Cutting wordiness without losing meaning
Wordiness is the use of more words than a thought needs, and cutting it is worth doing where it improves the text without sacrificing essential content or understanding. The words that carry nothing — redundant pairs, roundabout expressions, empty openings and preambles, and the prepositional phrases, forms of to be and nominalisations that hide a sentence's action — can be found by a repeatable pass, some standard conversions change what a sentence says, and wordiness has more than one cause.
What concise text gains
Science writing is about informing rather than confusing the reader, and any unnecessary word may get in the way of clarity, so wordiness must be avoided and any unnecessary word or filler discarded. Unnecessary words also tire the reader, so as many as possible should be eliminated.
Concise text is clearer, more direct and more pleasant to read than wordy text. It is more accessible to readers, including those outside the discipline and non-native speakers of English, and it helps reduce the word count to suit publication guidelines, a problem medical writers and editors may often face. In a deliberately exaggerated example, a 50-word sentence about the somewhat unanimous opinion of medical writers on reducing words shrinks to eight: medical writers should aim to be less wordy. Not every revision saves that much, and some save only one or two words, but many small savings add up and improve a document overall.
Zinsser called clutter the disease of American writing, in a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon. One practitioner holds that medical writing has been a victim of this too, that it is changing, and that it is up to the community to keep making it international and simple and to make sure the message gets across.
Why writers become wordy
Inexperience and language problems may cause wordiness and redundant text, because a more eloquent formulation may not be to hand. Uncertainty about the significance of the findings may also lead to it, since an author without a clear understanding of the results may welcome the vagueness of overly long sentences. Using two or three words when one would do is a common mistake of writers in English as a second language, though quantity never compensates for quality and short sentences help make messages clear. A sentence written by a non-native speaker or translated from another language is sometimes a mix of both languages' grammar and vocabulary and sounds very long. It also happens a lot with native speakers, because they feel they have to write in a more intelligent way. Even careful medical writers can be prone to verbosity, perhaps because they are too wrapped up in their own writing. Simplifying is hard for native English speakers because they want to write a lot, and one practitioner sees this as an advantage for non-native speakers. Keeping word count down serves native speakers, who are always trying to get it down, and helps non-native speakers think about how to write simply.
Authors urged to write clearly, concisely and convincingly are often uncertain how, because they may not immediately recognise the longwinded phrases, convoluted language and excessive hedging, called dead wood, in their own writing. So the first step is to recognise the problem, and the second is to do something about it.
Shortening without losing meaning
Efforts to communicate tersely should not result in oversimplification or a failure to convey the intrinsic complexities of a phenomenon, a practice referred to as pablumizing. A shorthand deletion can lose the sense altogether: study findings support that anti-CRP antibody titers are predictors of rapid radiographic progression in RA is so terse that it leaves the reader asking what the findings support, and it should read study findings support the conclusion that.
Striving for conciseness in medical writing is good practice, and being required to reduce the word count has a way of focusing the mind on economy of expression. But the effects of each revision need to be considered: a cut that worsens readability or alters essential content may need reconsidering, and a cut that improves clarity, precision and enjoyment of reading should be made.
Consolidating can add precision while it removes words. The rates of recanalization with adjunctive regimens that combined IAT with IVT have been substantially higher than those that have been reported for those patients who underwent IVT monotherapy runs to 29 words and cites no numerical data, while recanalization rates with IAT-IVT (79% TIMI 3-4) exceeded those previously reported with IVT alone (<20% TIMI 3-4) runs to 17 and cites the key data. A numbered run of conditions does the same: PROACT II was the first randomized trial showing benefits of IAT in patients with: (1) ischemic stroke secondary to MCA occlusion and (2) treatment initiation > 3 hours after symptom onset replaces a 48-word sentence with 30 words. Bulleted lists also give readers easier access to data and help to rid verbiage, as a drug warning label rewritten as ask a doctor before use if you have: followed by its conditions as bullets shows. The same thought can be written simply or wordily: telephone ownership introduces a bias irreconcilable by recourse to sociodemographic and health status measures is simple, elegant and memorable, and telephone ownership introduces a bias that does not have the ability to be reconciled by reverting back to sociodemographic and health status measures is the frequent first-draft version. Lincoln's inaugural address pared a passage of Secretary of State Seward's 82-word draft to 70 words while raising its emotional appeal.
A long sentence can be broken up by inserting full stops at suitable points and mending the breaks this creates, changing whatever else is necessary while trying not to change the meaning. It should be kept in mind that the common symptoms of MS can also be symptomatic of other conditions so the list of ways in which Multiple Sclerosis shows itself (the symptoms) should be read with this in mind becomes remember that the common symptoms of multiple sclerosis can also be symptoms of other conditions. A tablet-leaflet instruction that holds a parenthesised definition and a parenthesised list of symptoms inside its condition becomes three sentences: If you have an allergic reaction, stop taking the tablets and tell your doctor. Symptoms of an allergic reaction include difficulty breathing or breathlessness, unexpected swelling and flushing. The symptoms could cause you to collapse.
Redundancy
Redundancy in its narrower sense is the repetition of the same idea in different words, and identifying it is worth the effort because it may convey the impression that the writer is unknowledgeable. Medical professionals often speak of a patient's past history, though history can only occur in the past, and there is no easy way to avoid such redundancy: the writer has to focus on the meaning of terms, checking the dictionary if necessary, to recognise and eliminate it. Redundant expressions, sorted by part of speech, include adjectives (advance planning, both alike, close proximity, end result, final outcome, general rule, past history, personal opinion, single unit, time period), adverbs (already reported, completely surround, definitely proved, equally as well as, join together, lifted up, may possibly, refer back, repeat again, summarise briefly) and prepositional phrases (2 a.m. in the morning, at this point in time, estimated at about, extreme in degree, few in number, large in size, light in weight, oval in shape, qualitative in nature, short in duration). Another common form of redundancy is piling two or three synonyms in a series when the first is clear — accurate, exact, and precise, each and every, ways and methods — from which readers may infer that the writer is indecisive. A past history of is a history of.
Redundant or incomparable terms include adequate enough, advance(d) planning, aggregate (combine, fuse) together, brief in time (duration), completely full (empty), consensus of opinion, distinguish the difference, each individual person, eliminate altogether, empty out, enter into, equally as well as for equally, estimated at about, evolve over time, fairly (very, most) unique, fellow colleagues, fewer in number, fill(ed) to capacity, first initiated, future plan, general rule, green in color (hue, tint), improved the quality of, indurated (tender) on palpation, interval of time, large (small, bulky) in size, lift (raise) up, major breakthrough, mild or moderate in severity, near to, oval (square, round, lenticular) in shape, own personal view, perfect circle, period of time, personal friend, plan of action, precede in time, predict (project) in advance, reassessed again, revert back, rough (smooth) in texture, skin (cutaneous) rash, soft (firm) in consistency, sour (sweet, bitter) tasting, still continues (remains), sum total, tender to palpation, true fact and uniformly consistent. Matching placebo is redundant, since a placebo that does not match is not a placebo.
Repeated words
Repeated words and phrases are typically easy to revise, yet may initially be overlooked. A noun or phrase duplicated inside a simple sentence can be replaced with a pronoun, so the high mortality rate of the underlying disease becomes its high mortality rate, while a complex sentence sometimes needs the noun repeated for clarity or emphasis. Two back-to-back sentences can often be combined where the second starts with or includes it, this, these or another pronoun: the new system features three innovative tools. Of these tools, one is for patients, one is for clinicians, and one is for researchers becomes one sentence with a colon and no repeated is, unless the two are complex sentences better left separate for clarity. In a parallel construction, a word repeated across the items of a series can often be dropped, so two patients improved by 3%, three patients improved by 4%, and one patient improved by 2% needs improved once, but a non-equivalent word must stay, so a nurse educator and an on-call nurse keeps both articles. A word following an abbreviation can repeat part of it: an author who introduced DMEM for Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium may later write DMEM medium, and SAD for seasonal affective disorder may become SAD disorder, and searching globally for the abbreviation finds them. A repeated word in a short series goes the same way: results from this study and from published reports support the same conclusion needs from once, and we protect your privacy, your data, and put you in control becomes we protect your privacy and data, and put you in control.
Roundabout and longwinded phrases
Circumlocution is unnecessarily lengthy and roundabout language that avoids getting directly to the point; it has its uses in some forms of writing but obscures meaning in medical writing, and clichés, empty fillers and roundabout expressions are related forms of it. Clichés are overused and sometimes redundant phrases that convey a lack of originality — at first glance, avoid like the plague, in this day and age, to all intents and purposes — and may also confuse readers for whom English is a second language, so they are best avoided in medical and scientific communications.
Roundabout expressions use as many words as possible when one or two, or none, will do, and each has a shorter substitute: a majority of to most; a number of to many, several or numerous; a small number of to a few; are known to be to are; as a consequence of to because; at the same time to while; at present, at the present time and at this point in time to now; could potentially to may; due to the fact that and in light of the fact that to because; during the course of and during the time that to when or while; fewer in number to fewer; for the purpose of to for or to; for the reason that to because; has the opportunity and is able to to can; in a routine manner to routinely; in order to to to; in regard to, with regard to and with respect to to about or regarding; in spite of the fact that to although, despite or even though; in terms of to in, of or for; in the case of to for; in the course of to during; in the event that to if; in the near future to soon; it is often the case that to often; it is possible that to may; it is worth pointing out that to note that; it would appear that to apparently; on the basis of to by or from; on the order of to about; prior to to before; subsequent to to after; and the authors to we.
Verbosity is using a long phrase to express a thought when fewer words will do nicely, such as fewer in number for fewer, or has the capability to for can. Whole sentences can be verbose: the thesis is herein offered that woman (like man) is a biological, social and cultural creature, and as such is dependent for health on the acceptance, approval, support, and encouragement of significant individual members of the social group to which she belongs means, in the reading of the author who quotes it, that a woman's health can be influenced by her peer relationships. A verbose sentence can usually be spotted before one is halfway through, because it often begins with a phrase such as we are reminded of the necessity for the consideration of, although certainly not a new finding, it is pertinent to remind the reader that, at this time, it is appropriate to emphasize that, it is a well-recognized fact that, let me make clear that or it is interesting to note that. Verbose phrases and what they mean to say include at this time for now, at the conclusion of for after, with the exception of for except, in only a small number of cases for rarely, in many instances for often, in light of the fact that for because, more often than not for usually, in the absence of for without, on a daily basis for daily, in close proximity to for near, the great majority of for most, with regard to for about, in the event that for if, in the not too distant future for soon, and consensus of opinion for consensus.
More words tire the reader, so shorter expressions are better where they can be used. Utilise becomes use, during the course of becomes during or while, in spite of the fact that becomes although, owing to the fact that becomes because, with the exception of becomes except for, may possibly becomes may, the majority of studies becomes most studies, it is my understanding that becomes I understand that, end result becomes result, higher in comparison to becomes higher than, and the general consensus is becomes the consensus is. In it is absolutely necessary that the suggested guidelines for HIV-1 should be strictly followed, it is goes, as it should whenever it can, absolutely necessary simplifies to should or perhaps must, and suggested goes because guidelines are always suggestions. Use adds nothing to alcohol use is responsible for increased illness and death worldwide; visually adds nothing to observed; amount of adds nothing to a substantial amount of evidence; and the landmark analysis was performed to illustrate becomes the landmark analysis illustrates, because performed to makes the phrase longwinded. The objective of this study was to investigate becomes we investigated, because the first person is acceptable and makes the sentence more direct, shorter and therefore easier to read.
One experienced editor ranks long words where a short word would do high among annoying habits, since medical writers are not writing novels. Before is preferable to prior to, and after to following unless something is truly being followed. Replacing than with compared with is a habit rapidly gaining ground, and the same editor edits it out: scores were higher in Group A than in Group B says the thing simply, and scores were higher in Group A compared with Group B dilutes the result.
Prolix phrases and their succinct forms include as a consequence (result) of for because or consequently; as long as for if; at this point in time for now or while; brought to fruition for caused or elicited, but not produced, since studies do not produce results; carry out for conduct or perform; commented to the effect that for said; despite (in spite of) the fact that for although, even though or though; draws to a close for ends; fall off for decrease or decline, but not diminish, which has an emotional or moral connotation; file a lawsuit against for sue; have an effect on for affect; in advance of for before; in cases in which for when; in close proximity to (vicinity of) for near; in order to and in an effort to for to, though in order to can be used where to has already been used in the sentence, to avoid repetition; in (with) regard to for about, regarding or concerning; in those areas where for where; look at, in Methods or Introductions, for assess, evaluate, examine, investigate or study; most well for best; not remotely close to for far from; produce an inhibitory effect on for inhibit; and the majority of for most. Gave (provided) the ability to is allowed or enabled, and for often sets up wordy expressions, so describe any methods for inferring genotypes becomes describe any methods to infer genotypes. Wordy forms with a shorter replacement include draws to a close for concludes, brings to fruition for completes, due to the fact that for because, during the time that for during or while, had (exerted) an effect on for affected or influenced, heralds the onset of for predicts, in close proximity to for near, in terms of and in regard to for about or concerning, majority of for most, produce an inhibitory effect on for inhibit, and 4 (10%) of 40 for 4 (10%) out of 40. In order to is to, which means exactly the same thing, though most people say the longer form. A bigger, higher or larger amount is more, and showed or demonstrated an increase is increased — both common constructs in writing by non-native speakers of English, and worth keeping a lookout for in one's own and others' writing.
Puffed construction writes I exercise at least one hour on a daily basis for I exercise at least one hour daily, a language bloat that one writer likens to the overuse of the suffix -wise during the 1950s, as in television-wise, I think this script is adequate for I think this script is adequate for television.
Empty openings, fillers and preambles
Empty fillers are a type of cliché, the written equivalent of throat-clearing: in speech they can slow the speaker's pace and give the audience time to understand, whereas a reader can double back if necessary, so in writing they simply build a barrier between the reader and the message. They include as a matter of fact, as already stated, as such, in other words, it is important to note, it is interesting to note, it is known that, it has been reported that, it goes without saying, needless to say, and obviously, which may also annoy a reader who does not consider it obvious.
Expendable phrases include in other words, it goes without saying that, needless to say, to be sure and first and foremost. Prolix openings include it has been demonstrated that, it is important (interesting) to note that, it may be stated (said, concluded) that, it stands to reason that, it was found (shown, demonstrated) that and the result was noteworthy (remarkable) because. Most sentences beginning with variants of it and a form of to be are dispensable and bury the lead.
The objective, aim or goal of the study was to investigate is this study investigated, which says what was done. Preambles such as it is well known that, previous studies showed that and it is thought that are replaced with nothing at all, because they sound the trumpets for important information coming later in the sentence instead of saying what is.
Has been shown to is redundant at worst and wordy at best: where references are cited, delete it and state the finding with its references, and use studies have shown that only where references cannot be cited, as in an abstract. Stating have been shown to be without including references raises questions with readers or peer reviewers.
Nominalisations, it is and there are
Nominalisations are verbs changed into nouns, often ending in -ment, -tion or -sion, or -ing, and they hold the activity of a sentence, so converting them back into verbs can shorten it: measurement of the protein concentration was made using becomes the protein concentration was measured by, and administration of the vaccine was made by intramuscular injection becomes the vaccine was administered intramuscularly, or better subjects were vaccinated intramuscularly.
Like nominalisations, it is and there are create awkward sentences: in patients treated with ibuprofen, there was a much earlier onset of pain relief becomes in patients treated with ibuprofen, onset of pain relief was much earlier; it is known that oestrogen is a steroid hormone becomes oestrogen is a steroid hormone; it is possible that neutrophils contribute becomes neutrophils might contribute. They are sometimes the best solution, and consider whether there is an alternative solution is acceptable, but they should be kept to a minimum to avoid tiring the reader.
Prepositional phrases
Prepositional phrases can usually be shortened by eliminating the preposition, letting a noun do the work of an adjective: infection of the skin becomes skin infection, pain in the joints becomes joint pain, cancer of the breast becomes breast cancer, and abuse of nicotine becomes nicotine abuse. This works for many formulations with of but not all of them: life quality for quality of life just does not sound right, so a doubtful case is best checked with a colleague.
Prepositional phrases are often used to start sentences, especially by writers whose first language is not English, and this often results in a long and choppy sentence and in a there were or it is/was construction; starting with the subject avoids both. By using whole body scanning in the emergency room, we saved more than 58% of diagnostic time in polytrauma patients becomes whole body scanning in the emergency room saved more than 58% of diagnostic time in polytrauma patients, and in 42 RA patients in 74 treatment courses, Drug A was given between 2004 and 2008 becomes 42 RA patients received 74 courses of Drug A between 2004 and 2008.
Prepositional phrases and that, which or who clauses are two other sources of excessive and roundabout word use, and revising both at once turns the study, which was recently published, highlighted several challenges of importance into the recently published study highlighted several important challenges. One suggested revision of a 221-word passage about Alzheimer's disease comes to 108 words.
Articles and words left understood
Omitting the definite article saves words, but the is extremely important in English and removing it can change the meaning entirely. In an abstract, the patients refers to the study group, so patients treated with aspirin experienced pain relief 15.1 ± 4.2 min earlier is understood in its results; in the main text the patients might refer to all patients or only to a group of patients, depending on the context. Deleting the and a can also easily make an abstract sound like a series of notes, so other ways of shortening it are worth considering. The plural is another way to eliminate an article: the vaccine was administered by microinjection becomes vaccines were administered by microinjection. In many instances the can be omitted, as in patients were randomly allocated to receive spastex or placebo, where the patients serves no purpose, and one author prefers the British the patient was seen in clinic, then admitted to hospital to the American the clinic and the hospital because it is more concise and equally clear. Against this, Theodore Bernstein held that when an article is normal before a noun, it is as necessary as a tail to a puppy, and amputating it hurts.
A verb understood in a series can be left out, which is fine only while the verb's subject does not change in number. The diagnosis was established and intervention instituted and tests were performed and the results noted in the chart are fine, while tests were performed and the report updated, the subject's vital signs were monitored and her chart updated and hemoglobin and testosterone levels were determined, and QOL surveyed each need the singular was. Terms stated or strongly suggested by context can be eliminated in the same way, as in a total of 100 patients received intensive and 75, intermediate, therapy and individuals with marked hypo- or hypertension were excluded from study.
Strings of modifiers and transitional phrases
A sentence that strings several adjectives or adverbs together contains all the necessary information but lacks vigour and loses the full impact of each modifier, so a writer who finds such a string should ask whether all of them are really desirable.
Over-reliance on transitional phrases gets in the way of conciseness and clarity, so where two statements are logically related, a transitional link is left out: in the pharmacologists determined the pharmacokinetics of the new drug. Consequently, we obtained values for the half-life, consequently is unnecessary because the causal relationship is clear to the reader.
A repeatable pass through one sentence
A repeatable pass analyses a complicated sentence, whether in one's own writing or in someone else's being edited. Underline every preposition and prepositional phrase — at, in, on, of, to, about, around — to find those that add no meaning. Circle every form of to be — am, is, are, was — which marks where the passive probably is. Box every nominalisation, a noun that should be a verb; in scientific English these often, but not always, end in -tion. Look for long introductory wind-ups and non-specific phrases. Then ask whether the vocabulary is appropriate at all: a word that looks like old-fashioned English is sometimes a false friend from another language, accepted in English but not used that often.
French places de after a lot of words and prefers nouns, so articles by French writers carry a lot of of, and one practitioner estimates that clearing them throughout can recover somewhere like 500 words for data or other content. Finding many _of_s is a good sign that a sentence needs work.
Rebuilding the sentence starts from the boxed noun. Rewrite it as the verb it came from — comparison as compare, evaluation as evaluate — and check that this verb is the sentence's primary action, because a long, complicated sentence contains other verbs. Ask who or what performs that action and write a new base clause saying so: the paper compares, or the authors compare, though one practitioner argues that the study compares, because the authors do not compare themselves. Put the base clause, the most important part, at the beginning of the sentence if it is not there already. Then take out the fluff that adds no meaning, such as as a means of, and change any word that is difficult to understand.
A real example of 29 words, from an author who had asked for the word count of their abstract to be reduced, came down to 13 this way. A real title from a paper, also 29 words, with prepositional phrases, some passive voice and a nominalisation, came down to 13: this study compares the efficacy of intravaginal misoprostol with dinoprostone to induce labour. In a sentence about a conference, the main verb is provide, the conference is what provides, scientists are who it provides to, as a means of and words like communication go, and tertiary data becomes information because it is difficult to understand. The versions reached are the conference provides scientists with data and a way to communicate research and the webinar will provide science writers with appropriate information and a way to share their research.
The steps are easy to follow on simple examples, but a real sentence sometimes needs a further step away, asking how to rewrite what the author has actually said. Two long sentences about a French association's action plan on Alzheimer's disease became two short ones once decided to launch an action plan was recognised as unspecific and what the association was really doing, raising awareness, was named: raising awareness about this debilitating disease may improve patient care, and this study investigates perception, knowledge and opinions about Alzheimer's disease in France. A methods sentence describing a long sequence of preparation steps becomes a list separated by commas, with the most important fact — that the capsules are ready to be used — moved from the end to the front and joined to the steps by after. A methods section, when reread, should be checked for whether its explanation of what was done is too long.
In a sentence about a skin lipid, participates in is prepositional and also did not seem the right word for its subject, since people participate in a game and a molecule does not, so it becomes helps; the noun preservation becomes the verb in helps to preserve; and English's tolerance for noun groups allows skin barrier integrity in place of a chain of prepositions, removing four words. Plays a role in the composition of hid a question — the molecule either is part of the ceramide or is not — which went to the author, and once the answer was that it is, the sentence could say that it is a component of stratum corneum ceramides.
Cuts working together
Previous studies have shown that AIDS is caused by the HIV virus becomes HIV causes AIDS — a preamble deleted, virus removed because the V in HIV stands for virus, and the word order changed to shorten what was left. The occurrence of influenza epidemics has a well-established link with various climate and meteorological parameters becomes influenza epidemics are linked to climate and weather, by deleting one nominalisation, converting the second into its verb, deleting well-established as a kind of preamble, and simplifying climate and meteorological parameters. We observed the death of all mice in these treatment groups within 2 days becomes all mice died within 2 days: the death of is a nominalisation, we observed that is unnecessary wordiness, and in these treatment groups is probably not necessary. It is well known that there are no differences between the effects of the treatments in terms of fertilisation rate or number of embryos transferred becomes the effects of the treatments on fertilisation rate and number of embryos transferred do not differ, deleting the preamble and there are, and deleting in terms of because it is a wordy way of saying nothing. A larger proportion of cells treated with polymixotine underwent apoptosis compared to cells treated with placebo becomes more cells treated with polymixotine than with placebo underwent apoptosis, and thinking about its meaning — placebo should not induce apoptosis — shortens it further to polymixotine induced apoptosis. At this point, it is important to consider whether counselling may be productive becomes at this point, counselling should be considered, because eliminating it is forces the introductory phrase to become should, must or something similar and makes productive redundant.
Roundabout expressions are a form of circumlocution. Repeating an idea in different words is redundancy. A sentence that starts with it is known that contains an expletive, a cliché and an empty filler. Redundancies such as as a general rule where as a rule will do, emptied out for emptied, repeating the procedure again and three species similar in nature go. Prepositional phrases compress in the same way, continuous treatment with steroids to prevent inflammation of allergies becoming continuous steroid treatment to prevent allergic inflammation.
Something need not be called red in colour or round in shape, nor a location marked with a marker; we studied is preferred to we carried out a study; and longwinded introductions such as it is to be recognised that can be skipped to get straight to the point. For the purpose of better understanding is a longwinded to better understand. Conducted is redundant beside there have been, and it is often preferable to eliminate there is, there are and there have been from the beginning of a sentence. Adult is redundant before women, since women are always adults. Prompt is redundant beside early, the patient's chances of survival is a longwinded way of saying survival, and appropriate before antimicrobial drugs is meaningless, since patients are not likely to be given inappropriate treatment. Trial needs saying only once in a sentence about a trial newsletter on a trial website. Empty verbs such as performed and carried out are best avoided. Fact is redundant beside it is well known, and better still the sentence simply states what is. Turquoise, green, yellow and red are colours, so highlighted with turquoise colour becomes highlighted in turquoise. Used and useful are redundant together, and for the prediction of is a longwinded for predicting. If the author does not get to the point in the first five words, there is a strong chance the reader will move on to something else.
The opening sentence of an abstract about chest drains after wedge resection by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery went through five versions as an editor and its author corresponded back and forth. The editor's first cut removed in the post-operative setting in thoracic surgery because it was not necessary to make the point. The author then replaced not evidence based with based largely on tradition and not evidence, to be more specific, and asked whether their instead of such would be too Danish. The editor substituted their as the author suggested. The author then replaced their use with this practice, to be more precise, because it refers to the standard practice described at the beginning of the sentence. That one sentence mattered because it is the opening sentence of the abstract and gives the reader a first impression, and meticulously checking the entire manuscript for dead wood leaves a good overall one.
Strategies for eliminating wordiness make a short checklist. Avoid opening a sentence with there is, there was or this is, and use action verbs rather than forms of to be: it was our intention to study the in vitro mechanism of gastrointestinal absorption becomes we intended to study it. Make the real subject the actual subject of the sentence and the real verb the actual verb: in their review, there is ample evidence of the discrepancy in findings reported by the various institutions becomes their review clearly documents the discrepancy in findings reported by the various institutions. Limit multiple adjectives and adverbs: the stain we observed was large, red in colour, irregularly shaped, and very extended becomes we observed a large red stain of irregular shape, and very highly statistically significantly more pronounced becomes significantly greater with the actual p-value given. Avoid redundancies such as in my personal opinion, for the purpose of, in an attempt to and at the present time, so that at the present time, there are no guidelines with regard to quality assurance of these proteins as far as we know becomes currently, no guidelines exist for the quality assurance of these proteins. Delete unnecessary phrases and clauses such as in the event that, due to the fact that and the reason why is that, so that because of the fact that there were many leaking cells in the event when they were incubated overnight, the incubation times were adjusted by means of shortening them for subsequent experiments becomes because many cells leaked in overnight incubations, we shortened the incubation times in subsequent experiments.