5 Science-Backed Ways to Improve Academic Writing

In academia, writing is more than just recording research results—it’s a tool for persuading, communicating, and spreading scientific thought. Yet many writers, especially graduate students, often believe they need to use lofty language to get published. In reality, many editors of prestigious journals have said: “We accept papers regardless of how they are written.”

This doesn’t mean writing style is unimportant—it means that the true priority is clarity and readability, not complexity. Linguistics and cognitive psychology research have identified specific features that make sentences easier to understand. Below are 5 principles, backed by experimental research, that can immediately improve your academic papers, theses, or publications.

1. Use Active Voice – It's Faster to Read and Easier to Understand

Active voice helps readers quickly identify who is doing what. The subject–verb–object structure mirrors how the human brain processes cause-and-effect relationships. In contrast, passive voice often hides the agent or pushes it to the end of the sentence, forcing the reader to work harder to decode meaning.

Studies show that readers understand active sentences about 33% faster than passive ones, and misinterpretation is 25% more likely with passive voice. Active voice also tends to be more concise, eliminating extra "to be" verbs and prepositional phrases.

2. Use Specific Nouns or Clear Agents as Subjects

Sentences with clear subjects—like a person, organization, author, or research—help readers grasp the content more easily. Using abstract nouns (e.g., “analysis,” “impact,” “interpretation”) as the subject can make your writing vague and harder to follow.

The brain remembers actions better when told “who did what”, rather than “what concept occurred.” Clear subjects also introduce a narrative element to writing, which helps convey complex ideas more effectively.

3. Avoid Ambiguous Pronouns

A common mistake in academic writing is overusing pronouns like this, that, it, they without clearly stating what they refer to. This forces readers to backtrack through previous sentences to identify the reference—and sometimes, they still can’t figure it out.

When writers save a few words using vague pronouns, they unintentionally shift the cognitive load to the reader. This not only slows reading speed but also increases the chance of misunderstanding.

4. Prioritize Action Verbs Over State Verbs

Action verbs add clarity, energy, and imagery to your writing. Words like present, analyze, reject, argue, propose, demonstrate help readers picture the ongoing process. In contrast, state verbs like is, becomes, seems, is considered often make writing dull, abstract, and passive.

Language studies show that action verbs even activate motor areas of the brain, improving engagement and memory. Remarkably, even individuals with cognitive decline tend to retain action verbs longer than other types of words.

5. Keep the Subject and Verb Close Together

Readers understand sentence structure by quickly spotting the subject (who/what) and the verb (what they do). When too many clauses or phrases come between the subject and verb, it disrupts comprehension and makes it easy to lose track of the sentence’s point.

Placing the subject and verb close together allows readers to follow your message smoothly. If you need to add extra details, consider splitting the sentence or placing subordinate clauses after the main clause.

Academic Writing Should Be Clear, Not Showy

You don’t need complicated language to be credible. In today’s fast-paced academic environment—where time and attention are limited—clarity, specificity, and accessibility are the most valued qualities in a publication. These 5 principles not only elevate the quality of your writing but also increase your chances of connecting with readers, collaborators, and the global academic community.

Source: 5 Science-Backed Ways to Improve Academic Writing | Yellowlees Douglas | Inside Higher Ed

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