Conciseness Editing Guide

Pattern: "It is/was... that/who..."

Before: "It is well established that climate change affects
         biodiversity in tropical regions."
After:  "Climate change affects biodiversity in tropical regions
         (Smith, 2019; Jones, 2020)."
Saved:  5 words

Before: "There are several factors that contribute to the
         observed variance in student performance."
After:  "Several factors contribute to the observed variance
         in student performance."
Saved:  2 words

Before: "It was found that the treatment group showed a
         significant improvement in test scores."
After:  "The treatment group showed a significant improvement
         in test scores."
Saved:  4 words

Pattern: Verb -> Noun + "of/for/in"

Before: "We performed an investigation of the relationship
         between temperature and reaction rate."
After:  "We investigated the relationship between temperature
         and reaction rate."
Saved:  3 words

Before: "The implementation of the algorithm resulted in an
         improvement of processing speed."
After:  "Implementing the algorithm improved processing speed."
Saved:  6 words

Before: "The utilization of machine learning for the
         classification of cell types has increased."
After:  "Using machine learning to classify cell types has
         become more common."
Saved:  3 words

Common nominalizations to avoid:
  - utilization -> use
  - implementation -> implementing
  - investigation -> investigating
  - establishment -> establishing
  - demonstration -> demonstrating
  - facilitation -> facilitating

Redundant pairs (drop one):
  - "each and every" -> "each" or "every"
  - "first and foremost" -> "first"
  - "various and diverse" -> "various" or "diverse"
  - "completely and totally" -> "completely" or "totally"

Redundant modifiers:
  - "past history" -> "history"
  - "future plans" -> "plans"
  - "end result" -> "result"
  - "final outcome" -> "outcome"
  - "basic fundamentals" -> "fundamentals"
  - "advance planning" -> "planning"
  - "true fact" -> "fact"
  - "consensus of opinion" -> "consensus"

Before: "The analysis of the distribution of the data from
         the experiment on the effects of temperature on
         the growth rate of the bacteria showed..."
After:  "Analyzing the experimental data on temperature's
         effect on bacterial growth rate showed..."
Saved:  10 words

Strategy: Convert "of the X" to possessive or adjective form
  - "the results of the experiment" -> "the experimental results"
  - "the behavior of the system" -> "the system's behavior"
  - "the members of the committee" -> "the committee members"

Wordy                              Concise
---------------------------------  ----------------
"in order to"                      "to"
"due to the fact that"             "because"
"in spite of the fact that"        "although"
"at the present time"              "currently" / "now"
"a large number of"                "many"
"a small number of"                "few"
"in the event that"                "if"
"has the ability to"               "can"
"is able to"                       "can"
"it is necessary that"             "must"
"for the purpose of"               "to" / "for"
"with regard to"                   "regarding" / "about"
"in the vicinity of"               "near"
"on a daily basis"                 "daily"
"the majority of"                  "most"
"a sufficient amount of"           "enough"
"in close proximity to"            "near"
"take into consideration"          "consider"
"has an impact on"                 "affects"
"conduct an analysis of"           "analyze"
"make a decision"                  "decide"
"give an indication of"            "indicate"
"is in agreement with"             "agrees with"
"on the basis of"                  "based on"

Before: "In this section, we will now turn our attention to the
         results of the statistical analysis. The results are
         presented below and discussed in detail. Table 3 shows
         the regression coefficients for Model 1."

After:  "Table 3 shows the regression coefficients for Model 1."
Saved:  27 words (the table speaks for itself)

Before:
  "We used logistic regression.
   The dependent variable was binary.
   We included age, gender, and income as covariates.
   The model was estimated using maximum likelihood."

After:
  "We estimated a logistic regression with a binary dependent
   variable, including age, gender, and income as covariates,
   using maximum likelihood estimation."

Pass 1 - Word Level (search and replace):
  1. Search for "in order to" -> replace with "to"
  2. Search for "due to the fact" -> replace with "because"
  3. Search for "it is" at sentence starts -> restructure
  4. Search for "-tion of" -> consider converting to verb form
  5. Search for "very", "really", "quite" -> delete or find precise word

Pass 2 - Sentence Level (read each sentence):
  1. Can any sentence be split or merged?
  2. Does every clause add information?
  3. Are there unnecessary qualifiers?
  4. Can passive be converted to active (saving 1-2 words)?

Pass 3 - Paragraph Level (read each paragraph):
  1. Does the first sentence do real work?
  2. Is anything repeated from the previous paragraph?
  3. Can two paragraphs be merged?
  4. Does the paragraph earn its place in the paper?

Typical reductions achievable:
  First draft -> Second draft: 15-25% reduction
  Second draft -> Final: 5-10% reduction
  Total achievable: 20-30% reduction without losing content

If your paper is 8,000 words and the limit is 6,000:
  You need a 25% reduction -- achievable with systematic editing.
  Focus on the introduction and discussion first (most verbose).
  Methods and results tend to be already concise.