Page 158 - English for Writing Research Papers

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8.3 Avoid long blocks of text to ensure that referees (and

readers) can find and understand the importance of your

contribution
To be able to read your key findings and to understand the contribution of your

paper, readers need to be able to easily find these key findings on the page.

If your key findings are buried in the middle of a paragraph, there is less chance that

readers will see them and read them. Readers tend to concentrate at the beginning
and ending of paragraphs, rather than the middle.

The examples below are designed to show you the difference in terms of impact on
the eye of one long block of text, and the same text divided into shorter paragraphs.
You don’t need to read the texts, but simply recognize the negative effect that a long
paragraph has, and thus avoid such blocks of text in your own writing.

one long paragraph three shorter paragraphs
This is one ridiculously long paragraph This is now a much shorter paragraph.
containing all kinds of information This is now a much shorter paragraph.
about everything that you can possibly This is now a much shorter paragraph.
imagine and conceive. This is one This is now a much shorter paragraph.
ridiculously long paragraph containing This is now a much shorter paragraph.
all kinds of information about everything This is now a much shorter paragraph.
that you can possibly imagine and conceive. This is now a much shorter paragraph.
This is one ridiculously long paragraph This is now a much shorter paragraph.
containing all kinds of information about This is now a much shorter paragraph.
everything that you can possibly imagine
and conceive. This is one ridiculously Here are my findings, which you can

long paragraph containing all kinds of now see quite clearly. Note how this
information about everything that you paragraph is also quite short. In fact,
can possibly imagine and conceive. Here it is shorter than the previous and

are my findings you will be lucky if you following paragraphs.
can see them here buried in the midst of
this ridiculously long paragraph containing This is now a much shorter paragraph.
all kinds of information about everything that This is now a much shorter paragraph.
you can possibly imagine and conceive. And This is now a much shorter paragraph.
now I will continue with this ridiculously This is now a much shorter paragraph.
long paragraph containing all kinds of This is now a much shorter paragraph..
information about everything that you can
possibly imagine and conceive. So
here we go again with this ridiculously
long paragraph containing all kinds of
information about everything that you
can possibly imagine and conceive.
This is one ridiculously long paragraph
containing all kinds of information about
everything that you can possibly imagine and
conceive.