logo
logo
Sign in

Tricks to Reduce Your Word Count in Academic Writing

avatar
Rose Bell
Tricks to Reduce Your Word Count in Academic Writing

The goal here is to pare down your writing to its essentials, leaving little else behind. This may make your writing less enjoyable to read, but you cannot be penalized for it. This isn't a writing contest; it's about getting your thoughts down on paper in as few words as possible. Also, keep in mind that the person reviewing your work and giving you credit will most likely scan it. They may not even notice your prose style, preferring to focus on the important content to follow the thread of your argument. In that case, you're improving their experience by eliminating the extras in Assignment Help Online in Qatar.


Delete adverbs


Adverbs are frequently deleted in academic writing. Adverb-verb pairs, at the very least, can be converted into better-chosen verbs on their own.


Delete adjectives


While adjectives make your writing more live and interesting to read, they can almost always be sacrificed to reduce word count in academic writing in Qatar. You will most likely not lose credit for duller writing, but you will for exceeding the word limit. Instead of using adjectives, try to keep your prose clear and straightforward, and get to the point quickly. Avoid using detailed descriptions unless they are necessary for the reader to follow your argument and you are certain that the reader requires the detail.


Delete connectives


This is another tip that will reduce the flow of the text while also reducing the word count. Instead of having longer sentences connected with "and" or "but," simply remove those connectives and have two separate sentences. This will reduce the number of words. Remember that your reader will most likely be scanning your text at high speed rather than reading it in detail. Keeping everything clear and simple will help them through this process.


Delete prepositions


This strategy is a little more difficult to explain. The idea is to rewrite long sections of text with a lot of prepositions into shorter versions with fewer prepositions. Replace "tea from China" with "Chinese tea," for example. It's only one word, but it adds up over the course of a long document. "Of" is a frequent candidate for deletion. You can frequently avoid using "of" by simply changing the word order.


Delete auxiliary verbs


As with adjectives and adverbs, auxiliary verbs may make your sentences more visually appealing if read closely, but this should not be your goal in academic writing. Always keep it brief and to the point. Auxiliary verbs such as "could," "may," "might," and so on should be avoided in academic writing. These can be useful for expressing uncertainty, which is often a good thing in academic writing, but they aren't always necessary. Say what you mean directly and use extra verbs wherever possible.


Replace phrases with words


Certain English phrases have become fixed and are used repeatedly in the same form. To reduce your word count, you can often replace these with single words. Again, there is no set rule for identifying these but look through your text for phrases of several words that appear to express one concept. When you come across one, use a thesaurus to find another word that expresses the same idea.


Reduce word count by rearranging your content


Aside from the word and phrase level tricks mentioned above, you can achieve significant word count reductions by making structural changes to your work.


Reduce the length of the introduction and conclusion


The introduction and conclusion are critical components of academic writing. But keep in mind that their primary function is to summarise. In the introduction, provide a brief explanation of your work, and in the conclusion, reaffirm and support your reasoning. You're probably wasting word count beyond that. There is no need to go into great detail in these sections; the main body is for that. These sections are all about condensing and summarising. Remember not to include any new information in the conclusion; instead, keep it all in the main body.


Cut out repetitive chapter-linking sections


Another common practice in academic writing is to 'tie off' each section with a mini-summary and then refresh the reader at the start of the next one. This is unnecessary and wastes a lot of words. Section closings should be kept as brief as possible. The reader has just finished reading the content in that section and should not require anything more than a summary of key points to keep things clear.


You can probably remove the refresher at the start of each section entirely. Just get right to the point of that section. Allow the reader to follow your argument, and make sure the main content allows them to do so. If you want to take help then contact our Online Assignment Helper in Qatar.

collect
0
avatar
Rose Bell
guide
Zupyak is the world’s largest content marketing community, with over 400 000 members and 3 million articles. Explore and get your content discovered.
Read more