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8.12 Signal to the reader that you are about to say something

important by using more dynamic language
You can attract readers’ attention not only through visual techniques, but also by the
words you use.

The following adverbs, used at the beginning of a sentence, are effective in signal-
ing to readers that you are now going to tell them something important:

importantly, intriguingly, interestingly, surprisingly, incredibly, remarkably, significantly,

unfortunately
You can also use adjectives that add a positive feeling to what you are saying, for
example: advanced , attractive, convincing, cutting-edge, effective, favorable,

important, novel, productive, profitable, successful, superior, undeniable, valuable.
You can make them even stronger by adding extremely or very in front of them, but

you may find that they have just as much or more impact without these extra words.
In any case, you should only use these adverbs and adjectives once or twice in the
entire paper, otherwise they lose their impact or you may be considered as being
arrogant (Chapter 10 ). If you have something less important to say, you could prob-
ably just use a link word such as:

• in addition – to add an additional comment, benefit or feature

• however – to signal that you now have something to say that qualifies what you have just said
• in contrast – to highlight that what you are going to say next goes against what you have
just said

8.13 When discussing key findings avoid fl at phrases

The way you write a phrase should reflect the importance of what you are saying.

S1 reports one of the key findings of a paper.
S1. *A comparison of X and Y revealed the presence of two Zs, one located in Region 1 as
previously identifi ed in the Z subgroup (Marchesi et al ., 2009), and the other in Region 2

(Figure 6). This finding suggests the presence of another transcriptor factor that …
There is nothing in S1 that says to the reader ‘Hey, this is really important. It is a key

finding that I really want to draw your attention to – please take note of this’.
In reality the authors of S1 were talking about an amazing genetic discovery. Until
they wrote their paper only one Z had ever been found. It had been found by