Error-Free Research Writing

Unit 3: Brevity Filter

Learning Objectives

  • Know the three subcategories of brevity errors
  • Understand the dilution effect of unnecessary words
  • Have practised using the brevity filter
  • Be ready to use the brevity filter on your draft papers
1

Introduction to the Brevity Filter

Writing that is concise or brief contains no unnecessary words. Some people tend to be verbose and use many words; others tend to be concise and use few. The aim of this unit is to understand which types of words are unnecessary and how to identify them.

When checking your draft using the brevity filter, there are three error types to look out for:

  1. Using multiple vague words
  2. Repeated words
  3. Redundant words

Introduction to the brevity filter

2

Using Multiple Vague Words

Corpus example: The concept that was chosen as the focus of this research is XXX.

Abstract nouns such as concept are rather vague. In this corpus example, concept refers forward to XXX and adds no meaning of its own — the first six words can simply be deleted, leaving:

Revised: The research focuses on XXX.

Words that do not add substance to the meaning should be omitted. To quote Faber (2017), "no one wants to read excessively long studies."

Which revision of 'The concept that was chosen as the focus of this research is XXX' best applies the brevity filter?

Correct! The original sentence uses six words before reaching the actual subject. Removing the vague introductory phrase and stating the focus directly gives the most concise result.
Not quite — review the material and try again. The original sentence uses six words before reaching the actual subject. Removing the vague introductory phrase and stating the focus directly gives the most concise result.
3

Repeated Words

Corpus example: We analyze XXX regarding the XXX qualities, XXX qualities and XXX qualities.

Introductory sentences for sections within a research article tend to list the contents of the section. In the corpus example, the word qualities is unnecessarily repeated three times. The sentence can be improved by using the word qualities once as the head of a noun phrase, then listing the three modifiers:

Revised: We analyze XXX regarding the qualities of XXX, XXX and XXX.

In the revised sentence 'We analyze XXX regarding the qualities of XXX, XXX and XXX', how many times does the word 'qualities' appear?

Correct! By restructuring the noun phrase so that 'qualities' heads the list, it only needs to appear once. The three modifiers then follow naturally, making the sentence more concise without losing any meaning.
Not quite — review the material and try again. By restructuring the noun phrase so that 'qualities' heads the list, it only needs to appear once. The three modifiers then follow naturally, making the sentence more concise without losing any meaning.
4

Redundant Words

Corpus example: On each and every occurrence, the XXX was noted.

The determiners each and every have similar but not identical meanings. However, either one on its own is sufficient for scientific writing. The pairing each and every is a legal doublet — a convention from legal writing where near-synonyms are joined by a conjunction to cover translation ambiguities. In scientific writing, such pairings are redundant and should be reduced to a single term.

The following corpus examples each contain a redundant expression. Click each item to reveal the correction.

Correction: On each occurrence, the XXX was noted. (or every)

Either each or every is sufficient. Using both is redundant.

Correction: The result of the experiment was XXX.

A result is, by definition, an end point. The word end adds nothing.

Correction: Plans include extending the dataset.

Plans are inherently about the future, so the word future is redundant.

Which word should be removed to apply the brevity filter to 'On each and every occurrence'?

Correct! Both 'each' and 'every' convey essentially the same meaning in this context. Either one can be removed; using both is redundant. Option C is correct because removing 'and every' leaves the clearest, most concise phrasing.
Not quite — review the material and try again. Both 'each' and 'every' convey essentially the same meaning in this context. Either one can be removed; using both is redundant. Option C is correct because removing 'and every' leaves the clearest, most concise phrasing.

Review

Make sure that you check your writing for the following types of brevity errors:

  1. Using multiple vague words
  2. Repeated words
  3. Redundant words

Proceed to Unit 4: Clarity Filter when ready.

Error-Free Research Writing
Overview 01 Five-Filters Approach 02 Accuracy Filter 03 Brevity Filter 04 Clarity Filter 05 Objectivity Filter 06 Formality Filter
Course Tools
Error Detector