us freelance writers) or a teacher or … Deleting every instance of the alone would reduce the character count by 1,800. Longer sentence: Patient demographics are of multiple types in this study and correlate well with the data presented. Longer sentence: DNA from the seedlings was amplified using PCR. Write using active voice instead of passive voice. Writing too many words can make your marker think you have poor communication skills and do not understand academic writing requirements. Beyond the word and phrase level tricks above, you can achieve some big reductions in word count by making some structural edits to your work. Longer sentence: On the other hand, when the brain is activated, electrochemical processes for transmission will be induced by neurons for signaling. 10 Tips for Cutting Your Word Count _____ 1 Essays are given specified word counts for a reason. Yup, that’s right. (13 words), Revised sentence: Cancer was diagnosed as tumor-specific biomarkers increased. This process can be even more stressful when you’re under pressure to meet a deadline just hours away. After all, how can you add something to reduce word count? Reduce the introduction and conclusion. (5 words, 37 characters). Wordy: Baseball, one of our oldest and most popular outdoor summer sports in terms of total attendance at ball parks and viewing on television, has the kind of rhythm of play on the field that alternates between times when players passively wait with no action taking place between the pitches to the batter and then times when they explode into action as the batter hits a pitched … (10 words, 60 characters). (17 words). We promise to protect your privacy and never spam you. GCSE Computer Science HELP! It might occur to you that articles —a and the— account for quite a lot of the words in your manuscript. Sometimes, articles at the start of sentences can be removed relatively quickly and safely. Then on the Insert ribbon click the Quick Parts button. Delete "The". You can subscribe to her e-newsletter and connect with her on LinkedIn. Omit unnecessary adverbs and adjectives to make your writing stronger and more concise. Another good way to reduce the word count of your essay is to do the same thing with adverbs as you did with adjectives. Make sure to define this in the first use and then use consistently throughout. Have you experienced writing a manuscript that seems to go on and on, is exceedingly verbose, and repeats ideas and words throughout the document? For students who frequently end up writing too many words, it’s time to reduce the extra words and make your essay more precise. Original: Patients treated with drug X had no symptoms after 3 days, and patients treated with drug Y had no symptoms after 7 days. 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