Words and Phrases to Avoid in Academic Writing
The goal of academic writing is to convey your message as clearly and concisely as possible. This is best achieved by keeping your writing formal, objective, and technical:
Avoid casual or conversational language, such as informal vocabulary and contractions (formal).
Focus on facts and ideas, and avoid direct reference to personal opinion or feelings (objective).
Use vocabulary that is specific to the discipline you're writing in (technical).
Writing academic texts demands that you choose your words with care. Not all words and expressions are useful in academic writing. When you work on an academic text, you should try to avoid expressions that are too informal, unsophisticated, vague, exaggerated, or subjective. You should also delete words that are generally unnecessary or redundant.
Academic writing is normally more formal than everyday conversation and the majority of texts you read on a daily basis. Some words and phrases are considered too informal in academic texts. Try to avoid these words, and find better alternatives.
Avoid these | Example | Alternative suggestion |
|---|---|---|
| a lot of | He had a lot of books on his desk. | He had many / several / four books on his desk. |
| a bit | The meetings were a bit difficult to schedule. | The meetings were difficult to schedule / The meetings were somewhat difficult to schedule |
| kind of, sort of | The study was kind of significant. | The study was significant / The study was somewhat significant. |
| you / your | You can clearly see the significance of the study. | The significance of the study is clear. It is easy to see that the study is significant. |
| contractions: can’t, aren’t, don’t, etc. | The article isn’t precise. | The article is not precise. |
If you use too many weak words, your writing will sound elementary and immature. Words like 'big' and 'good' can usually be replaced by words that are more precise.
However, they are not banned from academic writing, and they are often used in papers and research. But take care not to overuse them and try to find more precise synonyms. Also, keep in mind that longer, more complex words aren’t necessarily better than shorter words: good academic writing should aim to be concise and to communicate well with the reader.
Avoid these | Example | Alternative suggestion |
|---|---|---|
| bad | a bad result ... | a poor / negative result ... |
| big | a big challenge ... | a considerable / substantial / extensive challenge ... |
| get | The results get attention. | The results receive attention. |
| hard | The study was very hard. | The study was very complicated / difficult. |
| good | a good example ... | a useful/ prime example ... |
Some words are simply too vague to be useful in academic writing. Vague words can be misleading for the reader and will sometimes force the reader to make guesses or assumptions about the author's intended meaning. You should always try to be as specific as possible in your writing.
Avoid these | Examples | Alternative suggestions |
|---|---|---|
| a long time, a while | Scientists have been struggling with this problem for a while. | Scientists have been struggling with this problem for more than fifty years. |
| stuff | Scientists have been working with this stuff for three years. | Scientists have been working with this problem for three years. |
| thing | The paper presents many things. | The paper presents many findings / recommendations / results. |
| more or less | The project was more or less finished. | The project was nearly finished. |
| many | Many rats were used in the experiment. | Eight rats were used in the experiment. |
| about, around | We have about two months to finish the report. | We have two months to finish the report. |
Always base your writing on the evidence at hand, and try to write in a way that is as close to the truth as possible. Exaggeration often moves away from the truth. Therefore, be careful with word like 'always', 'never', and 'everyone'. If you state that 'Everyone drives electric cars these days', you only need one example of someone not driving an electric car for it not to be true. As we have mentioned before, academic writing is about precision.
Avoid these | Example | Alternative suggestion |
|---|---|---|
| always | Adults always complain about young people. | Adults sometimes/often complain about young people. |
| never | Scientists never seem to get it right. | Scientists do not always get it right. |
| everyone | Everyone drives electric cars these days. | 13% of the Norwegian population drive an electric car. |
| superlatives: perfect, best, worst... | This is a perfect solution to the problem. | This is an ideal solution to the problem. |
| intensifiers: very, really, too, so ... | This study is really important. | This study is crucial / important. |
| thousands, millions... | Millions of companies are struggling. | A number of companies are struggling. |
| countless | There are countless studies that show the same result. | There are many / a number of studies showing the same result. |
Some words will reveal your own bias. For example, if you state that something 'naturally' will happen, you are not stating a fact. Instead, you reveal what you think will happen based on your own bias.
In academic writing, you should try to let the facts speak for themselves. You are allowed to express your opinions, but they should be based on the information and evidence you have already included in your text. Try to state your opinion using unbiased language.
Avoid these | Examples | Alternative suggestion |
|---|---|---|
| strong adjectives: wonderful, beautiful, good, ugly, horrible, bad ... | The study revealed some wonderful results. | The study revealed some interesting / relevant results. |
| obviously | The study obviously indicated that there is too much pollution in the fjord. | The study revealed that there is too much pollution in the fjord. |
| of course | This is of course a result of too much pollution in the fjord. | This is a result of too much pollution in the fjord. |
| naturally | Naturally, the results were surprising. | The results were surprising. |
In addition to the categories mentioned above, you should also try to avoid the following categories of words and expressions:
- Clichés
- A cliché is a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought. For example: 'Easy come, easy go', 'too little, too late', and 'better safe than sorry'.
- Jargon
- Special words or expressions used by a group of people or a profession that are difficult for others to understand, for example legal jargon or medical jargon. Jargon often creates a distance between the writer and the reader, and should be avoided unless you are certain that your readers understand what you are writing. For example: 'All employees should be aware that we are conducting a SWOT-analysis of the hierarchical structure of our organisation'.
- Slang
- Words and phrases that are regarded as very informal. It is more common in speech than in writing, and is typically restricted to a particular context or group of people. Examples of slang could be words like 'cool', 'cops', and 'dope'.
- Acronyms
- An acronym is a pronounceable word formed from the first letter of each word in a phrase or a title. Some acronyms have become a regular part of the English language, such as AIDS, NATO, and FBI. Other acronyms will confuse the reader, or they are too informal, such as GOAT and YOLO. So be careful.