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Why You Should Avoid Purple Prose in Academic Writing

This article explains Why You Should Avoid Purple Prose in Academic Writing

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Why You Should Avoid Purple Prose in Academic Writing

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  1. Enago Academy offers comprehensive and up-to-date resources for researchers, publishers, editors, and students to learn and share their experience about research and publishing. Enago Academy also conducts workshops primarily for ESL authors, early-stage researchers, and graduate students. Our advanced workshop modules cater to the needs of researchers who want to know more about the issues pertinent to successful publication

  2. Why You Should AvoidPurple Prose in AcademicWriting

  3. 8/2/2018 Why You Should Avoid Purple Prose in Academic Writing - EnagoAcademy Manuscript draftingtips Why You Should AvoidPurple Prose in AcademicWriting Last updated May 21,2018 Authors are understandably excited about the results of their research and aren’t always modest about trumpeting it. A finding is often described as novel, unique, the first such result ever published. Results may not be merely interesting, but remarkable, intriguing, and unprecedented. Words alone may fail to do justice to the occasion so extra emphasis is added by italicsand exclamation marks: “Our study is the first example of …!” Although this tendency is understandable, it’s not appropriateform.  https://www.enago.com/academy/why-you-should-avoid-purple-prose-in-academic-writing/

  4. 8/2/2018 Why You Should Avoid Purple Prose in Academic Writing - EnagoAcademy Whenever you find yourself writing purple prose, resist the urge and stick to black and white. Too much enthusiasm not only looks bad, it can prevent your paper from beingpublished. Most journals discourage the use of “subjective evaluation language” in manuscripts and sometimes forbid it. Here is what the Journal of Organic Chemistry has to say on the subject: “Manuscript titlesshould not make claims of priority, originality, convenience, e"ectiveness, or value. For example, the words“convenient,” “e cient,” “elegant,” “expedient,” “facile,” “first,” “new,” “novel,” “practical,” “simple,” “unique,” “unprecedented,” and “versatile” should not be used. In addition, editors may ask authors to moderate or remove what they judge to be excessive use of subjective evaluative language elsewhere inmanuscripts.” Why do journals discourage this sort of enthusiasm? Partly because it is a waste of space. Journal articles are long enough already without the addition of what are essentially filler words. Most publications contain something that is new, so why state it in the title? This only serves to make the title “read long.” The goal of scientific writing should be clarity and conciseness. If an aspect of the work is really novel it may be appropriate to state this in the text, but the bar should be high—not just run of the mill new, but startlinglyunexpected. I find it annoying to have an author tell me something is interesting or remarkable. Isn’t that for me to determine? Writers should bear in mind that the readers are pretty smart. If your results are remarkable, the readers will know it without anycoaching. For Journal of Organic Chemistry author guidelines onsubjective evaluativelanguageseepage6ofthefollowinglink:http://pubs.acs.org/paragonplus/submission/joceah/joceah_authguide.pdf https://www.enago.com/academy/why-you-should-avoid-purple-prose-in-academic-writing/

  5. 8/2/2018 Why You Should Avoid Purple Prose in Academic Writing - EnagoAcademy This article is by Enago Academy, a knowledge sharing platform by Enago. Enago provides English Editing , Copy editing and Proofreading service to Authors and researchers.  https://www.enago.com/academy/why-you-should-avoid-purple-prose-in-academic-writing/

  6. 8/2/2018 Why You Should Avoid Purple Prose in Academic Writing - EnagoAcademy Manuscript draftingtips Perspective: How to ShareOpinion on ResearchArticles Last updated May 21,2018 When we think of research articles, most of the time we think of articles that present the results of studies that took a long time tocomplete. Generally, these articles contain theories, testable hypotheses and extensive methodological justifications for conducting analyses. There are, however, many other types of research articles that are published in scientific journals. One of them, a perspective article, presents an important topic, groundbreaking research, or a di"erent view of an existing issue by an expert in that field ofresearch. How It All FitsTogether https://www.enago.com/academy/why-you-should-avoid-purple-prose-in-academic-writing/

  7. 8/2/2018 Why You Should Avoid Purple Prose in Academic Writing - EnagoAcademy Most of the research articles published by academic journals are original research articles. Journal editors tend to prefer this type of article, especially if it presents important advancements in a research field, or counterintuitive results. Other types of research articles include book reviews, case reports, editorials, interviews, commentaries, profiles, and interviews, and perspectives. Each journal ultimately decides, based on their field specialty, what types of research articles they wish to publish. For example, some social science journals (Comparative Political Studies) do not accept perspective research articles, while others refer to them as letters. Perspective research articles have an important role in the academic research portfolio. They stimulate further interest about presented topics within the reader audience. They are di"erent from other types of articles because they present a di"erent take on an existing issue, tackle new and trending issues, or emphasize topics that are important, but have been neglected, in the scholarly literature. In some scientific fields they bridge di"erent areas of research that the journal publishes, while in others they bring new issues and ideas to the forefront. In general, their role is to enlighten a general audience about importantissues. Why Write aPerspective? While the incentive system of academic tenure and promotion emphasizespublication of original research, writing other types of articles is also beneficial for the researchers in the long run. It gives researchers the opportunity to contribute to their discipline in di"erent ways, while at the same time enhancing their own professionalwork. A perspective article is a way for young researchers to gain experiencein thepublications process that can be often arduous and time consuming. It can be a way in which they learn from the publication processwhile https://www.enago.com/academy/why-you-should-avoid-purple-prose-in-academic-writing/

  8. 8/2/2018 Why You Should Avoid Purple Prose in Academic Writing - EnagoAcademy they are working on their original research articles that often take years to complete. In thecase of experienced researchers, writing aperspective articleprovides them at least two distinct benefits: first, it allows them to step back and reflect on a significant issue that they may know a lot about, but that they have never had the time to address. The second benefit is that the researcher gets the opportunity to give their own authorial voice to a published article that will reach a wide audience. Pay Attention toDetail Before one decides to write and submit a perspective research article to an academic journal, it is important to become familiar with the article expectations of the targetjournal. Although academic journals hold a similar definition and purpose of a perspective article, there are di"erences in the technical requirements each journal has. When it comes to the length of the perspective article, some journals have strict limitations while others allow articles to vary the length within a given range. For example, some academicjournalsin the field of biological sciences and medicine have a limitation of1,500 and 1,200 words respectively, with defined reference and figure limits. Another journal in the same field has a less restrictive limit of 2,000-4,000 words and a more generous referencelimit. With respect to the structure of the perspective article, journals define their expectations in di"erent terms. Somejournalsplace an emphasis on the structure of the article, requiring sections such as the abstract, introduction, topics and conclusion. Other journals make suggestions on the nature of the title and the specific conceptual connections inthe  https://www.enago.com/academy/why-you-should-avoid-purple-prose-in-academic-writing/

  9. 8/2/2018 Why You Should Avoid Purple Prose in Academic Writing - EnagoAcademy assigned field. Some journals take the time to explain their view and expectation in writing perspective articles, make suggestions and provide lists of things to include and avoid in the perspectivearticle. Writing a perspective article can have many benefits to authors. Although writing one is less demanding than an original research article, it is recommended that an aspiring author consult the targeted journal for requirements. This will ensure that the journal expectations are met, and that the author has a positive first experience in the writing of this type of researcharticle. Have you had the experience of writing a perspective article? If yes, then what are the keypoints you kept in mind while doing so? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments sectionbelow.  Manuscript draftingtips Leaveacomment REPORTING RESEARCH PUBLISHING RESEARCH IMPORTANT LINKS OUR SERVICES ABOUTUS GLOBAL ENAGO EnglishEditing ContactUs GuestContributor AboutEnago Academy Language & Grammar Journal Guidelines Manuscripts& Grants Reference Selecting Journals Submitting Manuscripts Understanding Reviews Understanding Ethics PhDs & PostdocsServices Product & Service CopyEditing Services Substantive Editing Services Publication Support Services Proofreading Services Reviews Ask aQuestion! Management Figures &Tables https://www.enago.com/academy/why-you-should-avoid-purple-prose-in-academic-writing/

  10. 8/2/2018 Why You Should Avoid Purple Prose in Academic Writing - EnagoAcademy This article is by Enago Academy, a knowledge sharing platform by Enago. Enago provides English Editing , Copy editing and Proofreading service to Authors and researchers. Enago Academy offers comprehensive and up-to-date resources for researchers, publishers, editors, and students to learn and sharetheirexperienceaboutresearchandpublishing. Enago AcademyalsoconductsworkshopsprimarilyforESLauthors,early- stageresearchers,andgraduatestudents.Ouradvancedworkshopmodulescatertotheneedsofresearcherswhowanttoknow moreabouttheissuespertinenttosuccessfulpublication.ReadMore Copyright © 2018 - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | PrivacyPolicy | Terms & Conditions| ContactUs  https://www.enago.com/academy/why-you-should-avoid-purple-prose-in-academic-writing/

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