Academic writing has a reputation for being deliberately opaque. Some writers mistake complexity for intelligence — burying simple ideas in long sentences, abstract nouns, and hedging qualifiers. But the best academic writing is not complicated. It is precise.
Clarity does not mean simplifying your ideas. It means expressing them in the most direct form possible so that nothing stands between your argument and the reader's understanding. This guide covers the six most common clarity killers and how to eliminate them.
1. Nominalization — Turning Verbs Into Nouns
Nominalization is the process of converting a verb or adjective into a noun. It is the single most common cause of heavy, bureaucratic writing in academic work.
Nominalized: "The implementation of the new policy led to an improvement in the performance of the team."
Clear: "Implementing the new policy improved the team's performance."
The nominalized version uses three noun phrases ("implementation," "improvement," "performance") where the clear version uses two verbs ("implementing," "improved"). Count the nouns ending in -tion, -ment, -ance, -ity, -ness in your sentences. When you find clusters of them, look for the hidden verb and restore it.
Common nominalizations to watch for:
- utilization → use
- facilitation → facilitate
- investigation → investigate
- consideration → consider
- demonstration → demonstrate
- achievement → achieve
2. Excessive Hedging
Hedging — using language that qualifies your claims — is a legitimate feature of academic writing. Saying "the data suggest" rather than "the data prove" reflects appropriate scientific caution. But over-hedging drains confidence from your writing and makes it feel evasive.
Over-hedged: "It could perhaps be argued that this finding may possibly indicate a somewhat significant relationship between the variables."
Appropriately hedged: "This finding suggests a significant relationship between the variables."
One hedge per claim is appropriate. Two or three hedge words stacked together ("could perhaps possibly") signals either a lack of confidence in your evidence or imprecise thinking about what you are actually claiming.
3. Unexplained Jargon
Technical language is necessary in academic writing — it is precise shorthand for complex concepts. The problem is using jargon without defining it, or using it to sound authoritative rather than to communicate precisely.
The test: if a well-educated reader outside your specific subfield would not understand a term, define it on first use. If you cannot define a term clearly in plain language, you may not fully understand the concept it refers to.
Also beware of discipline-specific terms used outside their field. "Paradigm," "discourse," "hegemony," and "praxis" have precise meanings in specific academic contexts — but are often used as vague intensifiers in student papers where a simpler word would be more honest.
4. Long Sentences
There is no fixed rule about sentence length, but research on reading comprehension consistently finds that sentences beyond 35–40 words force readers to hold too much information in working memory at once, increasing the chance of misunderstanding.
Too long: "The study, which was conducted over a period of eighteen months and involved participants from three different institutions who were recruited through a combination of purposive and snowball sampling methods and who completed a series of semi-structured interviews, found evidence supporting the hypothesis."
Split: "The study ran for eighteen months across three institutions. Participants were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling and completed semi-structured interviews. The results supported the hypothesis."
A useful heuristic: if a sentence contains more than two subordinate clauses, or more than two commas separating non-list elements, consider splitting it.
5. Filler Words and Phrases
Filler words add length without meaning. They appear because writers are uncertain, buying time, or padding a word count. Identifying and removing them is one of the easiest ways to tighten your prose.
Common fillers to cut:
- It is important to note that — just state the point
- In order to → to
- Due to the fact that → because
- At this point in time → now
- It can be seen that — delete entirely and state the observation directly
- Very, really, quite, basically, essentially — remove or replace with a specific adjective
- In terms of — usually a sign the sentence needs to be restructured
6. Passive Voice Overuse
Passive voice has legitimate uses in academic writing — especially in methods sections where the researcher is conventionally omitted — but overusing it makes sentences longer and removes the agent performing the action.
Passive: "The data were analysed using thematic analysis." (Acceptable in a methods section.)
Passive (avoidable): "It was concluded by the authors that the intervention was found to be effective."
Active: "The authors concluded that the intervention was effective."
For a full guide on passive voice — when to use it and when to fix it — see Passive Voice in Writing.
A Self-Editing Checklist
Before submitting any piece of academic writing, run through these checks:
- Scan for noun clusters ending in -tion, -ment, -ance, -ity. Restore hidden verbs.
- Count hedge words per sentence. More than one? Reduce.
- Highlight every technical term. Is each one defined on first use?
- Flag any sentence over 35 words. Can it be split?
- Search for "in order to," "due to the fact that," "it is important to note that." Delete or rewrite.
- Count passive constructions. Are they deliberate choices or habits? Convert the habits.
Clear writing is not a stylistic luxury. It is evidence that you understand what you are saying. Obscure writing — in any discipline — suggests the opposite.
Check Your Clarity Score
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