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I write as well as edit and proofread documents. When I write, I adjust the tone of the document to reflect the audience for whom I am writing. And, I’m very aware of the difference between written and spoken language. Particularly, when I’m writing articles for publication in a scientific journal I want the tone to be formal, accessible but not at all as spoken. If I were to give a presentation on the same material, I would speak it much differently than I would have written it. What’s the difference?

The tone in written work, particularly in written science works, is best described as direct and complete. Let’s compare some sentences. Let’s say that you did a study on satellite remote sensing of a prairie, trying to find out if you can see the difference between grass and shrubs. If I were to describe that work to a colleague, I would say something like:

“I’m working on using satellite images to tell the difference between grass and shrubs in grasslands”

But I would never write it that way. The use of a contraction, vernacular (“tell the difference”) and inexact reference to the subject makes this inappropriate for a formal written submission. In a manuscript to a journal I would write the same sentence as:

“I studied the use of satellite remote images to distinguish grass from shrub dominated habitats in open, grassland ecosystems.”

Both sentences are clear and accurate, but there is an expectation of more formal, and precise explanation in the written word. But don’t confuse this with jargon or overly complex construction.  An example of this would be:

“I examined the employment of remotely sensed satellite imagery to differentially identify signals for graminoid vegetation and shrub habitats in prairie grassland environments”

This is not wrong, and its not bad, but it does somewhat to overstate the meaning. For sure, there in nuance in writing formally for print, writing clearly and writing that obscures meaning. Like science itself, writing science takes practice and you will only get better the more you write.

John @ ProofreadCanada